Taskrabbit is an online marketplace and mobile app where consumers can find local service providers for jobs such as handyman tasks and yard work. For some home services contractors (in particular, independent contractors or small businesses), the app can be an option for finding leads.
But Taskrabbit tends to be used more for one-off tasks, like furniture assembly or moving, rather than providing loyal customers who return to you time and again for their plumbing or HVAC services. That’s why many home service providers look for Taskrabbit competitors.
In this post, we’ll cover 8 websites that are like Taskrabbit.
In addition, we’ll explain how our software solution, ServiceTitan, offers alternative ways to attract potential customers, track leads, and convert them into actual booked jobs where customers are more likely to stay with you long-term.
You can skip straight to the ServiceTitan section here.
Table of Contents
What is Taskrabbit?
Taskrabbit is a site that matches handy people and contractors (known as “Taskers”) with consumers searching for particular home services in their local area.
While it was started for handy people looking for extra money in the gig economy, Taskrabbit offers a whopping 50 categories of services in seven main areas:
Assembly
Mounting
Moving
Cleaning
Outdoor help
Home repairs
Painting
For a registration fee of $25 (applicable in eligible cities you register with), you can sign up for the categories that apply to your business in your specific location(s). Taskrabbit will ask you to confirm your identity and to submit any business verifications, if required. Once you’ve completed your profile, you can set up your weekly availability including opting in for same-day jobs, if you wish.
Your profile details (including skill set, hourly rate and any reviews from past customers using the platform) can be viewed by local clients searching the site for your services. Taskrabbit’s user-friendly mobile app (compatible with iOS and Android) lets you chat with prospective clients and manage and track jobs as well as payments. Contractors can submit invoices via Taskrabbit and get paid through the app’s secure payment system.
Although Taskrabbit includes home services like plumbing and electrical work, it focuses more on one-off tasks and odd jobs, like fixing a leaky faucet or mending a light fitting. So, while it could be a useful source for small businesses and independent contractors just starting out — or to make extra income during the slow season — it typically isn’t very effective for finding long-term, loyal customers wanting more heavyweight home services, like an A/C installation or a bathroom refit, for example.
For those, you need to have solid fundamental business practices in place (like the ability to track and measure all of your marketing channels and to deliver outstanding customer service) along with the ability to deploy more established marketing activities (like email campaigns and Google Local Services Ads).
That’s where our software solution, ServiceTitan, can help.
First, here’s our list of eight stand-out Taskrabbit alternatives.
8 Best Taskrabbit Alternatives
1. Care.com
Care.com is a site that’s predominantly used to help people find babysitters, housekeepers, and caregivers for the elderly. But it also has a small section for hiring people for errands and odd jobs, like general home repairs and maintenance.
The advantage of using this Taskrabbit competitor is the jobs generally pay well, but not without an upfront investment. To see and apply for local jobs, service providers have to become Premium Members. With a Premium Membership, providers rank higher, get job alerts faster, and are able to more easily communicate with potential clients.
Given the extremely small portion of this app devoted to home services, the value of that investment will probably depend on what mobile apps people tend to use in your area for home repair and maintenance jobs.
Do more research on Care.com, its pricing, and how potential customers tend to use it before committing to the upgraded membership package.
2. Handy
Handy offers plenty of services through their website or app — users can book anything from home cleaning and general home maintenance to full-blown home improvement renovations.
Handy conducts background checks, and service providers must be approved before taking on jobs. They must have paid experience, be authorized to work in the county they’re located in, and have great customer service skills. Once a service provider is approved, Handy will begin to send leads.
This handyman app boasts a 60-second booking process, so once you’re signed up and approved, leads could come in very quickly.
Handy is available in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.
3. Jobble
Jobble bills itself as the number one on-demand job app in the U.S. It’s hard to verify the accuracy of that statement, but one thing’s for sure: It’s a great place to pick up new clients.
Although Jobble isn’t as focused on home services as Taskrabbit, users can view job listings in their area for free. After creating a profile, users can also apply to jobs without paying anything upfront.
This app doesn’t cater to residential needs and would instead be a good place to do some B2B work, like becoming the preferred plumber for an office complex, depending on the user’s area of expertise and the jobs available in their area.
4. Nextdoor
An app aimed at connecting communities, Nextdoor is the world’s largest neighborhood social community networking service. It’s a great way to help spread important information and for local professionals to connect with potential clients in home improvement, landscaping, lawn care, and other home services.
On Nextdoor, business owners can create a listing for their business and encourage community members to use and review their services. Businesses can also participate in local conversations and connect with residents who need their services.
Again, this is a social website first and a lead generator second, so it shouldn’t be the primary means to find new clients. But it’s not to be ignored, either.
5. Porch
Porch is an industry-leader for handyman apps, with an excellent platform that includes moving assistance, painting, electrical, lawn care, furniture assembly, and other part-time local services.
What’s great about this app is that it’s provider-driven. “Pros” (as they’re called on Porch) can set exact specifications for what type of jobs they want, and how frequently they want to buy and receive leads in the online marketplace.
This app also incentivizes quality for their pros. They offer a “Vetted Pros” program that includes a 5% discount on leads when purchased on demand. Vetted Pros also receive automatic lead credits when they meet the outreach requirements, yet don’t connect with homeowners.
6. TalkLocal
Primarily focused on handyman services, TalkLocal includes a few types of jobs-for-hire you might not expect, including legal, landscaping, and office furniture rental.
This handyman app offers service provider assistance on a level most others don’t. TalkLocal makes initial contact with users and coordinates job logistics, without you having to do a thing. You have the option to accept each job individually, but TalkLocal remains the point of contact for the users. Depending on how hands-on you like to be, this could be a great feature.
The app takes its service a step further by requiring service providers to only pay for leads they’ve booked.
7. Thumbtack
Whether users want to find a wedding planner or a welder, chances are they’ll find them on Thumbtack. This app features over 500 service categories across a wide range of industries and covers all 50 states.
As a service provider, you’ll like how this app offers geolocation to show users which providers are in their area. Thumbtack seamlessly enables professionals to market themselves as individuals or as local businesses.
This handyman app is free to join, and service providers can set preferences for where, when, and how they want to work so you only receive the leads you really want. And there’s no shortage of leads on Thumbtack — the app generates more than 30,000 leads per day.
8. Wonolo
Although not specifically geared toward handyman services, Wonolo is still a useful resource to establish new relationships with potential long-term clients. The growing staffing company is available in more than 30 cities in the United States.
Wonolo users have to be 18 years old, and they also must have a Social Security number. This could be a barrier to those without one or who do not wish to share their information. But a clear benefit is the ease of use, which makes it comparable to Taskrabbit.
The #1 newsletter for the trades.
ServiceTitan Helps Home Service Businesses Generate Leads & Book Jobs
Using Taskrabbit (or any of the other apps like Taskrabbit) could bring your service business a few one-off jobs and/or may be useful for filling in gaps during slow seasons. But to secure a solid pipeline of leads that results in booked jobs, repeat business, and a loyal customer base, you should have these five business fundamentals in place:
Use tried-and-true marketing practices like email marketing, Google Local Services Ads, and direct mail — all trusted lead generators.
Ensure you can convert leads into actual booked jobs with a reliable and repeatable call booking process.
The ability to track leads from all marketing channels so you can measure results and analyze what’s really working (and what’s not).
An efficient way to optimize customer reviews so that they help drive customers to your business.
Deliver awesome customer service from beginning to end so your customers return to you time and again and recommend you to their friends.
We built our software, ServiceTitan, with tools to help home service professionals (like HVAC, plumbers, electricians, and landscaping businesses) do all of this. Here’s how it works.
Use Tried-and-True Marketing Methods
As we mentioned earlier, Taskrabbit may generate a few leads for small, one-off jobs. But using tried-and-true marketing methods like email marketing and direct mail are deployed by many service businesses for one reason — they usually drive more highly qualified leads to your business than apps like Taskrabbit.
In addition, managing customer reviews won’t be an issue until you have a steady stream of incoming leads.
ServiceTitan’s Marketing Pro has been designed to help home services companies deliver tried-and-true marketing campaigns that will bring you more business. Here’s how:
Deliver Hyper-Targeted Email Marketing
Targeted email campaigns are among the most effective ways to attract business, earning $40 for every $1 spent. Aside from being a low-cost marketing channel (there’s no incremental cost of sending emails), marketing to people who already know you is more effective than “converting” strangers (from apps like Taskrabbit) so it’s a sound method of generating more work for your business.
ServiceTitan's email marketing feature allows you to send hyper-targeted email campaigns by segmenting your email audience by ZIP code, age of equipment, date of last service, new homeowner, and more. Using data already collected in ServiceTitan, you can target previous customers with a “We Miss You!” email campaign, follow up with existing customers on unsold estimates, or offer a discount to new homeowners.
Sending targeted emails with ServiceTitan is simple. Choose from our huge range of email templates, adjust the text to fit your campaign, and deliver to your chosen audience.
You can monitor the performance of your email campaigns via the ServiceTitan marketing scorecard.
You can read more email marketing tips in this post.
Leverage Direct Mail
Likewise, using traditional direct mail to attract business from your local community works well for many service businesses.
SeviceTitan’s Marketing Pro lets you automate direct mail campaigns that attract business in your local area. Choose from our library of postcards and send out a single postcard, or thousands, and pay a flat fee per item.
As with the email campaigns, you can select your audience from your customer lists — for example, those who have equipment that’s due to be updated — and send them a postcard reminding them of your equipment replacement services. Upload your chosen design, adjust the text, print, and mail to your selected audience.
You can track the results of your direct mail campaigns via the ServiceTitan dashboard and see which ones are driving revenue.
Drive More Leads with Google Local Services Ads
Google Local Services Ads are a cost-effective way to drive leads to your business, and ServiceTitan’s Google Ads integration simplifies the entire process.
Buying Google Local Services Ads increases the likelihood of your business appearing at the top of the Google search results page, above the PPC ads and organic listings. This means potential customers can view a snapshot of your business — such as your company name, Google review rating, and years in business — to determine whether your company fits their needs.
Costs for Google Local Services Ads vary, but you only pay when a customer contacts your business through the ad. This cuts down on job leads from customers who are simply price-shopping.
ServiceTitan integrates with Google Local Services Ads to allow homeowners to directly schedule online appointments with your company, and provides business owners with ROI metrics on every campaign. This makes the whole process easier for the customer and improves the chances of them booking an appointment with your company.
Convert Leads into Actual Bookings
Whichever marketing channels you choose to generate leads, it’s critical to convert those leads into actual booked jobs when those customers contact your business.
Providing your CSRs (customer service reps) with a clear, repeatable process for when customers call your company, is a good way to achieve that repeatability and increases the chance of them making a booking.
ServiceTitan’s call booking software helps CSRs provide a polished customer experience as soon as they answer the phone. Our software shows them who’s calling (if they are an existing customer) so they can greet them by name, which sets up the entire call on a friendly, open basis. Whether they are an existing customer or a potential one, CSRs can use our customized prompts to ask the right questions and ensure they get all the information your techs will need quickly and efficiently.
Having an efficient call booking process in place ensures customers (new or existing) are given a stellar experience from the first moment they call your business.
Track & Measure All Marketing Channels
An issue with using apps like Taskrabbit is that when you choose to expand your marketing to several channels (like the ones we recommend above), it’s difficult to know where your leads are coming from when customers contact your business, and which ones translate into actual jobs. You need software that tracks and analyzes each one.
ServiceTitan helps you make informed decisions on which marketing activities to focus on (whether that’s Taskrabbit, Taskrabbit alternatives, or channels like email marketing or direct mail). Our software offers campaign tracking telephone numbers and real-time ROI reporting for all your marketing campaigns.
For each campaign, you can track the number of calls, how many jobs you booked from those calls, and the number of sales made from those jobs, all from your ServiceTitan dashboard.
With ServiceTitan, you can view your metrics via our marketing scorecard, which shows your current marketing campaigns (email, direct mail, Google Local Services Ads, etc.) and ties all new customers to the specific marketing campaign that brought them to you.
Because the scorecard ranks all your marketing channels by revenue, you know exactly how much business you’re getting for every dollar you spend so you can boost spending on campaigns with higher returns and drop channels with poor performance.
Optimize Customer Reviews
In our experience, and that of the thousands of home service businesses that use ServiceTitan, managing and replying to your customer reviews (good or bad) is critical to your business, because customers place a great deal of importance on them when choosing a service provider. Not only does this apply to the reviews that you’ll receive on Taskrabbit (if you choose to use it) but also other online platforms such as Google, Yelp, and Angi.
However, managing reviews is often a task that slips to the bottom of the to-do list, simply because it’s time-consuming and tedious, especially when the reviews are in several different places.
ServiceTitan’s Marketing Pro helps make this process more efficient by collecting reviews from all of your platforms so you can manage and reply within ServiceTitan.
Our software helps:
Generate more reviews with automated requests: ServiceTitan sends out survey requests via text or email as soon as a job has been completed. This encourages customers to share their experience while it’s still fresh in their minds.
Consolidate all your reviews in one place: Set up alerts so you can read and respond to reviews from all your review platforms (Yelp, Google Reviews, and apps like Taskrabbit), directly from the ServiceTitan dashboard. This saves time because there’s no need to go into each review site individually and customers receive responses more quickly.
Track and match reviews to specific techs & jobs: Because all your review data is stored centrally within ServiceTitan, you can see exactly what’s working and what’s not, and use these insights to reward or coach individuals.
Keep review listings consistent and updated: There’s no need to frequently check and update company listings on apps like Taskrabbit because ServiceTitan ensures your company details are accurately listed across 60+ business listing sites. This means search engines will correctly attribute them to you and customers can easily find you. You can try our free listings scan tool here.
Note: We recommend you set up your Google Business Profile if you haven’t already, especially if you’re a small business — it’s free and it will increase your chances of appearing at the top of Google searches.
Deliver Awesome Customer Service
Without a doubt, delivering awesome customer service right from the first point of contact through to the delivery and billing of your services is the most important way to attract customers and grow your service business.
Travis Ringe of ProSkill Services, a $14 million full-service home services company in Arizona with more than 5,000 5-star Google reviews, explains that his CSRs and techs go above and beyond by always offering to do more, such as providing ladder service to help elderly customers change lightbulbs or smoke detector batteries, or simply bringing the trash can from the curb.
Not only does this increase the probability of your customers using you again, but they’re also more likely to recommend your services to their friends and family.
In addition to our call booking tool, ServiceTitan also helps you deliver exceptional customer service with these features:
Scheduling and dispatching features that match the right technician to the right job and ensure they arrive on time.
Automated texts that confirm appointment times and provide customers with links to their tech and a GPS tracker so they know who is coming and when.
Estimate and proposal templates that techs can build while on a job and show to customers via a mobile app.
Customer financing to help customers choose what’s best for their budget.
Payment processing tools with flexible and convenient payment options for customers.
And more!
All of these tools are fully integrated and communicate with each other so you never have to spend time transferring information from elsewhere.
Ready to Generate More Leads with ServiceTitan?
Apps like Taskrabbit might be useful for generating one-time jobs if you’re a small business with a limited marketing budget or if you’re just starting out. But using software like ServiceTitan to execute tried-and-true marketing campaigns (like email and direct mail) as well as track leads from all of your marketing channels and convert them into actual booked jobs will attract loyal customers who return to you time and again.
For more marketing ideas, read our full marketing guide.
Want to find out how ServiceTitan can help you execute marketing campaigns and make the most of the leads you generate, whatever the channel they come from? Book a demo to find out more.
ServiceTitan Software
ServiceTitan is a comprehensive software solution built specifically to help service companies streamline their operations, boost revenue, and substantially elevate the trajectory of their business. Our comprehensive, cloud-based platform is used by thousands of electrical, HVAC, plumbing, garage door, and chimney sweep shops across the country—and has increased their revenue by an average of 25% in just their first year with us.
