In this guide 8 sections
GreenPal, LawnStarter and Thumbtack can all put lawns on your schedule. None of them will build you a business.
“Are there certain apps or websites that are legit?” is one of the most asked questions in my Facebook group of lawn care owners. The answer is yes, they’re legit. They’re real companies and real jobs. The better question is what each one costs you, and who owns the customer at the end.
None of these apps run where I mow, so I’ve never been on them. But I’ve been finding lawn customers for 34 years, and I buy and sell leads myself. I sell my spare leads to other operators for $20 each. So here’s how I’d look at them if I was starting out today.
The short answer
- GreenPal is the cheapest of the three. You bid on jobs, and GreenPal takes 5% of each job plus card fees. Prices get pushed down by the bidding.
- LawnStarter sets the price and hands you the job. It takes a commission it doesn’t publish. The customer pays LawnStarter, not you.
- Thumbtack charges you for each lead, whether you win the job or not. Other pros get the same lead.
- Use them to fill empty days when you’re starting out. Never as your whole marketing plan.
- Set up your free Google Business Profile the same week. That’s where customers who stay come from.
How each app works
GreenPal
The homeowner posts their lawn. Local pros send a price. The homeowner picks one, usually off price and reviews.
GreenPal says the homeowner pays nothing extra, and the pro pays a 5% commission on each job, plus the card processing fees on top. That’s the lowest cut of the three.
The catch is the bidding. When five guys bid on the same lawn, someone always goes cheap. If you race them to the bottom, you’ll be busy and broke.
LawnStarter
LawnStarter works more like a job agency. The homeowner books a mow with LawnStarter at a price LawnStarter sets. LawnStarter then offers that job to a pro in the area. You do the work, LawnStarter takes its commission, and you get the rest. LawnStarter says you keep all of your tips.
LawnStarter doesn’t publish what its commission is. GreenPal, a competitor, claims it’s around 15 to 20%. Take that with a grain of salt since it comes from a rival, and check the real number in the pro app before you sign up.
The upside: no quoting, no chasing invoices. The downside: you don’t set the price, and the customer belongs to LawnStarter.
Thumbtack
Thumbtack is a lead site. A homeowner asks for lawn mowing, Thumbtack sends the request to several pros, and you pay to respond to it. You pay for the lead whether you win the job or not.
The price of a lead changes with your area, the job and how many other pros are on there. Look at it in the app before you turn it on, and set a weekly budget so it can’t run away on you.
Once you win a Thumbtack customer, there’s no ongoing cut. You pay for the lead once and do your own invoicing from there.
| GreenPal | LawnStarter | Thumbtack | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How you get the job | You bid | They offer it to you | You pay to respond to a lead |
| Who sets the price | You (against other bids) | LawnStarter | You |
| What it costs you | 5% of each job plus card fees | A commission on each job (not published) | A fee per lead, won or not |
| Who the customer pays | Through GreenPal | LawnStarter | You |
| Best for | Filling a new round cheaply | Work with no quoting or admin | Fast responders in busy areas |
What they really cost you over one customer
This is where most people get it wrong. They look at the fee on one mow. Look at it over the life of the customer instead.
Here’s an example. A small lawn at my $35 minimum, mowed every two weeks, kept for three years. That’s about 63 mows and $2,205 through the door. (More on that in how much a lawn mowing customer is really worth.)
- GreenPal at 5%: about $110 over the three years, plus card fees.
- LawnStarter at 20% (if the rival’s number is right): about $441. And that’s only if LawnStarter’s price matches yours. It might not.
- Thumbtack: say a lead costs $25 and you win one in four. That’s $100 to land the customer, once.
- Your own Google Business Profile: $0.
Those are made-up numbers to show the idea, not quotes from the apps. Swap in your own price and the real fees in your area. The point stands either way: a commission app keeps charging you for the same customer for as long as you mow the lawn. A lead you pay for once, or a customer who found you on Google, doesn’t.
Also watch the price you’re mowing for. A 5% fee on a lawn you bid too low is still a bad job. If you don’t know your floor, read what your minimum charge should be before you bid on anything.
The big catch: whose customer is it?
A customer you own is worth money. A customer the app owns isn’t.
When you sell a lawn round, the buyer pays for the customers. Your list, their addresses, their history with you. I’ve sold rounds more than once. If all your lawns sit inside someone else’s app, there’s much less to sell.
It’s the same on a bad day. If the app changes its fees, drops you in the search, or shuts your account over a couple of bad reviews, that work is gone. You can’t ring those people. They were never yours.
Read each app’s terms before you try to move customers off it. Some don’t allow it, and you can lose your account. The cleaner way is to build your own pipeline alongside the app, so the app matters less every month.
When the apps are worth it
I’m not against them. There are times they make sense:
- Your first month. You’ve got the gear and no customers. A few app jobs get you mowing, earning and learning how long lawns really take.
- Gaps in your week. A spare Tuesday afternoon earns nothing. A GreenPal job in that slot is better than nothing, as long as the price is right.
- Reviews. Your first five-star reviews are hard to get. Apps can help you get the first few.
- Testing a new area. Thinking of mowing in the next suburb over? A few app jobs show you what the lawns and the people are like.
They’re a bad deal when you’re already busy, when the bids in your area are below your minimum, or when the app is the only place your work comes from.
How to use them without getting stuck on them
- Pick one app, not three. Learn it properly. GreenPal is the cheapest place to start.
- Bid at your real price. Lose the cheap ones on purpose. If you win every job, you’re too cheap. A new business should win about one quote in two, then price up until it’s closer to one in three.
- Answer fast. On Thumbtack and GreenPal, the first good reply usually wins. Turn notifications on.
- Do the best job on the street. Edges, blow-down, gate shut. The neighbours see it.
- Put your own name on everything. Signwriting on the van, a magnet on the car, a shirt with your business name. The neighbour should be able to find you without the app.
- Set a cut-off. When the app makes up less than a quarter of your lawns, stop taking new jobs from it.
More: How to quote on lawns and my free lawn price calculator
Where customers who stay come from
The apps are rented. These you own.
1. Your Google Business Profile
It’s free, and it’s the first thing people see when they search “lawn mowing near me”. I’ve called it pure gold for years, and I still think so. Set it up, add photos every week, and get reviews.
More: How to set up a Google Business Profile for lawn care and How to get Google reviews for lawn care
2. A simple website
It doesn’t need to be flashy. It needs your services, your area, your reviews and a way to get a quote. It backs up your Google profile and makes you look like a real business, not a guy off an app.
I build lawn care websites, so I’m biased. But I built my own business on a website and Google long before I built anyone else’s. More: What makes the best lawn care website
3. Your own street
Every lawn you mow is an advert for the houses next door. Knock on the neighbours’ doors while you’re there, or drop a card in the letterbox. When I door-knock, about 50 doors lands one customer. And every one of them is yours.
4. Google Ads, when you’re ready
When I want more lawns fast, Google Ads works better for me than Facebook ads. A small budget, around $150 a month, has brought me one or two new customers a week. No commission, no shared leads.
More: My lawn mowing marketing plan and Why you shouldn’t waste money on directory listings
Do today: if you haven’t got a Google Business Profile, set it up today. It takes about 20 minutes. If you want app work too, sign up for one app this week and bid only at your real price.
Frequently asked questions
Is GreenPal legit for lawn care providers?
Yes. It’s a real company with real jobs. Homeowners post their lawns, pros bid, and GreenPal takes 5% of each job plus card fees. The bidding pushes prices down, so only bid at a price that pays you properly.
How much does LawnStarter take from providers?
LawnStarter doesn’t publish its commission. A competitor claims it’s around 15 to 20% of each job. Check the real figure in the LawnStarter pro app before you sign up.
Is Thumbtack worth it for lawn care?
Only if you reply fast and win a good share of the leads you pay for. You pay for each lead whether you win the job or not, and other pros get the same lead. Set a weekly budget and track how many leads turn into customers.
Which lawn care app is best for a new business?
GreenPal is the cheapest to use and the easiest place to start. Use it to fill your first few weeks, and set up your free Google Business Profile at the same time.
Can I take customers off GreenPal or LawnStarter?
Read the app’s terms first. Some don’t allow it and you can lose your account. A better plan is to build your own Google profile, reviews and website so new customers find you directly.
What’s the best way to get lawn care customers without apps?
A Google Business Profile with good reviews, a simple website, door-knocking around the lawns you already mow, and a small Google Ads budget when you’re ready to grow. Every customer from those is one you own.
34 years mowing lawns. Built it up to five vans and 450 contracts, then cut back to a 20-hour week on the best lawns. My story.
Want more lawns?
I build lawn care websites first, free. You see it live before you pay a cent.