TaskRabbit vs Thumbtack

Thumbtack and TaskRabbit are America’s most trusted home services websites. Both are tough competitors and hold good popularity in the market.

While Thumbtack emphasizes long-term relationships between customers and service providers, TaskRabbit is all about getting work done in two shakes. Thumbtack is preferable for long-duration projects like wedding organization, electricity work, etc. TaskRabbit is good for once-in-a-while tasks of shorter duration or handyman services like furniture assembly, home service, etc.

Thumbtack vs TaskRabbit: Comparison

Service ▶️ 🔽 Comparison	Thumbtack	TaskRabbit
Workflow	Posting of projects, bidding based	Searching and selection of service provider
Business Model	Professional-oriented	Customer-oriented
Services Offered	Large-scale Projects- Whitewashing, Furniture repair, Construction work, etc	Handyman jobs- Gardening, Plumbing, Cleaning, etc.
Pricing	$40-70	$25-60
Region of Operation	USA	USA, Canada, UK, Portugal, France, Spain, Italy, Monaco, Germany
Cancellation & Refund Policy	Strict policy to support the service providers	No policy as such

1. Workflow

At Thumbtack, a customer is required to create a project. A project is basically a representation of all the details of the task the customer wants to get done from the help he hires.

This project is later on shared with Pros or professionals who have matching target preferences with the customer’s demand. Also, a customer can directly scroll for top professionals based on the reviews and their work experiences and hire them directly,

At TaskRabbit, the functionality is a bit reduced. A customer needs to choose the task he wants to get done from an arbitrary list.

Following that, he has to provide his schedule for getting the job done i.e. immediately or in the future, on the basis of which TaskRabbit produces search results of eligible Taskers. Now, the customer can select his favorite choice from the results and communicate further details to him.

2. Business model

Thumbtack’s business model is solely dependent on the service providers. The company charges them for contacting leads i.e. opportunities. The professionals place bids for advertising themselves on the basis of which leads are shared with them. The charges for getting a successful lead can go as high as $60. However, unlike TaskRabbit, Thumbtack does not charge any commission from the customers and all the compensation for the service is directly made to the professional.

TaskRabbit on the other hand shares a part (15%) of the hourly fee charged by the professional for serving a customer. Also, it charges professionals a $25 registration fee in some regions.

3. Services offered

Thumbtack provides help on large-scale projects like the organization of a wedding, painting a house, hiring a pet sitter, hiring a cook, etc. Thumbtack provides customers with individual helpers and teams of skilled labor too. Accordingly, the pricing structure of Thumbtack is high in comparison to other brands.

TaskRabbit is an organization that helps people with daily household needs like getting a tap leakage fixed, assembling furniture, cleaning indoors, installation of appliances, etc. TaskRabbit as its name suggests gets tasks done by ‘rabbits’ who are fast-paced and highly skilled workers, known as Taskers.

4. Pricing Structure

It really depends on the job for which help is required. On Thumbtack, projects like photography and wedding management cost around $1000 while handyman services like cleaning and walking a pet cost around $50. There is no service fee involved that is to be paid to Thumbtack.

On TaskRabbit, the customers pay lesser amounts than on Thumbtack. The average hourly rate on TaskRabbit is around $25-60. However, the customers do pay a service fee or commission to TaskRabbit for matching them with the required professionals.

5. Region of Operation

Thumbtack services can be availed in almost every locality in the USA. However, the company has not expanded across borders.

TaskRabbit being a comparatively older company has its stronghold in the USA as well as far-distance countries like Spain, France, the UK, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Monaco, and Canada

6. Cancellation and Refund Policy

At Thumbtack, since the professional  pays for a lead, he is liable to get a refund if the project is canceled. There are two ways of getting a refund — Cancellation by the customer or Duplicate lead and Cancellation by the Pro himself. In the former, a full refund is granted instantly while the latter depends on the details of the case.

If the reason is logical enough, the refund is provided within 30 days.  In case of cancellation by the customer, a cancellation fee of $15 is charged if the action was done < 24 hrs before the scheduled start.

At TaskRabbit, there is no provision for a refund on cancellation since there is no payment made by any side before the task is completed. However, a customer shall pay a cancellation if the project is canceled < 24 hrs before the scheduled start.

Pros and Cons of Thumbtack

Thumbtack has a solely service professional-centered business model. They are the sources of revenue for the company hence the company tries its best to support them in terms of getting good leads and higher compensation. However, due to its sophisticated standards, it faces huge competition from Thumbtack alternatives like TaskRabbit, Upshift, Amazon Mechanical Turk, etc.

Pros

1. Thumbtack has a lead-based pricing structure for professionals. They only pay when they get a lead.
2. Thumbtack does not take any share from the payment made by the customer to the service professional for doing the service.
3. Thumbtack has a cancellation and refund policy that supports service professionals.
4. Rates of tasks are higher, giving better compensation to the professionals: Again to the professional-centric business model, Thumbtack tends to charge more from its customers in order to compensate better to the professionals.
5. Quality of leads is better than most other platforms: Thumbtack charges its professionals for providing them leads hence it ensures that most genuine leads are provided.

Cons

1. Investment is mandatory in Thumbtack because that is the foundation of their business model.
2. Having good work credentials is also a requirement for getting leads.
3. Due to the high-quality leads, competition on this platform is higher in comparison to others.
4. Is suitable for projects of long duration.

Pros and Cons of TaskRabbit

TaskRabbit is focused on providing clients with the most affordable and convenient solutions for their daily needs. It is customer-centric and works on the commission model.

People get their menial work like cleaning, babysitting, etc. done from efficient service providers at cheap rates and in no time. However, due to the high demand, the company faces competition from brands like Handy, Thumbtack, Angie’s List, and others.

Pros

1. Provides opportunities without any charges to service professionals
2. Has a better response time due to the wide user base of both customers and professionals
3. Customers can get any kind of odd job done almost instantly
4. It is cheaper than other platforms: Most people use TaskRabbit for getting their odd jobs done which usually last for a few hours. Hence, the rates are cheaper and the speed of work is fast.
5. It is more transparent and user-friendly. Accessing the platform is easy and smooth.
6. It charges no upfront fee: Commissions are charged from the user in addition to the service charge of the professional.
7. TaskRabbit is also available in European nations like Portugal, Italy, France, the UK, etc.

Cons

1. Provides less compensation and small projects to the service professional: TaskRabbit Taskers are mostly odd-job doers like plumbers or gardeners, whose work does not last for too long.
2. Does not have a supportive cancellation and refund policy for the Tasker: Due to its customer-centric policies, TaskRabbit tends to be generous towards its customers and does not charge them massively against cancellations.

Also Read: Apps Like TaskRabbit

Both companies have their defined domains of expertise. The common aspect of both is their ulterior motive to help out people in times of need. With the existence of such beneficial services, people simply use them for finishing regular household tasks so that focus on more important work.