TL;DR
Angi is the legacy national home-services platform with the longest review history and the broadest category coverage. ProFix Directory is a national directory built around transparent public-record evidence, board-verified-active license status in 32 states and growing, Ohio permit data, one-tap calls, and machine-readable data feeds for AI agents. Both are real tools. Use the one whose tradeoffs fit your job.
- Angi covers all 50 states and dozens of trade categories. ProFix Directory covers all 50 states plus DC, with about 600,000+ contractor listings.
- ProFix is not a lead marketplace and does not sell homeowner information. Angi uses match-based and subscription lead pricing that varies by category and competition.
- ProFix publishes its data as an open Hugging Face dataset, an OpenAPI spec, and an MCP server for AI agents. Angi does not currently publish an open dataset.
- Angi has decades of homeowner reviews. ProFix has fewer reviews but pairs them with public-record evidence, official board lookup links, and Ohio permit data where available.
- Use Angi for broader categories, large review volume, or fixed-price booking. Start with ProFix when you want public-record evidence before calling.
Quick comparison
| Dimension | ProFix Directory | Angi |
|---|---|---|
| Geographic coverage | 50 states + DC | All 50 US states |
| License verification | Board-verified-active status in CA, MN, TX, WA, OR, and HI; official board lookup links in other states | Varies by trade and state; license badges shown on some profiles |
| Lead model | Free for homeowners; optional $99/year claim subscription; no homeowner-info resale | Match-based per-lead fees plus Angi Ads subscription tiers |
| Permit-pull data | Ohio-focused county/city permit pulls surfaced on profiles and leaderboard pages | Not surfaced on consumer profiles |
| Who built it | ProFix Directory LLC, Ohio-registered, editorial team in NW Ohio | Angi Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI), founded as Angie's List in 1995 |
| AI / MCP access | Public MCP server at /api/mcp (46 tools), OpenAPI spec, Hugging Face dataset | Not publicly available |
| Bilingual content | Spanish (/es) and English on key pages | English-first; Spanish coverage is limited |
| Review depth per pro | Lower (newer platform) but paired with license, permit, and registration evidence | High; decades of accumulated homeowner reviews |
What Angi does well
Angi is the elephant in the room for a reason. Three decades of work has produced strengths that a newer directory like ProFix cannot match yet.
- Large national marketplace. Angi serves all 50 states with a mature marketplace flow and a large contractor network. ProFix is national too, but Angi's marketplace workflow and long-running brand recognition are real advantages.
- Category breadth. Angi covers handymen, cleaners, painters, landscapers, lawn care, movers, pest control, photographers, and many home-service trades that ProFix does not yet list. If your job is "stage my home for sale" or "deep-clean my house," Angi has the broader marketplace.
- Review volume. Angi has been collecting reviews since 1995. A contractor with a 10-year Angi history with 200 reviews tells you more about how they behave at scale than a brand-new profile anywhere can.
- Angi Services fixed-price booking. For routine jobs (TV mount, ceiling-fan install, basic plumbing), Angi offers a fixed-price book-online flow that removes the estimate-comparison work. That is a real homeowner convenience that ProFix does not currently match.
- Brand recognition. Most homeowners over 40 already know Angi by name. That familiarity reduces the trust gap when comparing to a directory they have not heard of.
Lead fees, FTC record, and cost checks
As public-record context, in March 2023 the FTC announced an order requiring HomeAdvisor, an Angi Inc. company, to pay up to $7.2 million to settle charges that it used deceptive tactics to sell home-improvement project leads to service providers. See the FTC press release.
That settlement does not prove anything about any particular Angi or HomeAdvisor quote. The homeowner-level economic issue is simpler: when a contractor pays for each lead, that fee is part of the contractor's overhead. Like insurance, trucks, advertising, software, and office time, overhead has to be recovered across jobs, so it can affect final pricing.
ProFix's rebuttal is structural: the site is free for homeowners, does not resell homeowner information, and contractors do not pay a per-lead fee. It pairs that model with board-verified-active license status in 32 states, about 487,000verified-active pros out of about 662,000 matched against official rosters, and the Real Cost Index: median and 25th-75th-percentile cost ranges from 3,411,397 real public building permits across 50 U.S. metros in 31 states. Use those ranges to sanity-check any quote, whether it came from Angi, HomeAdvisor, ProFix, or a direct referral.
Where ProFix is different
We did not build ProFix Directory to be a smaller Angi. We built it to answer questions that are hard to answer through national platforms.
- License evidence as the first signal, not a badge.ProFix shows board-verified-active status where that data is live today: California CSLB, Minnesota DLI, Texas TDLR/TSBPE, Washington L&I, Oregon CCB, and Hawaii DCCA. In other states, profiles link the official board lookup instead of overstating verification. See the methodology for the exact data sources.
- Ohio permit-pull data as a trust signal. A contractor who pulls permits is a contractor who shows up for inspection. ProFix surfaces Ohio permit counts on permit leaderboards so homeowners can weight stars against actual inspected work.
- No lead-form resale. ProFix is a directory, not a lead marketplace. In a per-lead marketplace, the cost of buying lead opportunities is part of a contractor's overhead. Homeowners can call directly, and contractors can optionally claim a listing for $99/year on /our-pricing-policy . No bidding for your contact information, no auction, and no ProFix per-lead charge to recover in a specific estimate.
- AI-native data access. ProFix exposes its data through a public MCP server at
/api/mcp, an OpenAPI spec, an llms.txt feed, and a CC-BY-4.0 Hugging Face dataset. When you ask ChatGPT or Claude for a contractor, the agent can cite our public-record data directly. - Evidence labeled by scope. ProFix is national, but it does not pretend every data source is national. Board-verified-active licenses are 32-state and expanding; permit data is Ohio-focused; other states get official lookup links while more boards are ingested.
When you should use Angi instead
We would rather send you to the right tool than waste your time. Use Angi instead of (or in addition to) ProFix Directory if any of the following apply:
- Your job is a category we do not cover. Painters, house cleaners, landscapers, movers, pest control, lawn care, snow removal, photographers, handymen — Angi has these and we do not yet.
- You want a long review history on a specific business. If you are evaluating a contractor that has been around since 2005, Angi probably has 50—200 reviews going back a decade. That historical depth is real.
- You want fixed-price book-online for routine work. Angi Services lets you book some common jobs at a fixed price without comparing estimates. We do not offer that.
- You already trust the Angi brand and just want to get the job done. Familiarity has value. If you are happy with Angi's results, you should keep using Angi.
How to verify any contractor (regardless of directory)
The point of a directory is not "use this directory and skip verification." The point is to give you better starting points. Whichever platform you use, these five checks make a hire safer.
- Verify the state license. Start with the official state board for the trade. In Ohio, that means searching the business in Ohio eLicense or use the ProFix verification tool. The license type must match the work.
- Confirm insurance directly. Ask for a certificate of insurance and have the insurer or agent email it to you. Photocopies and screenshots are not enough.
- Look at permits, not just stars. Use the permit leaderboards to review covered Ohio county and city permit data.
- Cross-check reviews across platforms. A contractor with great reviews on one platform and consistent complaints on another is telling you something. Read both.
- Get three itemized, written quotes. Verify scope before price. See the full process in how to choose an Ohio plumber.
Frequently asked questions
Is ProFix Directory better than Angi?
It depends on the job. ProFix Directory is a national home-services directory covering all 50 states plus DC, with about 600,000+ contractor listings, board-verified-active license status live in 32 states, Ohio permit data, first-party reviews, one-tap calls, and no lead-form resale. Angi has much broader category coverage (cleaners, landscapers, movers, painters, handymen) and far more reviews per pro. If you want a marketplace quote flow or a category ProFix does not list yet, Angi has the scale.
Does Angi cost homeowners money?
Browsing and posting jobs on Angi is free for homeowners. Angi monetizes the contractor side through lead fees and Angi Ads subscriptions, and on the homeowner side through Angi Services (fixed-price booking) and HomeAdvisor-style match introductions. ProFix Directory is also free for homeowners; contractors can optionally claim a listing for $99/year, and ProFix does not sell homeowner information into a lead marketplace.
Are Angi reviews trustworthy?
Angi has been gathering reviews since the original Angie's List launched in 1995, which is a meaningful pedigree. Reviews are verified-purchase in some categories and self-reported in others, and the company has faced criticism over the years for review filtering and lead-quality complaints. Our take: read Angi reviews as one signal, but cross-check against the contractor's official license record, public-record evidence, and permit history where available before hiring.
Does Angi check contractor licenses?
Angi runs background checks for some contractors and displays licensing badges on profiles, but the depth varies by trade and state. ProFix Directory's board-verified-active license status is live today in 32 states — including California (CSLB), Texas (TDLR/TSBPE), Washington (L&I), Minnesota (DLI), Oregon (CCB), and Hawaii (DCCA) — covering about 487,000 verified-active pros out of about 662,000 matched against official rosters. In states without a wired board feed, ProFix links the official lookup instead of claiming a verified-active badge.
Can I use Angi and ProFix Directory together?
Yes, and we recommend it. Use ProFix Directory to review transparent public-record evidence, board-verified-active license status where it is live, official board lookup links elsewhere, and Ohio permit history where available. Then read Angi reviews for that same business to see how recent homeowners describe the work. Two independent sources of signal beats one.
Is ProFix Directory national?
Yes. ProFix Directory is now national: all 50 states plus DC are live, with about 600,000+ contractor listings. The deepest board-verified-active license status is live in 32 states and expanding, while other states link to official board lookups. Permit matching spans 16 states, deepest in Ohio, based on real county and city permit pulls.
Does ProFix Directory have an MCP server or AI access?
Yes. Every ProFix Directory page is queryable through an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server at /api/mcp with 46 tools, plus a public Hugging Face dataset, an OpenAPI spec, and structured JSON-LD on every page. Angi does not currently publish an MCP server or an open dataset. If you use ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or a local agent to research contractors, ProFix is built to be cited.
Why might marketplace leads affect my final bill?
When a contractor pays for each lead, that cost is part of the contractor's overhead. That does not mean a specific Angi or HomeAdvisor quote is inflated, but overhead has to be recovered across jobs. ProFix does not sell homeowner information as lead inventory, contractors pay no per-lead fee, and the Real Cost Index lets homeowners compare quotes with median and 25th-75th-percentile ranges from 3,411,397 real public building permits across 50 U.S. metros in 31 states.
Sources and what we got wrong
We try to be sourced and honest. References used in this comparison include Angi's own homepage and contractor pricing pages, the FTC press release on the March 2023 HomeAdvisor lead-sales settlement, Angi Inc. public filings (NASDAQ: ANGI), the Ohio eLicense system, and the ProFix methodology and pricing policy pages. If we have a fact wrong, or if Angi's product has changed since publication, please tell us through /contact and we will correct it. The ProFix Editorial Team reviews this page quarterly.