Builders Crack tokens vs Lighthouse: two very different ways to buy work

If you're a tradie in New Zealand, you've almost certainly come across Builders Crack. It's one of the biggest lead platforms in the country, and for plenty of businesses it's the first place work comes from. So it's a fair question: how does its token system stack up against running your own advertising with an agency like us?

How the Builders Crack token system works

Homeowners post jobs on Builders Crack for free. Tradies subscribe to a plan, then 'chase' the jobs they want. Chasing is free — but when a homeowner accepts your connection request, Builders Crack deducts tokens from your account. Each job has a token value based on the trade category, the size and scope of the job, and how urgent it is.

Two things matter here. First, you're charged on connection, not on winning the job — the tokens are gone whether or not your quote gets accepted. Second, the same lead is usually shared with several other tradies, so you're quoting against competitors on price from the first message.

How Lighthouse works instead

We don't sell shared leads. We run Meta and Google ads under your business name, pointing at your website, so every enquiry that comes in is exclusively yours. There's no token wallet to top up and no platform sitting between you and the customer — they dealt with your brand from the first ad they saw.

Because the lead saw your work, your reviews and your area before they enquired, the conversation starts warmer. You're quoting on fit, not just being the cheapest of five tradies chasing the same homeowner.

The real difference

• Builders Crack: pay tokens when a homeowner accepts your connection, whether you win the job or not.
• Builders Crack: leads are typically shared with multiple tradies competing for the same job.
• Lighthouse: leads come through your own ads and are 100% exclusive to your business.
• Lighthouse: your ad spend builds your own brand and website, an asset you keep — not a platform's.
• Builders Crack: stop the subscription and the leads stop instantly, with nothing to show for it.

Where Builders Crack still makes sense

To be fair, it isn't useless. If you're just starting out with no brand, no website and no reviews, Builders Crack can put work in front of you on day one with almost no setup. For high-value jobs with a fast follow-up process, the numbers can work.

But most established trade businesses outgrow it. Once you can convert leads well, paying per shared connection forever is more expensive than owning the channel yourself — and every dollar spent on your own ads keeps working for your brand long after.

Try it without the risk

That's exactly why we offer a 1-week free trial. You cover the ad spend (under $300 for the week) and we run your campaigns for free — so you can compare exclusive, branded leads against token leads with real numbers from your own market before committing to anything.