Frequently asked questions

HandyHome is a marketplace for home projects. Homeowners post a job once, reviewed local contractors send bids with a price and a message, and the homeowner picks one and pays them directly.

How it works →

We’re in a pilot in Atlanta, Georgia. Contractors and homeowners are being onboarded by hand, so the number of pros in each trade is still growing.

Homeowners: posting is free during the Atlanta pilot. After the pilot it will be $1 per job post, with notice before any charge starts.

Contractors: free during launch. No subscription, no bid fees, no per-lead fees and no commission on your jobs. Any future pricing will be announced in advance.

Pricing →

Lead sites charge contractors for every lead, whether they win the job or not. HandyHome is free for contractors during launch, with no lead or bid fees, and homeowners see every bid side by side instead of fielding calls.

Plumbing, electrical, painting, lawn and garden, carpentry, roofing, bathroom and kitchen work, windows and doors, HVAC, cleaning and general handyman jobs. If yours doesn’t fit a category, choose General.

All services →

Yes. Any account can post a job or apply as a contractor. When you sign in, HandyHome opens the dashboard for the side you picked first; you can still post jobs or apply from the menu.

Choose Post a job, pick the job type, add a title and details, and enter your city and ZIP code. Review it and post. It takes about a minute. You’ll need a free account; if you aren’t signed in, you can create one on the same page without losing your place.

Post a job →

What needs doing, rough sizes or quantities, when a problem started, and your timing. The clearer the details, the more accurate the bids. Each service page lists what pros in that trade usually need to know.

Posting a job →

Contractors on HandyHome can see the job title, details, city and ZIP code. Your name, exact address and contact details are not shown on the job.

Yes. Select Add photos when posting to attach up to 8 photos. You can also add photos later by opening the job in your dashboard while it is open or hired.

Editing job details after posting isn’t available yet. To cancel an open job, open it in your homeowner dashboard, select Details, then Cancel this job and confirm with Yes, cancel job. You can also cancel a hired job from its job view, but completed jobs cannot be cancelled. Cancellation closes the job to new bids and declines pending bids. You can’t reopen it, but you can post it again.

We’re still onboarding Atlanta contractors, so some trades have only a few pros. Clear details help, and you can browse reviewed pros in the meantime.

Find pros →

In your dashboard. Each job shows how many bids it has, and the Bids inbox lists every pending bid across your jobs. Open a job to see each bid’s price and message.

Your dashboard →

Look at what each price includes, not just the number. Open the contractor’s profile to see their trades, experience and reviews, and message them with questions. When a job has three or more bids, we point out any that are far below or above the others.

Comparing bids →

The job is marked as hired, and the other pending bids are declined. Message your contractor to schedule the work. You don’t have to accept any bid.

Yes. Open the job, choose the bid and select Decline. The contractor sees the status in their proposals.

Yes. A message thread opens automatically when a contractor bids on your job. Find it under Messages in your dashboard.

Directly, when the work is done, using whatever you agree on: cash, check or a payment app. HandyHome doesn’t process, hold or escrow job payments, and takes no cut.

Paying your contractor →

No. Because payment goes directly between you and the contractor, we can’t reverse a payment or issue a refund. Agree on the price and what it includes in your messages before work starts, and for larger jobs avoid paying everything up front.

Yes. After you hire a contractor, they can add before, during and after photos, which appear on the job in your dashboard.

Open the hired job in your dashboard and leave a star rating and a few words. Reviews come only from homeowners who hired the contractor through HandyHome, and they appear on the contractor’s public profile.

Choose Apply as a contractor and answer a few questions: your trades, service area, business details and a short profile. It takes a few minutes and there’s no fee to apply.

For contractors →

A profile review by a person on our Atlanta team. We check that your trade matches the work you want, that you serve the areas you list, and that your business details are real.

It isn’t a background check, license verification or insurance check, and we say so to homeowners.

What HandyCheck means →

Every application is reviewed by hand, so timing varies during the pilot. You can find jobs and send bids once you pass HandyCheck. While you wait, your dashboard shows your review status.

You can apply without one, but tell homeowners the truth about what you have. Some work legally requires a licensed contractor or a permit; it’s your responsibility to follow those rules.

Community guidelines →

Once you pass HandyCheck. Until then your profile isn’t listed and you can’t send bids.

Under Find work in your dashboard. You can search by keyword or ZIP and filter by job type. Each job shows its details, city and ZIP, when it was posted and how many bids it has.

Homeowners don’t set a budget when they post. You price the job from the details, and you can message the homeowner if you need more information.

Give a clear price and say exactly what it includes, when you can start, and any questions you need answered. Homeowners compare bids side by side, so specifics matter.

Finding jobs and bidding →

Your bid appears under My proposals as pending, and a message thread with the homeowner opens. If the homeowner accepts, it changes to accepted; if they choose someone else or decline, it changes to declined.

It tells homeowners you’re taking new work. Go offline when you’re booked up. You can still see jobs either way.

Open Profile in your dashboard, make your changes and select Save changes.

Nothing during launch. HandyHome is free for contractors, with no subscription, no bid fees, no lead fees and no commission. If we introduce pricing later, we’ll announce it in advance.

Fees for contractors →

The homeowner pays you directly when the work is done. HandyHome doesn’t process job payments, so there’s no payout to wait for and nothing is taken from the job. Agree on price, scope and payment terms in your messages first.

Report it to us. We’ll review the job, bid and messages and can remove homeowners from HandyHome. Because payments don’t go through us, we can’t collect money on your behalf, so agree on deposits and payment terms in writing before you start.

Safety & disputes →

Message the other person in your job thread first; most problems are misunderstandings. If that doesn’t work, or you feel unsafe, report it. We review the job post, bid, messages and photos, mediate, and can remove people from HandyHome.

If you’re ever in danger, call 911 first.

Safety & disputes →

No. We review every contractor’s profile and remove people who break the rules, but we don’t guarantee work quality, we aren’t an insurer, and we don’t hold payments.

Be honest, be respectful, describe jobs and bids accurately, show up when you say you will, and only leave reviews for real jobs. The Community guidelines cover the details.

Community guidelines →

Reviews can only be left by a homeowner on a job where they hired that contractor through HandyHome. Paid, traded or retaliatory reviews aren’t allowed and are removed.

Select Sign in at the top of any page. Sign-in is handled by Clerk, our sign-in provider.

Homeowners: Settings in your dashboard, under Account details. Contractors: Profile in your dashboard. Your name and email come from your sign-in account.

We use it to run the marketplace, and we never sell it or share your email or phone number for marketing. We share data only with the services that run HandyHome: Clerk, Supabase and Vercel.

Privacy Policy →

There isn’t a self-serve option yet. The Contact page lists our support email and the current ways to reach us.

Contact →

Not yet. Email notifications are coming. For now, check your dashboard for new bids and messages.

No advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. We use sign-in cookies and record first-party usage events in our own database to improve the product.

Cookie Policy →

Check your internet connection and try again; your answers are kept on the page. If it keeps happening, take a screenshot of the message, including any Details line, so we can see what went wrong.

Posting a job, applying, and the dashboards need an account. Sign in or create a free account in the box on that page and you’ll continue where you were. If you’re signed in and still see it, refresh the page.

Any account can still post a job or apply as a contractor. Use Post a job, or Apply on the For contractors page, and you’ll go to that side’s flow.

There may be no open jobs right now; homeowners are still being onboarded. Clear your search and set the job type filter to All. Jobs you’ve already bid on show as “You bid”.

Check My proposals in your dashboard. If it isn’t there, the bid didn’t send; open the job and try again.

Profiles appear after your HandyCheck review is complete. Your dashboard shows whether your review is still in progress.

A conversation opens when a contractor bids on a job. Homeowners will see a thread for each contractor who bid; contractors will see one for each job they bid on.

Refresh the page, then try another browser. If a link takes you to “This page doesn’t exist,” use the menu or the help center to find what you need.

Help center →