Lead generation · Australia · Head-to-head
Bark (AU) vs Hipages
Two Australia lead generation options, compared side by side for Australia trades.
Which should you choose?
Bark (AU) carries a reputation warning (see below) and Hipages does not. Read the warning before you choose Bark (AU).
Bark (AU)
Tier F · Reputation warningLondon-based services marketplace: pros spend credits to respond to customer requests, with up to five pros per request
⚠ The London company that runs Bark's Australian site has no accreditation on its BBB profile, which is listed under an Austin, Texas address. The profile showed 85 complaints closed in the last three years when checked on 30 September 2026. Under Bark's own terms you spend credits to respond before you can reach the customer, up to five pros can contact the same customer, credits are returned only for an invalid phone number, a non-working email or contact details that are not the requester's, reported within 7 days, and credits bought from 1 November 2025 expire after 3 months.
Bark is an online services marketplace founded in the UK by Kai Feller and Andrew Michael, headquartered in London and majority-owned by private equity firm EMK Capital since 2022. Its Australian site covers business, events, health, home, legal, lessons and pet services as well as trades. Customers post a request for free, pros spend credits to respond, and Bark's terms say a maximum of five professionals will contact the customer on a general request; Bark takes no commission on the job.
Pros
- + No commission on the job; one fee to respond and follow-up messages are free
- + Paying to respond unlocks the customer's phone number and email
- + One-time Get Hired Guarantee re-adds the first starter pack's credits if it wins no work
- + Covers many service categories beyond the trades
Cons
- − You pay before you know whether the customer will reply
- − Up to five pros can contact the same customer
- − Credits bought from 1 November 2025 expire after 3 months (previously 12)
- − Credits are returned only for an invalid phone number, a non-working email or contact details that are not the requester's, reported within 7 days
Australia note
The Australian site is run by Bark.com Global Limited, a company registered in England and Wales. Bark's careers site says its Melbourne office houses the sales and marketing teams for Australia and New Zealand.
Hipages
Tier A · ListedAustralian home-improvement marketplace where homeowners post jobs and subscribed tradies get leads
hipages is an online marketplace run by hipages Group Holdings, which listed on the ASX in 2020 (code HPG) and also owns Builderscrack in New Zealand. Homeowners post a job and are matched with local tradies; hipages Group says more than 100,000 jobs are posted each month and that hipages has 33,000 tradie members. Tradies pay by subscription, a model hipages adopted in 2021, and in 2024 it launched hipages tradiecore, an app that combines lead and job management.
Pros
- + Homeowners post jobs directly; hipages Group says over 100,000 jobs are posted each month
- + Lead and job management in one app (hipages tradiecore, launched 2024)
- + Operating since 2004, with an ASX-listed parent that reports its results publicly
Cons
- − No public tradie price list found: get a written quote before signing up
- − Subscription is an ongoing cost whether or not leads turn into paid work
- − Australia only; New Zealand work runs through the separate Builderscrack platform
Australia note
Australia-only marketplace; the group's New Zealand marketplace is the separate Builderscrack brand. hipages Group lists offices in Sydney and Manila, plus Christchurch for Builderscrack.
More Australia options
See all Australia lead generation vendors and the rest of the Australia directory.