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14 free tools · No sign-up · No email capture

Free AskBaily tools — homeowner + contractor

Real-time license checks, exposure audits, and lead-spend math — in one place. Built for homeowners who want proof before signing, and contractors auditing what Angi and Thumbtack are actually costing them. Pick an audience or topic below to narrow the list.

Audience
Topic
  1. For homeownersTrustLive gov data

    Free Contractor License Check

    Enter a license number and state. Get a real-time green / yellow / red scorecard from 17 regulators including CSLB, NYC DOB, WA L&I, and Ontario HCRA.

  2. BothLicensingLive gov data

    Contractor License Lookup

    Direct links to 17 regulator portals worldwide — CSLB, AZ ROC, TDLR, CILB, NYC DOB, HCRA, NSW Fair Trading, BCA Singapore, Dubai Municipality, and more.

  3. For homeownersDecisions

    Contractor Exposure Check

    Before you submit a form on Angi or Thumbtack, see how many contractors will receive your name, phone, and email — and how many calls to expect in 48 hours.

  4. For contractorsCost

    Lead Spend Audit

    Contractor true-CAC calculator. Enter your Angi / Thumbtack / HomeAdvisor spend and close rate. See your real cost per closed job with unconverted-lead waste baked in.

  5. For contractorsCost

    CAC Compared

    Side-by-side customer-acquisition-cost comparison across Angi, Thumbtack, HomeAdvisor, Houzz Pro, Bark, and AskBaily's tiered take-rate model.

  6. For contractorsCost

    Lead Cost Calculator

    10-platform lead-fee calculator. See total annual spend, money burned on unconverted leads, and what the same pipeline would cost on AskBaily's zero-lead-fee model.

  7. For contractorsMarketing

    Contractor Lead Economics

    Long-form explainer: why shared-lead platforms produce negative unit economics, and the math behind AskBaily's single-match, take-rate alternative.

  8. For homeownersDecisionsLive gov data

    Permit Timeline Estimator

    City-specific permit timelines for 12 remodel project types across 6 US metros — LA, NYC, Phoenix, Miami, Chicago, Austin. Min / median / max weeks, with citations to each city building department's public data.

  9. For homeownersDecisions

    Remodel ROI Estimator

    Recoup-at-resale percentage by city + project type. 14 US cities, 12 RM Cost vs Value 2024 project types. Anchored to RM data with regional cost + return multipliers.

  10. For homeownersCost

    Permit Cost Estimator

    Plan-check + permit-fee estimator across 20 US cities × 12 project types. Authority labeled per city (LADBS, NYC DOB, Chicago DOB, etc.) with valuation-based component.

  11. For homeownersTrust

    Insurance Coverage Check

    Score your contractor's GL per-occurrence, GL aggregate, and umbrella against industry-standard thresholds for your project's value tier. Verdict in 30 seconds.

  12. For homeownersDecisions

    Bid Comparison

    Compare 2-5 contractor bids against a fairness benchmark (trimmed mean). Per-bid flag (low-suspicion / fair / high-flag / outlier) plus spread diagnostic.

  13. For homeownersDecisions

    ADU Feasibility Check

    State-law-aware ADU feasibility scoring. 13-state registry covering SB 9, AB 1033, HB 2001, HB 1337, HOME Act, SB 528, HB 24-1152. ZIP + lot + proposed-size inputs, verdict + cost range.

  14. BothDecisions

    Rent Control Impact

    Landlord remodel-payback calculator. Tests proposed rent increase against statutory cap (AB 1482, NY RSL, SB 608, HB 1217, etc.) and returns payback verdict in years.

Frequently asked questions

Are these tools free?

Yes. Every tool on this page is free to use, with no usage caps, no paywall, and no feature-gated premium tier. AskBaily earns revenue only when a contractor closes a paid job through our matching engine — homeowner research tools are a structural commitment, not a promotion.

Do I need to create an account?

No. None of these tools require an account, email address, or phone number to return a result. You can run a license check, audit your exposure, or compute your lead spend without giving us anything. If you later decide to chat with Baily and get matched with a contractor, that handoff is opt-in.

How are these tools different from what Angi or Thumbtack offer?

Angi and Thumbtack typically verify a contractor's license once at signup and then stop checking. Our contractor-check tool (Wave 181 license verifier) re-queries the state or provincial regulator at the moment you ask — so an expired, suspended, or revoked license shows up immediately. Our homeowner exposure-check and contractor lead-spend-audit tools simply do not exist on those platforms, because the unit economics they measure are the ones those platforms profit from.

Which tool should I use first?

If you are a homeowner evaluating a specific contractor, start with the free contractor license check. If you are a homeowner about to submit a form on Angi, Thumbtack, or HomeAdvisor, run the exposure check first so you know what you are signing up for. If you are a contractor auditing your marketing spend, start with the lead spend audit — it is the only one that computes your true cost per closed job (not per raw lead).

Looking for an answer, not a calculator?

Our Ask hub answers 30 common homeowner questions with a single plain- English paragraph each — no form, no matching engine, no signup. If a tool does not fit your question, start there.