Quick answer: with Oneflare closed as of 30 June 2026, the realistic options are hipages (the direct swap, but watch credit costs and contract terms), Airtasker (which absorbed Oneflare’s traffic, better for smaller tasks), ServiceSeeking (membership-style quoting), or building your own lead source with a website, Google Ads and reviews. The marketplaces get you work fastest. The owned route is the only one that cannot be switched off on you.
What are the main options now Oneflare is gone?
| Option | How you pay | Speed to first lead | Main community complaint |
|---|---|---|---|
| hipages | Credits per lead, typically on a contract | Fast | Credit costs, shared leads, lock-in terms |
| Airtasker | Commission on completed tasks | Fast | Small-job bias, fee on every task |
| ServiceSeeking | Membership to quote | Fast | Quoting against a crowd of competitors |
| Your own site + Google Ads + reviews | Build cost plus ad spend | Slower to start | Takes effort upfront |
Is hipages the obvious switch?
It is the biggest trades marketplace left in Australia, so it gets the most homeowner traffic. That is the genuine pro. The recurring complaints from tradies on Whirlpool and ProductReview are just as consistent: leads cost credits whether or not you win the job, the same lead is sold to multiple businesses, and the standard 12-month contract is hard to exit if the numbers do not work. None of that makes hipages a con job. It means you must track cost per won job, not cost per lead, and read the contract before signing. We unpack the full forum verdict, including what a lead really costs per booked job, in is hipages worth it, and we cover the same trap in detail in buying leads versus generating your own.
What about Airtasker, which absorbed Oneflare?
Oneflare’s traffic now lands on Airtasker, so the demand did not vanish. Airtasker’s model is different: customers post a task with a budget, you make an offer, and Airtasker takes a commission when the job completes. You do not pay for dud leads, which tradies generally like. The common reported gripe is that tasks skew small: flatpack assembly, small repairs, odd jobs. If you run a licensed trade chasing $5,000 jobs, tradies report it is a top-up, not a pipeline.
Is ServiceSeeking still an option?
Yes, and its membership model means predictable costs rather than pay-per-lead surprises. The trade-off is that you are quoting against many other businesses on every job, and price-shoppers dominate a comparison site by definition. We wrote up the full community picture in our ServiceSeeking review.
Why do we keep pointing at the “own your leads” route?
Because Oneflare just demonstrated the risk in the plainest way possible. Every review, every ranking, every credit on that platform belonged to the platform, and it switched off. hipages and Airtasker are businesses too, and they can raise prices, change rules or consolidate exactly the same way.
Your own website, Google Business Profile, reviews and ads are slower to build, and we will not pretend otherwise. But every dollar you put in builds an asset you keep, the leads come to you alone, and nobody can retire it. Our tradie marketing guide lays out the whole approach, and if you want it done for you, our Lead System builds the site, the ads and the review engine as one package.
A fair closing word: use a marketplace to fill the calendar this month if you need to. Just do not let it be the only place your work comes from. Renters found that out on 30 June.