Rank and Rent Pricing: How Much to Charge for a Rank and Rent Site

Disclosure: I sell a $37 kit built around the percentage model, so I’m biased toward it. My first sites were paid by commission; my newer home-services sites use a flat monthly fee. I’ll show where each model is better.

What are the three rank and rent pricing models?

How much monthly rent do people charge?

Nobody publishes survey data on rank and rent prices, so every figure you’ll see is a practitioner’s estimate. The most commonly quoted range:

• $300 to $3,000 a month on retainer, once a site has proven it produces leads for 3 to 6 months, per Ippei Kanehara’s rank and rent guide (he sells a coaching program). Checked October 2026.

Treat these as ceilings, not starting prices. Rent is only easy to charge once you can show a business a history of leads from your site. A brand-new site with no track record is a hard sell at any monthly price.

How do you price a single lead?

A lead is worth what the job is worth to the contractor, times how often a lead turns into a job. A simple formula:

Average job value × close rate × the share you ask for = price per lead.

Example: a retaining wall averages about $6,083 (Angi, 2026, see the retaining wall niche page). If 1 in 4 leads closes and you ask for 10% of that value, a lead is worth about $152 to price. Start below the math and raise it once a contractor has closed a few of your leads. The pay per lead guide covers how to define a qualified lead so you don’t argue about it later.

What does the same site earn under each model?

Here’s one hypothetical retaining wall site in a small city that sends a contractor 6 leads in a month, of which 1 closes at the $6,083 average. This is example math, not a forecast: new sites often send fewer leads than this, and some months none close.

The totals are similar. What changes is how easy the first “yes” is, and who loses when a month is slow. With rent, the contractor loses. With 10% of closed jobs, you do. That’s exactly why a contractor who’s never heard of you will agree to the percentage deal and won’t agree to rent.

Which pricing model should you start with?

• New site, no lead history: a percentage of closed jobs. The contractor risks nothing, so you skip the sales pitch. Give the first lead free so they can see it’s real.
• Steady lead flow, organized contractor: pay per lead, with a written definition of what counts.
• Months of proven leads: monthly rent. You now have the records to justify it, and a contractor who’s already closed your leads.

Many sites move along that path: commission first, then per lead or rent once the numbers are on paper. If you go the percentage route, put it in writing. The 10% agreement template covers how “closed” is defined, when payment is due and how jobs are reported, and the lead tracker keeps the records you’ll need later to justify rent.

What do rank and rent tools and sites cost?

“Rank and rent pricing” also means what you pay, not what you charge. On the cost side, a lean first site you build yourself is about $208 for the first year (every cost, itemized). Rank and rent software is optional: RankNRent lists $39, $79 and $159 plans, and Rank and Rent Engine (RARE) has a free plan plus $97, $287 and $497 tiers, both checked October 2026. See rank and rent tools for what each does. Done-for-you site builders sell packages too; you don’t need one to test a first site.

What should you avoid when pricing?

• Quoting rent on a site that doesn’t rank yet. You’re asking a business to pay for a promise.
• Leaving “qualified” or “closed” undefined. Most payment disputes start here.
• Pricing from search volume alone. Tools often show zero volume for searches that still bring real leads. Price from job value and what actually comes in.
• Counting on a number. Ranking takes months (on my sites that worked, the first lead took about 1 to 3 months), many leads won’t close, and results vary from city to city. The income calculator lets you test your own numbers.