MUNDELEIN, Ill. — 6 September 2026
Lead Smart Inc, a pay-per-call and lead-generation affiliate network for home services founded in 2008, has been ranked the #5 pay-per-call network in the 2026 mThink Blue Book Survey, which evaluates more than 400 performance networks. The company has also placed in the top three of the OfferVault Top Networks Survey for seven consecutive years, 2020 through 2026.
The 2026 pay-per-call top five
| Rank | Network | Core specialisation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aragon Advertising | Legal, auto, mass-market pay-per-call |
| 2 | CJ | Enterprise retail and national brand affiliate programmes |
| 3 | Marketcall | Insurance, finance, international call distribution |
| 4 | GlobalWide Media | Multi-vertical performance and lead generation |
| 5 | Lead Smart Inc | Nationwide home services and emergency restoration |
Source: mThink Blue Book 2026, Best Pay-Per-Call Networks.
Horizontal scale versus hyper-local routing
The ranking reflects a sector that has split into two operating models. High-volume horizontal networks concentrate on insurance, Medicare, financial services and mass tort, where calls flow into centralised call centres regardless of where the consumer dialled from. Home-service networks face a harder routing problem: a water-damage call in one ZIP code is worth a multiple of the same call three counties away, and it has to reach a contractor who actually services that address.
Lead Smart’s live coverage file spans 296,513 ZIP-code and service combinations across 41,259 distinct ZIP codes, 27 verticals and 53 state codes including Washington DC and Puerto Rico.
Where the money moved: emergency restoration
As insurance verticals absorbed tighter regulatory friction and TCPA scrutiny, emergency restoration expanded. In Lead Smart’s published payout file, the highest median payouts to the publisher who generates the call are all restoration trades, against an all-vertical median of $42.00.
| Vertical | Median payout | Highest in file | ZIP codes covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water Damage | $213.00 | $507.00 | 18,665 |
| Biohazard | $210.50 | $288.50 | 9,958 |
| Fire Damage Removal | $193.00 | $365.50 | 15,064 |
| Roofing (cost per lead) | $130.00 | $169.00 | 8,242 |
| Mold Removal | $65.50 | $159.00 | 11,656 |
| Pest Control | $42.50 | $42.50 | 35,283 |
| HVAC | $38.50 | $122.50 | 19,660 |
| Gutters | $32.50 | $32.50 | 36,714 |
Lead Smart data as published 6 September 2026. Of the 296,513 records, 66,053 pay $100 or more per call and 22,870 pay $200 or more.
Payout transparency as a competitive wedge
Performance networks have historically operated as closed systems, with payout tables visible only after a publisher applied, was approved and logged in. Lead Smart publishes its minimum expected payouts openly at affiliate-bid-coverage.leadsmartinc.com, resynchronised daily, with no login and no affiliate account required — so a media buyer or rank-and-rent builder can calculate campaign unit economics before spending anything.
Rankings are voted on, but payout files can be checked. We publish ours in full, by ZIP code and by trade, and anyone can read it without giving us an email address. If a publisher can see that a water-damage call in a specific ZIP pays $213 before they build anything, they make better decisions, and we get better traffic. That is the whole trade.Matthew Zivkovic, founder, Lead Smart Inc
Being ranked fifth among more than four hundred networks matters because of who votes. These are publishers and advertisers who work with these networks every day. Seven consecutive years in OfferVault’s top three, and now this, comes from paying on time and answering the phone, not from a marketing budget.Seth Pikus, chief executive officer, Lead Smart Inc
The complete ZIP-code-level coverage file is public, with no login: affiliate-bid-coverage.leadsmartinc.com.
About Lead Smart Inc
Lead Smart Inc is a US-based pay-per-call and lead-generation affiliate network specialising in home services. Founded in 2008 by Matthew Zivkovic and led by CEO Seth Pikus, Lead Smart connects more than 10,000 registered affiliate publishers worldwide with buyers across more than 200 home-service categories plus legal verticals, serving an estimated 50,000-plus home-service business locations nationwide. The network has paid more than $50 million to its affiliate publishers across Lead Smart and its predecessor businesses, maintains live payout coverage in all 50 states, Washington DC and Puerto Rico, has been voted a top-three pay-per-call network in OfferVault’s Top Networks Survey for seven consecutive years, is ranked #5 among more than 400 pay-per-call networks in mThink’s 2026 Blue Book, and was named to the Inc. 5000 in 2023 at No. 2,449. Learn more at leadsmartinc.com.
Media contact
Lead Smart Inc · 75 E Division Street, Suite B, Mundelein, IL 60060 · (855) 466-5542 · info@leadsmartinc.com.
Sources
Rankings are as published by mThink (Blue Book 2026, Best Pay-Per-Call Networks), OfferVault (Top Networks Survey, 2020–2026) and Inc. Payout figures are from Lead Smart’s public affiliate bid coverage tool, complete extract of 296,513 rows taken 6 September 2026; they are minimum expected payouts and exclude buyer-side reconciliations.