Last updated: 22 June 2026
Oneflare is shutting down on 30 June 2026, and it’s funnelling its tradies onto Airtasker. If you built your work on Oneflare, here’s the short version: don’t just slide across to the next platform. Use the moment to build leads you actually own, through your own website, local SEO and Google Business Profile, so no platform can switch them off on you again.
Key takeaways
- Oneflare closes on 30 June 2026 and is directing its tradies to Airtasker, which takes roughly 15% of the job value.
- When a platform closes, your reviews, your ranking and your lead flow vanish with it. You rented them, you never owned them.
- Jumping straight to Airtasker stops the panic but repeats the trap: shared leads, blind quoting, and a commission on every job you win.
- The durable fix is owning your pipeline: a website that converts, local SEO, a strong Google Business Profile, and a steady flow of reviews.
- Owned leads take longer to switch on (usually 60 to 90 days for local SEO) but they compound, and they cost nothing per lead once you rank.
Having a platform you leaned on for years close with a few weeks’ notice is a gut punch, and the timing right on the new financial year makes it worse. This guide lays out what actually disappears when Oneflare closes, what the move to Airtasker really costs you, and the three options in front of you, ranked from quickest to most durable. By the end you’ll know exactly what to do next.
What’s actually happening with Oneflare?
Oneflare, one of Australia’s larger quote and lead platforms for trades, is closing on 30 June 2026 and pointing its tradies and customers towards Airtasker. For the tens of thousands of trade businesses who built their lead flow on Oneflare, the profile, the reviews and the enquiries all switch off at the same time.
It isn’t a glitch or a temporary outage. The listing you spent years building is going away, and the only “migration” on offer is onto a different platform with a different pricing model. That’s the part worth slowing down on, because the easy path and the smart path are not the same thing here.
What you actually lose when a lead platform closes
When a platform shuts down, you don’t just lose a login. You lose every asset you built inside it, all at once: your review history, your search ranking on that platform, your profile, and the steady trickle of enquiries that came with them. None of it was ever yours to keep.
That’s the real lesson in the Oneflare closure. A platform lead feels cheaper than building your own presence, right up until the platform changes the rules or closes the doors. Then you’re starting from zero with nothing to show for the years you fed it.
| What you build | Rented (a platform) | Owned (your site + Google profile) |
|---|---|---|
| Who controls it | The platform | You |
| Your reviews | Stuck on their profile, gone if they close | On your Google profile, yours to keep |
| Cost per lead | A fee on every lead, forever | Drops toward zero once you rank |
| Lead exclusivity | Shared with other tradies | Comes straight to you |
| If the provider disappears | You lose everything overnight | You still own all of it |
We’ve watched this play out from the other side. One electrician we work with stopped relying on directories and built his own local search presence instead. His enquiries from Google went from a trickle to more than 200 organic visits a month, with no per-lead fee attached to any of them. When a platform wobbles, that work doesn’t move.
What the move to Airtasker really costs
Airtasker runs on commission, taking roughly 15% of the job value rather than a flat lead fee. On a $2,000 job that’s about $300 off the top, on every job you win through the platform, indefinitely. That’s before you account for the quotes you lose.
The deeper cost is how you have to win work there. You’re quoting blind against several other tradies on the same job, and the customer is usually comparing on price. So you either drop your rate to win, or you spend unpaid time quoting jobs you don’t get. Either way the platform gets paid and you carry the risk.
None of that makes Airtasker useless. It can fill a quiet week. But sliding from one platform straight onto another, in a panic, locks you back into the exact model that just left you exposed.
Your three options now, ranked
There are really only three paths once Oneflare is gone. Here they are from quickest-but-weakest to slowest-but-strongest.
- Move to Airtasker (a stopgap, not a fix). It gets you in front of customers fast, but it’s the same rented model with a commission attached. Fine as a short-term gap filler, risky as your main pipeline.
- Spread across other directories (Hipages, ServiceSeeking and the rest). Slightly safer than betting on one platform, but you’re still renting, still paying per lead, and still sharing every enquiry. Read our honest take on whether Hipages is worth it for tradies before you commit a budget here.
- Own your pipeline (the durable answer). A website that turns visitors into calls, local SEO so you show up for “[your trade] + your suburb”, a strong Google Business Profile, and a steady review flow. It takes longer to switch on, but the leads are exclusive, they compound, and no one can take them away.
For most tradies the right move is a mix: use option 1 or 2 to keep the phone ringing this month, while you build option 3 so you’re never this exposed again.
How to own your leads instead
Owning your lead flow isn’t complicated, it’s just work that compounds. Here’s the order that matters for a trade business.
- Get a website that actually converts. Fast, mobile-first, with click-to-call and a simple quote form. This is the home base every other channel points to. See what that looks like for trades on our tradie websites page.
- Claim and optimise your Google Business Profile. The right primary category, your service areas, real photos, and regular updates. For most tradies the Google map pack is where the best local calls start.
- Build local SEO around your suburbs and services. A page for each suburb you work and each service you offer, so you rank when someone searches “[your trade] + suburb”. This is the engine behind SEO for tradies.
- Run a review system. A simple text to every customer after the job, with a one-tap link to leave a Google review. More reviews lift your map ranking, which brings more calls.
- Track where calls come from. So you can see your owned leads grow and wind back the rented ones as they do.
The honest part: this typically takes 60 to 90 days to start producing steady enquiries, longer to hit full stride. That’s the trade-off. Platforms give you a lead tomorrow and a fee forever. Owning your presence costs you a couple of months up front, then pays you back for years.
Frequently asked questions
Is Oneflare really shutting down?
Yes. Oneflare is closing on 30 June 2026 and directing its tradies and customers to Airtasker. If you have an Oneflare profile, your listing, reviews and lead flow on the platform end when it closes.
Where do Oneflare tradies go now?
You have three options: move to Airtasker, spread across other directories like Hipages, or build leads you own through your own website, local SEO and Google Business Profile. The first two keep you renting; the third is the only one a platform can’t take away.
Is Airtasker a good replacement for Oneflare?
It works as a short-term gap filler, but it runs on commission of roughly 15% of the job value and you quote blind against other tradies. As your main pipeline it repeats the same risk that the Oneflare closure just exposed.
How long does it take to get leads from SEO instead?
Most trade businesses start seeing steady enquiries from local SEO within 60 to 90 days, with results compounding from there. It’s slower to switch on than a platform, but the leads are exclusive and there’s no fee per lead once you rank.
Related reading
- Is Airtasker Worth It for Tradies? The Real Numbers
- Is Hipages Worth It for Tradies?
- How Much Does SEO Cost for Tradies in Australia?
Written by Luc Dossis, founder of Dossis Digital. We help Australian trade businesses own their lead flow instead of renting it.
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