Why FairCost exists
Two plumbing quotes can differ because they cover different work. Understanding the scope matters as much as the headline price.
FairCost helps you compare written scope and modelled estimates, while clearly labelling qualifying evidence.
Different quotes can be hard to compare.
Before using any comparison service, check its evidence, fees, privacy terms and commercial disclosures.
Quote comparison sites
Check who receives your request and what consent you give before submitting contact details.
Tradie directories
Check whether listings are sponsored and how providers are selected.
Review platforms
Reviews can help you ask questions, but compare the actual written scope and price too.
SEO content sites
Look for source dates, pricing units and a clear distinction between estimates and observed prices.
A useful comparison explains what is included, how the price was derived and what remains uncertain.
What FairCost does differently.
FairCost is a research platform, not a marketplace. The data comes first. Everything else flows from that.
We don't sell placements or leads today; if that changes, paid slots will be labelled and will never affect price data or rankings.
Real submissions from real Australians
Price records identify modelled estimates separately from eligible consumer submissions and verified operator cohorts.
Materials and GST flagged on every job
A $400 quote that excludes materials and a $400 quote that includes them are not the same data point. We capture both signals and adjust comparisons accordingly.
Confidence scoring on every range
We tell you how reliable each pricing estimate is. Models are labelled as models. Published observed ranges require a qualifying cohort.
Source status on every price record
Verified observation dates are shown only where recorded; model assumptions do not receive invented verification dates.
Methodology shown openly
How we collect, verify, weight, and publish pricing data is public. You can audit our logic at any time.
Editorial independence by design
Providers cannot pay to rank higher on pricing pages or influence the data. The provider directory has not launched.
Want the full structural detail? Read our methodology and editorial independence policy.
What's in FairCost today.
23
Service categories
15
Australian cities
Evidence by cohort
See each price record for its source
$0
Paid placements
Every price record identifies its own source and evidence status. See our methodology for how we collect and verify submissions.
Built by someone who got tired of guessing.
FairCost is run by Delah Gomasi, a Sydney-based founder who has spent over a decade in home services — first as a customer trying to work out whether quotes were fair, then as the operator of MaidForYou, a Sydney cleaning business.
Sitting on both sides — paying tradies and being a tradie — made one thing obvious: a useful comparison needs context. Matching tasks, quantities, materials and tax treatment makes differences easier to discuss.
FairCost is the attempt to fix that. Real submissions, named sources, named reviewer (me), materials and GST flagged, methodology published.
Full disclosure: I run a business in one of the listed categories.
I operate MaidForYou, a Sydney cleaning business. FairCost modelled estimates are not a measured Australian market median. Any verified MaidForYou cohorts are labelled as records from this one business. MaidForYou gets no preferential listing, no free Featured Provider slot, and is not recommended over other operators in editorial copy. If you'd rather see the structural protections written out in full, read our editorial independence policy.
Founder, FairCost
Founder of FairCost and operator of MaidForYou (Sydney, since 2018). Personally reviews every pricing change on this site.
— Delah
Stop guessing. Start knowing.
Check your quote against our price estimates in 30 seconds. Free, no signup, see our editorial policy.