Every guide to hiring a contractor says the same thing: get multiple quotes. What they rarely explain is how many is actually enough, and when the advice changes. The short answer is three — but the reasoning behind that number matters more than the number itself.
Why Do Most Guides Say Three?
The FTC's guidance on hiring a contractor recommends getting several written estimates before signing anything, and HomeGuide's cost data consistently lands on "at least three" across nearly every trade it covers, from handymen to general contractors. Three isn't a magic number — it's the smallest sample size that actually tells you something. With one quote, you have no idea if the price is high, low, or typical. With two, you can only tell that they disagree, not which one is closer to fair. Three gives you a middle point of reference: a high, a low, and something to compare both against.
That's really what multiple quotes are for. A single price is just a number somebody made up. Three prices for the same defined scope of work let you see whether a number is reasonable — which is the difference between knowing you're paying a fair price and just hoping you are.
Does Getting More Than Three Quotes Get You a Better Price?
Usually not, and it can cost you more than it saves. Every contractor who submits a detailed bid is spending unpaid hours on your project — reviewing plans, sourcing material costs, sometimes visiting the site. Past three or four, you start running into diminishing returns: the fourth and fifth quotes tend to cluster near the first three instead of revealing some dramatically better price. Meanwhile you've added weeks to your timeline scheduling extra walkthroughs, and some contractors — especially busier, better-reviewed ones — will decline to bid at all if they sense you're collecting quotes to shop around rather than seriously hiring.
There are exceptions. Big-ticket, highly variable jobs — a full kitchen remodel, an addition, an ADU — can justify four or five quotes, because the scope is complex enough that outlier bids (both unrealistically low and padded-high) are more common. For a standard repair, a single-trade job like a water heater swap, or routine maintenance, three is plenty.
What Should You Compare Besides the Price?
This is where most homeowners go wrong: they line up three numbers and pick the smallest one. But contractors bidding the "same" job often aren't bidding the same job at all. One may include permit fees and disposal costs; another may quietly exclude them, planning to add them later as a change order. One may spec mid-grade materials; another may spec builder-grade and let you assume otherwise. Angi's renovation cost data shows just how wide the range can be for comparable projects, which is usually a scope problem more than a pricing problem.
Before comparing dollar figures, check that each quote includes the same basics:
- A specific scope of work, not just a total price
- Materials and their grade or brand, not "standard materials"
- Who pulls permits, and whether that cost is included
- A start date and estimated timeline
- Payment schedule and what triggers each payment
If one quote is missing several of these while the others have them, it's not necessarily the best deal — it may just be the least complete.
How Much Can Quotes Actually Vary for the Same Job?
More than most homeowners expect. Because contractors differ in overhead, crew size, material sourcing, and how busy their schedule already is, bids on an identical scope of work can spread widely rather than clustering tightly around one number.
| Project type | Typical spread across bids | Likely driver of the gap |
|---|---|---|
| Small repair (single trade) | Narrower, but still varies by labor rate | Local labor cost, trip/service fees |
| Mid-size remodel (bath, kitchen refresh) | Can vary by thousands of dollars | Material grade, subcontractor markup |
| Large remodel or addition | Widest range of any category | Scope assumptions, permit handling, design complexity |
Exact dollar ranges depend heavily on your region and project specifics, so treat any number you see online as a starting point, not a quote. What matters is the pattern: the more complex the job, the more room there is for two honest, competent contractors to land on very different numbers for reasons that have nothing to do with one of them overcharging you.
When Is It Worth Getting Only One Quote?
Rarely, but it happens. If you're using a contractor you've hired before, who did good work, on a job similar in scope to the last one, a single quote plus a quick sanity check against a published cost guide can be reasonable. The same goes for small, low-stakes repairs where the cost of getting three quotes (your time, the delay) outweighs the savings at stake. For anything over a few hundred dollars, anything involving permits, or any contractor you haven't worked with before, get at least three.
What to Do About It
Start every project — even a small one — by defining the scope in writing before you contact anyone: what work, what materials, what's included. Send that same scope to three vetted, licensed contractors so their quotes are actually comparable, not three different interpretations of a vague ask. Before you compare price, confirm each quote covers permits, materials, and timeline the same way — a step easier to skip than it should be, which is why it's worth checking each contractor's license status and insurance coverage as part of that same round. If a bid comes in noticeably lower than the other two, ask what it leaves out before assuming you found a bargain. And if you're gathering quotes for outdoor work specifically, the same logic applies — see how to get accurate landscaping quotes you can compare for scope-matching tips specific to that trade.