Booking sites and agencies
Thumbtack and GigTag: local leads versus a live audience
A performer needs one thing from an audience that is enjoying the night: an easy next step. GigTag gives your act a permanent QR code on a small tag for the mic stand, and one scan opens your page with a booking form, your next gig and your links. You may have been weighing up Thumbtack. This is the piece that works while you play.
- No app for your audience
- Free to start
- One code that never changes
Why GigTag
Why a live act needs GigTag as well as Thumbtack
Thumbtack is a general marketplace for local services. GigTag is made for one thing: a live act and the people listening to it. It will not find you customers, but it gives every listener a way to book you on the spot, direct to you, with no commission taken by GigTag.
- 1
Built only for live acts
Everything on a GigTag page is about the gig: your next date, your weekly residencies, your music links, a booking enquiry form and, on Pro, song requests. Thumbtack is built to cover local services of every kind, with musicians and DJs among them, so the two are designed around different needs.
- 2
Customers who have already heard you
An enquiry through your tag comes from someone who watched you play and wants that at their own event. There is no introduction to make. They scan, fill in the form on your page and it reaches you on the website or in the GigTag app.
- 3
Nothing taken from your bookings
GigTag takes no commission on a booking that comes through your code, and the booking enquiry form is on the free plan. If you want to invoice, Pro gives you invoices in your own design that clients pay online. See Thumbtack's own site for how its side works.
- 4
Works the moment they scan
No app, no account, nothing to download. A phone camera pointed at the tag opens your page in the browser. People on a patio or at a bar will give you a few seconds, and that is all the tag asks of them.
- 5
A code you print once
The code is permanent. Print the tag yourself from the free print file, or order one, and it works at every gig from then on. If you change the act's name, old links still work. One tag, on the stand, every time you play.
In short
Thumbtack and GigTag, in four lines
- Thumbtack is a US marketplace for local services, where customers can also find musicians and DJs.
- GigTag is built only for live acts: one scan opens your booking form, next gig and links.
- Listeners book you directly, with no app to install and no commission taken by GigTag.
- Our recommendation: start with GigTag's free plan at your next gig, and keep Thumbtack if it brings you customers.
Side by side
GigTag vs Thumbtack, topic by topic
Who finds you
Keep Thumbtack for customers who are searching
The people who find you are already at your gig. They scan the tag on your mic stand and your page opens in their browser.
ThumbtackThumbtack is a marketplace for local services, so the people who find you there are customers looking for someone to hire near them for a job or an event.
What it covers
Everything on the page is about your gig
GigTag is only for live acts: solo, duo or band. Everything on the page is about the gig, the songs, the dates and bookings.
ThumbtackIt is a general marketplace for local services of many kinds. Musicians and DJs are among the professionals customers can find there, alongside the other services.
Where it works
Every country, tips included
The page, links, gigs, booking enquiries, song requests, invoices and tips work in every country.
ThumbtackThumbtack is a United States marketplace, so the customers using it to find a musician or a DJ are looking for someone local to them there.
Getting booked
A free booking form on your own page
A listener fills in the booking enquiry form on your page. You see it on the website or in the GigTag app. The form is on the free plan.
ThumbtackCustomers can find musicians and DJs on the marketplace. For how they get in touch and how hiring works, read Thumbtack's own site before you join.
The paperwork
Invoices in your own design on Pro
On Pro you send an invoice in your own design and the client pays it online. GigTag takes no commission on the booking.
ThumbtackSee its site for how it handles this.
The quick view
| GigTag | Thumbtack | |
|---|---|---|
| A QR code your audience scans | Yes, one that never changes | – |
| Song requests from the crowd | Yes, on Pro | – |
| Tips by card or Apple Pay | Yes, on Pro, into your own Ziina or Stripe. GigTag takes 0% | – |
| Booking enquiries | Yes, on the free plan | Yes |
| Your gigs and weekly residencies | Yes, on the free plan | – |
| Invoices for bookings | Yes, on Pro | – |
| A printed tag for your mic stand | Yes, in your own design | – |
| Works without an app for the audience | Yes, it opens in the browser | – |
A dash means we did not confirm it for Thumbtack, not that it is missing: see what Thumbtack offers above, or ask on its site.
Thumbtack or GigTag
Where GigTag is different from Thumbtack
A services marketplace and a stage tool
Thumbtack is built for customers looking for a local service. GigTag is built for one situation: a live act in front of an audience. It gives you a permanent QR code on a small custom tag for your mic stand. People scan it from where they are sitting and your page opens in their browser, with your next gig, your links and a booking enquiry form.
The customer has already heard you
A booking enquiry through GigTag comes from someone in the room. They have watched a set, they know your sound and how you handle a crowd, and they have decided they want that at their own event. You are answering a person who chose you while you were playing, and the form they filled in was on your page, under your name.
From the enquiry to a paid invoice
GigTag keeps going after the enquiry. You manage enquiries on the website or in the GigTag app, next to your gigs and residencies. On Pro you can send the client an invoice in your own design, and they pay it online. Pro also turns on song requests during the set. GigTag takes no commission on a booking that comes through your code.
A night with GigTag
A solo singer's Sunday at the winery
You are booked for three hours on the patio of a tasting room, one voice and one guitar. The tag hangs from your mic stand, facing the tables. People are here for the afternoon, so they have time to be curious. A couple scan it and your page opens in the browser on their phone. They scroll to your next gig, see you are back in the area soon and add the date to their calendar. Someone at the next table follows your music links.
You are on Pro, so a request for a song on your list appears in the live queue in the GigTag app, and you play it after the next number. Towards the end, a woman planning a backyard party opens the booking enquiry form and sends it before she leaves. You read it when you get home. A few messages later the date is agreed and you send an invoice in your own design, which she pays online. The same tag goes on the stand at your next gig.
About Thumbtack
What is Thumbtack?
Thumbtack is a US marketplace for local services. Customers use it to find someone for a job near them, and musicians and DJs are among the people they can find there. It is a general services marketplace, with live music as one of many things on offer. For a musician, that means being listed where local customers already go when they need to hire someone for an event.
Used in practice, it is a way to be found by a customer in your area who has an event and no act. This page keeps its description of Thumbtack short on purpose. How professionals set up, how customers get in touch and what it costs are all things to read on Thumbtack's own site, which is the place to check before you sign up.
- Where
- United States
- Website
- thumbtack.com
How Thumbtack works
- 1
A customer needs a service. Someone in the United States has a job to get done locally. For a musician, the relevant case is a customer with an event who wants live music or a DJ.
- 2
They look on Thumbtack. The customer uses the marketplace to find someone suitable near them. Musicians and DJs are among the people who can be found there, next to many other local services.
- 3
They pick someone. The customer chooses who to hire. How professionals appear, respond and get hired is set out on Thumbtack's own site, which is the place to read the current steps.
Who Thumbtack is for
Customers hiring locally. The core of Thumbtack is a customer who wants a local service and goes to one marketplace to find it. Everything else follows from that, including how a musician comes to be in front of somebody with an event to arrange.
Someone booking a musician. A customer with a party, a ceremony or a dinner who wants live music and looks for it the way they would look for any other local service. Musicians are among the professionals they can find on Thumbtack.
Someone booking a DJ. A customer who wants a DJ for an event and searches near where they live. DJs are among the people customers can find on Thumbtack, alongside musicians. If you do both, read its site for how to present each service.
The verdict
GigTag or Thumbtack: which should you choose?
The bottom line
If you perform live, GigTag is the one to put on your stand. The reason is fit: it is built for a live act and nothing else, so one scan gives your audience a booking form, your next gig, your links and, on Pro, song requests, with no commission taken by GigTag. Thumbtack still serves anyone who wants local customers to find them through a general marketplace, and it can run alongside without any conflict.
There is no clash. Thumbtack can bring local customers who have never heard of you. GigTag makes sure that every gig you play, whoever booked it, gives the audience an easy way to book you next. If most of your work already comes from people who saw you live, the tag may be the first thing to set up, and the free plan costs nothing.
- Step 1
Stay findable locally
If Thumbtack brings you customers, keep it going. It reaches people who are looking for a local service and have never been to one of your gigs.
- Step 2
Set up the free plan
Make your GigTag page, design your tag and download the print file. Add your links and every gig, so the page is useful from the first scan.
- Step 3
Bring the tag everywhere
Put the tag on your stand at each gig, including ones that came from Thumbtack. Whoever is listening can then see your next date or send an enquiry.
Choose GigTag if
You want the people who have just watched you play to be able to book you on the spot, without leaving their seat or downloading anything.
Start freeThumbtack may still suit you if
You are in the US and happy to be found on a general services marketplace by local customers with an event to fill.
GigTag FreeYour page, your tag design, every gig and residency, a booking form. One act.
GigTag ProSong requests, tips, invoices, more than one act. AED 30, £11.99 or $15.99 a month.
GigTag Printed tagFrom AED 100 in the UAE, £24.99 in the UK or €28.99 in the EU, delivered free, with a large size for more; $32.99 elsewhere, plus postage from the UK. Or print your own, anywhere, for free.
Is GigTag better than Thumbtack for a solo musician?
For what happens at your gigs, GigTag is the tool made for it. A solo act gets a permanent QR code, a page with the next gig, links and a booking enquiry form on the free plan, and song requests and invoices on Pro. It does not bring you new customers, which is what a marketplace such as Thumbtack is for.
Why choose GigTag if Thumbtack already sends me customers?
Because each gig those customers book puts you in front of a room of other people. With a GigTag on the stand, any of them can send you a booking enquiry directly, save your next date or follow your music, in the browser with no app. GigTag takes no commission, and the free plan is enough to start.
Can musicians get gigs on Thumbtack?
Thumbtack is a US marketplace for local services, and customers can find musicians and DJs on it. How you are shown to customers, how they contact you and what it costs are set out on Thumbtack's own site, so read that before joining. GigTag is not connected to Thumbtack and does a different job.
Is GigTag an alternative to Thumbtack?
Only partly. If you want a marketplace to bring you customers who have never seen you, GigTag is not that: it does not find clients. If what you want is more bookings from the gigs you already play, GigTag is built for it. The audience scans your code and sends an enquiry from your page in their browser.
I already use Thumbtack. What would a GigTag code add?
A way for the room to act while they are still enjoying the set. From one scan people can send a booking enquiry, see your next gig and weekly residencies, add them to their calendar and follow your socials, website and music links. On Pro they can request songs too. No app or account is needed.
Does GigTag work in the US, where Thumbtack operates?
Yes. Your page, links, gigs, residencies, booking enquiries, song requests and invoices work in every country. Pro is $15.99 a month in the US, or $159.99 a year, and the free plan covers one act. Tips work in the US too, into the performer's own Stripe account, with 0% taken by GigTag.
How do I get more bookings from the gigs I already play?
Give the audience something to do while they are still enjoying the set. With GigTag, they scan the tag on your mic stand and a booking enquiry form is on your page, with your next gig and links beside it. That is separate from a marketplace such as Thumbtack, which is about customers who have not heard you.
Is the GigTag booking enquiry form free?
Yes. The booking enquiry form is part of the free plan, along with your custom tag design and print file, your page, your links, every gig and residency, and one act. You only need Pro for song requests, tips, invoices and more than one act. See Thumbtack's site for its own prices.
Is Thumbtack a music booking site?
Not specifically. Thumbtack is a US marketplace for local services in general, and customers can also find musicians and DJs on it. GigTag is the opposite kind of thing: it does nothing except serve live acts, and it does not find customers. It gives your audience a page to scan at the gig.
Can a duo or a band share one GigTag?
Yes. A GigTag belongs to the act, whether that is a solo performer, a duo or a band, and band members can join the band. On Pro, one account can hold more than one act, which helps if you also go out solo. However you are listed on Thumbtack, the tag on the stand speaks for the act playing.
Looking for Thumbtack itself?
This page is GigTag's. Thumbtack's sign-in, prices, reviews and support are on its own site.
Sites like Thumbtack: more booking sites and agencies compared
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- Encore Musiciansvs GigTag
Thumbtack is the name of its owner's product; GigTag is not connected with it. What is said about Thumbtack here comes from its own public website, checked on 7 October 2026. Products change: if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
For musicians
One code on your stand. Requests, tips and the next gig behind it.
No app for your audience, nothing to download. Free to start.