Qanvast, HomeRenoGuru, Hometrust and HomeMatch: what these platforms actually are

Four names dominate the first fortnight of most Singapore renovation searches: Qanvast, HomeRenoGuru, Hometrust and HomeMatch. All four are private companies rather than public registers, and each is free to homeowners because interior firms pay to be there. Knowing the mechanism behind each one tells you precisely what a listing proves, and what it leaves for a homeowner to check independently.

Qanvast: listings, verified reviews and an opt-in deposit guarantee

Qanvast's About Us page states that the platform first started in Singapore in 2013 and has since helped more than 70,000 homeowners in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Screening is described on the FAQ as "a stringent vetting process, including but not limited to, checking the firm's ACRA registration details, cross-checking with industry partners, and more". Maintenance of that standard is published as a threshold rather than a promise: the review policy states that if a firm's rating falls below 3.5 out of 5 for more than 14 days, that firm will not be recommended to homeowners.

Review verification carries a documented mechanic that changes how the star ratings should be read. The same review policy states that authenticating a review requires "a scanned copy of the renovation contract with the reviewed interior firm", that verified reviews carry a checkmark, and that homeowners are encouraged to review "only after you have signed a renovation contract" — so a verified review can be written at signing, months before a single carpentry carcass is installed. Read recent reviews for stage rather than sentiment: a reviewer describing a showroom visit and a responsive salesperson is reporting on the sales process, while a reviewer describing week-eight touch-ups, a hollow tile or a redone silicone line is reporting on delivery.

The deposit guarantee is a separate, opt-in layer with hard edges. The guarantee page states: "A free service that safeguards your renovation deposits, the Guarantee covers 50% of your contract value, up to S$50,000, in the case that the recommended Contracting Service Provider becomes insolvent." Opting in requires submitting a PDF copy of the signed quotation within 7 days of signing, cover runs 270 days from the signed date of the first quotation, payouts are capped at four a year and S$100,000 in aggregate, and post-renovation rectifications and warranties issued by the provider are listed as not covered.

Hometrust: a review-ranked directory that keeps the negative reviews

Hometrust is a review site with firm profiles, project pages and a recommendation service. Ranking is stated openly on Hometrust's FAQ: "We rank firms based on the information provided from user feedback. Our algorithm is based on three key ingredients: the quality, quantity, and recency of reviews." The same page answers the question homeowners actually care about — whether bad reviews survive — with "No, Hometrust does not remove negative reviews", and adds that a business page stays published even if the firm asks for its removal.

Scale on the site is displayed rather than inferred. On 10 August 2026 the Hometrust homepage counters read 8,439 reviews written, 2,514 firms listed, 54,681 recommendations made and 7,176 projects. A firm profile checked the same day carried a total score out of 10, sub-scores for design, workmanship, customer service and value for money, review and project counts, a showroom address and an enquiry button — but no Unique Entity Number and no HDB directory reference, which is exactly the gap independent checking has to close.

HomeMatch: a CaseTrust-only matching service with its own fund

HomeMatch positions itself as a screening layer rather than a browsing site, summarised on its home page as "We Screen, Match, Protect. You Meet IDs & Decide." The pool restriction it publishes is unusually narrow and independently checkable: "All IDs are CaseTrust-accredited with above 4 Stars Review. Each ID is screened on 16 Quality Indicators: workmanship, price fairness, timeliness & more". Matching is described as being to a named designer rather than only to a firm, using what the site calls over 500 datapoints, and the site states that it is the Official Marketing Partner of CaseTrust.

Protection at HomeMatch is a fund rather than an insolvency guarantee. The protection page describes S$1 million held in the company's own bank account "to protect your hard-earned money from unfinished work, firm closures, and major delays", free to homeowners who meet an eligible firm through the service, with cover stated as up to S$150,000 per project. Unfinished work and major delays are a wider trigger than insolvency, and comparing triggers rather than headline sums is the useful way to read any platform's protection page.

HomeRenoGuru: a package-and-portfolio marketplace

HomeRenoGuru is organised around renovation packages, designer portfolios and photo galleries rather than around reviews. Its own About Us page, as captured by the Internet Archive in January 2025, describes the site as "the go-to marketplace for Homeowners in Singapore to get inspired by Home Photos, check out Interior Designers' portfolio and compare Renovation Packages", says it beta-launched in late 2013, and claims over 300 price packages, over 500 designers and over 40,000 design photos.

Package comparison is the feature that most needs a homeowner's own arithmetic before it means anything. Two packages advertised at the same headline figure can differ by twenty running feet of carpentry, by overlay versus hacked-and-relaid flooring, by whether the quoted tiles are supply-and-install or install-only, and by how many electrical points are included before the variation order starts. A package page is a starting point for questions about scope, not a price comparison in the sense a supermarket shelf is.

How the four make money, in their own words

The Qanvast FAQ answers the commission question directly: "We do not receive any commission when we match you with interior design firms. The firms pay us a fixed listing fee to keep us going!" HomeMatch describes its matching service as free for homeowners, and describes its own model as charging "renovators a simple upfront advertising fee when a successful match happens, not when you sign anything". The archived HomeRenoGuru About Us page describes the site as a place for professionals to "maximize their exposure, advertise their services, price packages and portfolio to targeted customers in Singapore". Hometrust's published FAQ covers reviews and ranking rather than commercial terms, and its site offers firms a paid tier and advertising, with the enquiry button on each profile being the point at which a homeowner's details reach a firm.

Paying for placement is ordinary economics for a free consumer site, not a scandal. The consequence for a homeowner is narrower and more useful: a platform's shortlist is drawn from the firms that chose to be on that platform, which is a smaller and different set from the firms lawfully able to renovate an HDB flat.

What none of the four can do for you

A platform listing does not amount to HDB licensing, and Qanvast states as much on its own FAQ page:

"Not every interior firm on Qanvast is HDB-licensed. Interior firms often sub-contract general work out to contractors, so they are not required to be HDB-licensed. Do check and ensure that their contractors are HDB-licensed before you embark on renovating your flat"

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— Qanvast FAQ

The warning quoted above restates a legal duty that sits on the flat owner rather than on any platform. Under the Housing and Development (Renovation Control) Rules, an HDB flat owner must engage a contractor listed in HDB's Directory of Renovation Contractors, and contravention is an offence carrying a fine not exceeding S$5,000 (Singapore Statutes Online). HDB separately states that it does not endorse nor guarantee the quality of works of contractors listed in the Directory (HDB).

Accreditation is the second thing a platform badge does not confer. CASE reported that approximately 97% of the 962 renovation complaints it received in 2024 were against non-CaseTrust-accredited contractors (CASE media release, February 2025), and CASE's February 2026 release records 787 renovation complaints in 2025, down 18.2 per cent from 962 the year before. CASE's president is quoted in that release:

"As of January 2026, 268 renovation businesses have been accredited under CaseTrust, marking strong progress towards CASE's target of accrediting 500 businesses by 2027. CASE urges consumers to engage accredited contractors, who provide deposit protection against sudden business closure and use standard contracts that clearly set out work scopes and payment schedules."

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— Mr Melvin Yong, President, CASE, media release, 9 February 2026

The two checks to run after a platform hands you a name

Take the Unique Entity Number off the firm's own quotation, not the trading name off its profile, and search HDB's Directory of Renovation Contractors — an open dataset on data.gov.sg searchable by UEN or company name. Check the CaseTrust listing separately, because accreditation is administered by the Consumers Association of Singapore and commits an accredited firm to a deposit capped at a maximum of 20% of total cost, a deposit performance bond and a 12-month workmanship warranty (CASE).

Noble Interior Design Pte. Ltd. is listed in HDB's Directory of Renovation Contractors (DRC Ref: HB-12-5230A, UEN 201722629H) and is CaseTrust-accredited — a statement any homeowner can confirm in the open dataset in under a minute rather than accept from a profile page. Run the same check on every firm a platform sends you, including the ones with the best photographs, because the photographs are the product the platform is selling and the registry entry is the fact the law cares about.