Founded in 1995 by Angie Hicks and William S. Oesterle, it allows users to search for contractors to provide paid home improvement work.

[5] After Hicks recruited over 1,000 members in Columbus within one year, she turned to Oesterle to raise money from investors to develop the business.

[16] The $40 million expansion would add over a thousand jobs to the area over the next several years, but the company discarded their plans in protest of Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

[17] The law allowed individuals and companies to deny services in situations that "substantially burdened" the expression of their religious beliefs.

[18][19] On May 2, 2017, IAC, owner of HomeAdvisor, announced that it had agreed to acquire Angie's List for $8.50 per-share, valuing the company at over $500 million.

CEO Oisin Hanrahan explained that despite its brand recognition, the name "Angie's List" was confusing to users as it did not reflect the service's current business model (which is now focused on connecting users to and booking contractors), and that the change was also intended to help emphasize its current ownership of HomeAdvisor and Handy.

[25][26] A 2017 investigation by Chicago-based NBC Station WMAQ-TV found that many local "Angie's List Certified" contractors are unlicensed to do work.

[28] In March 2007 SCS Contracting Group sued Angie's List and two members for libel because of negative reviews of the company.

One of the sued members remarked, "if [contractors are] able to sue, then the value of Angie's List depreciates... People aren't going to be willing to submit reviews if they could be threatened with a lawsuit.

[30] In 2014, Angie's List paid $2.8 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that it automatically renewed members at a higher rate than they were led to believe.