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Q3 2026 edition · data verified 2026-07-22 · next update October 2026

UK Trade Lead Cost Tracker: What Trade Directories Really Cost in 2026

None of the five biggest UK trade directories publishes a complete price list. This tracker collects what is on record for Checkatrade, MyBuilder, Bark, Rated People and TrustATrader: official prices, terms buried in T&Cs and help centres, and what tradespeople report actually paying. Every figure links to its source with a date and an evidence label. Where sources conflict, we show the conflict instead of averaging it away. Free to cite under a CC BY licence.

53 sourced data points across 5 platforms
0 of 5 directories publish a complete price list
£5–£40 typical reported cost of one shared lead
£1,200–£2,000+ typical reported annual cost of a subscription directory

The Short Answer

As of July 2026: Checkatrade officially starts at £30/month (+VAT), with lead-generating plans "from £59/month" on 12-month fixed contracts, and members report real bills of £80 to £500 a month. MyBuilder has no monthly fee and charges per shortlist, officially "from £7", typically £5–£35. Bark credits officially cost £1.80 each, putting a typical lead at £9–£36+, and credits now expire after 3 months. Rated People and TrustATrader publish no prices at all: reported figures are £30–£60/month plus £15–£40 per lead for Rated People, and £240–£750 a year for TrustATrader, billed annually in advance. For comparison, a top-of-page Google Ads click for "plumber near me" costs £2.41–£13.98. Unlike a directory lead, a visitor to your own website is not shared with up to 20 competitors.

The Five Platforms Side by Side

Platform Model Official published price Reported real-world cost Lead shared with Contract Trustpilot
Checkatrade Subscription £30/mo; Growth "from £59/mo" £80–£500/mo (members); £1,200–£2,000+/yr (est.) 10–20+ trades (reported) 12 months fixed 4.6 (~68k)
MyBuilder Pay per shortlist "From £7" per lead £5–£35 typical; £540–£940 filmed on big jobs 3–5 trades (reported) None 4.5 (~54k)
Bark Credits per lead £1.80/credit (help centre only) £9–£36+ typical; £30–£70+ high-value Up to 5 pros (member-verified) None (credits expire in 3 months) 4.1 (~103k)
Rated People Subscription + per lead None (phone for quote) £30–£60/mo +VAT plus £15–£40/lead (est.) Max 3 trades (reported) Minimum terms; auto-renew 3.8 (~19k)
TrustATrader Annual membership None (callback quote) £240–£750/yr (est.) Directory capped at 10 traders/area 12 months, billed in advance 4.7 (~8k)

Estimates and member reports are not official prices; every figure is sourced and labelled in the platform sections below. Trustpilot scores retrieved July 2026.

Platform by Platform: Every Figure on Record

Checkatrade

Officially from £30/month (+VAT); members report paying £80 to £500/month on 12-month fixed contracts, with three separate 2026 Reddit threads reporting £300 to £500/month.

How it charges: Monthly subscription tied to trade, postcode area and an annual lead volume. Not pay-per-lead.

Does it publish prices? Partial. The pricing page shows £0, £30 and "from £59" per month, but any real Growth-plan quote only appears after you enter your trade and postcode in the sign-up flow.

What Figure Evidence Source
Approved plan (reputation tier, no lead stream) £30/month Official Checkatrade pricing page page updated 9 Feb 2026, accessed 22 Jul 2026
Growth plan (lead-generating tier) Full price only revealed after entering trade and postcode in the sign-up flow. VAT is not mentioned on the pricing page; Checkatrade’s own blog confirms prices are +VAT. from £59/month Official Checkatrade pricing page page updated 9 Feb 2026, accessed 22 Jul 2026
Joining fee "There is no joining fee. Checkatrade members only pay a monthly fee." £0 Official Checkatrade blog accessed 22 Jul 2026
Typical monthly cost, active members £60–£120+/month Third-party estimate Local Search North comparison 8 Apr 2026
Typical annual cost £1,200–£2,000+/year Third-party estimate Local Search North comparison 3 Apr 2026
Individual member-reported monthly bills Three separate reports: "about £80 per month" (Reddit), "£306 per month" and "£442 per month" (Facebook trade groups). £80, £306 and £442/month Member-reported Tradespeople on Reddit and Facebook c. 2024–2026, captured 22 Jul 2026
2026 Reddit report: contractor listing cost "It was costing him £500 monthly for the listing, which only resulted in a handful of leads each year." The contractor has since cancelled. £500/month Member-reported r/DIYUK thread, 2026 2026, captured 22 Jul 2026
2026 Reddit report: business trying to exit contract "They charge us £390 a month, which feels excessive given the quality of leads we’re receiving." Posted while asking how to get out of the contract. £390/month Member-reported r/smallbusinessuk thread, 2026 2026, captured 22 Jul 2026
2026 Reddit report: recent sign-up "A hefty fee of over £300 monthly for minimal jobs." The same member reports being told that access to larger projects (rewiring, kitchen refurbishments) requires purchasing credits on top of the subscription. over £300/month, plus credits for larger jobs Member-reported r/DIYUK thread, 2026 2026, captured 22 Jul 2026
Historic entry price, rolling monthly contract Checkatrade has since moved from rolling monthly to 12-month fixed memberships. from £84/month (2020) Third-party estimate This is Money (Financial Mail on Sunday) 24 Oct 2020
Leads shared with No official Checkatrade figure published. 10–20+ tradespeople per enquiry (reported) Third-party estimate Local Search North comparison 8 Apr 2026

Contract terms

  • 12-month fixed term: "Fixed Plan Memberships only. Memberships are for 12 months" (join.checkatrade.com small print, accessed 22 Jul 2026).
  • July 2026 promotions: "2 months free" / "first month free" on selected plans.
  • Growth plans include a £100–£200 search-boost credit; Checkatrade Pay card fees are 1.29%–1.79%.

Where the sources disagree

  • Checkatrade officially states there is no joining fee, but one April 2026 comparison reports a £300–£500 one-off vetting cost. We show both; we could not verify the vetting charge against any official source.

Trustpilot: 4.6/5 from ~68,000 reviews (profile).

MyBuilder

No monthly fee; per-lead fees from £7 (official floor), typically £5 to £35, with member-filmed outliers of £540 and £940 on large projects.

How it charges: Pay-per-shortlist. Free to join and to express interest; a non-refundable lead fee is charged only when the homeowner shortlists you. No subscription.

Does it publish prices? Partial. No fee table exists anywhere on the site. The only official number is that lead fees "can start from £7".

What Figure Evidence Source
Joining / monthly / membership fee £0 Official MyBuilder support: "What are the fees?" 28 Oct 2024, verified live 22 Jul 2026
Lead fee floor Fee varies by job criteria, is shown before you respond, and is never adjusted afterwards. from £7 per shortlist Official MyBuilder support: "How are lead fees calculated?" 4 Dec 2024, verified live 22 Jul 2026
Typical lead fee, everyday jobs £5–£35 per lead Third-party estimate Nearby Traders comparison (and others) 2026
Lead fee including larger projects £5–£50 per lead Third-party estimate BuildMea ROI analysis 22 Apr 2026
Roofing lead fee £15–£60 per lead Third-party estimate UK Roofing Leads cost comparison 2026
On-screen shortlist fees filmed by a member The same member showed £250 of lead spend producing 6 jobs worth £775. £5–£7 small jobs; £540 and £940 on two large projects Member-reported YouTube: "Can MyBuilder actually work in 2024?" 2024
Tradespeople sharing each lead 3–5 per job (reported) Third-party estimate BuildMea / UK Roofing Leads 2026
Lead-to-job conversion 1 job per 5–8 paid leads (reported) Third-party estimate BuildMea / Bink analyses 2026

Contract terms

  • No contract, no minimum term, no subscription (official).
  • Lead fees are non-refundable once shortlisted; a limited refund-request process exists (official).

Trustpilot: 4.5/5 from ~54,000 reviews (profile).

Bark

Credits are officially £1.80 each; a typical lead needs 5 to 20+ credits, so roughly £9 to £36+ per lead, and credits now expire after 3 months.

How it charges: Credit system. Leads arrive free; you spend credits to unlock a customer’s contact details. No commission. Optional credit-pack subscriptions and an Elite Pro tier.

Does it publish prices? Partial. The public pricing page contains no numbers at all; the £1.80-per-credit rate is only published in Bark’s help centre.

What Figure Evidence Source
Standard credit price (GB) The public pricing page (bark.com/en/gb/sellers/pricing/) publishes no prices and carries a noindex tag. £1.80 per credit Official Bark help centre updated c. Jun 2026, verified live 22 Jul 2026
Credits needed per lead 5–8 small repairs; 10–15 mid-size; 15–20+ large projects Third-party estimate Noble Leads / Local Search North verified Apr 2026
Typical cost per lead at the official credit price £9–£36+ per lead Derived Official £1.80/credit x reported 5–20+ credits per lead Jul 2026
High-value service leads (kitchens, landscaping) £30–£70+ per lead Member-reported Tradesperson YouTube review 2025
Starter pack bought on camera 160 credits, list £240, paid £140+VAT (£168) Member-reported YouTube: "I Spent £168 on Bark Leads" Dec 2025–Jan 2026
Credit expiry Unused credits are non-refundable. 3 months (was 12 months before 1 Nov 2025) Official Bark help centre verified live 22 Jul 2026
Professionals who can buy the same lead up to 5 (member-verified; not published by Bark) Member-reported Tradesperson YouTube review / Front Page Advantage 2025–2026
Lead-to-job conversion 1 job per 5–10 leads; £150–£400 lead spend per job won (reported) Third-party estimate Digital Tradies summary of r/smallbusinessuk thread early 2026

Contract terms

  • Pay-as-you-go; no contract for standard credits (official).
  • "Get Hired Guarantee": all credits returned if you win no business from your first credit pack (official).
  • Credit-pack subscriptions auto-renew and are cancellable any time, but cancelling within the first 3 months may disqualify you from future credit subscriptions (official).
  • Elite Pro subscription price is unpublished; includes 2 free leads/week (only leads unanswered after 48h) and 20% off credit packs (official).

Where the sources disagree

  • Most 2023–2025 reviews still cite £1.20+VAT per credit; Bark’s help centre now says £1.80 (mid-2026). We treat £1.80 as current and the older figure as stale. Whether £1.80 includes VAT is not stated.

Trustpilot: 4.1/5 from ~103,000 reviews (profile).

Rated People

Publishes no prices at all; reported costs are £30–£60/month (+VAT) plus £15–£40 per lead, and one member reports a £72/month Unlimited plan.

How it charges: Subscription plus per-lead fees, with monthly credit-back, or the newer Unlimited Plan: flat monthly fee for unlimited leads in your primary trade (jobs up to £4,000, 50-mile radius).

Does it publish prices? No. Zero pound figures anywhere on ratedpeople.com. Even the Unlimited Plan FAQ says pricing varies and directs trades to phone 0333 212 0182.

What Figure Evidence Source
Published prices on ratedpeople.com none (quote by phone only) Official Rated People Unlimited Plan FAQ verified live 22 Jul 2026
Monthly membership fee (typical, reported) £30–£60/month +VAT Third-party estimate Sleepless Tradesman review 2026
Unlimited Plan fee (only concrete figure on public record) £72/month (moved up from a £24/month legacy plan) Member-reported Member review on Trustpilot c. 2025
Cost per lead, typical £15–£40 per contact (~£15+VAT common) Third-party estimate Noble Leads review 2025–2026
Cost per lead, full reported range £2–£65 +VAT Third-party estimate Tradesman Saver comparison re-cited 2026
Roofing lead cost £12–£50 per lead Third-party estimate UK Roofing Leads cost comparison 2026
Tradespeople per lead max 3, average 1–2 (consistent across 4+ reviews; not stated on ratedpeople.com) Third-party estimate Noble Leads / Tradesman Saver / NI Trades 2025–2026
Unlimited Plan scope jobs budgeted up to £4,000, within a 50-mile radius, primary trade only Official Rated People Unlimited Plan FAQ verified live 22 Jul 2026
Homeowner jobs posted ~1 million per year Official Rated People: how it works verified live 22 Jul 2026

Contract terms

  • Auto-renewing subscription; Minimum Term plans invoice the full remaining term if you cancel early (official Payment Terms).
  • Included lead credits expire at the end of each billing period with no rollover; discretionary credits expire in 30 days (official).
  • From 1 March 2026, Direct Debit via GoCardless is mandatory for all new trade customers (official).
  • 14 days’ notice required to cancel (official).

Where the sources disagree

  • Older reviews describe a standalone pay-per-credit model; Rated People’s current site (verified Jul 2026) describes subscription + per-lead with credit-back, plus the Unlimited tier. We report only the current model.
  • Reported per-lead ranges genuinely disagree: £2–£65 (full range) vs £15–£40 (typical). We show both rather than an average.

Trustpilot: 3.8/5 from ~19,000 reviews (profile).

TrustATrader

Publishes no prices; 2026 estimates put membership at £240 to £750 a year, billed annually in advance with no cancellation inside the 12-month term.

How it charges: Flat membership billed annually in advance. No per-lead fees, no commission. Customers browse the directory and contact you directly.

Does it publish prices? No. The join page is a callback-request form with no prices; the FAQ confirms "we charge a yearly fee for membership" without a number.

What Figure Evidence Source
Published prices on trustatrader.com The only official pound figure on the site is a £50 refer-a-friend cheque. none (callback quote only) Official TrustATrader join page verified live 22 Jul 2026
Estimated annual membership £240–£660 (year one) Third-party estimate Local Search North comparison 3 Apr 2026
Estimated annual membership (alternative estimate) £360–£750 Third-party estimate Unavoidable Marketing comparison 17 Jul 2026
Historic journalist figure members "typically pay from £958.80 a year" (2020) Third-party estimate This is Money (Financial Mail on Sunday) 24 Oct 2020
Historic member-quoted fees £495–£830/year (2012–2015 forum reports) Member-reported UK Plumbers Forums / Screwfix Community / Electricians Forums 2012–2015
Effective cost per booked job £45–£375 (at 2–8 booked jobs/month) Third-party estimate Unavoidable Marketing comparison 17 Jul 2026
Competition cap The clearest exclusivity guarantee of any major UK directory. max 10 traders per trade category per area, with waiting lists Official TrustATrader trader T&Cs T&Cs updated 15 Feb 2023, accessed 22 Jul 2026

Contract terms

  • Fees are "calculated and payable annually… in advance" and non-refundable (official T&Cs).
  • "Once live on the Website you cannot cancel the membership agreement prior to the expiry of the 12 month membership period" (official T&Cs).

Where the sources disagree

  • One April 2026 comparison describes TrustATrader as rolling monthly; the platform’s own T&Cs specify annual billing in advance with a 12-month lock. The official terms win.

Trustpilot: 4.7/5 from ~8,000 reviews (profile).

What Google Charges for the Same Customer

For context, this is what one top-of-page click costs on Google Ads for each trade's head search term in the UK, alongside how many people search it every month. A click is not a lead. But unlike a directory lead, the visitor lands on your website alone, not in an inbox shared with 3 to 20 competitors. Source: Google Ads data via DataForSEO, United Kingdom, July 2026.

Trade Search term Top-of-page bid range (per click) UK searches per month
Plumbers "plumber near me" £2.41 – £13.98 90,500
Electricians "electrician near me" £2.02 – £10.43 74,000
Roofers "roofers near me" £4.22 – £16.37 33,100
Builders "builders near me" £1.59 – £6.43 22,200
Gardeners "gardener near me" £0.90 – £3.86 22,200
Painters & Decorators "painter and decorator near me" £1.07 – £3.98 18,100
Handymen "handyman near me" £1.19 – £5.78 18,100
Carpenters "carpenter near me" £1.55 – £9.20 12,100
Window Cleaners "window cleaner near me" £1.46 – £4.51 6,600
Cleaners "cleaner near me" £1.63 – £6.25 5,400

Roofing is the most expensive click in the UK trades at up to £16.37, and "plumber near me" alone is searched around 90,500 times a month.

How We Compile This Data

  • Sources. Platform pricing pages, help centres and terms & conditions (scraped directly), national press, third-party comparisons, and tradespeople's own reports on Reddit, trade forums, Facebook groups, Trustpilot and YouTube. Every figure links to at least one published source with a date. Reddit figures are only included when the amount is quoted verbatim in the post and the thread's year can be confirmed; candidates that could not be dated were excluded.
  • Evidence labels. "Official" means the platform itself published it and we verified the page live. "Member-reported" is an individual tradesperson's own figure. "Third-party estimate" is a journalist's or analyst's figure. "Derived" combines an official price with a reported quantity.
  • Conflicts are displayed, never averaged. Where an official claim and reported reality disagree (or two estimates disagree), we publish both and say so.
  • Dead and unverifiable sources are excluded. Several pricing figures widely copied around the web trace back to domains that no longer resolve or pages that no longer exist. If we could not load the source, the figure is out.
  • This is a floor, not a total. Most tradespeople never publish what they pay, and quote-only platforms mean prices vary by trade and postcode. Treat ranges as ranges.
  • Corrections. Platform pricing changes constantly. If you spot an out-of-date figure, or you are willing to share what you actually pay, email us and we will review it within one working day.
  • Update cadence. Quarterly. This is the Q3 2026 edition, verified 2026-07-22; the next update is due in October 2026.

The tracker is maintained by Local Ladder, a UK web design and local SEO agency for tradespeople, founded by Elliot Blackler.

Cite or Reuse This Data

Journalists, researchers and trade bodies are welcome to use this dataset free of charge under a CC BY 4.0 licence. Attribute it like this:

Source: Local Ladder UK Trade Lead Cost Tracker, localadder.co.uk/uk-trade-lead-cost-tracker/

Every platform section has its own anchor link for citing a specific figure. For a quote, a per-trade breakdown, or the underlying source list, email [email protected] and we will respond the same working day.

Download the full dataset (CSV)

Infographic: What UK trade leads really cost in 2026. 0 of 5 directories publish a full price list; £500/month is the highest reported Checkatrade bill; £940 is the highest filmed MyBuilder lead fee; up to 20 trades can share one single lead. Source: localadder.co.uk

Download the infographic (JPG, 1536×2048) for editorial use under the same CC BY 4.0 licence, with attribution.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Checkatrade cost per month?

Checkatrade officially charges £30/month (+VAT) for its Approved plan and "from £59/month" for lead-generating Growth plans, on 12-month fixed contracts. The full price depends on your trade and postcode and is only revealed during sign-up. Tradespeople report real bills of £80 to £500 per month: 2026 Reddit threads alone report £300+, £390 and £500 a month, one of them noting that larger jobs require buying credits on top. Third-party analyses put typical annual spend at £1,200 to £2,000+.

How much do MyBuilder leads cost?

MyBuilder has no monthly fee. You pay a lead fee only when a homeowner shortlists you: officially "from £7", typically £5 to £35 for everyday jobs (third-party estimates), and £50 or more on large projects. One tradesperson filmed shortlist fees of £540 and £940 on two big jobs. Fees are non-refundable whether or not you win the work.

How much does Bark cost per lead?

Bark credits officially cost £1.80 each (published in its help centre, not on its pricing page). A typical lead needs 5 to 20+ credits depending on job size, which works out at roughly £9 to £36+ per lead. Since 1 November 2025, unused credits expire after 3 months and are non-refundable.

How much does Rated People cost?

Rated People publishes no prices at all; you have to phone for a quote. Third-party reviews report a membership of £30 to £60/month (+VAT) plus £15 to £40 per lead, and one member reports a £72/month Unlimited plan covering jobs up to £4,000 within a 50-mile radius.

How much does TrustATrader cost per year?

TrustATrader publishes no prices; sign-up is by phone callback. 2026 estimates range from £240 to £750 per year depending on trade and area. Membership is billed annually in advance, is non-refundable, and cannot be cancelled inside the 12-month term. Its T&Cs cap listings at 10 traders per category per area.

Which trade directory is cheapest?

It depends on how much work you need. Pay-per-lead platforms (MyBuilder, Bark) have no fixed costs, so they are cheapest to try: expect £5 to £40 per lead and roughly 1 job per 5 to 10 leads. Subscription directories (Checkatrade, TrustATrader, Rated People) typically cost £1,200 to £2,000+ a year on 12-month commitments. For comparison, a top-of-page Google Ads click for "plumber near me" costs £2.41 to £13.98, and a well-ranked website of your own has no per-lead cost at all.

How many other tradespeople get the same lead?

Rated People caps each lead at 3 tradespeople (reported), Bark leads can be bought by up to 5 professionals (member-verified), MyBuilder shortlists typically involve 3 to 5 trades (reported), and Checkatrade enquiries are reported to reach 10 to 20+ members, though Checkatrade publishes no official figure. TrustATrader does not sell leads; instead it caps its directory at 10 traders per category per area.

Are directory leads cheaper than Google Ads?

Sometimes per click, rarely per job. A top-of-page Google Ads click costs £0.90 to £16.37 across the ten biggest trades (Google Ads data, July 2026), but a click is not a lead, and a directory lead is not a job either: reported lead-to-job conversion on Bark and MyBuilder is 1 in 5 to 1 in 10, because each lead is shared with several competitors. The only channel where the lead is exclusively yours is your own website.

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