Bark vs Checkatrade: which costs a trade less?

Bark and Checkatrade both promise you customers, but they charge in completely different ways. One sells you individual leads. The other sells you a year’s membership. So “which is cheaper?” has no single answer until you put your own numbers in.

Below, the two side by side from their own pages, then the sum that shows which costs you less per job. Bark’s facts below are from its help centre, pricing page and Terms and Conditions for Professionals (last updated 29 October 2025). Checkatrade’s are from its pricing and renewals pages, all read on 2 October 2026, plus its terms as checked for our Checkatrade guide on the same day. Prices and terms change, so check them again before you sign or buy.

Side by side

	Bark	Checkatrade
How you pay	Credits, bought in advance. “Current credit price: £1.80 per credit”, which “may vary depending on the credit package purchased”. VAT “shall be payable in addition”	Monthly membership: Free £0, Approved £30 a month, Growth “from £59/mo”
What a lead costs	A number of credits per lead, depending on “Service type” and “Size and scope of the job”. Shown before you respond	Growth gives “a regular flow of leads for a fixed monthly cost”. No per-lead price on the pricing page
Contract	None. Credits for general leads bought since 1 November 2025 expire after 3 months	12 months. Renews automatically; change or cancel by phone in your renewal window
Who else gets the job	“Each customer can receive up to 5 responses from professionals”	Request a Quote can contact “up to 3 specialists” at once
If the customer goes quiet	No credits back. “No response from the customer” doesn’t qualify for a return	You’ve paid the month either way
Guarantee	Get Hired Guarantee on your first Starter Pack: credits back (not money) if you use them all and aren’t hired, with conditions	No lead guarantee: the fixed plan terms call the number of leads an estimate that “is not binding”
Vetting	Background checks for Elite Pro members	“Up to 12 checks”, including ID and financial checks

How Bark charges you

On Bark, customers post a request (Bark calls them “Barks”), and Bark matches them to professionals. Its pricing page says “we’ll send you leads for free” from the moment you sign up, and: “You only pay to contact customers that you think are the right fit for your business.” When you pay to respond, you get the customer’s phone number and email.

• The credit price. £1.80 per credit on Bark’s help centre, read 2 October 2026, varying by pack. Bark’s terms add that “VAT (or local equivalent) shall be payable in addition to the Fees” and that “All Credits are payable in advance”.
• The cost per lead. Bark doesn’t publish a fixed number. Its help centre says the credits needed depend on the service type and the size and scope of the job; its pricing page says it calculates the cost “based on the service, the value of the job, and the supply and demand in the area”. You see the cost on each lead before you commit.
• The competition. Up to five professionals can respond to one customer. Bark shows you how many have already responded before you buy, and its own advice is “the sooner you respond to a lead, the less competition you’re up against.”
• Expiry. Credits for general leads bought on or after 1 November 2025 “are valid for 3 months from the date of purchase”, and “Expired Credits will not be refunded or extended.”
• Getting credits back. You can ask for a credit return within 14 days for things like “Invalid contact details” or “Duplicate or test leads”, and “All returns are issued at our discretion”. But Bark lists “The customer hired someone else” and “No response from the customer” as reasons a return is declined. Its terms say: “If you do not secure a job with the Prospective Customer who has issued a Bark on our Website, you will not be entitled to any Credit return from us.”
• Money back. For credit packs, a monetary refund needs the pack to be “Completely unused (no credits spent)”.
• The Get Hired Guarantee. On your first Starter Pack, if you use your credits and aren’t hired, Bark returns “The credits you used not the original pack size”, provided at least three calendar days have passed since your last lead purchase and you haven’t been marked as hired. It’s credits, not cash.

We’ve covered Bark on its own in more detail on is Bark worth it for tradesmen.

How Checkatrade charges you

Checkatrade is a membership. You pay every month whether the phone rings or not.

• The plans. On Checkatrade’s pricing page, read 2 October 2026: Free at £0 a month, Approved at £30 a month, and Growth at “Prices from £59/mo”. Approved is about the badge and profile: “a Checkatrade tick on your professional business profile”, review requests and job management tools. Growth adds leads.
• How Growth is priced. You tell Checkatrade your trade, pick “the specific postcode areas you want to work in”, and “Select the amount of leads you’re looking to receive each year”. So the real Growth price is set for you, and two trades on Growth can pay very different amounts. The page doesn’t say whether prices include VAT, so ask.
• The term. The pricing page says “Memberships are for 12 months.” Its renewals page says “Your membership renews automatically every 12 months”, that to change or cancel “You must call us during your renewal window”, and that “Cancelling your Direct Debit will not cancel your membership or your contractual obligation to pay for the 12-month term.” Its terms, as we read them on 2 October 2026, put that window at the 35 days before your renewal date.
• Price changes. The renewals page says “Your renewal price may be updated each year”.
• The competition. Customers can book you through your profile, call you, or request a quote, and Request a Quote can contact “up to 3 specialists” at once.
• Leads aren’t guaranteed. Checkatrade’s fixed lead plan terms describe the number of leads as an estimate that “is not binding”.

If Rated People was your third option: it closed all its memberships and is now part of Checkatrade Group, according to its own page on 2 October 2026. See our Rated People guide.

The sum: what each one costs per job won

The headline prices can’t be compared directly: one is per lead, the other per year. What you can compare is what each one cost you for every job it actually won. Here’s the method, with made-up numbers to show how it works. These are not real prices for your trade.

Made-up example: Bark

• A lead in your trade costs 8 credits (made up). At £1.80 a credit, that’s £14.40, plus VAT at 20%: £17.28 a lead.
• You respond to 25 leads in a month: £432.
• You win 3 of them.
• Cost per job won: £432 ÷ 3 = £144.

If you win 6 of the 25, it’s £72 a job. If you win 1, it’s £432 for that one job. On Bark, the cost per job rides on your win rate.

Made-up example: Checkatrade Growth

• Your Growth plan is quoted at £120 a month (made up; the real price depends on your trade, area and leads).
• Over the 12-month term: £1,440.
• In a good year you win 24 jobs from it: £60 a job.
• In a slow year you win 8: £180 a job.

On Checkatrade the cost is fixed for the year, so each job gets cheaper the more you win.

Do it with your own numbers

1. Add up the real cost over the same period for each: credits or membership, plus VAT, plus anything else you paid (an application fee, a sponsored listing, credit top-ups).
2. Count the jobs you won, not the leads. If you can’t, that’s the first problem to fix.
3. Divide cost by jobs won. That’s your true cost per job.
4. Compare it with what a job is worth to you. A £144 lead cost might be fine on a £4,000 extension and a disaster on a £90 gutter clear.

To get step 2 right you need to know where each job came from. Our guide on how to tell which jobs came from Google has a simple tracker that works for lead sites too.

Which suits which trade

Bark can suit you if:

• You’re starting out and want a few leads this week without a contract.
• You want to choose each job and see the cost first.
• You can reply fast, because up to five firms can respond to the same customer.

Checkatrade can suit you if:

• You want a vetted badge that customers recognise.
• You prefer a fixed monthly cost and can commit to 12 months.
• Trades in your area say it brings them steady work (ask them).

Neither is ideal if you already have a well-reviewed Google listing bringing in calls. A customer who finds you on Google and rings you came to you directly, not as one of up to five paid responses.

What we have seen

In the 60 days to 1 October 2026, 84 people got in touch with Wiltshire Junk Busters, and 64 of them rang. 71 people got in touch with Luke and Dan’s in the same 60 days: 31 rang and 22 filled in their website form. Counted from the contact records behind each firm’s own number, and Luke and Dan’s website forms. See the case studies.

Those people got in touch with the firm directly, through its own number and website, rather than being sold to it as a lead. That’s the comparison we’d want any trade to make: what a lead site costs per job, next to what your own listing and website bring in. We’ve put Checkatrade side by side with that approach on our Checkatrade alternative page.

How we do it, and why it works

We get trades found where customers already search, on Google, and make sure every enquiry gets a reply.

• Found: your Google listing set up and worked every week, a review asked for after every job (on your listing, so they’re always yours), and a website built to be called.
• Answered: calls ring you, as always. A missed call from a mobile gets a text back in your name, every form and message is replied to in your name, anyone who goes quiet is followed up, and every quote is chased to a yes or a no.
• Counted: after each enquiry a text asks whether you won it and for how much. Once a month, one page: what came in, what you won, what it was worth. So you can put us through the same cost-per-job sum as Bark or Checkatrade.

Why it works: the enquiries come to you alone, and anyone who goes quiet is followed up. There’s no 12-month contract (30 days’ notice), and nothing to pay until you’ve won £500 of work through us. Any month the work you win through us comes to less than £500 is free. You can keep Bark or Checkatrade running alongside and let the numbers decide. We don’t promise a position on Google; we show you where you stand and change what can be changed.

The free check shows who Google lists for your trade in your town, where you sit, and whether your town is still free.