Which is cheapest: Checkatrade, TrustATrader or MyBuilder?

MyBuilder has no membership fee, so it can be cheapest if you're selective about leads, but every shortlist costs from £7 plus VAT, whether or not you win the job. TrustATrader doesn't publish its yearly fee, so you'll need a quote. Checkatrade's paid plans start at £30 a month on a 12-month contract.

Do other trades get the same lead?

On Checkatrade, Request a Quote can contact up to three firms at once. On MyBuilder, the customer chooses who to shortlist from the trades who respond. TrustATrader says it limits memberships per area. On Bark, a request can get up to five responses.

Can I cancel TrustATrader early?

Not according to its terms, which say you 'cannot cancel the membership agreement prior to the expiry of the 12 month membership period'. Its terms also say it doesn't renew automatically.

Is MyBuilder worth it?

It can suit trades who want to pick their jobs and avoid a monthly fee. The cost is per shortlist, so it adds up if you're shortlisted often but don't win. Track every fee against the jobs you actually win.

Checkatrade vs TrustATrader vs MyBuilder vs Rated People

Q: Is Rated People still running?

As a brand, yes, but it's now part of Checkatrade Group. Its own sign-up page, read on 2 October 2026, says it 'closed all memberships before it became part of Checkatrade' and that leads submitted through it 'will now be routed to Checkatrade tradespeople.'

If you’re thinking about joining a lead site, or wondering whether to stay on one, the first question is simple: how does each one make its money from you? They’re quite different, and the differences decide who each one suits.

Everything below is from each company’s own pricing pages, help pages and terms, checked on 2 October 2026. Prices and terms change, so check them again before you sign anything.

Side by side

	Checkatrade	TrustATrader	MyBuilder	Rated People
How you pay	Monthly membership. Free £0, Approved £30 a month, Growth from £59 a month	A yearly membership fee, paid in advance	No membership. A shortlist fee each time a customer shortlists you, “from £7”	Memberships closed. Now part of Checkatrade
Is the price published?	Approved yes; Growth is “from” and set by trade, area and leads	No	Only the “from £7” starting point	Pricing “based on your trade and area”, by phone
Contract	12 months, renews automatically unless cancelled within 35 days of renewal	12 months; can’t be cancelled early; doesn’t auto-renew	None	Fixed lead plan “runs on a 12-month term”
Lead fees on top?	Growth includes a fixed flow; a pay-per-lead board also exists (paid membership needed)	“Never pay for your leads”	Every shortlist is a fee	Leads now go to Checkatrade members
Who else gets the job	Request a Quote contacts “up to 3 specialists”	“Memberships are limited per area”	You’re competing with the other trades who respond	See Checkatrade

And for comparison, Bark: credits at £1.80 each (it may vary by pack), a lead costs a number of credits depending on the job, and each customer can get “up to 5 responses from professionals”. We’ve covered Bark in detail in is Bark worth it for tradesmen.

Checkatrade

The biggest name, and the one most customers have heard of.

Plans: Free (£0), Approved (£30 a month) and Growth (from £59 a month). Growth is priced on your trade, your postcodes and “the amount of leads you’re looking to receive each year”. The pricing page doesn’t say whether prices include VAT.
Contract: paid memberships are “for 12 months” and renew automatically unless you cancel “within the period of 0 - 35 days before your renewal date”. Two business days’ cooling-off.
Leads: Growth gives “a regular flow of leads for a fixed monthly cost”, with the number described as an estimate that “is not binding”. There’s also an Opportunities Board where you pay to unlock jobs, which needs a paid membership, and where “multiple trades may unlock the same Opportunity”.
Vetting: “up to 12 checks”, including ID and financial checks.
Application fee: the terms define one of £250 excluding VAT that Checkatrade “may charge”, which may include part or all of your fees.

Suits: newer firms who need a trusted name behind them, in trades where customers look to Checkatrade first. Full breakdown: is Checkatrade worth it for tradesmen.

TrustATrader

A smaller directory with a different model: one yearly fee, no lead fees.

Price: not published. Its FAQ says only “We charge a yearly fee for membership.”
Contract: the fee is “payable annually… in advance”, and you “cannot cancel the membership agreement prior to the expiry of the 12 month membership period”. It says “We do not operate an automatic renewal system”, which is unusual and in your favour. As a business-to-business contract, its terms say the 14-day cooling-off period “does not apply”.
Leads: “No commission rates. Never pay for your leads.” And “Memberships are limited per area so you get a fair share of leads.”
Vetting: a minimum of five references, insurance documents, and at least two years’ experience.

Suits: established trades with good references who want predictable costs and fewer competing members in their area. Get the price in writing and ask how many members cover your area and trade.

MyBuilder

No membership at all: you pay when a customer shortlists you.

Fees: “There are no joining fees, membership fees or any other costs” beyond the shortlist fee, which “can start from £7”. The terms say the fee is shown before you act, excluding VAT, is “non-refundable”, and is “calculated based on the likely size, value and location of the Job”.
How it works: customers post a job, trades respond for free (“Respond to as many leads as you like”), and you pay when the customer shortlists you.
Contract: none.

Suits: trades who want to choose their jobs and avoid monthly costs. The risk is paying for shortlists you don’t convert, so track the fees against jobs won.

Rated People: what’s changed

Many comparisons online still treat Rated People as a separate option with its own memberships. That’s out of date.

Its own sign-up page, read on 2 October 2026, says: “Rated People is now part of Checkatrade Group”, that it “closed all memberships before it became part of Checkatrade”, and that “leads submitted through the platform will now be routed to Checkatrade tradespeople.” Pricing is now discussed by phone “based on your trade and area”, and its “fixed lead plan runs on a 12-month term”.

If you were weighing Rated People against Checkatrade, you’re now really weighing Checkatrade.

How to choose, if you choose one

Ask trades in your area which one actually brings them work. It varies a lot by trade and town.
Get every price in writing, including VAT, application fees and lead costs.
Read the contract length and cancellation rules before you sign, not after.
Track every job you win from it, and what it was worth, from day one.
Decide at renewal with the numbers: a year’s total cost divided by jobs won is what each job really cost you.

The alternative: customers who find you

All of these put you in front of their visitors, for a fee. The alternative is to be found directly, on your own Google listing and website, where the customer is ringing you and only you.

What we have seen

Wiltshire Junk Busters got about 39 real enquiries a month in the 60 days to 11 September 2026, counted from the calls to their own number, and were 2nd of 14 on Google’s list for “rubbish removal” in Swindon on 19 September. Luke and Dan’s were 1st of 17 for “tree surgeon” in Royal Wootton Bassett the same day. See the case studies.

We’ve set Checkatrade side by side with that approach on our Checkatrade alternative page.

How we do it, and why it works

We get trades found on Google, reply to every enquiry in their name, chase every quote and count every job won:

Found: your Google listing worked every week, a review asked for after every job (on your listing, so they’re yours for good), and a website built to be called.
Answered: calls ring you; a missed call from a mobile gets a text back in your name; anyone who goes quiet is followed up.
Counted: every enquiry and every job won, and what it was worth, so you can compare us with any lead site in pounds.

No 12-month contract: 30 days’ notice. Nothing to pay until you’ve won £500 of work through us. You can keep a lead site running alongside and let your tracker show which brings the work. The free check shows who Google lists for your trade in your town and where you sit.