Is Checkatrade worth it for tradesmen?

Checkatrade is the best-known name in UK trade directories, and plenty of trades have built a business with it. Plenty of others pay every month and wonder what they’re getting.

This guide sets out what it costs and how it works, taken from Checkatrade’s own pricing page and terms, so you can decide with the facts in front of you. Everything below about Checkatrade was read on 2 October 2026 unless it says otherwise. Their prices and terms change, so check your own agreement too.

What Checkatrade costs in 2026

Plan	Price (Checkatrade’s pricing page)	What it’s for
Free	£0 a month	A basic profile
Approved	£30 a month	A vetted, approved profile
Growth	From £59 a month	“A regular flow of leads for a fixed monthly cost”

The Growth price isn’t one figure. Checkatrade’s pricing page asks you to select your trade, your postcodes and “the amount of leads you’re looking to receive each year”, and prices it from there. So two trades on Growth can pay very different amounts. The pricing page doesn’t say whether prices include VAT, so ask.

There’s also a pay-per-lead option, the Opportunities Board, where you spend credits to unlock jobs. Checkatrade’s terms say you need a paid membership to use it, and that “multiple trades may unlock the same Opportunity”. No credit price is published.

Checkatrade’s terms also define an application fee of £250 excluding VAT that it “may charge”, which may include part or all of your fees. Get any fee in writing before you agree.

The contract

This is the part trades most often miss.

• Paid memberships last 12 months. The pricing page says “Memberships are for 12 months”.
• They renew automatically. The Master Service Terms say membership “runs for 12 months and renews automatically unless you cancel in time”.
• “In time” means the 35 days before renewal. Cancellation has to be “within the period of 0 - 35 days before your renewal date”. Miss that window and you’re in for another year.
• Cooling off is short. Two business days.

So the real cost of the Growth plan is at least twelve times the monthly price, plus anything you spend on leads, not one month.

How the leads reach you

• On Growth, Checkatrade sends you leads for a fixed monthly cost. The fixed plan terms describe the number of leads as an estimate that “is not binding”.
• Through Request a Quote, a customer can automatically contact “up to 3 specialists” at once, so you can be one of three firms pricing the same job.
• On the Opportunities Board, several trades can unlock the same job.

That’s the key difference from a customer who found you directly. On a lead site you’re often one of several; when someone finds you on Google and rings you, you’re the only one on the phone.

Your reviews

When we read Checkatrade’s terms on 30 September 2026, they said the customer owns the review, your right to use it ends when you leave, and Checkatrade may keep your listing and reviews up. Reviews on your own Google Business Profile stay yours whatever you decide.

So, is Checkatrade worth it?

It depends on where your business is.

Checkatrade can be worth it if:

• You’re new, with few or no reviews, and a vetted badge helps strangers trust you.
• You don’t have a website or a Google listing that brings in calls yet.
• Your diary has gaps now and you can’t wait months to build your own enquiries.
• Your trade does well on Checkatrade in your area (ask a few trades who use it).

It’s often poor value if:

• You already have a well-reviewed Google listing that brings in calls.
• You do higher-value work where customers research properly, and you’d rather they compare your own website than a directory page.
• You’re often one of three firms pricing the same job.
• You’re paying for a 12-month plan that’s bringing in a handful of jobs.

Do the sum before you renew

1. Add up a year’s cost: the monthly fee × 12, plus any lead credits, plus VAT if it applies.
2. Count the jobs you actually won from it last year. Not the leads: the jobs.
3. Divide the cost by the jobs. That’s what each Checkatrade job really cost you.
4. Compare it with what a job is worth to you, and with what the same money could do elsewhere.

If you can’t answer step 2, that’s the first thing to fix: write down where every job comes from.

What we’ve seen instead

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. Luke and Dan’s got about 35, counted the same way. Both are built on their own Google listing and website. See the case studies.

We’ve also put Checkatrade side by side with getting customers from your own listing on our Checkatrade alternative page, and compared the other big lead sites, including what’s happened to Rated People, in Checkatrade vs TrustATrader vs MyBuilder vs Rated People.

How we do it, and why it works

Instead of renting a spot in a directory, we get you found where people actually search, on Google, and make sure every enquiry turns into a conversation:

• Found: your Google listing set up and worked every week, a review asked for after every job (on your listing, so they stay yours), and a website built to be called.
• Answered: calls ring you; a missed call from a mobile gets a text back in your name; every quote is chased to a yes or a no.
• Counted: every enquiry and every job you win, and what it was worth, so you can see exactly what we bring in next to anything else you pay for.

There’s no 12-month contract: 30 days’ notice. You pay nothing until you’ve won £500 of work through us, and any month the work you win through us comes to less than £500 is free. You can keep Checkatrade while you try it and let the numbers decide.

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