What Checkatrade, MyBuilder, Bark and Rated People really cost in 2026
Key takeaways
- Checkatrade: Free £0 a month, Approved £30 a month, Growth from £59 a month (checked October 2026).
- MyBuilder: free sign-up, and a fee for the customer's contact details when you are shortlisted.
- Bark: credits for each introduction, no commission, no published price.
- Rated People: now part of Checkatrade Group, memberships closed.
Trade Lead Platform Costs in the UK: The Short Answer (Checked October 2026)
Checkatrade is the only one of the four that publishes a clear price list. Its Approved plan is £30 a month and Growth starts from £59 a month. MyBuilder and Bark publish how they charge but not a price per lead, and Rated People has joined Checkatrade Group.
| Platform | What it charges (checked October 2026) | What it does not publish |
|---|---|---|
| Checkatrade Free | £0 a month, a free profile to collect reviews | Nothing else is listed for this tier |
| Checkatrade Approved | £30 a month, a tick and a directory listing | Approved members do not appear in standard search results |
| Checkatrade Growth | Prices from £59 a month, with a fixed plan of leads | The final price is set by trade, postcode areas and yearly lead volume |
| Checkatrade Pay | Payment fees of 1.29% to 1.79% | Which fee applies to which payment |
| MyBuilder | Free sign-up and profile. A fee for the customer's contact details if you are shortlisted | The size of the fee |
| Bark | Credits for each introduction, no commission. Credits last 3 months | A price per credit or per lead |
| Rated People | Now part of Checkatrade Group. Memberships are closed and leads go to Checkatrade trades | Not applicable |
| Tradehand | Creating a business and being listed on Tradehand is free, there is no fee per lead, and Tradehand takes 5% of each payment taken through it, card fees included. Paid plans are optional: Paid plans from £19 a month, billed yearly. | Not applicable |
Sources: Checkatrade: Pricing (checked October 2026), Checkatrade: Getting jobs through Checkatrade, MyBuilder: Tradesperson sign-up (checked October 2026), Bark: How it works for sellers, Bark: Pricing for sellers, Rated People: Help for tradespeople
What Checkatrade Costs: Free, Approved and Growth
Checkatrade has three tiers on its pricing page. Free is £0 a month and gives you a free profile to collect reviews. Approved is £30 a month and gives you a tick and a directory listing. Growth is priced from £59 a month and adds a fixed plan of leads, with the price set by your trade, the postcode areas you pick and the number of leads you want each year. Checkatrade also lists a search credit of £100 to £200 on the Growth plan.
One detail changes what the cheaper tiers are worth. Checkatrade's support page says Approved members do not appear in standard search results, so an Approved profile is something a customer reaches by name. Leads come with the Growth plan's fixed plan of leads. Checkatrade Pay is its payment tool, with fees of 1.29% to 1.79%.
Checkatrade suits a trade that wants its name and badge in front of customers and can budget for Growth. Check your own quote, because the Growth price changes with your trade and area.
Sources: Checkatrade: Pricing (checked October 2026), Checkatrade: Getting jobs through Checkatrade
What MyBuilder Costs: A Fee When You Are Shortlisted
MyBuilder lets you sign up and build a profile for free, and you can respond to as many leads as you like. Its sign-up page says: "If you're shortlisted, we charge you a fee for the customer's contact details." So you pay when a customer picks you, not when you reply, and the page does not give the fee as a single amount.
MyBuilder suits a trade that can afford to lose some shortlist fees, usually on larger jobs where one win pays for many. The cost to track is the total of fees on shortlists that did not turn into work.
Source: MyBuilder: Tradesperson sign-up (checked October 2026)
What Bark Costs: Credits for Each Introduction
Bark says it charges a fee for each introduction and takes no commission. Its pricing page says the cost varies by service, job value and local supply and demand, and that credits are valid for 3 months from purchase. It also says a new business that does not win work with its first credit pack gets those credits back.
Bark suits a trade that wants to choose which leads to chase. Because Bark gives no single price, work it out from your own account: credits spent in a month divided by jobs won.
Sources: Bark: How it works for sellers, Bark: Pricing for sellers
What Rated People Costs Now: It Is Part of Checkatrade Group
Rated People is now part of Checkatrade Group. Its help page says its memberships are closed and its leads go to Checkatrade tradespeople. For a trade that used to buy Rated People leads, the price to look at is Checkatrade's, in the sections above.
What Tradehand Costs: Free to List
Creating a business and being listed on Tradehand is free, there is no fee per lead, and Tradehand takes 5% of each payment taken through it, card fees included. Paid plans are optional: Paid plans from £19 a month, billed yearly.
See the Tradehand pricing page for the current plans.
How to Work Out What a Platform Really Costs You
The price on a page is not your cost. Your cost is what you spend on a platform in a month divided by the jobs you won from it. Write down every fee for three months, including fees on leads that went nowhere, and compare platforms on that one number.
For the wider choice of places to be listed, read where to list your trade business. For the full platform comparison, read the best lead generation websites for UK tradespeople.
Sources and references
Blake Folgado
Blake is a co-founder of Tradehand, a UK trades marketplace More from Blake
