Tradehand vs Bark · updated August 2026
Bark sells you the lead. Tradehand gets you found and does the office work.
On Bark you buy credits and spend them to contact customers, paid whether or not they ever reply. Tradehand gets you found instead: on its marketplace and through a free website under your own name, with an office that answers, quotes, books and collects payment. No credits, no monthly fee, 5% only of the invoice payments it collects for you.
The short answer
Choose Bark if you sell a service outside the trades and want a national pool of enquiries you can pick from, priced per lead. Choose Tradehand if you would rather customers come to you, an office answers them under your name, and nothing is owed until you are paid.
Should you have to buy your customers at all?
Bark charges at the start of the job, when you send your first message. Tradehand earns at the end, when the invoice is paid. Where the charge sits decides who carries the risk of a customer who goes quiet.
UK office manager starter salary, before NI and pension. Paid whether or not the invoices land.
Source: Office manager salary, £25,000 starter (National Careers Service)
TradehandNo monthly fee, no credits, no card fees. 5% of invoice payments the office chases and collects.
BarkBuy a credit pack, spend credits to contact each customer. The cost per lead varies with the service, job value and area, and is shown before you commit.
Source: Bark sellers pricing: lead cost varies by job, shown before you commitSalary: National Careers Service. Bark publishes no price per credit; each lead's cost appears when you respond. Credits are valid for three months. Tradehand earns only on money it collects.
Side by side
| Tradehand | Bark | |
|---|---|---|
| What it isSource: Bark services directory: over 1,000 service categories | TradehandUK marketplace to find and book trades, plus an AI office | BarkLead site covering 1,000+ services: customers post, pros respond |
| What triggers a chargeSource: Bark sellers pricing: lead cost varies by job, shown before you commit | Tradehand✓ A customer paying you: 5% of what the office collects | BarkContacting a customer spends credits, priced per lead |
| If the customer never repliesSource: Bark terms: no credit return for non-response, five pros max per customer | Tradehand✓ You have paid nothing | BarkNo credit return when a correct contact does not respond |
| Who else gets the same customerSource: Bark terms: no credit return for non-response, five pros max per customer | TradehandThey contact one trade; details stay with that trade | BarkUp to five professionals can contact one customer |
| Who answers and chases the jobSource: Bark, how it works: pros respond to posted customer requests | Tradehand✓ Office under your name: answers, quotes, books, chases payment | BarkYou message each lead and do the follow-up yourself |
| Being found | TradehandMarketplace profile plus a free website under your own name | BarkA Bark profile page shown to matching customers |
| CommitmentSource: Bark terms: no credit return for non-response, five pros max per customer | TradehandNo contract, leave whenever you like | BarkNo contract; credit packs are valid for three months |
“About 90% of leads are always blank.”
What happens when the customer comes to you
A homeowner finds your business on Tradehand while you are mid-job. Tradehand's office answers every enquiry that follows without you stopping work, and not one of them cost you a credit.
On Bark you spent credits to open this conversation, and the chasing is yours from there. On Tradehand the office answers people already looking for you, follows the quote up and books the visit under your name.
An honest recommendation
Choose Bark if…
- ·You sell a service outside the trades that Tradehand does not cover
- ·You want to hand-pick enquiries nationally and pay lead by lead
- ·You are filling a brand-new diary and will accept paying for silence
Choose Tradehand if…
- ✓You would rather customers find you than pay to message strangers
- ✓You want missed calls answered, quotes sent and payment chased for you
- ✓You want nothing owed until money lands in your account
Where Bark genuinely beats us: breadth and reach. It covers over 1,000 service categories across several countries, shows each lead's price on its own pricing page before you commit, takes no cut of the job itself, and its starter-pack guarantee, in Bark's own terms, returns your credits if the first pack wins you nothing. For work outside the trades, Tradehand is not the answer and Bark may be.
You can run both while you decide
Keep your remaining Bark credits while your Tradehand office switches on. Spend them or let them lapse once your own enquiries are being answered for you.
- Day 1Find or claim your listing
Search the Tradehand marketplace for your business, or sign up at tradehand.com/for-trades if you are new.
- Day 1Set up your office
A person connects your number, rates and diary so Tradehand can answer under your name.
- Week 1Run both in parallel
Keep responding to Bark leads you have already paid for while Tradehand answers your own line and website.
- When readyReview your spend
Use tradehand.com/tools/marketplace-roi to see what each won job really costs in credits, then stop topping up if your own enquiries are filling the diary.
Questions sole traders ask
Sources & References
- [1]Bark sellers pricing: lead cost varies by job, shown before you commit
- [2]Bark terms: no credit return for non-response, five pros max per customer
- [3]Bark, how it works: pros respond to posted customer requests
- [4]Bark services directory: over 1,000 service categories
- [5]Office manager salary, £25,000 starter (National Careers Service)
More comparisons
See the office answer your phone
Two minutes: watch Tradehand take an enquiry, send the quote and book the job under a trade's own name. Then compare that with what a pack of credits bought you.