Checkatrade Review: Is It Worth It for UK Tradespeople in 2026?
This Checkatrade review is written for the person paying the membership, the tradesperson, not the homeowner. My verdict after pulling every price and contract term on record: Checkatrade can work if you are new, in a busy postcode, and doing jobs worth £300+, because the brand still pulls serious enquiry volume. It gets expensive fast for established trades. Members report real bills of £80 to £500 a month on a 12-month fixed contract, for leads that are shared with competing members and guaranteed only as an "estimate" in the small print.
The Quick Verdict
Worth considering if you...
- Started trading in the last year or two and have no review base anywhere
- Work in a dense urban patch where enquiry volume is high
- Do jobs with £300+ gross profit, so one win covers a month or two of fees
- Answer the phone fast. Shared leads go to whoever responds first
- Treat it as a bridge while you build marketing you own
Poor value if you...
- Already run on word of mouth and repeat customers
- Do small jobs. Members report call-outs that don't cover the fuel, let alone the fees
- Work rural postcodes where the estimated lead volume is low
- Can't commit £1,200 to £2,000+ for a full year before knowing if it converts
- Expect the leads to be exclusively yours. They are not
How Checkatrade Charges in 2026
Checkatrade is a subscription directory. You pay a fixed monthly fee tied to your trade, postcode area and an estimated annual lead volume; you do not pay per lead on the standard plans. Two tiers are published: the Approved plan at £30/month (+VAT), which is a reputation listing with no lead stream, and Growth plans "from £59/month" that actually send enquiries. The real Growth price only appears after you enter your trade and postcode in the sign-up flow, and memberships run for 12 months, fixed.
That last part changes the risk calculation. A directory you can leave next month is a cheap experiment. A directory that holds you for a year is a £1,200 to £2,000+ bet placed before you have seen a single lead, and members posting in 2026 describe being held to exactly that bet. One business paying £390 a month asked Reddit how to get out of the contract because of lead quality; the answer from the thread was that they couldn't.
What Checkatrade Really Costs
Every figure on record, with its evidence label. "Official" means Checkatrade published it and we verified the page; "member-reported" is a tradesperson's own bill. The conflicts are shown, never averaged. For plan-by-plan detail, VAT treatment and the historic price rises, see the full Checkatrade cost breakdown.
| What | Figure | Evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approved plan (reputation tier, no lead stream) | £30/month | Official | Checkatrade pricing page page updated 9 Feb 2026, accessed 22 Jul 2026 |
| Growth plan (lead-generating tier) Full price only revealed after entering trade and postcode in the sign-up flow. VAT is not mentioned on the pricing page; Checkatrade’s own blog confirms prices are +VAT. | from £59/month | Official | Checkatrade pricing page page updated 9 Feb 2026, accessed 22 Jul 2026 |
| Joining fee "There is no joining fee. Checkatrade members only pay a monthly fee." | £0 | Official | Checkatrade blog accessed 22 Jul 2026 |
| Typical monthly cost, active members | £60–£120+/month | Third-party estimate | Local Search North comparison 8 Apr 2026 |
| Typical annual cost | £1,200–£2,000+/year | Third-party estimate | Local Search North comparison 3 Apr 2026 |
| Individual member-reported monthly bills Three separate reports: "about £80 per month" (Reddit), "£306 per month" and "£442 per month" (Facebook trade groups). | £80, £306 and £442/month | Member-reported | Tradespeople on Reddit and Facebook c. 2024–2026, captured 22 Jul 2026 |
| 2026 Reddit report: contractor listing cost "It was costing him £500 monthly for the listing, which only resulted in a handful of leads each year." The contractor has since cancelled. | £500/month | Member-reported | r/DIYUK thread, 2026 2026, captured 22 Jul 2026 |
| 2026 Reddit report: business trying to exit contract "They charge us £390 a month, which feels excessive given the quality of leads we’re receiving." Posted while asking how to get out of the contract. | £390/month | Member-reported | r/smallbusinessuk thread, 2026 2026, captured 22 Jul 2026 |
| 2026 Reddit report: recent sign-up "A hefty fee of over £300 monthly for minimal jobs." The same member reports being told that access to larger projects (rewiring, kitchen refurbishments) requires purchasing credits on top of the subscription. | over £300/month, plus credits for larger jobs | Member-reported | r/DIYUK thread, 2026 2026, captured 22 Jul 2026 |
| Historic entry price, rolling monthly contract Checkatrade has since moved from rolling monthly to 12-month fixed memberships. | from £84/month (2020) | Third-party estimate | This is Money (Financial Mail on Sunday) 24 Oct 2020 |
| Leads shared with No official Checkatrade figure published. | 10–20+ tradespeople per enquiry (reported) | Third-party estimate | Local Search North comparison 8 Apr 2026 |
Figures maintained in our UK Trade Lead Cost Tracker, updated quarterly. Prices verified 2026-07-22.
Would Checkatrade pay for itself on your numbers?
Put in what the platform costs you each month, how many leads it sends and how many you win. The calculator shows your true cost per won job and how much gross profit is left after the platform takes its share.
Gross profit only. Time spent answering alerts, calling leads back and quoting is not included, so the real break-even point is higher than this.
The defaults match a real 2025 quote reported by an electrician on Reddit: £150 a month for an estimated 4 leads, each also sent to three other contractors. Swap in your own trade's figures. If the verdict comes out negative at your realistic win rate, the contract length means you wear that loss for 12 months.
Checkatrade Reviews From Tradesmen: The Recurring Themes
Trustpilot scores mix homeowners with trades, so I went to where tradespeople talk to each other: Screwfix Community, ElectriciansForums, UK Plumbers Forums and the UK trade subreddits, threads from 2024 to 2026. Five themes repeat. These are member reports, not verified facts about your postcode, and I have included the positive cases too.
1. Price against lead volume
A 2025 r/ukelectricians thread reports a quote of £150 a month for an estimated 4 leads on a one-year contract. A Screwfix Community member the same year reports £129 +VAT for an estimated 7 to 8 leads. At those rates a lead costs £16 to £37 before you have quoted for anything, and reported lead-to-job conversion on shared platforms runs 1 in 5 to 1 in 10.
2. The same lead goes to your competitors
The electrician quoted above was told his 4 leads would each go to three other contractors as well. The Screwfix member expected to compete with 23 other businesses in his category and area. Checkatrade publishes no official sharing figure; third-party analyses report 10 to 20+ members per enquiry. Whoever calls back first usually wins, which suits trades with someone manning the phone and punishes the ones on the tools all day.
3. Lead volume is an estimate, not a promise
Checkatrade's own Fixed Plan product terms say the forecast lead volume is an estimate, is not binding, and that delivery can stop once the estimate is reached. One ElectriciansForums member reported being told his visibility was limited after using his lead allowance, with an invitation to upgrade. Read the terms before signing; the sales call's number and the contract's number are different things.
4. Strong start, then a fade
A member with around 200 reviews described two strong opening months, then declining leads despite improving his profile. New-member boosts are common across directories, so judge any trial by month four, not month one. The 12-month contract means you can't act on that judgement until month twelve.
5. It can still fill gaps in the diary
The balance: a UK Plumbers Forums member calls Checkatrade "OK" for filling holes when bigger jobs move, and a North London plasterer credits it with building his early customer base. Plenty of members renew every year with their eyes open. The question is never whether Checkatrade produces work. It is whether the same £1,500 a year produces more work spent elsewhere.
The Small Print That Decides Whether It's Worth It
- 12-month fixed term. "Fixed Plan Memberships only. Memberships are for 12 months" (join.checkatrade.com small print, accessed 22 July 2026). Budget for the year, not the month.
- Lead volume is estimated. The Fixed Plan terms make the annual lead figure a non-binding estimate, and delivery can pause once it is reached.
- Your reviews are not portable. Leave, and the profile that holds your review history comes down with you. Reviews on Google and your own site outlive any subscription.
- Extras on top. Members report credits being required for access to larger jobs, and Checkatrade Pay card fees run 1.29% to 1.79%. July 2026 promotions ("2 months free") apply to selected 12-month plans.
Already signed and want out? I wrote a separate step-by-step guide: how to cancel Checkatrade, including what to check on notice periods and auto-renewal before your renewal date.
Checkatrade Alternatives
The like-for-like alternatives are MyBuilder (pay per shortlist, £5 to £35 typical, no contract), Bark (credits, roughly £9 to £36+ a lead), Rated People (subscription plus lead fees) and TrustATrader (annual membership, capped at 10 traders per category per area). All five are priced side by side, with sources, in the UK Trade Lead Cost Tracker.
The alternative none of them advertise is the one they all depend on: ranking on Google. A top-of-page Google Ads click for "plumber near me" costs £2.41 to £13.98 (Google Ads data, July 2026), and an enquiry from your own website is not shared with anyone. That is the model I sell, so weigh my bias accordingly, then check the numbers in the tracker and decide on cost per won job.
Checkatrade Review FAQs
How much does Checkatrade cost per month?
Officially, £30/month (+VAT) for the Approved plan and "from £59/month" for lead-generating Growth plans, on 12-month fixed contracts. The real quote depends on your trade and postcode and only appears during sign-up. Members report actual bills of £80 to £500 a month. The full breakdown is on our Checkatrade cost page.
Is Checkatrade worth it for a new trade business?
It is one of the few situations where the maths can work. A new business with no reviews and an empty diary gets brand recognition, a vetted badge and enquiries from day one. The risk is the 12-month fixed contract: you are committed for a year before you know whether leads in your postcode are any good. Trades with an established reputation and steady word of mouth report much worse value.
Are Checkatrade reviews fake?
Checkatrade says every review is checked and verified. Some tradespeople and homeowners on Reddit and trade forums allege that negative reviews were removed or filtered, and Which? investigations have criticised vetting on trade directories generally. We have seen no proof of systematic fake reviews, so treat individual allegations as allegations. The 4.6/5 Trustpilot score from around 68,000 reviews mixes homeowner and trade experiences.
What are the main complaints tradespeople make about Checkatrade?
Five themes come up again and again in forum threads from 2024 to 2026: the price relative to lead volume (one electrician was quoted £150/month for an estimated 4 leads), each enquiry being shared with several competing members, lead volume being an estimate rather than a guarantee in the Fixed Plan terms, pressure to upgrade when the lead allowance runs out, and difficulty leaving the 12-month contract.
Do I keep my reviews if I leave Checkatrade?
No. Your profile and its reviews live on checkatrade.com, so when the membership ends the profile comes down and the review history stops working for you. Reviews on your own website and Google Business Profile stay yours whatever you spend next year. That difference matters more than any monthly fee.
Is Checkatrade better than MyBuilder?
They charge in opposite ways. Checkatrade is a subscription (£30 to £500+ a month reported) on a 12-month contract whether or not the leads convert. MyBuilder has no subscription and charges £5 to £35 per shortlist, typically shared with 3 to 5 trades. For an empty diary and predictable postcode demand, Checkatrade delivers more volume; for dipping in and out around word-of-mouth work, MyBuilder risks less cash. Our lead cost tracker compares all five big directories side by side.
Can I cancel Checkatrade before the 12 months are up?
Generally no. Fixed Plan memberships run for 12 months and members posting in 2026 describe being held to the full term after lead quality dropped. Read the notice-period and auto-renewal rules before you sign, and see our step-by-step cancellation guide if you are already in one.
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