Checkatrade Alternatives UK: The Complete Guide for Tradespeople (2026)

You've just opened your Checkatrade renewal email. The number's gone up again. You're now looking at somewhere between £90 and £140 a month — plus VAT — for a listing that brought you three decent jobs last quarter and a stream of tyre-kickers who wanted a £5,000 kitchen for £2,000.

You're not alone. Across every trade forum in the UK — Screwfix, ToolTalk, Electricians Forums — the same conversation plays out weekly. One carpenter reported his subscription had been hiked by 50% to £1,500 a year. An electrician spent nearly £500 in four months and earned £80 from the leads. Another tradesperson calculated he'd need to earn £2,500 just to cover the annual fee after tax.

The question isn't whether Checkatrade works for some tradespeople — it clearly does. The question is whether it works for you, at that price, compared to what else is available in 2026. This guide breaks down every serious alternative, with real costs, honest trade-offs, and the free channel most trades are still overlooking.

What Checkatrade actually costs in 2026

Before comparing alternatives, let's be clear about what you're paying. Checkatrade's standard membership sits at roughly £70 to £140 per month plus VAT, depending on your trade and region. But that's the baseline — add-on marketing packages, premium positioning, and directory boosts push the real cost higher. Forum reports consistently cite annual bills of £1,000 to £2,000 for tradespeople who've been members for several years and seen incremental price rises.

The model works like this: you pay a monthly fee regardless of whether you get any work from it. You appear in the Checkatrade search directory, customers can find you and read your reviews, and Checkatrade handles some vetting and verification. For many tradespeople, particularly in less competitive categories or less saturated postcodes, this generates genuine leads.

The frustrations come when it doesn't. The most common complaints across forums aren't that Checkatrade is a scam — it's that the cost has risen faster than the value. If you're a sole trader paying over £100 a month and only getting one or two quality leads, you're effectively working for Checkatrade on those first jobs.

There's also the cancellation issue. Multiple tradespeople report difficulty closing their accounts, narrow cancellation windows, and auto-renewals they didn't expect. That's a fair concern when you're locked into a platform costing over £1,000 a year.

So what are the alternatives?

Directory alternatives: TrustATrader, Which? Trusted Traders, and Trusted Tradesman

If you like the directory model but want better value, there are several options.

TrustATrader is the closest like-for-like Checkatrade alternative. Annual membership typically runs between £600 and £1,000 depending on your trade and area — roughly £50 to £83 a month. They limit membership numbers per postcode, which means less competition for each listing. They also invest in TV and radio advertising to drive consumer traffic. The trade-off is that some areas have waiting lists, and the vetting process takes two to three weeks. Reviews stay within TrustATrader's ecosystem — they don't help your Google ranking.

Which? Trusted Traders charges roughly £60 to £100 per month plus VAT after an initial vetting process. The Which? brand carries strong consumer trust, particularly with older homeowners. However, the assessment process is more rigorous and the category coverage is narrower than Checkatrade.

Trusted Tradesman is the budget option at £89 per year — about £7.50 a month. It's a newer platform building its listings and SEO presence. You get a profile page, review collection, and local page listings. The trade-off is smaller consumer audience compared to the established platforms. But at that price point, the risk is minimal.

The fundamental limitation of all directories is the same: your reviews, your reputation, and your visibility live inside someone else's platform. Leave, and you start from zero.

Pay-per-lead platforms: MyBuilder, Rated People, and Bark

These work differently from directories. Instead of a flat monthly fee for a listing, you pay for individual customer leads.

MyBuilder uses a shortlisting system. Customers post jobs, tradespeople express interest, and you're charged when the customer shortlists you — whether or not you get the job. Lead costs range from roughly £2 to £35 depending on job value. The model suits tradespeople who are selective about which jobs they chase, but forum complaints centre on paying for leads that go nowhere. One Screwfix user described being charged £20 just for clicking "more info" on a lead.

Rated People combines a monthly subscription (around £20) with per-lead credits costing roughly £1 to £15 each. You buy credits and spend them to contact customers. The advantage is control over how much you spend. The disadvantage is that multiple tradespeople often receive the same lead, creating a race to respond and sometimes a race to the bottom on pricing. Tradespeople who respond quickly and have strong profiles do well; those who can't check their phone hourly tend to struggle.

Bark operates a similar credit-based system, typically costing £1 to £2 per credit with leads requiring multiple credits. Monthly spend usually lands between £50 and £200. The platform covers a wide range of services beyond trades, which means customer expectations can be inconsistent. Some tradespeople find excellent leads; others report waste.

The shared weakness of all pay-per-lead platforms is that you're renting access to customers, not building anything permanent. Every lead costs money. Stop paying, stop getting leads. And the reviews you collect on these platforms don't transfer to Google, where 81% of UK homeowners now check before hiring a tradesperson.

Google Reviews: the free alternative most tradespeople underestimate

Here's the thing nobody selling you a directory listing wants you to think about: Google Reviews costs nothing. Setting up a Google Business Profile is free. Collecting reviews is free. And unlike every platform listed above, your Google reviews belong to you permanently.

When a homeowner types "plumber near me" or "electrician in Leeds" into their phone, Google doesn't show Checkatrade listings first. It shows the Google Maps three-pack — the top three local businesses ranked by proximity, relevance, and prominence. Review count and recency are among the biggest factors determining who appears in that three-pack.

Research consistently shows that businesses with 25 or more Google reviews earn significantly more revenue than those with fewer. A single star rating improvement can increase revenue by 5 to 9 percent. And 97% of consumers now read reviews for local businesses before making a decision.

The data on review collection methods is equally telling. When you ask a customer verbally and hope they remember, you get a completion rate of roughly 0.4 to 2 percent — that's one to six reviews per 300 happy customers. Send them a direct link via text or WhatsApp, and that number jumps to 30 to 40 percent.

The reason more tradespeople don't build their Google Reviews is simple: they forget to ask, they feel awkward asking, or they're too busy on the tools to send the follow-up. It's not a motivation problem — it's a friction problem. This is exactly what review automation tools solve.

The real cost comparison: what £9/month vs £140/month actually buys you

Let's put real numbers side by side.

A tradesperson paying £120 per month for Checkatrade spends £1,440 a year. For that, they get a listing in one directory, reviews trapped inside that directory, and leads that stop the moment they cancel.

A tradesperson paying £9 per month for TapReview — a tool that sends automated Google review requests via WhatsApp and SMS after every job — spends £108 a year. For that, they get a growing collection of Google reviews that improve their ranking in the place 81% of customers actually search, reviews that stay permanently regardless of what platforms they use, and an automated system that means they never forget to ask.

That's not an either-or choice, necessarily. Some tradespeople run Checkatrade alongside Google Reviews and do well with both. But if you're choosing where your next £100 goes, the compounding value of Google Reviews — where every review you collect makes the next customer slightly more likely to find you and trust you — is hard to beat.

The maths on ROI is straightforward. The average domestic job value across trades sits between £200 and £500. If TapReview helps you collect even a handful of extra reviews that generate one additional job per year, that's a return of 2x to 5x on the annual cost. Checkatrade needs to generate roughly 3 to 7 extra jobs per year just to cover its own fee — before you've made a penny of profit from those leads.

What about doing it yourself for free?

Fair question. You can absolutely text your customers a Google review link manually after every job. It's free, it works, and if you're disciplined about it, you'll build reviews over time.

The honest answer is that most tradespeople aren't disciplined about it — not because they're lazy, but because they're busy. You finish a boiler install at 4pm, you've got a quote to write for tomorrow's job, the merchant closes at 5, and by the time you're home, asking Mrs. Henderson to leave a review is the last thing on your mind. Three months later, you've done 40 jobs and collected two reviews.

Automation solves the forgetting problem. TapReview sends the request for you — one WhatsApp message or SMS to your customer after the job, with your personalised Google review link, timed for when they're most likely to respond. You don't have to remember, you don't have to feel awkward, and you don't have to chase.

At £9 a month, you're paying 30p a day for the consistency that manual effort can't match.

How to choose the right combination for your trade

There isn't a single right answer — the best approach depends on your trade, your area, and your current workload. Here's a practical framework.

If you're a new tradesperson with few reviews and a quiet phone: Start with Google Reviews. Set up your Google Business Profile properly, collect your first 10 to 15 reviews, and build visibility in the Maps three-pack. Consider one pay-per-lead platform to fill gaps while your organic presence grows.

If you're established but over-reliant on one platform: Diversify. If you're paying £1,500 a year for Checkatrade, consider reducing to a cheaper directory and redirecting the savings into building your Google Reviews. The goal is owning your reputation rather than renting it.

If you're consistently busy through word of mouth: You're leaving money on the table by not collecting Google Reviews from your existing happy customers. Every satisfied customer who doesn't leave a review is a missed opportunity to build the kind of online presence that fills your diary when word of mouth slows down — and it always does eventually.

If you're in a highly competitive area: Google Reviews become even more important because they're the tiebreaker. When a homeowner sees three plumbers on Google Maps, they pick the one with more recent reviews, higher ratings, and specific job details in the review text. Research shows homeowners eliminate rather than compare — and reviews are the filter.

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest alternative to Checkatrade?

Google Reviews is free — you just need a Google Business Profile, which costs nothing to set up. The challenge is collecting reviews consistently, which tools like TapReview handle for £9 a month. Among paid directories, Trusted Tradesman at £89 per year is the cheapest option with a similar listing model.

Can I get enough work without Checkatrade?

Yes. Many tradespeople generate all their work through Google Reviews, word of mouth, and one or two secondary platforms. The key is having a well-optimised Google Business Profile with recent, genuine reviews. Tradespeople with 25 or more Google reviews consistently outperform those relying solely on directory listings.

Is it worth paying for Checkatrade as a sole trader?

It depends on your trade, location, and how saturated your area already is. If you're paying over £100 a month and getting fewer than two to three quality leads, the ROI is poor. Many sole traders find better value building their Google Reviews and supplementing with one pay-per-lead platform during quiet periods.

Do Checkatrade reviews transfer to Google?

No. Reviews left on Checkatrade stay on Checkatrade. If you leave the platform, you lose access to those reviews entirely. Google Reviews stay on your Google Business Profile permanently — they belong to you regardless of what other platforms you join or leave.

How many Google reviews do I need to compete with Checkatrade tradespeople?

Research suggests 10 reviews triggers an initial ranking boost in local search, and tradespeople with 25 or more reviews see the biggest impact. The average UK home improvement business has just 19 Google reviews — so even reaching 20 puts you ahead of most competitors. Consistency matters more than volume: five fresh reviews last month beat 50 stale reviews from 2023.

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Related reading

• Why Your 50 Google Reviews From 2023 Aren't Helping You Rank Anymore
• What UK Homeowners Actually Look For in Your Google Reviews
• How to Get Your First 10 Google Reviews as a New Tradesman
• How to Handle a Fake Google Review as a UK Tradesperson

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TapReview helps UK tradespeople get more Google reviews with one tap. Try it free →