Checkatrade Prices 2026: What It Costs and Whether It's Worth It

Is Checkatrade worth it? The quick answer

Checkatrade’s published plans cost £0, £30 a month and from £59 a month. Only Growth, the £59+ plan, is built to bring in enquiries, and the paid plans run for 12 months. For new trade businesses that need work fast, it can be worth it as a short-term channel. For most established tradespeople, that same budget put into SEO for tradesmen builds enquiries you aren’t renting.

This guide covers what Checkatrade (often searched as Check a Trade) charges tradespeople, not what jobs cost. It’s one of the biggest trade directories in the UK, plenty of tradespeople swear by it, and plenty of others have spent hundreds of pounds a month and barely seen a return.

So is Checkatrade actually worth the money? This is a breakdown of the prices, the contract and what tradespeople across different trades actually report.

How much does Checkatrade cost?

Checkatrade costs £0 a month for a free profile, £30 a month for its Approved plan and from £59 a month for Growth, the plan that brings in enquiries. Both paid plans run for 12 months.

Approved and Growth run for 12 months; the free profile has no fixed term. At the published starting prices, a year on Approved is £360 and a year on Growth starts at £708, before any VAT.

Other costs to check

Prices from Checkatrade’s pricing page and Sponsored Listings page, checked 30 September 2026. The pricing page does not say whether VAT is included; Checkatrade’s own cost guidance describes the entry plan as £30 plus VAT. Contract terms from Checkatrade’s master service terms (last updated 4 October 2025), pay as you go terms (20 February 2026) and fixed plan terms (19 December 2024).

Two things to know before you compare the headline prices:

• The £30 tier does not supply leads. Checkatrade’s own guidance says so: on the basic plan, customers find you mainly by searching your business name. If you want enquiries, you’re on Growth.
• The Growth price is a starting point. It’s set by your trade, the postcodes you want to cover and how many enquiries you’re after, so £59 is a floor rather than a typical bill. Higher-value trades like roofers and builders covering wide areas will be quoted more.

Does Checkatrade charge per lead?

Not on the plans it publishes. Free, Approved and Growth are fixed monthly prices, and on Growth the enquiries you choose are built into that price.

Checkatrade also has separate pay as you go terms. Under those, each lead has its own fee, which varies with things like the job value, your location, the season and demand, and you set a monthly budget for lead fees. That budget is a target rather than a fixed limit: the terms let Checkatrade bill up to 120% of it in a month, and it can ask for a deposit of up to twice your monthly budget. The current range of fees is shown in the members’ area rather than on the public site. Pay as you go is not on the public pricing page, so if you are offered it, ask for the fee range in writing before you sign.

On Growth, the number of enquiries you are quoted is an estimate. Checkatrade’s fixed plan terms say it is not binding, and the number you get depends on things like your reviews, your area and the season.

Checkatrade also sells Sponsored Listings, pay per click ads inside its own search results, from £100 a month with no long-term contract.

How long is a Checkatrade contract?

Twelve months. Checkatrade’s pricing page says its paid memberships are for 12 months.

Its master service terms add three things worth knowing before you sign:

• You have two business days from the start to cancel without paying anything further.
• At the end of the 12 months, the plan renews automatically for another term unless notice is given.
• To stop it renewing, the business owner has to phone Checkatrade within the 35 days before the renewal date. It can’t be done by email. Checkatrade can also raise the price at renewal, with at least 30 days’ notice.

Put your renewal date in the diary the day you sign.

What a Checkatrade lead really costs you

The monthly fee is the wrong number to judge Checkatrade on. What matters is what each job you win ends up costing. Take your own quote and work it through:

1. Yearly cost: the monthly price times 12, plus VAT if your quote adds it.
2. Cost per enquiry: the yearly cost divided by the enquiries you expect in a year. Use a cautious number, because the quoted volume is an estimate.
3. Cost per job: the yearly cost divided by the jobs you expect to win.

Then compare the cost per job with the profit on a typical job, not the price you charge.

If you’re a locksmith on a plan costing £100 a month, receiving ten enquiries and converting one in five into a £100 job, you’re barely breaking even. Work out your own figure before you commit for twelve months, not after.

How does Checkatrade work?

Checkatrade is a paid trade directory. You pay a monthly membership fee, and in return you get a profile listing that appears when homeowners search for tradespeople in your area.

The platform runs a set of checks on your identity, qualifications, company history and finances, and lets customers leave reviews on your profile. When a homeowner searches for a trade in their area, Checkatrade shows them a list of vetted tradespeople.

Sounds straightforward. The devil is in the detail.

The good parts

Let’s be fair about what Checkatrade does well:

• Established brand recognition. Homeowners know the name, and many trust it over a random Google search.
• Vetting adds credibility. The verification process means something to customers who’ve been burned by cowboy builders before.
• Reviews build trust. A strong review profile on Checkatrade carries real weight.
• Quick to get started. Once the checks are done, Checkatrade says you can be set up within 24 hours.

For tradespeople who are just starting out or who need work quickly, Checkatrade can fill the gap while you build up other lead sources.

The problems tradespeople keep raising

This is where it gets complicated.

You’re competing with everyone

When a homeowner searches for a plumber on Checkatrade, they see a list of plumbers. Not just you. You might be one of 15 or 20 listed tradesmen. The homeowner often contacts 3 or 4 tradespeople for quotes, and you’re in a bidding war before you’ve even picked up the phone.

Lead quality varies massively

Not every lead is a real job. Some leads are tyre-kickers comparing prices. Some are people who have already hired someone and just want a second quote for leverage. Some are for jobs outside your area or expertise. Because you’re buying an annual volume of enquiries up front, those duds still come out of the allocation you’ve paid for.

You don’t own the customer relationship

Every customer comes through Checkatrade’s platform. If you leave, those reviews stay behind. You’re building Checkatrade’s brand, not your own.

Pricing pressure

Because the homeowner is comparing multiple quotes side by side, there’s constant pressure to be the cheapest. This squeezes your margins and attracts price-driven customers rather than quality-driven ones.

Checkatrade vs alternatives

Checkatrade isn’t the only option. Here’s how the main directories compare:

Checkatrade figures from its published pricing page, checked 30 September 2026. The MyBuilder, Rated People and Bark figures are the per-lead ranges tradespeople report; those platforms price each lead by job type and area, so treat them as a guide.

We’ve weighed up every one of these options, paid and free, in our guide to the best Checkatrade alternatives. If you’re considering a cheaper directory specifically, read our Trustatrader vs Checkatrade comparison for a detailed breakdown of costs, lead quality, and which suits different trades.

The key difference between directories and SEO is this: with a directory, you’re renting the enquiries and the fee never stops. With SEO, you invest in rankings and reviews that keep working, and the cost per enquiry falls as they build.

When Checkatrade makes sense

Checkatrade is worth considering if:

• You’re a new business and need work quickly while other marketing builds up
• You’re in a trade with high job values where the cost per lead is a small fraction of the job (think bathroom fitters or kitchen fitters doing £5k+ jobs)
• You’re in a less competitive area where the directory isn’t flooded with tradespeople
• You treat it as one channel, not your only channel

When it probably isn’t worth it

Checkatrade is likely not worth the money if:

• You’re in a trade with lower job values and tight margins
• Your area is saturated with tradespeople on the platform
• You’re relying on it as your only source of leads
• You’ve been on it for a year and the maths doesn’t work out

The alternative: owning your leads

The real question isn’t whether Checkatrade is good or bad. It’s whether there’s a better way to spend whatever you’re quoted each month.

For the same money you’d spend on Checkatrade over 6-12 months, you could invest in SEO for your trade business. The difference is that SEO builds up things that keep working for you: your rankings, your Google Business Profile and your reviews. Once you rank on Google for terms like “plumber in Sheffield” or “roofer near me,” those enquiries come with no fee per lead. No website yet? We build websites for trades from £99 a month plus a £149 setup fee, with no VAT on top.

No bidding wars. No monthly fee holding the tap open. No building someone else’s platform.

For a side-by-side look at all the major platforms, read our full comparison of Checkatrade, Bark, MyBuilder, and Rated People.

So, is Checkatrade worth it?

Checkatrade has its place. It’s a decent short-term lead source, especially for new businesses. But for most tradespeople who have been in business a few years, the maths of paying a directory every month indefinitely doesn’t stack up against investing in your own online presence.

Tradespeople who’ve made the switch from directories to SEO consistently say the same thing: the leads are better quality, there’s no bidding war, and they wish they’d done it sooner.

If you’re weighing up directories against SEO, get in touch. We’ll audit your current online presence and tell you which approach fits your trade.