Trustatrader vs Checkatrade (2026): Which Is Better for Tradesmen?

Trustatrader vs Checkatrade: the quick answer

Trustatrader is £20-55/month on a rolling contract with less competition per lead. Checkatrade publishes three tiers: a free listing, Approved at £30/month plus VAT, and Growth from £59/month, all on a 12-month term for the paid plans. Neither charges a joining or vetting fee. Checkatrade delivers more volume through its brand recognition. Need flexibility, pick Trustatrader. Need volume, pick Checkatrade. Neither gives you leads you own. For that, SEO for your trade business is the long game.

If you’re a tradesperson deciding between Trustatrader and Checkatrade, you’re asking the right question. Both promise to connect you with customers, both charge for the privilege, and both have tradesmen who swear by them, and tradesmen who’ve been burned.

This is a proper comparison based on what we hear from tradespeople across the UK.

How much do Trustatrader and Checkatrade cost?

Checkatrade figures taken from its published pricing page and its own cost guidance, checked July 2026. Trustatrader does not publish a public price list, so those figures come from quotes shared by tradespeople in Northern England and may vary by trade and region.

One thing to watch on the headline £30 price: Checkatrade’s own guidance says the basic plan does not supply sales leads, and that customers find you on that tier mainly by searching your business name. If you want enquiries, the relevant tier is Growth, which starts at £59 a month and scales with the lead volume and postcode coverage you pick.

So on a like-for-like basis (paying to be found), Trustatrader is usually the cheaper monthly option. The rolling contract also means less risk. You can cancel if it isn’t working without being locked in for a year.

Lead quality

Checkatrade

Checkatrade generates more leads overall because of their brand recognition. They advertise heavily on TV and online. The downside? More leads often means more tyre-kickers. You’ll spend time quoting jobs that go nowhere because the customer has contacted five other tradesmen through the same platform.

Competition is fierce on Checkatrade. In popular trades like plumbing or electrical work, you might be one of 15-20 tradesmen the customer can choose from in their area.

Trustatrader

Trustatrader generates fewer leads, but many tradesmen report better quality. There tends to be less competition per job because fewer tradesmen are on the platform. Customers who use Trustatrader are often more deliberate: they’ve specifically sought out a reviewed tradesman rather than just clicking the first Google result.

The trade-off is volume. If you need a high volume of leads, Trustatrader alone might not deliver enough.

Reviews and trust

Both platforms feature customer reviews prominently, but they handle them differently.

Checkatrade verifies reviews and displays an overall score. Their brand is well-known, so a good Checkatrade rating carries weight with customers. However, their review system has been criticised for making it difficult to address unfair reviews.

Trustatrader also verifies reviews and displays them on your profile. They’re generally seen as more transparent about the review process. Reviews on Trustatrader tend to be more detailed, which can help your profile stand out.

Both platforms’ reviews stay on their site, not yours. If you leave, you lose access to those reviews as a marketing tool. Compare this to Google reviews, which stay attached to your Google Business Profile regardless of what platforms you use.

Visibility and reach

Checkatrade wins here. They invest heavily in marketing, including TV advertising, which means more homeowners know the name and use the platform to find tradesmen. Their website gets significantly more traffic.

Trustatrader has a loyal user base but less mainstream recognition. They rely more on organic search traffic and word of mouth.

For trades with lower search volume, like fencing companies or tilers, Trustatrader might not have enough customers searching in your area to justify even their lower cost.

The vetting process

Checkatrade

Checkatrade runs up to 12 checks before a trade goes live, and repeats most of them on an ongoing basis:

• Photo ID and proof of address
• Qualifications and accreditations (Gas Safe, NICEIC and similar)
• Open-source and reputational checks
• Personal and business CCJ checks
• Company history, including checks for phoenixing
• Financial checks such as bankruptcy and insolvency
• Duplicate check against previously removed members
• Enhanced business check (proof of trading for at least six months, some trades)
• Director check for banned or disqualified directors
• Customer experience check against ratings on other platforms
• Public liability insurance (optional)

There is no charge for any of this. Checkatrade has no joining fee and no vetting fee.

Trustatrader

• Identity checks
• Insurance verification
• Customer feedback monitoring
• No joining fee (just the monthly fee)

Both vet their tradespeople, which adds credibility. Checkatrade’s process is the more thorough of the two, particularly on financial and company-history checks. Neither charges extra for it.

Which is better for your trade?

Checkatrade tends to work better for:

• High-demand trades (plumbers, electricians, roofers)
• Urban areas with lots of homeowners searching
• Tradesmen who can handle high lead volume
• Newer businesses that need work quickly

Trustatrader tends to work better for:

• Specialist trades with less competition
• Tradesmen who prefer quality over quantity
• Budget-conscious businesses
• Those who want flexibility without a long contract

What both get wrong

Whether you choose Trustatrader or Checkatrade, you’re renting your online presence. Every lead costs money, every review lives on their platform, and the moment you stop paying, you disappear.

This is the fundamental problem with directory platforms. They’re useful as a stopgap, especially when you’re starting out or need work quickly, but they shouldn’t be your only strategy.

The ones doing best use directories alongside their own SEO and web presence. The directory generates leads today while SEO builds a pipeline of free leads for tomorrow.

For a broader look at all the major platforms, read our full comparison of Checkatrade, Bark, MyBuilder, and Rated People, or our guide to the best Checkatrade alternatives if you’re ready to move on.

Our recommendation

If budget is tight, start with Trustatrader. Lower cost, no contract lock-in, decent lead quality. It’s less risky.

If you need volume and can afford it, Checkatrade delivers more leads, but factor in the competition and lower conversion rates.

If you’re thinking long-term, take the money you’d spend on directories, especially if you’re running two or three at once, and put it into local SEO for tradesmen instead. A properly optimised website and Google Business Profile will generate leads that cost nothing per click, and they’re yours to keep.

If you need work sooner than SEO can deliver it, Google Ads on a pay-per-lead basis sits in between the two. You fund the ad budget straight to Google, we charge £30 for each genuine enquiry, and there is no management fee and no contract. It is not the cheapest option on this page, but the enquiry is yours alone rather than shared with the four other tradespeople quoting the same job.

Want to know which combination works for your trade and area? Book a free call and we’ll review your current setup.