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Checkatrade alternatives, compared on how the lead arrives

The 5 real alternatives to Checkatrade for a UK trade are MyBuilder, TrustATrader, Rated People, Bark and a properly filled Google Business Profile. They differ on one thing that matters more than price: whether the lead is sent to you alone or to 5 trades at once. Google Business Profile is free, sends the lead to you alone, and is the one almost every trade underuses.

Last measured
September 2026
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checkatrade alternatives
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Price is the wrong first question here. A lead that arrives on your phone alongside 4 competitors is a price comparison, and you will win roughly one in 5 at the bottom of the market. A lead that arrives only to you is a job.

RouteHow you payHow the lead arrivesWho it suits
CheckatradeMonthly membershipListing, customer chooses from severalTrades with no local reputation yet
MyBuilderPay per lead you shortlist forYou bid, customer shortlistsTrades who can write a good quote fast
TrustATraderMonthly membershipListing, customer choosesTrades wanting a cheaper directory badge
Rated PeopleCredits per leadA set number of trades get the leadTrades with capacity to chase
BarkCredits per leadSeveral trades get the same lead, fastTrades who will ring within minutes
Google Business ProfileFreeCustomer rings you directlyAll of them

The free one that most trades half-fill

A Google Business Profile puts you in the map pack for your trade and your town, sends the customer straight to your phone, and costs nothing. It is the highest return on effort available to a UK trade, and the reason it underperforms for most of them is that the profile is half filled: no service list, no photographs newer than the day it was created, no posts, and no website linked to it.

A profile with a real website behind it also outranks one without, because Google reads the site to work out what you do and where. That is the piece the directories cannot give you, since their listing ranks under their domain and not yours.

The arrangement most trades settle on

One directory while you build up reviews, a Google Business Profile filled in properly, and a website of your own that both of them point at. The site is the part that keeps working when you stop paying for the other two. Ours is built before you pay for it and starts at £47 a month with VAT included.

Questions we get asked

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A Google Business Profile, which is free, and which sends the enquiry directly to you rather than to a shortlist. It works considerably better when there is a real website behind it for Google to read.

They are different models rather than better and worse. Checkatrade is a monthly membership for a listing. MyBuilder charges when you engage with a job. If you quote quickly and well, MyBuilder's model usually costs less per job won.

No. Reviews left on a directory stay on that directory. Reviews on your Google Business Profile stay with you, which is a strong reason to ask for them there instead.

Want to see what we would build you?

Talk into your phone for 5 minutes. We build the whole site, then send it over finished. Nothing is charged until you have seen it and said yes.

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Tell us about the work.

Answer 6 questions, add your photos and say where to send it. It takes about 5 minutes, talking or typing. No call, no card, nothing to sign.

All 6 questions 1 / 3

Talk us through all six.

Press record once and answer the 6 below. Take as long as you like.

  • What do you do, and who for? Example: I am a plumber. Mostly emergency callouts for homeowners, some landlords.
  • Which towns do you cover? Name the places you would actually drive to, or the postcodes you work.
  • What jobs do you want the phone to ring for? The work you want more of, and not everything you are able to do.
  • Why do people pick you over the next name on the list? Say it the way you would say it standing in somebody's kitchen.
  • What should someone do when they land on your site? Ring you, fill in a form for a quote, or send a message?
  • Anything you want it to look like? A site you like, the colour on your van, or nothing at all. Nothing at all is a fine answer.

Any order is fine. Say something twice, come back to a thing you forgot, stop to think. It all stays in one recording and we sort it out at our end.