Checkatrade Alternatives for UK Tradespeople in 2026

Most "Checkatrade alternative" lists were written before September 2026, and one of the names on many of them no longer exists as an alternative. Rated People went into voluntary winding-up on 16 September. Its brand and website now belong to Checkatrade Group.

What is left charges you in very different ways. This guide compares the platforms from your side of the invoice. Every price comes from the platform's own page, checked on 26 September 2026. Where a platform publishes no price, neither do we.

The short version

• Rated People is closed to trades. Its leads now go to Checkatrade members only.
• The real alternatives charge in three ways: a membership (TrustATrader, Which?, Buy With Confidence), a fee per lead (Bark, MyJobQuote, Local Services Ads) or a fee on receiving contact details (MyBuilder).
• Among the alternatives, Bark, Which? Trusted Traders and Buy With Confidence publish prices. MyBuilder gives a minimum; TrustATrader and MyJobQuote nothing.
• UK advertisers on Google's Local Services Ads cannot get credits back for bad leads, automatic or on request.
• Your Google Business Profile is free, and unlike a directory listing it is not tied to a membership contract.

What are the real alternatives to Checkatrade in 2026?

There are eight worth knowing, and they sell three different things. Bark, MyJobQuote and Google's Local Services Ads sell individual leads. MyBuilder sells you a customer's number once they pick you. TrustATrader, Which? Trusted Traders and Buy With Confidence sell vetting and a listing. Google Business Profile is free.

Here is the whole market on one page.

Platform	What you pay for	Price on its own page (26 Sep 2026)	Tie-in
Checkatrade	Membership, or a fee per lead	£0, £30, or from £59 a month	12 months on fixed plans
MyBuilder	Fee when shortlisted	From £7	None to join
Bark	Credits per lead	£1.80 per credit	Credits expire in 3 months
MyJobQuote	Credits, monthly or pay as you go	Not published	Rolling monthly
TrustATrader	Annual fee	Not published	12 months, no cooling-off
Which? Trusted Traders	Assessment plus monthly fee	£248, then £66 a month (0 to 3 staff)	3 months' notice
Buy With Confidence	Application plus annual fee	£165, then £305 a year, plus VAT (0 to 5 staff)	Annual
Google Local Services Ads	Each valid lead	Not published	None

What happened to Rated People?

Rated People no longer takes tradespeople. The company passed a resolution for voluntary winding-up on 16 September 2026, according to the notice in The Gazette, and joint liquidators from S&W Partners were appointed. Checkatrade Group then bought selected assets, including the brand and website, and Rated People's own announcement says "you can only buy Rated People leads by becoming a Checkatrade member."

What that means if you were a member, and whether those leads are worth following to Checkatrade, has a guide of its own. Any list still recommending it as an alternative was written before the sale.

Which is better, Checkatrade or MyBuilder?

Neither is better across the board. They charge at different moments. Checkatrade's paid plans take a monthly fee whether the phone rings or not. Free to join, MyBuilder charges when details are shared: usually at shortlisting, sometimes instantly. That suits a trade with a quiet month and no appetite for a fixed bill.

On Checkatrade's pricing page, leads come with the Growth plan, and fixed-plan memberships are for 12 months. It also sells a pay as you go product where the fee per lead "will vary" with job value, location, seasonality and demand.

MyBuilder's trade sign-up says "join for free with no commitment". Under its terms, the fee is due once the customer's details are shared, sometimes instantly, win or lose, and refunds come as account credit. In December 2024 its help centre said fees "can start from £7", but no typical or maximum.

What trades say about it (anecdote, not data)

One trade who had used MyBuilder since 2020 described on the MoneySavingExpert forum in 2023 paying a shortlist fee for a customer who never answered. MyBuilder declined to credit it, saying "you are paying for the verified phone number of the customer rather than the guarantee that you will always get in contact". That is one person's account. It does match what the contract says.

The practical rule. Empty diary and tight cash? MyBuilder carries less fixed risk. Want a steady flow and happy with a 12-month fixed plan? Checkatrade's Growth plan is built for that.

Are Bark and MyJobQuote worth a look?

They can be, if you treat every lead as a bet. Both sell leads priced in credits, and several trades can buy the same job. Bark lets up to five professionals contact one customer. MyJobQuote says up to three. You pay to make contact, not to win, so your win rate decides whether either one pays.

Bark

Bark's help centre gives the current price as "£1.80 per credit", cheaper in bigger packs. Each lead costs a number of credits that depends on the service and job size, and you see it before you respond. Credits bought since 1 November 2025 expire after three months.

Bark's terms say a customer's general request goes to "up to 5 unspecified Professionals". You get no credit back just because you did not win the job. Returns for genuinely bad leads have to be claimed within seven days and come back as credits. Bark does offer a first-pack guarantee on its pricing page.

Bark is not trades-only. On an older UK Business Forums thread, posters, mostly IT firms, complained of customers shopping on price. Anecdote, not data.

MyJobQuote

MyJobQuote's fees page offers "rolling monthly subscriptions with a Free month trial" or pay as you go, with no contract. Jobs are priced in credits that expire after six months. Prices appear only once you sign up. The page was last reviewed in July 2024, so confirm the details when you join.

One line on that page deserves your attention. Among the things it uses to price a job are "competition for the lead" and "age of the lead". Its how it works page tells homeowners "up to 3 trades" can get in touch.

Which platforms sell vetting instead of leads?

Three of them. TrustATrader, Which? Trusted Traders and Buy With Confidence mainly sell a checked badge and a directory listing. None of their fee pages promise a number of enquiries. They suit a trade whose work comes from word of mouth and wants a trust mark that a nervous homeowner recognises.

TrustATrader

TrustATrader's FAQ asks for at least five references, insurance documents and two years in your trade. It says "membership numbers are limited for each trade within an area", which is a genuine point in its favour.

It publishes no price. Read the trader terms before you sign. The fee is annual, paid in advance, and "once live on the Website you cannot cancel the membership agreement prior to the expiry of the 12 month membership period". The terms also state that a 14-day cooling-off period does not apply. In fairness, they add: "We do not operate an automatic renewal system". Some comparison blogs describe it as a rolling monthly contract. Its own terms say otherwise.

Its own pages disagree on traffic. Its how it works page says 502,294 searches a month and its FAQ says "700,000+", both checked on 26 September 2026. Both are self-reported.

Which? Trusted Traders

Which? publishes everything on its join page. For a firm of up to three people it is a non-refundable £248 assessment, then £66 a month, both including VAT. The FAQ says the assessment covers a credit report, reference checks and a visit from a trading standards professional. Leaving takes three months' notice.

Buy With Confidence

This one is run by councils, not a company. Buy With Confidence is "operated solely by local authority Trading Standards services", with over 60 authorities involved. Its fees page lists £165 to apply and £305 a year for up to five staff, plus VAT, with criminal record checks extra. If your council does not run it, a regional or central hub can take you on.

What about Google's own options?

Google gives you one free option and one paid one. A Google Business Profile costs nothing, puts you in the map results, and stays yours whatever you stop paying for. Local Services Ads charge per lead, and UK advertisers get a worse deal on bad leads than American ones do.

Google states it without hedging: "creating a Business Profile and listing your business on Google is free", on its Business Profile page. Set this up before paying anyone. A directory profile still has some value as a citation, which our guide to UK citations that matter explains.

Local Services Ads

Google's UK Local Services page says you "pay only for leads related to your business", in selected categories only. A lead counts as valid when, for example, you answer a call and speak to the customer, according to how leads work. No per-lead price is published.

Here is the part UK trades miss. Google's lead credits page says "lead credits aren't available for ... advertisers in EMEA", and its lead guide adds that automatic credits are "only available in the United States and Canada". So advice about claiming credits for bad leads does not apply to UK accounts.

The badge has changed too. Google announced in 2025 that Google Verified would replace Google Guaranteed and Google Screened, along with the money-back guarantee. The UK help page now refers only to Google Verified.

Is Checkatrade a rip-off?

There is no evidence it is a rip-off, and we will not call it one. It publishes its prices, which most rivals do not. The fair complaint is narrower. Fixed plans commit you for 12 months, the £30 Approved plan includes no leads, and whether it pays depends entirely on how many jobs you win.

The same test applies to every platform here. Take three months of invoices, from whichever platform you use. Divide by the jobs you actually won and got paid for. That cost per won job is the only number worth comparing, because each platform's headline price measures something different.

How do you choose the right one for your trade?

Match the charging model to your situation, not the brand to your mate's recommendation. Empty diary and tight cash points to pay-per-lead or MyBuilder. Steady work and a need for trust points to a vetting scheme. Everyone should have a Google Business Profile, whatever else they pay for.

A rough guide:

• New, quiet, no reviews yet: MyBuilder or MyJobQuote pay-as-you-go. Low fixed cost.
• Emergency trades such as plumbers and electricians: Local Services Ads, if your category is eligible. Locksmiths are not on Google's UK list.
• High-value work such as extensions and roofs: a vetting badge (Which? or Buy With Confidence) plus your own reviews.
• Busy, repeat and referral work: probably none of the paid platforms. Put the money into asking for Google reviews instead.

Whatever you pick, read the cancellation clause before the pricing page.

What to do this week

1. If you were on Rated People, check your last invoices and contact the liquidators at S&W about anything outstanding. Do not assume your old account moved anywhere.
2. Work out your cost per won job for each platform you pay. Invoices divided by paid jobs, last three months.
3. Find your renewal and notice dates. TrustATrader and Checkatrade fixed plans run 12 months. Which? needs three months' notice. Put both in your phone.
4. Check your Google Business Profile is claimed, verified and in the right category. It is free and nobody can cancel it on you.
5. Look up Buy With Confidence for your council before paying for a private badge.
6. Try one pay-per-lead platform for a month, not three at once, and log every lead's outcome.

The platforms will keep changing hands, as Rated People just showed. Keep the parts of your reputation that cannot be sold with them.