Guide
How much does Checkatrade cost? Checkatrade, MyBuilder and Bark compared for plumbers, heating engineers and electricians
How much Checkatrade costs, what MyBuilder and Bark charge a plumber, heating engineer or electrician, how each one charges, and why the price of a lead is not the price of a job.
Checkatrade costs a plumber, heating engineer or electrician from £30 a month plus VAT, on a 12-month plan, and members report paying £80 to £500 a month. MyBuilder and Bark charge per lead instead. airstad local charges one fixed monthly fee for a website, Google Business Profile, reviews, social and service reminders, for trades in Surrey, Hampshire, West Sussex and London. This guide sets out what the three lead sites charge, so you can compare them with what you spend now.
How much do Checkatrade, MyBuilder and Bark cost?
The three platforms charge in three different ways: a membership, a fee per shortlist and a price per credit. Each platform publishes only limited prices, and the ranges below come from third-party reports.
| Checkatrade | MyBuilder | Bark | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How you pay | A monthly membership | A fee each time a homeowner shortlists you | Credits, spent to contact a customer |
| Starting price | Approved £30 a month plus VAT, Growth from £59 a month | No joining or membership fee, and from £7 per shortlist | Set by the service, the job value and demand in your area |
| What third parties report | £80 to £500 a month | £5 to £35 on everyday jobs | £7 to £40 a lead |
| Contract | 12 months (opens in a new tab) | No membership to commit to | Credits last 3 months (opens in a new tab) |
The starting prices are as recorded by Local Adder (opens in a new tab) from each platform’s own pages. The reported ranges are third-party figures from Local Adder (opens in a new tab) and NobleLeads (opens in a new tab) .
What does Checkatrade cost a plumber, heating engineer or electrician?
Checkatrade starts at £30 a month plus VAT for Approved membership and from £59 a month for Growth, and the price you are quoted depends on your trade and area. The Local Adder cost tracker (opens in a new tab) records those starting prices from Checkatrade’s own pricing page.
- Memberships are a 12-month fixed plan (opens in a new tab) , so the annual figure is the one to budget.
- Members report paying between £80 and £500 a month, according to Local Adder’s collection of reports from trade groups.
- Members also report buying credits on top of the subscription for larger jobs.
What does MyBuilder cost a plumber, heating engineer or electrician?
MyBuilder has no membership fee, and you pay a fee each time a homeowner shortlists you, from £7. That starting price is from MyBuilder’s support pages, as recorded by Local Adder (opens in a new tab) .
- Third parties put everyday jobs at £5 to £35 a lead, and the fee rises with the size of the job.
- One tradesperson reported shortlist fees of £540 and £940 on two large jobs.
What does Bark cost a plumber, heating engineer or electrician?
Bark charges in credits, and its own pricing page (opens in a new tab) says the cost of contacting a customer depends on the service, the value of the job and the supply and demand in the area. Third parties put that at £7 to £40 a lead.
- Bark’s help centre puts a credit at £1.80, as recorded by Local Adder (opens in a new tab) in September 2026. Older reports, such as NobleLeads (opens in a new tab) , give about £1.20 plus VAT, and 5 to 20 or more credits for one lead.
- NobleLeads also reports that three to five tradespeople typically contact the same customer.
- Credits are valid for 3 months, and Bark says it will return all credits if a first pack wins you no business.
Why is the price of a lead not the price of a job?
You pay for the lead, whether or not you win the work, so the number that matters is the cost of each job you win. Take a made-up example: a £15 lead that you win one time in four costs £60 for each booked job. The £15 and the one in four are illustrations, not measured rates.
- At most one of the three to five tradespeople who contact the same customer on Bark wins the job.
- A large job can cost far more to be shortlisted for than an everyday one.
- A monthly membership costs the same in a month with no jobs as in a month with ten.
What is the alternative to Checkatrade and other lead sites?
In our view, the alternative to Checkatrade is to own the places where customers already look for you: your website, your Google Business Profile and your reviews. airstad local runs those for plumbers, heating engineers and electricians across Surrey, Hampshire, West Sussex and London for one fixed monthly fee.
- Spark is £394 a month and Beam is £588, plus a one-off £695 setup fee, all on our pricing page .
- The fee covers the work, not a set number of enquiries, and we do not promise a number.
- Some businesses use a lead site as well, and that is a choice for you to make against your own figures.
How does Checkatrade compare with airstad local?
Checkatrade is a monthly membership on a directory, and airstad local is a monthly fee for running your own website, Google Business Profile and reviews. They do different jobs, so the table compares what you pay and what the fee covers, not which is better.
| Checkatrade | airstad local | |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | A monthly membership | A fixed monthly fee, Spark or Beam |
| Starting price | Approved £30 a month plus VAT, Growth from £59 a month | Spark £394 a month, Beam £588 a month, plus a one-off £695 setup fee, no VAT added |
| What third parties report | £80 to £500 a month | Not applicable: the prices are published |
| Contract | 12 months (opens in a new tab) | 12 months, then month to month |
| What the fee covers | A profile on Checkatrade’s directory | Your website, Google Business Profile, review requests, social posts and service reminders |
| What we promise | See Checkatrade’s own terms | The work in your plan every month, and no set number of enquiries |
The Checkatrade figures are the ones in the sections above, from Checkatrade’s offers and terms (opens in a new tab) as recorded by Local Adder (opens in a new tab) . The airstad local figures are on our pricing page . Some businesses keep both, and that is a choice for you to make against your own figures.
How do you work out whether a lead site is worth it for you?
Divide what you spent on the site in a month by the number of jobs you won from it. Do this for the last three months, because one month can mislead.
- Add up everything you paid: membership, credits and shortlist fees.
- Count only the jobs you won from that site, not the leads you received.
- Compare the cost of each job with what a job earns you.
If you want to see how many jobs a monthly fee would need to cover, our worked-example calculator does the sum from your own figures.
Sources
Prices on these platforms change without notice, so check each one against the platform’s own page before you decide. This guide reports what the sources below say, and the third-party figures are estimates, not quotes.
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