MyBuilder vs Checkatrade: Which Is Worth It for UK Trades in 2026?

How Each Platform Actually Works

Before comparing costs and lead quality, it's worth understanding that MyBuilder and Checkatrade are not the same type of product. They have fundamentally different business models — and that difference matters.

MyBuilder: Job Marketplace

On MyBuilder, homeowners post a job description and tradespeople browse available work. You send a free introduction message to jobs that interest you. If the homeowner shortlists you — meaning they want to see your contact details and have a conversation — you pay a shortlist fee. You do not pay to simply express interest. The homeowner has to show genuine intent before any money leaves your pocket.

Checkatrade: Directory Listing

Checkatrade works the other way around. You pay a monthly membership to be listed in their directory. Homeowners browse profiles, read your reviews and contact you directly. There is no job-posting system — leads come to you, or they don't. You pay the membership whether you receive ten enquiries that month or zero.

"MyBuilder makes the homeowner show interest before you spend anything. Checkatrade charges you whether the phone rings or not."

This is the core difference. One model protects your cash until there is a clear signal of intent. The other is a fixed overhead with no volume guarantee.

What Does Each Platform Cost? The Real Numbers

MyBuilder Pricing

No joining fee. No monthly subscription. You pay a shortlist fee only when a homeowner selects you and contact details are exchanged. Those fees scale with the size of the job:

• Small jobs (under £75): £2–£3 per shortlist
• Mid-size jobs (£500–£1,000): £8–£15 per shortlist
• Larger jobs (£1,000–£3,000): £20–£35 per shortlist
• Major projects (extensions, rewires, full fits): £50–£100+

All fees are non-refundable — even if the homeowner stops responding after you've paid. If you pursue 20 jobs in a month and half of them shortlist you, you could easily spend £100–£300 before winning a single piece of work.

Checkatrade Pricing

Checkatrade doesn't publish its prices publicly — you go through a sales call to get a quote — but real-world data from tradespeople puts the costs in a clear range:

• Basic listing: from around £60 per month
• Active membership with lead volume: typically £100–£500+ per month depending on trade and region
• Per-lead fees on top: £5–£15 for small jobs, £20–£40 for larger projects
• London and South East: consistently at the top of the range

What this looks like in practice for a typical plumber or electrician:

• Quiet month: around £175
• Average month: around £400
• Busy month chasing work: £775+

Tradespeople also consistently report significant price increases at renewal. The rate you sign up at is rarely the rate you pay in year two.

Lead Quality: What Are You Actually Getting?

Cost is only part of the picture. The more important question is whether the enquiries you get are worth chasing.

MyBuilder Lead Quality

Because homeowners write a detailed job description upfront, MyBuilder leads tend to come with more context than most platforms. You can read what the job involves, where it is and often what budget the homeowner has in mind before you decide whether to respond.

The drawback is ghost enquiries — homeowners who shortlist you, trigger the shortlist fee, and then never respond to calls or messages. There is no refund. Tradespeople across Trustpilot, Reviews.io and trade forums consistently flag this as the biggest frustration with the platform.

Competition is also real. Between 3 and 6 tradespeople typically respond to each job, and without a strong profile and genuine reviews, you are competing largely on price.

Checkatrade Lead Quality

Checkatrade's brand recognition is its biggest genuine advantage. When a homeowner searches for a plumber or electrician on Checkatrade, they often have a specific and immediate need. That intent is higher quality than a homeowner browsing job marketplaces.

The problem is that you are one of several listed tradespeople in your area, all with similar review scores, all competing for the same enquiry. In urban areas and competitive trades, your listing can be buried several pages deep without additional spend.

"The leads are real. The problem is that five other tradespeople got the same enquiry at the same time — and the one who calls back first and quotes lowest usually wins."

Which Trades Does Each Platform Actually Suit?

This is where a genuine difference between the two platforms exists — and it matters more than the cost comparison.

Checkatrade tends to suit:

• Emergency and reactive trades — plumbers, electricians, locksmiths, boiler engineers. Homeowners in a crisis search Checkatrade by name because they trust the brand.
• Established businesses with a strong review base who can stand out in a directory browse.
• Trades in lower-competition areas where fewer tradespeople are listed in the same category.

MyBuilder tends to suit:

• Planned home improvement trades — builders, kitchen fitters, bathroom installers, landscapers, driveway specialists. Homeowners post detailed job descriptions for planned work, giving you much more to assess before committing.
• Tradespeople who are selective and only pursue jobs that fit their skills, location and pricing without being locked into a monthly overhead.
• Newer businesses that cannot yet justify a Checkatrade membership commitment.

Vetting and Trust: Does It Make a Difference?

Checkatrade has a more thorough vetting process — background checks, insurance verification, proof of qualifications and references. That vetting is part of what homeowners are paying for when they use the platform, and it does carry real weight for certain trades (Gas Safe engineers, NICEIC-registered electricians).

MyBuilder's barrier to entry is lower. A BBC investigation found fake and unverified profiles on the platform, which has damaged homeowner confidence in some segments. The practical effect is that your profile and reviews have to do more of the trust-building work on MyBuilder than on Checkatrade.

For tradespeople with strong credentials and a track record of positive reviews, the vetting difference rarely changes outcomes. For newer businesses or those in regulated trades, Checkatrade's badge carries more visible weight.

The Problem Neither Platform Can Fix

Whether you choose MyBuilder, Checkatrade or both, you are dealing with the same underlying issue: you are renting access to someone else's audience.

Stop paying and the leads stop. Increase competition in your area and your visibility drops. The platform changes its pricing at renewal and your costs go up. None of those decisions are yours to make.

More importantly, neither platform helps you build anything you own. The reviews you collect on Checkatrade belong to Checkatrade. The profile you build on MyBuilder lives on MyBuilder. Your brand, your reputation and your customer data are all sitting on someone else's platform.

"Every pound you spend on Checkatrade or MyBuilder is helping build their platform. The same spend on your own website and Google presence builds something that compounds over time."

The strongest UK trade businesses we work with use platforms like these as a supplement — a short-term traffic source while their own website, Google Business Profile and review base build momentum. Not as the foundation of their marketing.

So, MyBuilder vs Checkatrade — What's the Verdict?

If you are an emergency or reactive trade and you need leads quickly while you build your own assets, Checkatrade's brand recognition gives it an edge — but only if the numbers make sense. Run the maths on what you actually spend versus what you win. If the cost per job won is above what Google Ads would deliver, it's time to switch.

If you are a home improvement trade or want to test the water without a monthly commitment, MyBuilder's pay-when-shortlisted model is lower risk. You control how much you spend by controlling which jobs you pursue. The ghost enquiry problem is real, but a disciplined approach limits the damage.

If you have been on either platform for more than a year and you cannot clearly say it is generating profitable work, the platform is probably not the answer. The same budget invested into a conversion-ready website and Google presence will typically outperform both within six to twelve months — and the asset is yours permanently.

What Is the Best Tradesman Platform in 2026?

The honest answer is that the best tradesman platform is not a platform at all. It is the combination of:

• A conversion-ready trade website that makes it easy for homeowners to call, book and trust you before they even pick up the phone.
• A properly optimised Google Business Profile so you appear prominently in local searches — including the map pack — for your trade and your area.
• A consistent stream of genuine Google reviews that build trust and improve your visibility month on month.
• Optional Google Ads sending high-intent searchers directly to your own site — not a marketplace where they also see your competitors.

These things cost money to set up correctly, but unlike a Checkatrade membership or MyBuilder shortlist fees, they compound over time. Every review adds to your ranking. Every blog post builds your authority. Every job that comes through your own site is a customer who found you — not one who compared you to five others on a marketplace.