Checkatrade, Bark or Your Own Old Leads? Comparing the Cost

Checkatrade can be worth it, particularly for newer businesses that need reviews and credibility quickly, and the same is true of Bark, Rated People and MyBuilder in the right circumstances. But each one charges differently, many of their leads are shared, and none publishes win rates. Your own old leads work on a different basis: you have already paid for them, and with Setterly, reactivating them is free to start and you pay per booked appointment.

This guide compares the main UK platforms using published and reported costs, explains shared and exclusive leads, shows how to work out your real cost per job, and sets out where reactivation fits alongside them.

At a glance

• Checkatrade: membership-led. Active members report £100 to £300 a month all in, with some lead fees on top
• Bark: £1.80 plus VAT per credit, leads reported at roughly £7 to £40+, up to five professionals per lead
• Rated People: up to three tradespeople per lead. MyBuilder: fee when a homeowner shortlists you
• No UK platform publishes win rates, so track cost per job yourself
• Your old leads have no new acquisition cost. Reactivation with Setterly is pay per booked appointment

Is Checkatrade worth it in 2026?

Checkatrade is worth it for many trades when the enquiries it brings in turn into enough jobs to cover the membership, and that depends on your trade, your area and how quickly you respond. It is strongest for businesses that need instant credibility, because reviews do much of the selling.

Checkatrade does not publish a simple price list. A 2026 guide from Trade2Base, based on what tradespeople report, puts monthly membership at about £50 to £80 for a basic listing in a quieter area and trade, and £120 to £200 or more for high-demand trades in competitive cities. That works out at roughly £600 to £2,400 a year before extras. Some packages add per-lead fees of £5 to £30, charged whether you win the job or not.

Whito's 2026 research adds that a name-search listing starts from £30 plus VAT a month with no leads, that active members report £100 to £300 a month all in, that leads are reportedly shared with 3 to 4 trades in busy areas, and that the minimum term is 12 months.

Where Checkatrade earns its place: new or relocating businesses, trades people search directories for, such as locksmiths and drain specialists, and firms that build a strong review base which keeps working even if spend drops later. Where it can struggle: established firms already full from referrals, high-value jobs that often convert better through Google search, and businesses that do not track which jobs came from where.

How much does Bark cost?

Bark costs £1.80 plus VAT per credit, which is its published list price, and each lead costs a number of credits that depends on the size of the job. Whito reports typical lead costs of:

• Small jobs such as cleaning and repairs: 5 to 8 credits, about £7 to £14 plus VAT
• Mid-size jobs such as plumbing and electrical: 8 to 15 credits, about £14 to £22 plus VAT
• Large jobs such as rewires and extensions: 15 to 20+ credits, about £22 to £40+ plus VAT

Bark has no minimum term, which makes it easy to test. Its model allows around five professionals to respond to each lead, and credits bought from 1 November 2025 expire three months after purchase.

Where Bark earns its place: testing a new area or service without a long contract, filling short-term gaps in the diary. Where it can struggle: competing with several other firms on every lead, which rewards whoever replies first and lowest.

What do Rated People and MyBuilder cost?

Rated People and MyBuilder both charge closer to per lead than per month, but in different ways. Neither publishes a full current price list.

Rated People caps each lead at three tradespeople, which it publishes. Historical reports put it at around £35 plus VAT a month plus an average of £15 plus VAT per lead, and it now offers an unlimited plan for jobs up to £4,000 at a fixed fee, priced on application.

MyBuilder is free to join and free to express interest. You pay a non-refundable fee when a homeowner shortlists you, reported at roughly £2 to £35 for typical jobs, £50 or more for bathrooms and around £100 for extensions. Several trades can be shortlisted for the same job. There is no minimum term.

How do the UK lead platforms compare on cost?

Here is a side-by-side view of published and reported costs, collected by Whito in mid 2026. Reported figures come from member accounts and reviews, not official price lists, so check current terms before you budget.

What is the difference between shared and exclusive leads?

A shared lead is sold to more than one business, so you compete for the same homeowner. An exclusive lead goes to you alone. Shared leads are cheaper per lead, but your chance of winning each one is lower.

UK platforms do not publish close rates, but US data gives a sense of the gap. A review of Modernize, a US lead platform, reports that its leads are sold to multiple contractors by default, that exclusive leads are priced at around 1.5 to 2 times the shared rate, and that shared leads close at around 8 to 15% for roofers and remodelers. A review of Angi leads says contractors typically compete against at least three others for each one. US markets differ, so treat those as a reference point, not a UK benchmark.

The practical lesson is the same on both sides of the Atlantic: on shared leads, speed decides a lot. If you cannot reply within minutes, you are often paying for leads another firm wins.

How do you work out the real cost per job from bought leads?

Your real cost per job is what you spend on a platform in a period, divided by the jobs you won from it in that period. Cost per lead on its own tells you very little.

Here is an illustrative estimate, not a quote from any platform:

Whether those numbers work depends entirely on job value and margin. A £150 cost per job is easy to carry on a £10,000 window installation and painful on a £400 repair. Whito's own estimate for Checkatrade puts the cost per customer won somewhere around £80 to £200, but notes that this cannot be confirmed from public data. Track it yourself, by tagging every job with its source.

Our UK home improvement cost per lead guide goes deeper on each channel, and are Checkatrade, Bark and Rated People leads worth it covers the close rate maths in more detail.

How does reactivating your own old leads compare?

Reactivating your own old leads has no new acquisition cost, because you have already paid to generate them. With Setterly it is free to start: you pay per booked appointment, with no setup fee and no retainer, and CRM integration is optional for a one-off fee.

Old leads include every enquiry that came through your website, ads, show stands and referrals, and every quote that went quiet. Most of those people did not say no. They were contacted once or twice, at the wrong time, and then the business moved on to newer leads.

It is worth being clear about quality. A reactivation campaign works the same leads your own marketing produced. If a channel brought in weak leads, they are still weak. If it brought in serious homeowners, many are still in your CRM and some will now be ready. Lead quality is set by your new lead generation, not by the reactivation.

For leads that originally came through a platform, check how the homeowner's details reached you and what consent you hold before messaging them. The ICO's guidance on PECR explains the soft opt-in, which covers people who enquired with you directly about similar products, with an opt-out offered when you collected their details and in every message. Our trust page sets out how we handle consent and opt-outs.

How do bought leads and old leads compare side by side?

The two do different jobs, and the table shows where each one is stronger.

So which should you spend on?

Spend on platforms when they bring in enough jobs to justify the cost, and work your old leads alongside them. Platforms grow your database and your reviews. Reactivation makes sure the enquiries you already paid for get a second chance.

Home improvement businesses have done exactly that. Cloudy2Clear, a UK misted double glazing repair franchise, re-engaged 6,769 old enquiries, 64% replied, and the campaign booked 673 appointments with £639,350 in pipeline and £107,000+ closed. A single-branch UK window and door installer booked 22 appointments in its first 30 days at a 41% reply rate, closing £31,483 for £1,520 in appointment fees. Pipeline means appointments booked multiplied by the client's average order value. These are past results, not a forecast for your business. The detail is in the Cloudy2Clear case study and the window and door case study.

For the full picture on balancing the two, read new leads vs reactivating old leads. To see how reactivation works for installers, visit our lead reactivation for home improvement page, or book a call.