Checkatrade vs MyBuilder vs Rated People vs Bark: UK Verdict

Checkatrade vs MyBuilder is the comparison UK trades ask me about first, and the straight answer is that they sell different things. Checkatrade sells you a membership and a badge homeowners already trust. MyBuilder lets you read the job first and only charges you when a homeowner shortlists you. Rated People and Bark sit somewhere in between, and both share leads between several trades. None of them wins for everyone, so I've given you a verdict trade by trade.

Disclosure. I'm Hadri, and I built Plan@Job. Plan@Job is owned by Planajob Ltd and built by Net Access Market Ltd. It isn't a homeowner lead site, so it doesn't compete with these four on most trades. I've still compared it on the same terms near the end. Read that section knowing who wrote it.

What each platform charges (checked 15 October 2026)

None of the four puts a full price list for trades on a public page. Some of them only give you a number after a sales call or once you've signed up. Where I couldn't confirm a figure from the platform itself, the table says who reported it.

These prices change without much warning. Get the price, the minimum term and the cancellation route in writing before you sign anything. That's the cheapest rule in this whole post.

Lead quality: what you're actually paying for

The price of a lead tells you nothing on its own. What matters is what one job you actually win ends up costing you.

Here's how I work it out:

1. Count the leads you paid for in a month.
2. Count the jobs you won from them.
3. Divide the total spend by the jobs won.
4. Add the time you spent driving out and pricing jobs you lost.

Illustrative example, not real data: if you win one job in every eight leads, you're really paying eight lead fees plus seven wasted quotes for that one job. A cheap lead shared with five trades can end up dearer than an expensive one you only share with two.

That's why the sharing column in the table matters more than the price column. On Bark and Rated People you're racing other trades to get the first call in. On MyBuilder you only pay once the homeowner has picked you, so their interest is real. Their money isn't, yet. On Checkatrade the homeowner comes looking for you, and your reviews do the selling.

Read what trades say, not homeowners

Go to the reviews and filter for the trades talking. Checkatrade on Trustpilot, MyBuilder on Trustpilot, Rated People on Trustpilot and Bark on Trustpilot.

The same complaints keep coming up. People feel stuck in contracts, pay for leads that never pick up the phone, and argue about refunds. Read twenty reviews from your own trade before you hand over a card. Happy homeowners don't tell you whether the leads pay off.

Verdict by trade

This is my call, based on how each platform charges and what kind of job your trade usually gets. I don't have conversion data for your postcode. Nobody honest does.

Plumbers, heating engineers and electricians: Checkatrade

A homeowner with a leak or a tripping fuse board searches, sees the badge and calls you. Trust and speed win those jobs. For certificated work, homeowners want to see checks and reviews before they let you in. The membership costs a lot, but steady local callouts can carry it.

Builders, extensions, lofts and kitchens: MyBuilder

You read the job description before you pay anything, and you pay nothing until you're shortlisted. On big jobs one win covers a lot of fees. You still need to qualify hard on the first call. Budget, timing, and whether the drawings exist yet.

Roofers: Checkatrade

Roofing is full of rogue traders, and homeowners know it. A long list of genuine reviews counts for more here than in nearly any other trade. Close second is MyBuilder for bigger re-roofs.

Painters, decorators, plasterers and tilers: Rated People

Close call with MyBuilder. Mid-sized, repeatable jobs suit a subscription if your trade is offered one, because you can price lots of jobs without paying for each lead. If you're not offered the subscription, use MyBuilder instead.

Handymen, gardeners and cleaners: Bark

Bark covers services well beyond construction, and small fast jobs are where it lives. Only buy credits if you can call within minutes. Remember the credits run out, so buy small packs.

Multi-trade operators running subbies: none of the four

If you win the client and your subbies do the work, homeowner leads are a side dish. The money is in repeat clients and running jobs properly. That's the one category where Plan@Job wins, and here's why.

Where Plan@Job fits, on the same terms

Plan@Job doesn't sell you homeowners. If that's what you need this month, use one of the four above.

What it does is run the work once you've got it. In Plan@Job an Operator is the contractor business. You manage the clients and the delivery, plus your subbies and your own operatives. You split a job into internal stages, each with its own scope, dates, status and costs, and give each stage to a subbie or to your own team. The client sees the agreed scope, the price and the evidence you share. They never see your stage costs or who your subbies are. That's your margin and your network, and it stays yours.

The AI staff do the chasing in the background:

• Sophie Bennett checks the job briefs you already have for missing information and asks for it. If she still doesn't get it after two tries, she hands it back to you.
• Daniel Reed chases quotes and proposed dates, can share eligible jobs with your existing vetted network, and sends you a morning brief.
• Maya Collins prepares deposit requests and overdue payment actions for you to approve.

Here's what still needs you. You decide who gets the job and what the price is. You approve first contact with a client. You approve anything to do with money. Nothing gets awarded or paid without you.

Main contractors can also use Plan@Job to commission work from operators they've agreed to work with. That's not a lead feed, and nobody gets hired automatically. You still have to earn that relationship.

The company I built in London worked for housing associations and letting agents. Repeat clients, not one-off homeowners. That's where my rule comes from: lead sites fill the gaps, repeat clients build the business. If every job you have came from a lead site, you're renting your pipeline. If you want to talk that through with people building the same thing, that's what Contractor Club is for.

FAQ

Is Checkatrade worth it for a new trade?

Only if you can carry a fixed monthly cost for a year before the reviews build up. Without reviews the badge doesn't do much. If you're just starting, MyBuilder's pay-on-shortlist model is easier on cash, so begin there and add Checkatrade once you've got steady work.

Does MyBuilder refund shortlist fees?

Not as a rule. In the past their help pages listed narrow exceptions, like a homeowner's number being out of service or being shortlisted twice for the same job. Check the current terms when you register, and screenshot any lead you think should be refunded.

Should I use more than one platform?

Yes, but one at a time. Run one for a full month, work out what each job you won cost you, then decide whether to add another. If you run four at once you'll never know which one is paying.

The next move

Pick the platform your trade wins on, count what each won job really costs, and stop paying for the ones that don't pay you back. Once the work comes in and you're running subbies, set up your operator account on Plan@Job for UK contractors and run every job from one place.