The short answer
Checkatrade is a directory and a lead marketplace rolled into one. For some trades it pays for itself. For others it's a monthly bill plus a fee for enquiries that go nowhere. Whether it's worth it comes down to your trade, your margins, and how much chasing you're willing to do.
It works best when three things line up: you do high-frequency, lower-value work where a couple of won jobs a month covers the subscription; you're quick on the phone and answer within minutes; and you're comfortable competing on price against the other trades the same enquiry was sent to.
It starts to hurt when your jobs are big and infrequent, when the enquiries you pay for don't answer, or when you want to leave and find you can't — the contract runs a full twelve months. Below are the real numbers so you can judge for yourself.
What Checkatrade actually costs
Checkatrade is a hybrid model: a monthly subscription to be listed, plus a fee most trades pay each time they take a lead.
| What you pay | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Entry membership | from £30+VAT/mo | Name-search listing only |
| Typical all-in membership | £100–£300/mo (reported) | What active members report paying |
| Per-lead fee, small jobs | £5–£15 (reported) | Charged when you take the lead |
| Per-lead fee, boiler/bathroom-scale | £20–£40 (reported) | Bigger enquiries cost more per lead |
| Contract | 12 months | Auto-renewing; no mid-term exit |
Figures marked (reported) are what tradespeople and third-party sites report, not published rates. Entry pricing is from Checkatrade's own site; the contract terms are from their support pages.
Four things to weigh before you sign
1. The contract is twelve months. Checkatrade's own support pages are clear that cancelling your direct debit does not end the contract — you're committed for the full term whether the leads come good or not. Budget for a year, not a month.
2. Your reviews are tied to your membership. Build up years of five-star reviews and they work for you as long as you pay. Checkatrade removes a deactivated trade from the platform, so if you leave, those reviews stop showing publicly. You're renting your reputation, not owning it.
3. You pay per lead, and leads are shared. The same enquiry is sent to several tradespeople. You can pay the fee, ring straight back, and still lose out to whoever was cheaper or quicker — or find the customer never answers at all. Complaints about paying for enquiries that go nowhere are common across lead-generation sites (reported).
4. Once you count the misses, the real cost climbs. Add up every lead fee — including the ones that never answered — and the true cost of a won job through shared-lead sites routinely runs from £150 to over £1,000, and you did all the chasing (reported and modelled). The headline per-lead price is never the whole story.
A shared lead vs an exclusive appointment
A shared Checkatrade lead
- Sent to several trades at once, so you're in a race
- You pay the fee whether or not the customer answers
- You do the phoning, qualifying and chasing
- Often competing on price before you've even spoken
- Reviews depend on keeping the subscription live
An EzDealz appointment
- Exclusive to you, never shared with another trade
- Phone-qualified before it's booked, so the customer is expecting you
- Dropped straight into your own diary at a confirmed time
- No sit, no fee: you pay only if the customer is there when you arrive
- No contract, no subscription, no credits; first two appointments free
Exclusive, phone-qualified appointments close far better than shared leads because the customer is expecting you. Model it conservatively at a 40% close rate: 10 roofing appointments at £150 is £1,500; close 4 and that's £375 per job won, on work worth £5,000 and up. See the full model on our pay-per-appointment page.
What a booked appointment costs with EzDealz
For comparison, here's our flat rate per appointment that sits, by trade. Every appointment is exclusive to one business and booked into your own diary.
| Trade | Per booked appointment | Typical job value |
|---|---|---|
| Loft boarding & insulation | £100 | £995–£2,000 |
| Plumbing & boilers | £110 | ~£2,400 |
| Electricians | £120 | £3,000–£8,000 |
| Windows & doors | £120 | £4,000–£9,000 |
| Bathroom fitting | £135 | £4,500–£8,000 |
| Landscaping & gardens | £135 | £5,000–£15,000 |
| Roofing | £150 | £5,000–£13,500 |
| Solar & renewables | £175 | £7,500–£14,000 |
Prices exclude VAT. No sit, no fee, so there's no charge unless the customer is there when you arrive.
Common questions
Is Checkatrade worth it for a new business?
It can be if you do frequent, lower-value work and answer the phone fast, because a couple of won jobs a month can cover the subscription. It's a harder sell if your jobs are big and rare — one shared lead that doesn't answer, on a twelve-month contract, is an expensive way to start. Weigh your average job value against the monthly cost and the per-lead fees before you commit.
Can I cancel Checkatrade if it isn't working?
Not mid-term. The membership runs for twelve months and auto-renews, and Checkatrade's own support pages state that cancelling your direct debit alone does not end the contract. Plan on a full year's commitment when you do the sums.
What happens to my Checkatrade reviews if I leave?
They stop showing publicly. Reviews are tied to your membership, and a deactivated trade is removed from the platform — so the reputation you built lives on Checkatrade, not with you. That's worth factoring in before you rely on it as your main source of trust.
Why do I pay for Checkatrade leads that never answer?
Because you're paying for the enquiry, not the outcome, and the same enquiry is shared with several trades. If the customer changes their mind or picks someone else, you've still paid. Complaints about unresponsive leads are common across lead-generation sites (reported). EzDealz flips that: no sit, no fee, so you pay only when the customer is there for the appointment you turned up to.
How is EzDealz different from Checkatrade?
Checkatrade sells you a listing plus shared leads on a twelve-month contract. EzDealz sells you exclusive, phone-qualified appointments booked into your own diary, with no contract and no subscription. For context, advertisers pay £22–£37 per click on Google for trade-lead search terms — we charge £100–£175 for a booked appointment that a real person has already agreed to attend.
Is there a catch with 'no sit, no fee'?
No. If the customer isn't there when you arrive, you don't pay for that appointment. There's no contract, no subscription and no credits to buy, and your first two appointments are free so you can see the quality before you spend anything.