ORIGINAL RESEARCH · UPDATED 18 AUGUST 2026
The UK Trade Lead Cost Index: what the platforms publish—and what they only show at signup
We read the public pricing pages of the five major UK trade lead platforms and recorded exactly what each one discloses, with a source link and a date on every claim. The headline: only one of the five publishes an actual price.
If you have ever tried to answer the simple question “what will this platform cost me per month?” from a platform’s own website, you will know why this index exists. Pricing pages describe the model—credits, subscriptions, per-lead fees—and are quick to say what is not charged (“no commission, no hidden fees”), but the actual figures usually appear only inside the signup flow, where they can vary by trade, location and demand. This page records what each platform publishes publicly, so you can see the landscape before you hand over your details. Every claim carries its source and the date we checked it.
The index
| Platform | Pricing model (as they describe it) | Published entry price? | Commission? | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Checkatrade | Membership subscription; larger memberships cost more depending on lead volumes and coverage areas; some trades in high-demand areas may pay more. | YES — “basic plans start from around £30 + VAT per month” (their membership ROI guide) | None stated; membership-based | 2 Jul 2026, re-verified 18 Aug 2026 |
| Bark | Pay per introduction via a credit system: “buy a credit pack and simply use the credits to contact the customers you’re interested in”; cost in credits shown per lead before you commit. | NOT PUBLISHED — credit pack prices appear at signup | “No commission, no hidden fees” (their pricing page) | 18 Aug 2026 |
| MyBuilder | No monthly retainer; you pay when you actively engage with an incoming lead (shortlist model, per their how-it-works pages read in July 2026). The current public how-it-works page describes only the homeowner side. | NOT PUBLISHED — fees appear when you express interest in a job | None stated | 4 Jul 2026, re-checked 18 Aug 2026 |
| Rated People | Monthly subscription: “One fee. Unlimited leads”, aimed at trades regularly quoting jobs under £4,000; “Unlimited is not available for some trades”. | NOT PUBLISHED — subscription amount not on the public tradespeople page | None stated | 18 Aug 2026 |
| TrustATrader | Membership listing: “No commission rates”, “Never pay for your leads”. | NOT PUBLISHED — membership price not on the public homepage | “No commission rates” (their homepage) | 18 Aug 2026 |
Sources: Checkatrade membership ROI guide · Bark pricing for professionals · MyBuilder how it works · Rated People for tradespeople · TrustATrader. Dates shown are when we read each page. Pricing and terms change — always confirm directly with the provider before committing budget.
What the pattern means for your budget
One platform out of five publishing an entry price is not an accident of web design—it reflects how these markets work. Where pricing varies by trade, postcode and demand, a single public number would be wrong for most visitors, so the platforms describe the mechanism and defer the figure. The practical consequence for a tradesperson is that you cannot budget from public pages alone. You have to enter each signup flow, record the figures quoted for your trade in your area, and compare like with like: entry cost, cost per lead you actually pursue, and what happens to leads that go nowhere. Checkatrade also promotes a guarantee of up to £1,000 for jobs booked through the platform, subject to terms and conditions—worth reading in full before you weight it in a comparison.
Our companion pages break down each mechanism in detail: what Checkatrade membership really costs, how Bark credits work in practice, MyBuilder’s pay-per-engagement model, Rated People’s subscription, and a sourced framework for deciding whether Checkatrade pays for itself.
What we measure in our own system
FindMyBuyer runs its own buyer-discovery pipeline, so we publish our own numbers by the same rule we apply above — sourced and dated:
10,604 UK prospects discovered by our system to date, and a measured outreach email bounce rate of 2.6%.
Source: internal FindMyBuyer database measurements, August 2026. We publish no figure we cannot trace to a measurement.
Method
We read each platform’s own public pages (pricing, how-it-works, help centre) and recorded only what those pages state, quoting their wording where the wording is the claim. We do not estimate unpublished prices, we do not repeat third-party figures we cannot verify, and every row carries the date it was checked. When a platform publishes a figure we missed or changes its disclosure, we update the row and the date. Suggest a correction via our contact page.
Lead platform guides
Frequently asked
Which UK trade lead platforms publish their prices publicly?
Of the five major platforms we checked on 18 August 2026, only Checkatrade publishes an entry price on its public pages: basic plans start from around £30 + VAT per month, according to its own membership ROI guide. Bark, MyBuilder, Rated People and TrustATrader describe their pricing models publicly but disclose actual figures only at or after signup.
How does Bark charge tradespeople?
Bark charges per introduction using a credit system: you buy a credit pack and spend credits to contact customers you choose, with no commission and no hidden fees, according to Bark’s own pricing page. The price of credit packs is not published on its public pages.
How does Rated People charge tradespeople?
Rated People markets a monthly subscription described as one fee with unlimited leads, aimed at tradespeople who regularly quote jobs under £4,000, and notes that unlimited is not available for some trades. The subscription amount is not published on its public tradespeople page.
Why do lead platforms hide their prices?
The platforms do not state a reason on their public pages. What we can verify is the pattern: pricing pages describe the model, emphasise what is not charged (no commission, no hidden fees), and defer actual figures to the signup flow, where prices can vary by trade, location and demand.
How often is this index updated?
Every figure on this page carries the date we checked it. The index was last updated on 18 August 2026. Always confirm current pricing directly with the provider before committing budget.
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