Checkatrade vs MyBuilder vs Bark: Which UK Lead Platform Taxes Tradespeople Least

Most UK tradespeople compare these three on features and reviews. That is the wrong axis. All three are landlords renting you access to customers they own. The useful question is which one charges the lowest rent for the way your business actually books work. Here is the direct answer. The three use different fee architectures, so the cheapest one depends entirely on your job value and how many quotes you send. Checkatrade charges a fixed subscription, so it rewards high volume and punishes quiet months. MyBuilder and Bark charge per lead or per response, so they scale with activity but can bleed you on unconverted quotes. There is no universally cheapest platform. There is only the cheapest platform for your numbers.

By Joshua Agonya Pi'Rwot

Founder, Business Growth Accelerator

Section 1

How each one charges

Checkatrade: fixed membership. You pay a recurring fee, historically billed monthly or annually, for a listing and the leads that come through it. Pricing has shifted over the years and varies by trade and area, so get a current quote directly rather than trusting an old figure. The key feature is that the cost is fixed regardless of how many jobs you win. Busy month, the effective cost per job is low. Dead month, you still pay. MyBuilder: pay to contact / per lead. You browse posted jobs and pay to respond to or shortlist for the ones you want. Cost attaches to leads you actively choose, which gives you more control than a blind feed, but every quote you send that does not land is money spent. Bark: credit per response. You buy credits and spend them to respond to leads Bark routes to you. The same lead is typically sold to several pros, so you are paying to enter a crowded race, and unconverted responses burn credits with nothing to show.

Section 2

Compare them as rent, not features

The number that matters is effective cost per won job, not the sticker price of a membership or a credit pack. The formula is the same for all three: cost per won job = total platform spend in a period / jobs actually won in that period Run a real month of your own data through that formula for each platform you use. Most tradespeople are shocked at the gap between advertised cost and cost per actual won job.

Section 3

The trap in each model

Fixed subscription lulls you into treating the cost as sunk, so you stop measuring whether it earns out. Pay-per-lead makes every unconverted quote a small loss you rarely tally. Credit-per-response hides a shared-lead race behind the language of buying access. All three obscure the same thing: you are paying rent on customers who found you through the platform's brand, not yours, and the platform can change the fee structure whenever it likes.

Section 4

The point most comparisons miss

Picking the least-taxing platform is a cost-optimisation, not a strategy. Even the cheapest of the three is still a channel you rent. The membership can be repriced. The lead can be resold. The listing can be outranked by a competitor who pays more. Choosing well here saves you money this year. It does not build you anything you own. The platform that taxes you least is the one you can most afford to wean off while you build owned demand.

Section 5

Fitness test

You are ready to choose between these platforms if you have run a real month of spend through the cost-per-won-job formula for each, and you are picking the one that fits your job value and quoting pattern. You are not ready if you are choosing on brand recognition or review count, or if the platform you pick has quietly become your only source of work. Least rent is still rent.

Direct answers for operators.

Which is cheapest: Checkatrade, MyBuilder, or Bark?

There is no universally cheapest platform, only the cheapest one for your numbers. The three use different fee architectures, so the answer depends entirely on your job value and how many quotes you send. Checkatrade's fixed subscription rewards high volume and punishes quiet months; MyBuilder and Bark charge per lead or per response, so they scale with activity but bleed you on unconverted quotes.

How do I actually compare them fairly?

Ignore the sticker price of a membership or credit pack and compute effective cost per won job: total platform spend in a period divided by jobs actually won in that period. Run a real month of your own data through that formula for each platform. Most tradespeople are shocked at the gap between advertised cost and cost per actual won job.

What is the hidden trap in each fee model?

Fixed subscription lulls you into treating the cost as sunk, so you stop measuring whether it earns out. Pay-per-lead makes every unconverted quote a small loss you rarely tally. Credit-per-response hides a shared-lead race behind the language of buying access. All three obscure the same thing: you are renting customers who found you through the platform's brand, and the platform can change the fee structure whenever it likes.

Is picking the least-taxing platform a growth strategy?

No, it is a cost-optimisation, not a strategy. Even the cheapest of the three is still a channel you rent: the membership can be repriced, the lead resold, the listing outranked by a competitor who pays more. Choosing well saves money this year but builds you nothing you own. The platform that taxes you least is simply the one you can most afford to wean off while you build owned demand.