Last Updated on July 16, 2026
UK tradespeople pay hundreds, often thousands, a year to lead platforms for introductions that are shared with their rivals and frequently go nowhere. Most of those customers were searching for you on Google anyway
The uncomfortable argument
A customer needs a plumber. They search, they pick a platform, they post the job. You pay to be put in front of them, or you pay for their phone number. So do three or four other tradespeople. One of you wins the work. The rest paid for nothing. Next week it happens again.
That is the lead platform model, and across a year it quietly becomes one of the biggest costs a small trade business carries. A Checkatrade membership commonly runs from a few hundred pounds into the low thousands a year. Pay-per-lead sites charge for each introduction whether or not you win it, and the same lead is sold to several of you at once. You are renting access to customers, and the rent never stops.
Here is the part that stings. Most of those customers are not loyal to the platform. They are loyal to whoever turns up, does a good job and is easy to find next time. The introduction you paid for was to someone who, increasingly, was searching Google for a local trade and could have found you for free. This report sets out what the platforms actually cost, how the model works, and how to own your lead source instead of renting it.
Key takeaways
- A Checkatrade membership commonly costs from around £600 into the low thousands a year, and renewal quotes can jump sharply. The real cost per customer won is often in the region of £80 to £200.
- MyBuilder and Rated People charge per lead, typically £10 to £50 or more depending on the job, and the same lead is shared with several tradespeople. It is entirely normal to pay and walk away with nothing.
- An estimated 86% of UK homeowners now start with an online search when they need a tradesperson, and around 69% still rely on word-of-mouth recommendations. Both of those routes can lead to you for free.
- A Google Business Profile costs nothing, and for local trades it is the single most valuable free asset there is. Reviews and referrals cost nothing either.
- Lead platforms are not useless. They can fill a quiet diary or launch a brand-new business with no reviews yet. The mistake is depending on them for years as your main, rented source of work.
- The fix is to own your lead source: a strong Google Business Profile, a steady stream of genuine reviews, a simple website you control, and a referral habit. Build those and the platform spend becomes optional.
Contents
What you are actually paying for
It is worth being precise about the product. You are not paying for customers. You are paying for an introduction to a customer, on terms set by the platform, often alongside your competitors, and only for as long as you keep paying. The moment you stop, the introductions stop, even though your reputation and your past customers do not go anywhere.
That is the difference between renting and owning. A platform lead is rented. A customer who found you on Google, liked your reviews and saved your number is yours, and so is the next person they recommend you to. Both can cost money to set up. Only one keeps paying you back after the spending stops.
How the platforms charge, side by side
The big three UK platforms work in different ways, but the theme is the same: you carry the cost and the risk, not them.
| Platform | How it charges | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Checkatrade | Monthly membership, commonly a few hundred pounds to low thousands a year | You pay whether or not it brings work, and renewal prices can rise steeply |
| MyBuilder | Pay per lead or shortlist, often around £10 to £50 depending on the job | Leads are shared, so several of you pay for the same job and most get nothing |
| Rated People | Buy a lead to unlock the customer’s contact details, price varies by job and area | You pay for the contact, not the job, and the customer may never reply |
Prices vary by trade, job size and location and change over time. The point is the structure, not the exact figure: the platform is paid first, and the result is your risk.
This is the detail that does the most damage, and it is easy to miss until you have lived it. On the pay-per-lead sites, one homeowner’s job is sold to several tradespeople at once. Each of you pays to quote. One wins. Everyone else has paid real money to lose.
So your cost per lead is not your cost per job. If a lead costs £30 and is shared four ways, the winner has effectively paid for the introductions the other three bought too, because that is the average across all the jobs you chase. Add the leads that never reply, the tyre-kickers and the price-shoppers, and the true cost of each booked job climbs well above the sticker price on a single lead.
The customer was looking for you anyway
Now the reframe. The platforms sell themselves as the way customers find trades. The data says customers mostly find trades two other ways, and both can lead to you without a middleman.
These overlap, as people use more than one route, but both point the same way: most customers reach a tradesperson through search and recommendation, not loyalty to a directory.
When someone searches “emergency electrician near me,” the results are dominated by the Google map and the local profiles beneath it. A complete Google Business Profile, with photos, services and a wall of recent reviews, puts you in that moment for free. The platform was charging you to stand between you and a customer who was already typing your kind of business into Google.
When a lead platform is worth it
To be fair, there are times these platforms earn their fee. A brand-new business with no reviews and no search presence has to get its first jobs somewhere, and a lead site can prime the pump. A quiet patch, a new area, or a specialist job you rarely get can all justify buying a few leads. Used deliberately, as a top-up, they have a place.
The trap is using them as your permanent, main source of work, paying the rent year after year while never building the free assets that would make them optional. If you have been a member for three years and still could not survive a month without the platform, the platform is not helping you grow. It is renting you your own customers.
How to own your lead source instead
The goal is simple: build sources of work that keep paying after the spending stops. None of this is complicated, and most of it is free.
- Claim and complete your Google Business Profile. It is free and, for a local trade, the highest-return thing you can do. Add photos, your services, your area, and keep it current.
- Ask every happy customer for a review. A steady flow of recent Google reviews is what makes the searcher choose you over the next profile. Make asking part of finishing the job.
- Build a simple referral habit. Word of mouth still drives most trade work. A card, a follow-up text and a reason to recommend you turn one good job into the next three.
- Own a basic website you control. Even one page with your work, your reviews and your number gives Google something to rank and customers somewhere to land. You own it, unlike a platform profile.
- Track how each job actually came in. Ask every caller how they found you. Within a few months you will know which sources earn their keep, and which to cut.
- Use platforms as a top-up, not a tap. Keep them for quiet weeks or new areas if you like, but build the free assets first so you are never dependent on rented leads. Our guide to what marketing should cost sets the benchmarks.
This is the Start and Build work in practice. Win a customer once through a platform if you must, but capture them, earn the review, and make sure the next one finds you for free. Own the source, and the rent stops.
Methodology and sources
Compiled by Whito in June 2026. Checkatrade membership figures, commonly from around £600 into the low thousands a year with steep renewal quotes reported, and an effective cost per won customer of roughly £80 to £200, reflect published 2025 and 2026 UK pricing breakdowns and member accounts. MyBuilder and Rated People charging models, pay-per-lead or pay-to-unlock-contact at around £10 to £50 or more per lead, with leads shared between multiple tradespeople, reflect those platforms’ published pricing and widely reported user experiences. The figure that an estimated 86% of UK homeowners start with an online search to find a tradesperson, and that around 69% rely on word-of-mouth recommendations, reflects published 2025 and 2026 industry surveys, including data reported by Checkatrade. Google Business Profile, reviews and referrals are free to use. This report describes the general lead-generation model and is not a comment on the conduct of any single named company, several of which can offer genuine value when used deliberately. It is general information, not advice on a specific contract. Work out your own cost per won job before deciding what to keep.
