If you do good work, you deserve a steady flow of enquiries. But paying for leads does not automatically mean paying for jobs.
That is the important point when looking at Checkatrade cost in 2026.
The headline prices look manageable. The real decision depends on the contract, the type of leads, renewal pricing, and whether customers can find your own business without going through a directory.
Here is what the available pricing shows.
How much does Checkatrade cost in 2026?
Checkatrade’s official 2026 pricing starts at £30 per month plus VAT for Approved and from £59 per month plus VAT for Growth. Both are 12-month fixed contracts with no joining fee. Growth pricing depends on your trade, postcode and expected annual enquiry volume.
Checkatrade currently shows three main options:
| Plan | Advertised price | Main purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Free | £0 per month | Profile and review collection |
| Approved | £30 per month plus VAT | Trust, reviews and directory presence |
| Growth | From £59 per month plus VAT | Lead generation and increased visibility |
The £30 Approved plan is £360 over 12 months before VAT.
The Growth starting price is £708 over 12 months before VAT. That is the minimum advertised figure, not necessarily the price you will be offered.
Checkatrade asks for your trade and postcode before showing the plan that fits your area. It also uses estimated annual enquiry volume when setting up Growth plans.
You can check the current prices on the official Checkatrade pricing page.
What does the £30 Approved plan include?
Approved is mainly a trust and reputation plan. It gives you a Checkatrade profile, reviews, the Checkatrade tick, directory visibility and job management features, but it should not be treated as a guaranteed stream of new customer enquiries.
The Approved plan includes the features of a free profile, plus:
- A Checkatrade tick on your business profile
- One-click review requests
- A place in the trade directory
- Customer communication tools
- Quote and job management features
- AI tools for managing work
- Access to partner savings
- A profile that displays your services, photos, reviews and accreditations
This may suit a business that already gets most of its work through recommendations but wants another trust signal.
It is less suitable if your main reason for joining is to receive regular leads. Approved is the reputation tier. Growth is the lead-generating tier.
That difference matters. Paying £30 a month does not mean you have bought a set number of jobs.
What do Checkatrade Growth plans include?
Growth plans are designed to generate enquiries, with prices from £59 per month plus VAT. You choose the work and postcode areas you want, while the final price depends on your trade, location and expected annual enquiry volume.
Growth includes everything in Approved, plus features aimed at bringing in more work:
- A plan based on your target workload
- Customer enquiries through Checkatrade
- Direct booking options from search or your profile
- Higher search placement
- £100–£200 of credit for visibility
- Profile performance information
- Checkatrade Pay, with fees from 1.29% to 1.79%
The wording is important. Checkatrade describes the lead volume as an estimate. It does not mean every enquiry will turn into a quote, and every quote will not become a job.
Your results will also depend on the number of customers searching for your service in your selected postcode areas.
A busy city postcode and a small rural area may produce very different results, even for the same trade.
Is the £59 price what most trades actually pay?
Not always. The £59 figure is a starting price. Third-party 2026 analyses and member reports commonly place real spending around £60–£120 or more per month, with some businesses paying considerably more for stronger placement or busier areas.
The price you see in the headline is best treated as a minimum.
A more realistic budget for many trades is around £60–£120 or more each month before VAT. Some businesses report annual costs of roughly £1,000–£1,500 or more after their initial term or when renewing.
That works out at approximately £83–£125 per month before VAT.
Other reported quotes go higher. Premium packages, competitive trades, larger towns and stronger placement can push costs into the £150–£400-plus monthly range.
There is no single Checkatrade price for every electrician, builder, roofer or secondary glazing specialist. The final quote is linked to your trade, your postcode and the expected number of enquiries.
Before agreeing, ask for the full 12-month cost in writing. Do not rely only on “from £59 per month”.
Are Checkatrade leads exclusive?
You should not assume they are exclusive. Independent analyses and member reports describe Checkatrade enquiries as shared, meaning several businesses may receive the same customer opportunity. The official pricing page presents a regular flow of leads, but does not promise exclusive jobs.
This is one of the biggest differences between paying for a directory and owning your own visibility.
When a customer submits an enquiry through a lead platform, other trades may be competing for the same work. You may need to respond quickly, explain your price clearly and prove why you are the safer choice.
A shared lead is not worthless. It can still become good work.
But the membership fee buys access to the opportunity. It does not buy the customer’s commitment to you.
Ask these questions before signing:
- Is the enquiry shared?
- How many businesses normally receive it?
- Is there a guaranteed number of enquiries?
- Are calls, quote requests or bookings treated differently?
- Can you pause or reduce the plan if your diary is full?
- What happens when the first 12 months ends?
What does the 12-month contract mean?
A 12-month fixed contract means you are committing to the membership for a full year, even if the lead flow is weaker than expected. Check the cancellation and renewal terms carefully before you accept the plan.
There is no joining fee on the advertised paid plans. That removes one upfront cost.
The bigger commitment is the fixed term.
If you pay £59 per month, the advertised minimum is £708 before VAT over 12 months. If your quote is £120 per month, the commitment becomes £1,440 before VAT.
That is a large difference for a sole trader who is measuring every marketing pound against booked work.
Renewal pricing is another point to check. Third-party reports describe businesses seeing higher prices after an introductory period or when their contract renews. These reports vary by trade and location, so they should be treated as a warning to check your own agreement, not as a guaranteed outcome.
Put the renewal date in your diary. Review your leads, quotes and completed jobs before the next term starts.
What extra Checkatrade costs should you check?
The membership fee may not be the only cost that affects your return. Check the terms for visibility credit, placement options, payment processing, VAT, renewal pricing and any additional lead-related charges before comparing the plan with other marketing options.
Growth plans include £100–£200 of credit for higher search placement.
That may help your profile appear more prominently, but it is still an additional part of the commercial model to understand. Ask whether the credit is included, optional, promotional or linked to a particular plan.
Checkatrade Pay also carries fees from 1.29% to 1.79%. Those charges may be useful if faster payment matters to your business, but they should be included in your calculations.
Some third-party reviews also report lead-related charges in certain setups. Because reports differ, ask Checkatrade directly whether your quote includes all lead costs or whether any charges are added separately.
Your comparison should include:
- Monthly membership
- VAT
- The full 12-month commitment
- Any placement or credit costs
- Payment processing fees
- Your time responding to enquiries
- Jobs actually won, not just leads received
Is Checkatrade worth the cost?
Checkatrade can be worthwhile when the work won comfortably exceeds the full annual cost. It becomes poor value when shared enquiries produce few quotes, the contract is hard to leave, or customers never learn to find your business directly.
The answer depends on your numbers.
Suppose your annual membership costs £1,200 before VAT. You need to know how many enquiries become genuine conversations, how many conversations become quotes, and how many quotes become profitable jobs.
A single large job may cover the fee. Or you may spend months responding to enquiries that go nowhere.
Track every lead for at least three months:
- Record when it arrived.
- Note whether the customer answered.
- Record whether you quoted.
- Record the job value and gross profit.
- Include your time and travel.
- Compare the result with the full membership cost.
Do not judge the service by the number of notifications in your inbox. Judge it by profitable work.
What could £99 a month buy you directly?
A £99 monthly marketing budget can help you build an asset you control: a stronger local website, clearer service pages, better enquiry handling and an instant quote route that captures customers before they leave.
This is where owning your local visibility becomes useful.
A directory can put your business in front of people who are already using that directory. Your own website can appear when people search Google for terms such as “secondary glazing installer near me”, “local roofer” or “electrician in [town]”.
VU1 is built for this practical problem.
The free audit checks 15 local, on-page and technical SEO signals. It takes under 15 seconds to request, and the report lands within a few minutes. It explains what is holding your visibility back in plain English.
The quote widget tackles the other half of the problem. Website visitors can select a service, see a real-time price estimate and leave their details before clicking away.
At £99 per month, VU1 membership gives you a way to diagnose why local customers are missing you and improve what happens when they reach your site.
That is different from paying for access to shared enquiries. You are improving an asset that remains connected to your business.
How can you compare Checkatrade with your own website?
Compare the full annual directory cost with the value of stronger local visibility, direct enquiries and better conversion on your website. Start by checking where your business appears for the services and areas you actually want to work in.
Search your main services from a customer’s point of view.
Try searches such as:
- “Secondary glazing installer near me”
- “Window fitter in [town]”
- “Emergency glazier near me”
- “Local electrician in [town]”
Check whether your business appears in the map results, local listings and organic results. Then check whether your website clearly explains:
- What services you provide
- Which areas you cover
- What makes your work credible
- How customers can request a quote
- What they should do next
If your website is difficult to find or difficult to use, paying for more traffic will not solve the whole problem.
Run the free VU1 audit before committing to another 12-month contract. Enter your website and see the issues that may be costing you local enquiries.
What should tradespeople do before signing up?
Get the exact monthly price, total 12-month cost, lead terms and renewal terms in writing. Then compare those figures with the cost of improving your own local visibility and quote process, rather than comparing headline prices alone.
Checkatrade may be the right fit for some businesses. It can provide trust signals, directory exposure and customer enquiries.
But the headline price is only the starting point.
The important figures are the total contract cost, the quality of the enquiries, the number of jobs won, and the price you will pay when the contract renews.
If you decide to use Checkatrade, track the return properly.
If you want a marketing channel you control, start with your website, local search visibility and a faster way for customers to request prices.
Run the audit in under 15 seconds. Read the report when it arrives within a few minutes. Then fix the problems that are most likely to stop local customers choosing you.