Checkatrade vs MyBuilder
vs Rated People.

The comparison that is worth making

Checkatrade, MyBuilder and Rated People all put a homeowner who wants a tradesperson in reach of a firm. They do not do it the same way, and since September 2026 two of the names are no longer separate companies. Judging them on “who is cheapest” skips the only sum that pays the van: cost per paid job, and whether you answered in time to be in the running.

We have not invented prices. Where a company has published a model, it is linked. Where they have published a starting figure, it is dated. The number on your agreement is the one to use.

How Checkatrade sends work

Checkatrade’s join page says you choose a plan and a number of job enquiries for your trade and postcodes, and that customers can call you directly, request a quote, or book from your profile. The footnote on the offer they were running says fixed-plan memberships are for 12 months. That is a term to read before you sign, not a number we are treating as every member’s contract.

The Opportunities Board is extra, on their support page updated September 2026. You browse leads and unlock with credits bought up front. Credits last six months and do not roll over. Each lead can be unlocked by a limited number of trades. Unlocking pays for the contact details and the chance to quote. Their page says credits are not refunded just because the customer does not proceed, and that a lead with bad details or one that does not look genuine can be raised and reviewed against their lead quality policy.

A direct call and an unlocked lead are different. The call is someone who chose your profile. The unlocked lead is a chance you bought, possibly alongside other firms, up to the limit they set. They do not, on the pages we read, publish one number for how many trades receive a normal quote request. Count the types separately.

How MyBuilder sends work

MyBuilder’s how-it-works page is written for the homeowner, and it is clear enough. They post a job for free. MyBuilder alerts trades, who can express interest. Contact details are shared when the homeowner says so. The homeowner is choosing from people who put themselves forward.

The tradesperson terms say the shortlist fee is shown before you take an action that shares those details. The fee is payable when the details are shared, even if you are not awarded the job. It is calculated from the likely size, value and location. The terms also say MyBuilder cannot influence the outcome and does not guarantee you will quote or win the work. Sponsored placement is an optional extra monthly fee, separate from that.

You can look at jobs without being on a membership that bills you every month for a set number of leads. You can also spend the fee and still lose the job to someone else the homeowner shortlisted. There is no figure on this page because the fee is on the lead. Read it there.

How Rated People fits now

Rated People’s page of 17 September 2026 says Checkatrade Group acquired the brand and the website, that Rated People memberships had already ended, and that jobs posted on Rated People are matched with Checkatrade members. A trade who wants those jobs is told to join Checkatrade.

The same page says the homeowner experience still differs. Checkatrade: search and then call, message, or request a quote. Rated People: post a job, and it is matched with trades who will be in touch to quote. Their comparison table says Checkatrade membership starts at £30 a month, and that buying Rated People leads means becoming a Checkatrade member, which they also put at a £30 starting point. That is a published floor on that date, for some plan. It is not a quote for an electrician who wants a particular patch and a particular volume. Plans move. Use the quote.

Older descriptions of Rated People, including caps on how many trades could quote, belong to the membership that page says has ended. We are not carrying those across as if they were current.

Cost per lead, cost per job, and the reply

Cost per lead is what you paid that channel, divided by enquiries that reached you. Cost per job divides the same spend by paid jobs. A cheap lead you do not win is more expensive than a dearer one you do. Write the spend, the enquiries, the same-day replies, and the paid jobs. Two or three months, not one heroic week.

The reply sits inside that sum. Research published in Harvard Business Review found that responding within five minutes rather than thirty makes you roughly 21 times more likely to qualify the lead. Checkatrade’s own blog tells members the same thing in plain language: answer before the lead goes cold. We are not repeating the conversion multiples on their blog.

A platform that looks better on paper and a platform you answer tomorrow are not the same purchase. The missed enquiry calculator runs the leak on your counts. The method for a Checkatrade membership on its own is on is Checkatrade worth it for electricians, including a worked example that is labelled as made up.

Which is worth it for a trade

Keep a channel when the paid jobs are ones you wanted, in the area you cover, and the cost per paid job sits under what you keep on that job after materials. Drop it, or let the term end, when the sheet says otherwise for two or three months.

Plenty of firms use more than one. That is fine until you are paying twice to miss the same kind of call. MyBuilder does not stop a Checkatrade customer ringing while you are under a floor, and a Google call does not care which directory you prefer.

Shoogly is not one of the three, and it is not a reason to leave them. It answers the enquiry whichever of them sent it, or your own site, in your voice, within minutes, and puts the qualified job on your phone. Missed calls are texted back in seconds. There is a one-off build and a flat monthly figure we agree on a call. We do not publish the price. Three months minimum, then 30 days’ notice, and 60 days’ money back on the build.

The table below is the short version. Offers change. If a cell disagrees with the page they publish tomorrow, believe them.