-- None of the UK's five biggest trade directories publishes a complete price list, according to a new open dataset that collects every pricing figure on public record for Checkatrade, MyBuilder, Bark, Rated People and TrustATrader.
The UK Trade Lead Cost Tracker, published by web design and local SEO agency Local Ladder, compiles 53 sourced data points from official pricing pages, terms and conditions, help centres, national press and tradespeople's own reports. Each figure carries a source, a date and an evidence label, and the dataset is free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 licence.
Key findings from the Q3 2026 edition:
- Two of the five platforms (Rated People and TrustATrader) publish no prices at all, quoting only by phone. The other three publish partial figures.
- Checkatrade advertises plans from £30 a month plus VAT, but tradespeople in three separate 2026 forum threads report real bills of over £300, £390 and £500 a month, on 12-month fixed contracts.
- MyBuilder's only published number is that lead fees start "from £7", yet one tradesperson filmed on-screen fees of £540 and £940 for two large projects.
- Bark cut the validity of its pre-paid credits from 12 months to 3 in November 2025. Unused credits are non-refundable, and its per-credit price appears only in its help centre, not on its pricing page.
- Directory leads are shared: up to 3 tradespeople per lead on Rated People, up to 5 on Bark, and reportedly 10 to 20 or more members per enquiry on Checkatrade, which publishes no official figure.
- For comparison, the tracker includes Google Ads data showing a single top-of-page click costs between £0.90 and £16.37 across the ten biggest UK trades.
Elliot Blackler, founder of Local Ladder, said: "Tradespeople sign 12-month contracts for services that won't reveal the price until they've handed over their trade and postcode. We set out to write down what's actually on record, because nobody had. The gap between the advertised entry prices and what trades say they really pay is the story."
Conflicting figures are displayed side by side rather than averaged, and several widely copied pricing claims were excluded after the sources behind them were found to no longer exist. The tracker is updated quarterly, and tradespeople willing to share what they pay can submit corrections, which are reviewed within one working day.
The full dataset, a CSV download and a print-ready infographic are available at https://localadder.co.uk/uk-trade-lead-cost-tracker/ and are free for editorial use with attribution.
About Local Ladder: Local Ladder builds websites and runs local SEO for tradespeople and home service businesses across the UK. It was founded by Elliot Blackler in 2023. https://localadder.co.uk
Per-trade breakdowns, the underlying source list and further quotes available on request.
Contact Info:
Name: Elliot Blackler
Email: Send Email
Organization: Local Ladder
Phone: 07792 660064
Website: https://localadder.co.uk
Release ID: 89199107
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