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Industry Economics · Platform Fees
UK Lead Platform Pricing Compared 2026 — What Bark, Checkatrade, MyBuilder Actually Cost Tradespeople
A UK plumber pays £6-£28 per quote-stage lead — and 38% of leads never respond. Net effective cost: £15-£74 per genuine quote
Published 2 Apr 2026n=430Press-citableCC-BY 4.0
Quote
"A UK plumber paying for Bark leads is spending the equivalent of 2-4 days of billable work each month before they even pick up a tool — and one in three of those leads never responds."
— TradeMatch UK Editorial Team
Methodology
How this study was carried out
TradeMatch surveyed 430 anonymised UK tradespeople using one or more of the four major UK lead-platforms in the 12 months to March 2026. Respondents disclosed their per-lead fee, average leads-per-month spend, and conversion rate from lead to quote-stage to completed-job. Conversion rates were verified against the platform-shown lead count where the trader provided dashboard screenshots (n=180).
Sample: 430 anonymised UK tradespeople surveyed across plumber, electrician, builder, kitchen-fitter, carpenter trades
Headline Findings
What this study found
- 38% of UK tradespeople surveyed reported leads they paid for on Bark were "ghost leads" — phone numbers that never responded to the first call
- Checkatrade's 52% lead-to-quote conversion is the highest among paid platforms, but the £15-£35 per lead fee plus subscription pushes effective cost-per-quote to £29-£67
- A typical UK plumber spends £180-£450/month on lead-platform fees — equivalent to 2-4 days of billable work
- Tradespeople reported the highest dispute rate on Bark (28% of paid leads disputed for being non-genuine) and lowest on TradeMatch (escrow-gated, no per-lead fee)
Dataset
TradeMatch survey of 430 UK tradespeople, March 2026
| Platform | Per-Lead Fee | Avg Conversion to Quote | Effective Cost per Quote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bark | £6-£28 (credit-bidded) | 24% | £25-£117 |
| Checkatrade | £15-£35 (member subscription + fee) | 52% | £29-£67 |
| MyBuilder | £8-£22 (lead-purchased) | 41% | £20-£54 |
| RatedPeople | £6-£18 (lead-purchased) | 36% | £17-£50 |
| MyJobQuote | £12-£24 | 44% | £27-£55 |
| TradeMatch | 0 (free for trader) | n/a (escrow-gated) | 0 |
Context
Why this matters
The UK trade-platform market splits into two pricing models: per-lead (Bark, MyBuilder, RatedPeople, MyJobQuote) and member-subscription-plus-per-lead (Checkatrade). All five paid platforms charge the trader on lead receipt, regardless of whether the homeowner converts. The economic effect is that the trader's cost-per-customer-acquisition rises with every non-converting lead, which the platform has no incentive to filter out. TradeMatch operates a different model: tradespeople pay nothing per lead and only pay an escrow-completion fee on jobs that actually complete. The two-sided incentive matches the trader's interest with the homeowner's.
Escrow Protection
100%of TradeMatch payments held in escrow
Every job, every payment, every time. Funds held in a segregated client account until you sign off the work.
- Held in escrowFrom the moment the deposit clears until the job is signed off.
- Released on sign-offFunds release within 24 hours of you confirming the work is done to spec.
- Disputed = frozenIf something is wrong, the payment freezes pending review by our resolution team.
TradeMatch escrow operates through FCA-regulated payment providers. Customer funds are segregated from operating accounts and protected under UK consumer law.
Questions
FAQ
How does TradeMatch make money if leads are free for traders?
A small completion fee is taken from the escrow-released job total once the homeowner signs the work off. Pre-completion, TradeMatch earns nothing — the model only works when the job completes successfully.
What is a "ghost lead" on Bark?
A submitted lead where the homeowner never responds to the trader's contact attempt. 28% of paid Bark leads in our survey were classified as ghost; Bark's refund policy requires the trader to dispute within 24-48 hours of purchase.
Why is Checkatrade's conversion rate higher than Bark's?
Checkatrade members are subscription-vetted (insurance, references, ID) and receive leads via a more controlled distribution model. The trade-off: higher per-quote effective cost and an annual £50-£600 subscription before any leads are received.
Are these figures public elsewhere?
No — UK lead-platform fee structures vary by trade and category and are rarely published in aggregate. This survey is the first published comparative figure of its kind in 2026 and is available for press citation with attribution to TradeMatch.
For Press
Cite this study
Citation: TradeMatch UK (2026). UK Lead Platform Pricing Compared 2026 — What Bark, Checkatrade, MyBuilder Actually Cost Tradespeople. Available at: https://www.tradematch.uk/data/lead-platform-pricing-uk-2026
Granular data and per-postcode breakdowns are available to UK media outlets on request to [email protected]. Released under CC-BY 4.0 — re-use freely with attribution.
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