The short answer
Checkatrade lists three tiers: Free at £0, Approved at £30 a month and Growth from £59 a month. Approved does not put you in trade or area searches; that needs a Fixed Plan under Growth, priced on your postcodes and a lead estimate. Paid plans run for 12 months, renew automatically and VAT is not stated.
This guide is about what Checkatrade charges a tradesperson to be listed, not what a job costs a homeowner; Checkatrade's own cost guides cover that. Everything here comes from Checkatrade's pricing page and membership terms, read on 15 September 2026, and anything Checkatrade does not state is marked as not stated.
If you are still deciding whether to join at all, start with is Checkatrade worth it. This page is for the next question: what you would actually be signing up to pay.
Checkatrade prices at a glance
| Tier | Price on the pricing page | What it includes | Shown in trade and area searches? | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | £0 a month | A profile page to share, and reviews | No | Runs until either side ends it |
| Approved | £30 a month | Everything in Free, plus the Checkatrade tick, one-click review requests, AI job management tools and up to £1,500 in partner savings | No. Only when someone searches for your business by name | 12 months, renews automatically |
| Growth | From £59 a month | Everything in Approved, plus lead plans, direct booking, £100 to £200 of search credit, Checkatrade Pay and profile insights | Yes, on a Fixed Plan | 12 months, renews automatically |
Sources: join.checkatrade.com/pricing, checked 15 September 2026; checkatrade.com/product-terms-approved (last updated 8 May 2026); checkatrade.com/master-service-terms (last updated 4 October 2025).
VAT is not stated for membership fees on the pricing page or in the terms. Ask for the price with and without VAT in writing before you sign.
What £30 a month gets you, and what it does not
Approved is the tier for credibility rather than leads. Checkatrade describes it as the plan for trades "who want the credibility of the Checkatrade tick", with review requests, job management tools and partner discounts.
The limit is visibility. Under the Approved product terms, your profile shows only when someone searches for your business by name; wider visibility needs additional services. The pricing page makes the same point in its small print: the "Appear in the UK's No. 1 Trade Directory" line applies to Fixed Plan memberships only. So £30 a month buys you the tick and the tools. It does not put you in front of a homeowner searching for your trade in your town.
Approved is invoiced monthly in advance, and if it ends you drop back to a Free profile (checkatrade.com/product-terms-approved, checked 15 September 2026).
How a Growth price is worked out
Growth has no single price, because the fee is built from your choices. On the pricing page you:
- tell Checkatrade your trade and the type of work you want;
- pick the postcode areas you want to work in;
- choose how many leads you want each year;
- are given a fixed monthly cost.
"From £59 a month" is where that starts, not a typical bill. Busier trades, wider areas and more leads cost more, and only Checkatrade can quote you.
What the Fixed Plan terms say about leads
This is the part most members only read after signing. The Fixed Plan product terms, last updated 19 December 2024, say:
- A lead is broader than an enquiry. It includes phone calls, messages, "Request a Quote" contacts, and clicks from Checkatrade through to your own website.
- The number of leads is an estimate. Checkatrade gives you an estimate of how many leads to expect, and the terms say it "is only an estimate and is not binding".
- Leads can stop at the estimate. Checkatrade reserves the right to stop sending leads once you reach or pass the estimate it gave you.
- The number depends on you and the market. The terms name your reviews, your postcode areas, how up to date and appealing your profile is, seasonality, customer demand and other market forces.
- You pay monthly in advance for the whole term. Fixed Plan fees are invoiced each month for the 12 months, and payment is due as soon as the invoice arrives.
The terms do not say that the monthly invoice stops or reduces if the leads stop. If that matters to you, and it should, ask Checkatrade to answer it in writing.
Extras on top of membership
| Extra | Cost | How it works | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search credit | £100 to £200, included on Growth | "Appear higher in search results" | join.checkatrade.com/pricing, checked 15 September 2026 |
| Sponsored Listings | From £100 a month | Pay per click, with a monthly budget you set. The top two spots go to the most competitive bids, and a campaign pauses when the monthly budget runs out. The advertising has no long-term contract, but you have to join Checkatrade first | join.checkatrade.com/sponsored-listings, checked 15 September 2026 |
| Checkatrade Pay | Card fees from 1.29% to 1.79% | Taking payment through Checkatrade, on Growth | join.checkatrade.com/pricing, checked 15 September 2026 |
Sign-up offers change often, and on 15 September 2026 Checkatrade's own pages disagreed: the pricing page offered the first month free, and the Sponsored Listings page offered two months free. Neither gave an end date. A free month does not shorten a 12 month contract, so ask how the offer is applied.
The contract: 12 months, automatic renewal and fee changes
From the master service terms, last updated 4 October 2025 and checked 15 September 2026:
- Cooling off. You have 2 business days from the start to cancel without paying anything further.
- Term and renewal. Paid memberships run for the contract period in your confirmation email, which the pricing page says is 12 months, and renew automatically for the same period.
- Stopping the renewal. Only the business owner can do it, by phoning 0333 014 6190, no earlier than 35 days before the renewal date. An email does not count.
- Price rises at renewal. Fees can go up on the renewal date with at least 30 days' notice.
- Price changes at other times. Fees can be changed at any time with reasonable notice. If you object, you must phone no later than 14 days before the next billing period, or the change counts as accepted.
- Stopping the Direct Debit. Cancelling the Direct Debit or card payment does not end the contract. Checkatrade can suspend or end your membership, and you stay liable for the full fees for the rest of the term.
Fees you can still be charged when things go wrong
If you fail the checks: a £250 application fee
Checkatrade runs up to 12 checks before approval (join.checkatrade.com/pricing). If you fail them, the terms let Checkatrade charge an application fee of £250 excluding VAT to cover the vetting.
If Checkatrade ends the agreement because you failed the checks, and you did everything the terms asked of you during vetting, it refunds what you paid less the £250; if you have paid less than £250, you are charged the difference. The same clause also contains a sentence that appears to say no refund is due in that case, so if you are unsure you will pass, ask Checkatrade how the fee would apply to you before you pay.
The terms also allow an application fee, and a deposit, if you ask to be reactivated after a suspension or termination (master service terms, definitions and clauses 17, 19 and 42).
If you are suspended: the fees keep running
Checkatrade can suspend you when it has reasonable cause. The terms give examples: while it investigates an allegation that affects you, if you are in a legal dispute that could affect its reputation, if a fee is unpaid, or for reasons in its Deactivation and Sanctions Policy. While you are suspended, your fees remain due and your Checkatrade contact number is diverted to Checkatrade. At the end of the suspension Checkatrade can extend it or end the agreement (clauses 43 and 60 to 63).
Refunds
Fees are non-refundable unless the agreement says otherwise. You get a pro-rated refund of fees paid in advance if you end the agreement because Checkatrade has seriously broken it, or because a change to the terms seriously harms your business or fees rise in a way the agreement does not allow and you tell Checkatrade within 30 days. You also get one if Checkatrade ends the agreement on 30 days' notice for a reason of its own. If Checkatrade ends it for cause, for example unpaid fees, information you gave that turns out to be false, or abusive behaviour, there is no refund (clauses 43, 64 and 66 to 71).
What a year costs: worked examples
These use Checkatrade's published starting prices, plus one set of example inputs that are ours, not Checkatrade's. VAT is left out because Checkatrade does not state it.
| Monthly | 12 month commitment | |
|---|---|---|
| Approved | £30 | £360 |
| Growth at the published starting price | £59 | £708 |
Cost per lead, with example inputs. Say you are quoted £150 a month for an estimate of 40 leads a year. These are example inputs, not Checkatrade figures.
- The year: £150 × 12 = £1,800.
- Per lead at the estimate: £1,800 ÷ 40 = £45 a lead.
- If you win 1 in 4 leads, that is 10 jobs, so £180 per job won.
- That assumes all 40 leads arrive and every one is a real enquiry. A lead can be a click through to your website that never turns into a call, so your cost per real enquiry can be higher than the estimate suggests.
Whether £180 a job is good value depends on the profit in the job, not its price. The sum for your own business is in is Checkatrade worth it.
Compared with a website you own
A directory and a website do different jobs, so this is not like for like. Checkatrade sends you leads for as long as you pay. A website sends you nothing on its own: people find it through Google, your Google Business Profile, reviews and word of mouth, and plenty of trades use both. What differs is what you are left with. When a Checkatrade membership ends, the listing and its reach stop; a website you own keeps working after the build is paid for.
Our fixed-price trade websites, as listed on our pricing page (including VAT, prices last updated 2026-08-31):
- Essentials from £595, up to 5 pages.
- Business from £995, including the first year of hosting and care.
- Website care is £25 a month if you want it, month to month.
- You own the domain, the content and the site.
As a year one comparison, using the published starting prices (Checkatrade does not state VAT; ours include it):
| Year one | Year two | |
|---|---|---|
| Essentials website with care | £595 + £300 = £895 | £300 |
| Checkatrade Approved, 12 months | £360 | £360 |
| Checkatrade Growth at its starting price, 12 months | £708 | £708 |
Before you sign: the cost questions to ask
Ask for these in writing:
- What is the monthly price with and without VAT?
- What lead estimate is my Fixed Plan price based on, and which postcodes and job types does it cover?
- Does a click through to my website count towards that estimate?
- What happens to my invoice if you stop sending leads because I have reached the estimate?
- How is the sign-up offer applied, and when does it end?
- What will the renewal price be, before the 35 day window opens?
Questions people ask
Is £59 a month what Growth will actually cost me?
Probably not. £59 is the starting price on Checkatrade's pricing page (checked 15 September 2026). A Growth price is set from your trade, the postcode areas you pick and how many leads a year you want, so a wider area or more leads costs more, and only Checkatrade can quote you. Ask for the lead estimate behind the price, and the price with and without VAT, in writing.
What are the Checkatrade membership options?
Three tiers. Free (£0) gives you a profile and reviews. Approved (£30 a month) adds the Checkatrade tick, review requests and job tools, but only shows when someone searches for your business by name. Growth (from £59 a month) adds lead plans, direct booking and search credit, with Fixed Plans that put you in trade and area searches. Sponsored Listings, from £100 a month, are an extra (join.checkatrade.com, checked 15 September 2026).
Does Checkatrade charge VAT on top of the monthly price?
Checkatrade does not say. On 15 September 2026 neither the pricing page nor the membership terms stated whether membership prices include VAT; the only VAT wording in the terms is on the £250 application fee, which is "excluding VAT". Ask for the price with and without VAT in writing before you sign, because a VAT-registered business and a sole trader under the threshold will feel it differently.
Is there a fee if I fail Checkatrade's vetting checks?
There can be. Checkatrade's master service terms (last updated 4 October 2025) allow an application fee of £250 excluding VAT if you fail the vetting checks. It comes out of fees you have already paid, and you are charged the difference if you have paid less. The terms also allow an application fee if you ask to be reactivated after a suspension.
Do I still pay Checkatrade if my account is suspended?
Yes. Under the master service terms, fees stay payable during a suspension, and while you are suspended your Checkatrade contact number is diverted to Checkatrade. Suspension can follow an investigation, a legal dispute, unpaid fees or a breach of Checkatrade's sanctions policy, and at the end of it Checkatrade can extend the suspension or end the agreement.
Can Checkatrade stop sending me leads before my contract ends?
Yes. On a Fixed Plan, Checkatrade gives you an estimate of how many leads to expect, and its product terms (last updated 19 December 2024) say the estimate is not binding and that it can stop sending leads once you reach it. The same terms invoice you monthly for the whole term and do not say the invoice changes when leads stop, so ask before you sign.
Written by Janusz Wozniak, Founder & Lead Developer. Guides are updated when prices or platforms change; the dates above say when.