Which? Trusted Traders alternatives: what a trade can join or use instead

Looking for an alternative to Which? Trusted Traders as a tradesperson? The nearest like-for-like options are the schemes run by Trading Standards: Buy With Confidence, and your council's own Trusted Trader scheme if it has one. TrustMark is a third, which you join through a trade body or certification body rather than on your own.

Directories and your own website are a different kind of alternative. They bring enquiries, not a checked badge, and most trades end up with some of each. Every price below was read on the scheme's own pages on 6 November 2026.

Which? Trusted Traders is not TrustATrader

Three names get mixed up, and several of the pages Google shows for this search are really about TrustATrader. They are separate things run by separate organisations:

Name	Who runs it	What it is
Which? Trusted Traders	Which? Limited. Companies House lists Consumers' Association as its controlling owner	An endorsement: one of Which?'s trading standards professionals assesses your business, then you can use the logo
TrustATrader	Trustatrader.com Limited, a private company formed in 2005	A directory with a yearly fee, with a limited number of members for each trade in an area
Council Trusted Trader schemes	A council's Trading Standards service, area by area	A local list of traders vetted by Trading Standards officers

So leaving Which? for TrustATrader swaps an endorsement for a paid listing, while a council scheme swaps one vetting body for another. What Which? itself costs, how you join and what you sign is covered in our guide to whether Which? Trusted Traders is worth it. This page is about the other options.

Which? Trusted Traders alternatives at a glance

Costs are for the smallest business each scheme prices, as each organisation's own pages showed them on 6 November 2026.

Option	What you get	Cost (6 Nov 2026)	What it checks
Which? Trusted Traders, for comparison	Logo and a profile with reviews	£248 assessment, then £69 a month or £828 a year for 0 to 3 staff. The join page does not say whether VAT is included	Credit, trading history and background, then an assessment, face to face or remotely
Buy With Confidence	"Trading Standards Approved" logo and a directory listing	£165 to apply, then £305 a year, plus VAT, for 0 to 5 staff (fees correct as of 1 April 2026)	A full audit by a Trading Standards professional; criminal record checks for anyone who goes into homes
A council Trusted Trader scheme	That council's logo and listing	Set by each council. Derbyshire: £88 a year including VAT for a sole trader, £132 for other businesses	Trading Standards checks on your history, insurance and registrations
TrustMark	TrustMark registration and a place on its find a tradesperson search	£40 a year TrustMark fee, billed to your scheme provider (VAT not stated). The provider charges its own fees, which TrustMark does not publish	Your scheme provider assesses your competence and vets your business
A trade body or competent person scheme	Membership or registration for a type of work	Set by each body; not compared here	Whether you can do that work to the required standard
Checkatrade, TrustATrader or MyBuilder	Enquiries from a directory	Covered in their own guides, linked below	ID or document checks on joining; TrustATrader also asks for references
Google Business Profile	Your listing on Google Search and Maps	Free	Google verifies that you run the business
Your own website	One place for every badge, review and photo	A one-off build, then hosting	Whatever you choose to show and link

Endorsement and vetting schemes: the closest match

These are the options that do the same job as Which?: somebody independent checks your business before you can use their logo. Two are run by Trading Standards, and one through trade bodies.

Buy With Confidence

Buy With Confidence describes itself as "operated solely by local authority Trading Standards services". To get on it you pass what it calls a full audit by a qualified Trading Standards professional, and anyone who works in customers' homes needs a recent basic criminal record certificate, which you arrange yourself at around £21.50 each.

Its fee list, marked correct as of 1 April 2026, is £165 to apply and £305 a year for a business with 0 to 5 staff, both plus VAT. That is £564 for the first year including VAT and £366 a year after. Bigger firms pay more: £229 and £460 for 6 to 20 staff, £288 and £610 for 21 to 49. Staff are counted as full-time equivalents, so two part-timers on half hours count as one. The application fee is normally not refunded.

Two points make it easier to join than people expect. It is open to most business sectors, not only home improvement and motor trades. And your council does not have to take part: if it does not, you apply through a regional hub or the central hub instead.

Council Trusted Trader schemes

Some councils run their own Trusted Trader scheme. Each sets its own rules and fees, so the only way to know is to search your council's website for "trusted trader" or "approved trader".

• Derbyshire charges £88 a year including VAT for a sole trader or social enterprise and £132 for other businesses, renewing at the same rate. You must have traded for six months, sell to the public rather than only to other businesses, and accept that the fee is not refunded if you fail. Its checks cover your complaints history over the past two years, County Court Judgments, public liability insurance, any trade body you claim to belong to, Gas Safe and Part P where you do that work, and your website, which it checks for legal requirements and misleading claims.
• Scotland has council schemes hosted together at trustedtrader.scot, from Aberdeen to the Scottish Borders. Its FAQ says every application is "fully vetted by local Trading Standards officers, including an interview", and members renew every year. Its pages do not show a fee: ask the council scheme you would join.
• Norfolk and Suffolk each run a Trusted Trader scheme, with one shared application site.
• Hertfordshire works the other way round: Which?'s own FAQ says it runs a joint scheme with Hertfordshire and Islington Trading Standards, where members also pass a DBS check and a Trading Standards intelligence check.

Of the schemes priced on this page, Derbyshire's is the cheapest Trading Standards badge, so if your council has a scheme, ask for its fee first. If it does not, Buy With Confidence is the national route to the same kind of check.

TrustMark

TrustMark describes itself as the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme for work a customer has done in or around their home. Its FAQ is plain that "you can't join TrustMark directly". You register through one of its scheme providers, the trade associations and certification bodies it licenses, which assess your competence and vet your business. They include NICEIC, NAPIT, FENSA, Certass, OFTEC, the Federation of Master Builders, the NFRC, Kbsa, the Association of Professional Landscapers and Dulux Select Decorators. If your trade is not in TrustMark's list, there is no provider for it yet.

The cost comes in two parts, according to the FAQ read on 6 November 2026. TrustMark's own fee is £40 a year, billed to your scheme provider; the FAQ does not say whether that includes VAT. Separately, the provider charges its own assessment and membership fees, which the FAQ says vary with the provider, your trade, the scope of your work and the volume of your business. TrustMark does not list them, so ask your trade body or certification body for its figure.

Two things come with it. In general you need financial protection in place, including insurance in case you stop trading, and guarantees of at least two years on products and workmanship; your provider sets the detail for your trade. And once registered, you can add TrustMark's own "Trading Standards Approved" status, run with Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards, for £90 plus VAT a year (£108 with VAT), which TrustMark says is in addition to any fee your scheme provider charges. TrustMark aims to finish that check within 21 working days.

For energy efficiency retrofit work, TrustMark's FAQ says you must be certified to the PAS standards by a certification body before you can register. It also warns about the government schemes: the Great British Insulation Scheme has closed to applications, ECO4 has been extended until 31 December 2026, and if you want to work under those schemes "you should not proceed with a TrustMark application solely for this purpose". If you only want a badge for ordinary home improvement work, compare TrustMark with the council and Buy With Confidence routes above.

Trade bodies and competent person schemes

These are not alternatives to Which?, and it would be wrong to sell them as one. They check whether you can do a particular kind of work, not how you deal with customers. But for many trades they are the first badge a customer looks for, and several are also the way into TrustMark.

• Competent person schemes let you self-certify certain building work instead of getting building regulations approval, according to GOV.UK's list (updated 17 September 2026). NICEIC (run by Certsure), NAPIT, FENSA, Certass, HETAS, OFTEC and APHC are among them; GOV.UK lists which types of work each one covers.
• Gas Safe Register. The HSE says that under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, a business doing gas work within their scope must be on the Gas Safe Register. It is the law, not a marketing choice. GOV.UK notes it is not technically a competent person scheme.
• Trade associations such as the Federation of Master Builders, the NFRC or Kbsa are membership bodies with their own entry checks. Each sets its own fee, and we have not priced them here.

The two kinds of badge sit together well. Which?'s perks page offers NICEIC, OFTEC and RECC members half off its monthly fee for the first six months, if their trade body referred them.

Directories and lead sites

Directories sell enquiries. Most also check you on the way in, but the check is about getting you listed rather than endorsing how you trade. Their prices change often and each has its own guide on this site, so they are not repeated here.

• Checkatrade. Its join page describes "a quick ID, address & documentation check" before your leads start, then a regular flow of leads for a monthly cost. See what Checkatrade costs and whether Checkatrade is worth it.
• TrustATrader. A yearly fee, with "never pay for your leads" and a capped number of members for each trade in an area, so many areas have a waiting list. It asks for at least five references, your insurance documents and two years in your trade. See whether TrustATrader is worth it.
• MyBuilder. Free to sign up. MyBuilder says it checks your ID and asks you to complete a skills evaluation for each trade you list, then aims to approve you within 48 hours. How it charges after that is in our guide to whether MyBuilder is worth it.

To compare the directories with each other, use our Checkatrade alternatives guide and Checkatrade vs TrustATrader. Rated People is no longer a separate option: Companies House shows Rated People Limited in creditors' voluntary liquidation since 16 September 2026, and Rated People's own announcement says Checkatrade Group bought selected assets, including the brand and website, so jobs posted there now go to Checkatrade members (both read 6 November 2026). Our guide to what happened to Rated People explains what that means for members.

Your own website and Google Business Profile

Neither of these is a scheme, but both are where a customer checks you before they ring.

A Google Business Profile costs nothing. Google's help page says you can "add or claim your business at no charge", and that once it is verified customers can find you on Search and Maps. It carries your Google reviews, which you keep whichever scheme or directory you join or leave. If yours is not appearing, our guide to a Google Business Profile not showing up works through why.

Your own website is the one place every badge can sit side by side: the Trading Standards logo, your Gas Safe or NICEIC number, your TrustMark licence number, your Google reviews and photos of your own jobs. Link each badge to your entry on the scheme's own site, so a customer can check it is real. Schemes look at your site as well: Derbyshire's checks include whether your website meets legal requirements and makes no misleading claims. The free listings worth adding alongside it are in our guide to free business directories.

Which alternative fits your trade?

Start from how your customers check you, then pick the cheapest option that answers it.

1. Sort the registrations first. Gas Safe is the law for gas work, and a competent person scheme lets you self-certify the building work it covers instead of getting building regulations approval. No endorsement replaces either.
2. Want a Trading Standards badge for the least money? Look for your council's scheme. If there is none, Buy With Confidence covers the same ground nationally.
3. Do energy efficiency retrofit work? TrustMark registration through a scheme provider, with PAS certification first, is the route its FAQ describes. Do not apply only to get ECO4 or Great British Insulation Scheme work: TrustMark says the first runs until 31 December 2026 and the second has closed.
4. Need work coming in now? A directory, chosen with the guides linked above, while your Google profile and website build up.
5. Customers ask for Which? by name? Then it may still be the right badge. Do the sums in our guide to whether Which? Trusted Traders is worth it before you pay the non-refundable assessment fee.

Whichever you choose, ask the scheme two things in writing before you pay: whether the price includes VAT, and what you have to stop using if you leave.