Free comparison
Checkatrade or TrustATrader: what they cost and what you get
Both put your name in front of people looking for a trade. They charge in completely different ways, and only one of them will tell you the price before you speak to a salesperson. Here is what each costs, what you get, and what you are left with if you stop paying.
The short answer
Checkatrade publishes its prices and, on its lead generating plans, charges again for each lead. TrustATrader does not publish a price at all and bills once a year. Neither gives you anything you keep. If you want the quick version: a directory rents you attention for as long as you keep paying, and the day you stop, you are invisible again.
| FORGE | Checkatrade | TrustATrader | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you pay | £174.99 to £969.99 once, plus £59 or £89 a month on GROW+ and SCALE | From £30 a month plus VAT | A yearly fee, not published |
| A subscription just to stay visible | None. Nothing to keep the site online | Yes, every month | Yes, every year |
| Charged again for each lead | Never | Yes, on lead generating plans | None advertised |
| A website you own outright | Yes, on your own domain | A profile on their site | A profile on their site |
| Live in | Days, once your brief is in | After their vetting process | After their vetting process |
| Enquiries in your own dashboard | Yes, on every package | Enquiries live on their platform | Enquiries live on their platform |
| Follow up sent automatically | Yes, on GROW+ and SCALE | Not advertised | Not advertised |
| An AI that answers and books at 2am | Yes, on GROW+ and SCALE | Not advertised | Not advertised |
| Google ranking that belongs to you | Your domain earns it | Their domain earns it | Their domain earns it |
| Reviews you keep if you leave | Yours, shown on your own site | They stay with the directory | They stay with the directory |
| What is left if you stop paying | Everything. It is yours | The listing comes down | The listing comes down |
FORGE rows describe what the packages include; the tier is named wherever a feature is not on all four. Checkatrade rows follow their published plans, checked September 2026. TrustATrader publishes no pricing and no plan detail, so its rows follow their own FAQ and are left blank rather than guessed at wherever they say nothing. Vetting time is not published by either directory, which is why neither carries a number.
| Checkatrade | TrustATrader | |
|---|---|---|
| Price published? | Yes, on their site | No. Their own FAQ says there is a yearly fee and asks you to ring the sales team for the number |
| Published entry price | £30 a month plus VAT for an Approved listing | Not published |
| Lead generating plan | From £59 a month plus VAT | Not published |
| Reported by members | About £60 to £120 a month for membership, more in busy trades and city areas | About £240 to £750 a year |
| Charged again per lead? | Yes, on lead generating plans, on top of the membership | No per lead charge advertised |
| Billing | Monthly | Yearly, in advance |
| Contract | 12 months, fixed | A year at a time |
| Joining fee | None advertised | Not published |
Published prices are Checkatrade's own, checked September 2026 and shown before VAT. TrustATrader publishes nothing, so every TrustATrader figure above is either taken from their own FAQ or reported by tradespeople, and is marked accordingly. Your quote will depend on your trade and your area, which is precisely why neither company will put one number in front of you.
What year one costs, before VAT
The part neither of them publishes
Ring either company and the first question is your trade and your postcode, because the price depends on how many jobs they think they can send you. That is a reasonable way to run a business and a difficult way to budget. It also means the figure a mate quotes you in the van is not the figure you will be offered, and neither is the one on a blog.
| A directory | Your own website | |
|---|---|---|
| Your profile | Comes down | Stays up |
| Your reviews | Stay with them | Yours, and you can show them anywhere |
| Ranking you built up | Belongs to their domain, not yours | Belongs to you and compounds |
| Cost to keep it switched on | The subscription, forever | Nothing |
This is the real difference and it has nothing to do with price. A directory is advertising you rent. A website is an asset you own, and every review, photo and page you add makes it worth more rather than renewing it.
When a directory is genuinely the right call
If you are starting from nothing, need work this month, and have no reviews anywhere, a directory buys you a queue you have not earned yet. That is worth real money and we will not pretend otherwise. The mistake is treating it as the finished job. Use it to fill the diary, put the reviews and the profile somewhere you own, and stop renting the introduction once you no longer need it.
The question is not which directory is better. It is how long you intend to pay for someone else to own your name in Google. If the answer is not forever, the cheapest month to start building something of your own is this one.
Website packages
Want this done for you instead?
Read the guide and do it yourself, and it stays free either way. If you would rather we built it, these are the packages, and you own the site at the end of every one of them.
LAUNCH
Get online fast
- Audited single page site
- Logo and asset pack
- Booking calendar
GROW
The automated business engine
- Multipage site and brand kit
- Your social profiles set up right
- Enquiry dashboard
GROW+
The autonomous sales engine
- Everything in GROW
- Agentic Concierge, 24/7
- Quote pipeline
SCALE
Premium bespoke brand
- Everything in GROW+
- Bespoke visuals and motion
- Human design pass
Fully booked. Every SCALE build includes a design pass done by hand, and that diary is full.
Watch BEACON in action →Short on time?
See yours before you decide.
Tell us your trade and we build a real preview of your site. No card, no call.
- 01
Tell us your trade
A few quick questions, one at a time. Your trade, your area, where to send it.
- 02
We build your preview
A real site with your name on it, researched for your local market.
- 03
Like it, go live
Pick a package and it goes live. You own every page of it.
Free to see. No card needed.
Get found.
Get booked.
Tell the Concierge about your business. A person follows up.
Let's have a chatEvery site is checked against our own launch audit before it goes live, or we do not ship it. FORGE is ICO registered (ZC176397). Prefer email? sales@forgeisagentic.tech and a person will answer.