If you run a trade business in the UK, you have probably asked yourself a simple question: is the money I spend on Checkatrade actually delivering profitable work, or am I just paying to compete with every other plumber, electrician, builder and roofer in my area?
Directories like Checkatrade have been a staple of trade marketing for years. They promise trust badges, reviews and a steady stream of leads. But for many tradespeople, the reality is shared leads, monthly subscriptions and limited control over who sees your business.
Google Ads offers a different model. Instead of renting space inside a directory, you appear at the exact moment someone searches for what you do — "emergency plumber near me", "boiler repair London", "electrician for EICR certificate". The intent is immediate, the lead is exclusive and the campaign is fully controllable.
In this guide, we compare Checkatrade and Google Ads side by side for UK tradespeople. We look at how each works, what they cost, the quality of leads you can expect, and which option suits different business stages.
How Checkatrade works
Checkatrade is a well-known trade directory. Homeowners visit the site, search for a trade in their area, and request quotes from several businesses at once. As a member, your profile appears in those search results alongside competitors, often ranked by reviews, response time and membership tier.
The core offer is trust. Checkatrade vets members, displays reviews prominently and gives homeowners a simple way to compare multiple traders. For new businesses, this can feel like a shortcut to credibility.
However, the directory model comes with structural limits. The same homeowner often contacts three or four traders simultaneously, so every lead is a race. Your profile lives on Checkatrade's platform, not your own website, and your visibility depends on their algorithm and the membership level you pay for.
Typical Checkatrade costs for trades
Checkatrade charges a monthly membership fee, which varies by trade and area. In competitive locations such as London, Birmingham, Manchester or Edinburgh, monthly fees can run into several hundred pounds. Some members also pay for featured placement or boosted visibility.
On top of the subscription, each lead may carry a cost. Even if you do not win the job, you can still pay for the introduction. That makes the true cost per converted job harder to predict than the headline monthly fee suggests.
How Google Ads works for trades
Google Ads puts your business at the top of Google search results when someone types in a specific query. For a plumber, that could be "burst pipe repair Sheffield". For an electrician, it might be "fuse box upgrade Glasgow". For a roofer, "emergency roof leak repair Bristol".
You only pay when someone clicks your ad. The visitor lands on your website or a dedicated landing page, reads about your service, and then calls or submits a form. The lead goes to you and you alone — not to a shared directory inbox.
The power of Google Ads is intent matching. The person searching is not browsing a directory. They are actively looking for a service right now. That makes them one of the highest-intent leads available online.
What controls the cost of Google Ads for trades?
Cost depends on competition in your area and the keywords you target. Emergency terms like "24 hour plumber near me" often cost more than planned work like "bathroom renovation quote". But the budget is entirely yours. You set a daily cap, choose which postcodes to target, and decide which days and hours your ads run.
With the right structure, a Google Ads campaign can become a predictable engine. You know roughly what each enquiry costs, which keywords bring the best calls, and which landing pages convert best. That data is hard to get from a directory.
Cost comparison: fixed fee vs pay-per-click
| Factor | Checkatrade | Google Ads |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Monthly subscription + potential lead fees | Pay only when someone clicks your ad |
| Minimum commitment | Usually contract-based membership | No contract; pause or adjust anytime |
| Lead exclusivity | Shared with multiple tradespeople | Exclusive to your business |
| Target control | Limited; directory decides visibility | Full control over keywords, areas, budget and schedule |
| Branding | Traffic stays on Checkatrade | Traffic comes to your own website |
| Performance data | Limited to directory analytics | Detailed search, click, call and conversion data |
The key difference is flexibility. Checkatrade charges regardless of how many leads you win. Google Ads charges only when a potential customer clicks, and you can adjust spend based on results.
Lead quality and exclusivity
One of the biggest complaints tradespeople have about directories is shared leads. A homeowner submits one request and receives three, four or five responses. That turns every job into a price race, often won by the fastest or cheapest responder.
Google Ads leads are different. When someone clicks your ad, they are on your website. They see your brand, your photos, your reviews, your service areas and your contact details. They either call you or fill in your form. The enquiry is yours alone.
That exclusivity changes the economics. You can price properly, take time to qualify the job, and build a relationship from the first call. You are not competing against a panel of rivals in the same inbox.
Intent matters more than volume
A hundred low-intent directory enquiries are not worth ten high-intent search enquiries. Someone who types "emergency boiler repair Leeds" at 8pm wants help tonight. Someone browsing a directory may be researching options for a project next month.
For trades, timing is everything. Leaks, power failures, broken boilers and storm damage do not wait. Google Ads captures that urgency at the moment it happens. Directories are better suited for planned, non-urgent work.
Control, speed and targeting
With Google Ads, you control the entire funnel. You choose the keywords, write the ads, design the landing page, set the budget, pick the locations, and schedule when ads appear. You can test different messages, track which ones convert best, and scale what works.
Checkatrade gives you a profile page. You can add reviews, photos and descriptions, but the layout, search algorithm and surrounding competition are fixed. If Checkatrade changes its ranking rules or increases its fees, your visibility can shift overnight.
Speed is another advantage. A well-built Google Ads campaign can be live within hours. If you need to fill next week's diary, you can increase budget today. If you are fully booked, you can pause spending. That kind of responsiveness is hard to match with a directory subscription.
When Checkatrade makes sense
This is not a claim that Checkatrade is useless. For a brand-new trade business with no website, no reviews and no local presence, a directory can provide early credibility and some initial enquiries. It is a way to borrow trust while you build your own.
Checkatrade can also work well for trades that focus on large, planned jobs where homeowners actively compare options. Kitchen fitters, bathroom installers, loft conversion specialists and landscaping companies may benefit from being listed alongside competitors for shoppers who are in research mode.
The question is whether the membership cost is justified by the revenue it produces. If you are paying several hundred pounds a month and winning only a handful of jobs — many of which came from shared leads — the maths may not work in your favour.
When Google Ads wins
Google Ads tends to be the better choice when you want direct control over your lead flow and you are ready to invest in your own online presence. It works especially well for:
- Emergency and urgent trades — plumbers, locksmiths, emergency electricians, roofers and glaziers who need to capture high-intent searches as they happen.
- Service-area businesses — trades that cover specific towns, cities or counties and want to target only those postcodes.
- Businesses with capacity to scale — companies that can increase spend when they want more work and reduce it when they are fully booked.
- Tradespeople who want to build their own brand — businesses that want traffic, reviews and recognition on their own website, not inside a third-party directory.
The businesses that get the most from Google Ads usually combine it with a professional landing page, clear pricing, fast response times and proper call tracking. The ad gets the click, but the landing page and follow-up process win the job.
Moving from Checkatrade to Google Ads
You do not have to cancel Checkatrade immediately to test Google Ads. Many successful tradespeople use both for a while, then gradually shift budget towards the channel that delivers the best return. The key is to measure properly.
Start by tracking what you actually spend and earn from each channel. For Checkatrade, add up the monthly fee, any lead fees, and the jobs you won. For Google Ads, track ad spend, clicks, calls, forms and converted jobs. Compare cost per converted job, not just cost per lead.
A sensible first Google Ads campaign for a trade business might include:
- A small, focused set of high-intent keywords matched to your services.
- Location targeting limited to the areas you actually serve.
- A simple landing page with a clear headline, trust signals, and a prominent phone number.
- Call tracking so you know which calls came from which ads.
- Negative keywords to filter out irrelevant searches like "DIY", "jobs" or "courses".
Run it for at least four to six weeks. Optimise based on real data. Then decide whether to keep, reduce or cancel your directory membership based on the numbers.
Our take: which is the better Checkatrade alternative?
Checkatrade and Google Ads solve different problems. Checkatrade is a directory where homeowners compare multiple traders. Google Ads is a direct-response channel where you capture people who are actively searching for your service right now.
For most established UK trades, Google Ads is the stronger long-term lead generation channel. It offers exclusive leads, higher intent, better control, measurable return on investment, and the ability to build your own brand rather than rent space inside a directory.
That does not mean you should abandon directories overnight. But if you are serious about growing your own pipeline of predictable, profitable enquiries, Google Ads deserves a proper test.
At Leadzig, we build and manage Google Ads campaigns specifically for UK trades. We handle the keyword research, campaign structure, landing pages, call tracking and ongoing optimisation. If you are looking for a Checkatrade alternative and want to see how direct-intent search could work for your business, get in touch for a free consultation.