Checkatrade vs Google Ads: which one pays for a UK trade?
Checkatrade vs Google Ads is a choice between renting a place in a directory and buying your own place in Google’s results. One costs less each month and ties you in for a year. The other costs more each month, stops when you say so, and leaves the account in your name. Here are the published numbers for both, plus Google’s own pay-per-lead format, and who each one suits.
Choose Checkatrade if you are new, have few reviews and want enquiries for under £100 a month with nothing to manage, and you can commit to 12 months. Choose Google Ads if you can fund roughly £1,000 a month (our £495 fee plus at least £500 of ad spend) and want every enquiry to come to you alone from an account you own. If you only want to pay when a customer gets in touch, look at Google Local Services Ads as well.
Checked and published 25 October 2026 · by Craig Wilson, Founder of Scalepoint
Three ways to get a local enquiry
| Factor | Google Ads (search) | Checkatrade (Growth) | Google Local Services Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Per click, up to a budget you set | A fixed monthly membership | Per customer who contacts you, not per click |
| Published price | Our management £495/month, plus ad spend paid to Google at cost (£500/month minimum recommended) | Prices from £59/mo (Approved is £30/month with no lead plan) | No UK prices published: you set a weekly budget |
| Minimum term | Month-to-month with us, 14 days notice | 12 months, renews automatically | Not stated on Google’s page |
| Who else gets the enquiry | Nobody: the call or form comes to you | Not published | The contact comes to you through the ad |
| Checks before you appear | Google’s advertiser policies | Checkatrade’s membership checks and tick | Screening or verification, which may include background, registration, insurance and licence checks |
| Where reviews build | Your own Google Business Profile | Your Checkatrade profile | Not stated on Google’s page |
| If you stop paying | Ads stop; you keep the account, data and website | Profile leaves public listings at renewal | Ads stop |
“Not published” means we could not find the figure on the provider’s own pages. Checkatrade does not say how many members can receive the same enquiry, and Google does not publish UK prices per lead for Local Services Ads.
Google Ads costs more a month. Does it cost more a job?
On the monthly bill, Checkatrade wins easily. A Growth plan at the £59 entry price is £708 for the 12-month term. Google Ads run by us is £495 a month in management plus at least £500 a month of ad spend, about £11,940 a year. Nobody should pretend those are close.
| Jobs won in a year | Google Ads at £11,940 a year | Checkatrade at £708 a year |
|---|---|---|
| 6 jobs | £1,990 a job | £118 a job |
| 24 jobs | £498 a job | £30 a job |
| 60 jobs | £199 a job | £12 a job |
Per job, Checkatrade still looks cheaper at its entry price, so why pick Google Ads at all? Three reasons. Its volume is not capped by a plan’s lead allowance. The enquiries are yours alone, which usually lifts the win rate. And the spend builds an account, search data and reviews on your own Google profile that stay with you. Google Ads makes sense when you need more work than a directory sends, on jobs with enough profit to cover the higher monthly cost. If neither is true, it does not, and we would tell you so.
Put your own quote and win rate into the Checkatrade cost calculator to see your real cost per won job, then set it against the profit on a typical job.
Each one wins for someone.
- A new business with no reviews yet, where a known trust mark does the selling
- Budgets under about £100 a month
- Owners who will not run any marketing themselves
- Anyone happy to commit to a 12-month term
- Trades that need more enquiries than a plan allowance gives
- Jobs with enough profit to cover about £1,000 a month
- Owners who want the account, the data and the customer list in their name
- Anyone who wants to stop with 14 days notice
- Eligible trades who only want to pay when a customer gets in touch
- Businesses that can pass Google’s screening and keep their documents current
- Running alongside search ads, since both sit in Google results
We run Google Search Ads for trades and local SEO, so we are not neutral. That is why the Checkatrade column above uses Checkatrade’s own figures and terms, and why the sum is on the page for you to check.
Checkatrade vs Google Ads: common questions
Is Checkatrade or Google Ads better for a trade business?+
Checkatrade is better if you are new, have few reviews and want enquiries without running any marketing, because its entry plans cost far less per month. Google Ads is better once you can fund a steady budget and want enquiries that come to you alone, from an account you own. Many trades run both for a while and compare the cost per won job.
Is Google Ads cheaper than Checkatrade?+
Not per month. Checkatrade publishes £30 a month for Approved and from £59 a month for Growth. Google Ads managed by us is £495 a month plus at least £500 a month of ad spend paid to Google at cost, so about £995 a month. Google Ads can still cost less per won job if it books enough exclusive work, which is the only comparison that settles it.
What are Google Local Services Ads?+
Local Services Ads are Google's pay-per-lead format for local services. Google says you pay for customers who get in touch through the ad, not for clicks, and that it screens or verifies businesses, which may include background, business registration, insurance and licence checks. Google lists the United Kingdom as a supported country, with eligible home-service categories including plumbing, roofing, HVAC and electrical work.
Can I leave Checkatrade and switch to Google Ads straight away?+
Only at your renewal date. Checkatrade says memberships renew automatically every 12 months, that you must phone during your renewal window to cancel, and that cancelling the Direct Debit does not end the contract. A practical route is to start Google Ads a few months before renewal, compare the two on cost per won job, then decide.
Do I keep anything if I stop paying?+
With Checkatrade, your profile comes off public listings on the renewal date after you cancel, and only some of your reviews may come back if you rejoin. With a Google Ads account in your name, the ads stop but you keep the account, its history, your conversion data and your website. Reviews on your own Google Business Profile stay yours either way.
Want to know if Google Ads would beat your Checkatrade bill?
Tell us your trade, your area and what you pay now. We send back a free written audit within 3 business days, no call required, and we will say so if the numbers favour staying put.
Keep reading
Your true cost per won job
The 12-month contract and the break-even sum
Renting leads against owning the channel
Membership against credits
Credits to cost per won job
£495 a month, ad spend at cost
All facts checked on 25 October 2026. Checkatrade plan names and prices (Free £0/month, Approved £30/month, Growth “Prices from £59/mo”) and the 12-month membership come from join.checkatrade.com/pricing, which does not state whether VAT applies. Auto-renewal, the phone-only cancellation route, the Direct Debit point and what happens to your profile come from Checkatrade’s membership renewals page. Local Services Ads facts (pay for customers not clicks, screening and verification checks, eligible categories, appearing at the top of Google Search) come from Google’s UK Local Services Ads page, and the list of supported countries, including the United Kingdom, from Google’s Local Services help centre. Category and area availability varies, so check eligibility when you sign up. Our Google Ads fee, the £500 minimum recommended spend and the 14-day notice come from our pricing page. The cost-per-job table is our own arithmetic on example job counts. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.