Checkatrade gets you a listing and shared leads you pay for over and over. Rankmate builds your own Google ranking, reviews and website so customers call you direct — and you keep all of it. Here's the honest breakdown so you can pick what's right for your trade.
Checkatrade is a paid directory. You pay a monthly membership to appear, the same enquiries get sent to several tradespeople near you, and when you stop paying, your listing and your Checkatrade reviews vanish.
Rankmate Digital is a done-for-you local SEO service. We get your own Google Business Profile ranking, bring in real Google reviews, and build you a site — so calls come straight to you, and the rankings, reviews and website are yours to keep.
The honest take: if you need enquiries this week, Checkatrade gets you in front of people fast. If you'd rather stop renting leads and build something you own, that's us.
The differences that actually change how much work lands in your diary — and what it costs you.
| Rankmate Digital | Checkatrade | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Done-for-you local SEO service | Paid trade directory |
| Who gets the lead | ✓ Only you — the call comes straight to your phone | ✗ Shared with other members in your trade and area |
| Cost model | One flat monthly fee, no per-lead charges | Monthly membership, plus per-lead fees for many trades |
| Typical monthly cost | £149–£549 | ~£60–£120+ membership, plus ~£5–£40 per lead |
| What you own afterwards | ✓ Your Google ranking, reviews, citations and website | ✗ Nothing — listing and reviews end when you stop paying |
| Where reviews live | On your own Google profile — yours forever | On Checkatrade's platform |
| When leads start | Maps movement in ~30–60 days | Same week you join |
| Contract | Month-to-month, cancel anytime | Membership, often a 12-month term |
| Found by AI search (ChatGPT, etc.) | ✓ Optimised to get recommended | ✗ Not the point of a directory listing |
Tables are quick, but a few of these are worth spelling out — because they're what decide whether you're competing on price or getting picked first.
This is the big one. On Checkatrade, one customer enquiry typically goes to several tradespeople in the same trade and area at once. By the time you call back, they've already heard from two of your competitors, so you're haggling on price before you've said hello.
When someone finds you through your own Google ranking, that call is yours alone. No bidding war, no race to the bottom — they picked you.
Stop paying Checkatrade and your listing comes down, along with the reviews you earned on their platform. Years of work, gone the day the direct debit stops.
With Rankmate, the Google Business Profile, the Google reviews, the directory citations and the website are all yours. They stay live whether we work together for six months or six years. You're building an asset, not renting one.
Checkatrade's membership is only part of the bill. Many trades also pay for each lead on top — and those leads are shared. Add it up and a typical year can run well past £1,000 before you count the jobs you lost on price.
Rankmate is one predictable monthly figure with no per-lead surprises. Every call it generates is exclusively yours, so the maths gets better the more you rank.
Credit where it's due: Checkatrade puts you in front of customers the same week you join. SEO doesn't — it takes us roughly 30 to 60 days to start moving you up Google Maps. If your diary is empty right now and you need work this month, a directory fills the gap faster than we can.
That's exactly why some tradespeople run both for a while: keep the directory ticking over for instant enquiries while we build rankings that eventually bring the calls in on their own — then drop the directory once they do.
No tool is right for everyone. Here's the straight answer on which suits you.
Same money, very different outcome at the end of the year.
With a directory: twelve months of membership and shared, paid-for leads — and at the end of it you stop, you've got nothing to show. No ranking, no reviews you keep, no website. You start the next year from zero.
With Rankmate: twelve months later you've got a Google Business Profile ranking in the Maps pack, a stack of real 5-star reviews on your own profile, citations across UK directories, and — on the top plan — a website. Stop paying and all of it stays working for you.
One is an expense that resets every month. The other is an asset that compounds.
Checkatrade figures are typical 2026 ranges from independent reviews and vary by trade and area. Always check current pricing with the provider directly. We're not affiliated with Checkatrade.