Is MyBuilder Worth It? A Tradesperson’s Guide to the Numbers
MyBuilder charges per lead rather than for a listing. Whether it pays depends on which leads you take up and how quickly you act on them.
The honest answer
MyBuilder is worth it for tradespeople who pick their leads carefully and respond quickly. The platform charges per lead, so your choices decide the result.
On published 2026 pricing, MyBuilder leads cost £15 to £60 each. There is no large upfront membership to recover, which makes it easier to try than a directory. The flip side is that every lead is a separate spend, and on a per-lead model the same job is commonly open to more than one tradesperson.
Contractors who do well on it tend to be selective about which jobs they take up, reply within hours rather than days, and send clear written quotes. Contractors who struggle often take up too many leads, or can't reply until the evening, and end up paying far more for each won job than the lead price suggested.
This guide explains how the model works for a tradesperson, what makes a lead worth paying for, and how to test the platform properly so you can decide on evidence rather than a hunch. Pricing and terms change, so check MyBuilder's current terms before relying on anything here.
How it works
How MyBuilder's model works for a tradesperson
Homeowners post a job on MyBuilder describing the work they need. Tradespeople in the relevant trade and area can see the job and register their interest in the ones they want. You pay per lead rather than for a listing, so your spending follows the jobs you choose to pursue. Exactly when a charge applies, and how it is calculated, is set out in MyBuilder's current terms.
That structure has real advantages. You can scale up in a quiet month and pull back when you're fully booked. You aren't paying for visibility you can't use. And you can see the job description before spending anything, which lets you pass on work that doesn't suit you.
It also shapes how you need to work. Because a posted job is commonly open to several trades, the homeowner may hear from more than one firm. That turns each lead into a short competition, and the firms that win consistently tend to be the ones that reply first with something useful and follow through quickly.
Platform pricing as published by Trades Grow, One Base Media, Sleepless Tradesman and SwiftLead, 2026. Rates change, so check current pricing before relying on these figures.
Choosing leads
What makes a MyBuilder lead worth paying for
Before taking up any lead, check these six things. Most bad spend fails at least two of them.
A clear description
A homeowner who has described the job properly, ideally with photos, usually knows what they want and is further along in deciding. Vague posts are harder to price and harder to win.
A realistic timescale
A job that needs doing in the next few weeks is worth more than one planned for some unspecified future. Look for signs the homeowner is ready to go ahead.
The right size for you
A lead fee takes a bigger share of profit on a small job. Know the minimum job value that makes a lead worthwhile for your firm.
Within your area
Travel eats margin and makes follow-up visits harder. Leads close to where you already work are usually worth more than they look.
You can reply now
If you can't respond properly for several hours, the lead is likely to be worth less by the time you do. Sometimes the right answer is to leave it.
Work you want to do
Taking up leads for jobs you'd only do reluctantly tends to produce reluctant quotes, and they rarely win. Stick to the work you're best at.
Test it properly
How to decide whether MyBuilder works for you
A fair test takes a few months and a notebook. Here is the method.
Set a budget and a period
Decide in advance how much you'll spend on leads and over how long. Three months is a reasonable minimum to smooth out a good or bad week.
Record every lead
Date, job, price paid, whether you visited, whether you quoted, and the outcome. A simple table is enough.
Track your response time
Note how long it took you to reply. For many contractors this turns out to be the single biggest difference between leads they won and leads they lost.
Work out cost per job won
Divide total lead spend by jobs won. Then compare it with the margin on those jobs, and with your other routes to work.
Add your time
Site visits and quotes for jobs you didn't win are part of the cost. Put a figure on them, even a rough one.
Adjust and repeat
If the number is too high, change one thing: be more selective, reply faster or quote more clearly. Run another period and compare.
The model
Pay per lead compared with a membership
MyBuilder's model is one of two common approaches. Each suits a different kind of firm.
Pay per lead (MyBuilder)
- Spend follows the leads you take up
- No large upfront commitment
- You see the job before paying
- The same job is commonly open to several trades
- Speed of reply matters a great deal
- Easy to pause when you're busy
Membership directory
- Fixed fee, generally paid up front
- A commitment before any enquiry arrives
- Customers choose you from your profile
- Customers can contact several listed firms
- Reviews on your profile carry weight
- Costs the same in busy and quiet months
Winning the job
Where most of the result is decided
Paying for the lead gets you to the start line. The rest depends on how you handle the next few days.
Reply quickly and usefully. A short message saying when you could visit and what you'd want to look at is worth more than a generic introduction. If you can call, call.
Quote clearly. Set out the scope, what's included and what isn't, the price and when you could start. A tidy written quote often beats a cheaper figure sent as a text. Our guide on how to quote faster and win more goes through it step by step.
Don't compete on price alone. If you're consistently losing to lower quotes, the fix is usually in how the quote is presented and explained, not in cutting your margin. Why do I lose quotes on price? looks at the common reasons.
Follow up. A polite message a few days after quoting recovers jobs that would otherwise drift. Homeowners comparing several firms often simply haven't decided yet.
Shared enquiries
Making sense of competing for the same job
On pay-per-lead platforms it is commonly reported that a single job can be taken up by several tradespeople. That is how the model works: the homeowner gets choice, and each interested firm pays for its lead.
It is worth understanding rather than resenting, because it tells you where to focus. If several firms are pricing the same job, the one that replies first, explains the work clearly and follows up has a real advantage. Our guide on why shared leads don't convert explains the pattern in more detail.
It also explains why a lead's price and its value are different things. A £20 lead you have a good chance of winning can be better value than a £15 lead you're unlikely to. When is a lead worth paying for? gives a simple test.
Who it suits
The firms that tend to get most from MyBuilder
Someone can answer during the day
Whether it is you between jobs, a partner or someone in the office, a firm that can reply within a couple of hours is competing on better terms than one that replies after dark.
Work that varies month to month
If you are fully booked for spells and then quiet, paying only for the leads you take up fits better than a fixed fee you pay in every month regardless.
Clear, confident quoting
Firms that can turn a site visit into a clear written quote within a day or two tend to convert more of the leads they pay for, which brings the cost per job down.
How MyBuilder charges, what counts as a chargeable lead and how disputes over invalid leads are handled are all set out in its terms, and pricing and terms change. Read them before you start, and keep your own records so you can raise anything that doesn't look right.
Reading the results
Signs it is working, and signs to change something
After a fair test period, your records will usually tell a clear story. If your cost per job won sits comfortably inside the margin on a typical job, and you are winning a steady share of the leads you take up, the platform is doing its job. Keep going, and keep tracking.
If the cost per job won is creeping up, look at the records before deciding the platform is the problem. Were the lost leads ones you replied to late? Were they outside your usual area, or smaller than your normal work? Did you follow up? Often one change, such as replying faster or taking up fewer marginal leads, moves the number more than switching platform would.
If you have made those changes and the numbers still do not work, it is reasonable to conclude that a pay-per-lead model does not suit your firm right now. Pay-per-lead vs subscription sets out when the alternative model tends to fit better, and our guide to getting more work as a contractor covers every other route, including channels you build yourself.
A different route
When a contractor network suits you better
If what wears you down is competing with several firms for every job, a contractor network works on a different basis. Mortaro generates the enquiries itself and appoints one contractor to each; enquiries are never sold or shared. Is the work exclusive? explains that directly.
You pay nothing to join and nothing per enquiry. You survey the job and price it at trade rate; Mortaro prepares the quotation with its fee added on top, follows it up with the customer, and administers the deposit and balance to you without unnecessary delay. You are paid your rate in full.
The trade-offs: the customer receives the quotation under the Mortaro template, the network holds contractors to standards on response times, quoting and site visits, and no one can promise a set volume. It suits firms that are good at the work and would rather not run the sales process themselves. How contractor networks work sets out the full arrangement.
Straight answers
MyBuilder questions from tradespeople
How much does a MyBuilder lead cost?
Published 2026 pricing puts MyBuilder and Rated People leads at £15 to £60 each. Prices vary by job and trade, and rates change, so check MyBuilder's current pricing.
Is MyBuilder better than Checkatrade?
Neither is better for everyone. MyBuilder charges per lead; Checkatrade charges an annual membership. Checkatrade vs MyBuilder vs Rated People compares them side by side.
How many MyBuilder leads should I take up?
Only as many as you can reply to quickly and quote properly. Taking up more than you can handle well usually raises your cost per job won.
How do I know if it's working?
Track spend and jobs won over a set period and divide one by the other. Compare the result with your margin and your other routes. The true cost per job won shows the full method.
For contractors
Tell us about your business
Your trade, the areas you cover and the size of work you take on. A person reads every enquiry, and if it looks like a fit we will send you the full application.