Sleepless Tradesman vs Checkatrade
An honest side-by-side comparison — features, pricing, and who each platform suits best. We'll be upfront about where Checkatrade wins too.
Quick answer: Sleepless Tradesman charges no commission and no per-lead fees; Checkatrade's paid memberships are £30 a month (Approved) or from £59 a month (Growth) on 12-month terms (as of October 2026), and you compete with multiple other tradespeople for every job.
- Tradespeople who want no annual membership fee
- Anyone who needs quotes, invoicing and books in the same app
- Tradespeople who want AI-powered remote quoting
- Getting set up quickly without a vetting process
- ·Tradespeople who want a large established customer base
- ·Trades where brand recognition matters (e.g. gas engineers)
- ·Homeowners who want a heavily vetted tradesperson database
- ·Businesses with budget for upfront membership fees
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Sleepless Tradesman | Checkatrade |
|---|---|---|
| Annual membership fee (tradesperson) | No annual fee | Free listing; Approved £30/mo (£360/yr); Growth from £59/mo; 12-month terms |
| Commission on jobs won | 0% | 0% (fee is upfront) |
| Built-in invoicing | Yes | Via its free TradeMore app |
| Card payment collection | No (bank details on invoices) | Checkatrade Pay on Growth (1.29% to 1.79% fees) |
| AI-powered quoting tool | Yes | Partial: Approved sells AI job management tools; no AI-written quotes seen |
| Mobile app (iOS & Android) | Yes (iPhone and Android) | Yes |
| Verified customer reviews | Yes | Yes |
| Homeowner vetting / background checks | Job descriptions reviewed | Trade vetting |
| Free to post a job (homeowner) | Free | Free |
| Quote request notifications | Push notifications | Yes |
Checkatrade prices checked October 2026. Growth pricing varies — check their website for current rates.
Pricing: The Key Difference
Checkatrade's paid memberships are £30 a month (Approved, £360 a year) or from £59 a month (Growth), and each membership runs for 12 months, so you commit before you know whether the leads will come. That's a meaningful cost for a sole-trader, particularly in quieter months.
Sleepless Tradesman doesn't charge an annual joining fee. You subscribe to use the platform's features (quoting, invoicing, job alerts), but you're not paying for access to a database before you know if the leads will convert. There's no commission on jobs you win.
Key figures
Official figures on the UK trades market that a sole trader is competing in, with a link to each source.
496,300
Self-employed people among the 861,800 working in skilled construction and building trades in the UK.
Source: ONS Annual Population Survey (Nomis), Jul 2025 to Jun 2026
41,200
Extra construction workers the UK needs each year from 2026 to 2030.
38.4%
Five-year survival rate for UK businesses started in 2019.
38 a day
UK businesses that close because of late payment, which the government says costs the economy £11bn a year.
Source: GOV.UK (Department for Business and Trade), July 2025
Last reviewed: . Figures are the latest official releases at that date; follow each link for the full data and any later update.
Common Questions
Is Sleepless Tradesman cheaper than Checkatrade?
For most tradespeople, yes. Checkatrade has a free listing, but its paid memberships are £30 a month (Approved, £360 a year) or from £59 a month (Growth), and memberships run for 12 months. Sleepless Tradesman has a free plan with no annual membership. Paid plans are £29.99 (Starter) or £59.99 (Premium) a month for the app's features, with no 12-month commitment.
Does Checkatrade offer invoicing and payments?
Partly. Checkatrade is mainly a lead generation and review platform, but its free TradeMore app adds quotes, invoices, certificates and a shared inbox, and the Growth membership adds card payments through Checkatrade Pay. Sleepless Tradesman includes professional invoicing in the app, with your bank details on each invoice for payment, alongside quotes, remote quotes, your books, material price lookup, regulations help and a local listing.
Which is better for homeowners — Checkatrade or Sleepless Tradesman?
Both platforms help homeowners find local tradespeople with verified reviews. Checkatrade has a larger existing database of tradespeople due to its longer history. Sleepless Tradesman is newer with a growing network, but offers more direct communication and no advertising-driven experience for homeowners.
What makes Sleepless Tradesman different from Checkatrade?
The main differences are: (1) no annual membership fee for tradespeople, (2) the whole office in one app: quotes, invoices, books, material price lookup and regulations help, (3) remote quotes, where customers send photos through a link and the AI drafts the quote, so you don't always need a site visit. Checkatrade's strength is its established brand recognition and larger tradesperson database.
Can I use both Checkatrade and Sleepless Tradesman?
Yes — many tradespeople use multiple platforms to maximise their lead volume. If the Checkatrade annual fee is working for you, there's no reason to stop. Sleepless Tradesman is particularly useful if you want quotes, invoicing and your books alongside job leads in one app.
Try Sleepless Tradesman Free
No annual fee. Built-in invoicing. AI quoting. Download the app and start receiving job leads from local homeowners.
Explore More Comparisons
Stop paying for leads. Try Sleepless Tradesman free.
Free plan available. No annual fee, no commission. Quoting, invoicing and payments built in.
Try Sleepless Tradesman free