Rated People Cost and Membership Plans: What Changed in 2026

If you've searched for Rated People's cost per month or its membership plans, you've probably noticed that nothing quite adds up any more. That's because, as of September 2026, Rated People's own trade memberships no longer exist.

Rated People closed all its tradesperson memberships, the company went into liquidation, and Checkatrade Group bought the brand and website. Jobs posted on Rated People now go to Checkatrade members.

So this post answers the question as it stands in October 2026: what happened, what Rated People costs a tradesman now, what to do if you were a member, and how MyJobQuote and Bidvine compare if you're looking elsewhere.

What happened to Rated People

The short version, from Rated People's and Checkatrade's own announcements and the public notices:

• Mid-September 2026: Rated People closed all trade memberships. Its help pages say memberships ended before the brand and website changed hands.
• 17 September 2026: Rated People announced it was now part of Checkatrade Group, which had bought "selected Rated People assets, including the brand and website".
• 18 September 2026: Checkatrade announced the deal. Jobs posted on Rated People from then on are matched with Checkatrade's members.
• 24 September 2026: notices in The Gazette recorded Rated People Limited going into creditors' voluntary liquidation, with liquidators appointed.

Rated People's announcement says questions about past memberships go to the liquidators, S&W, at ratedpeople@swgroup.com.

Rated People membership plans: what they were

Rated People's price plans used to mix a membership with pay-per-lead: trades paid a monthly membership and then paid for the individual jobs they wanted, with up to three tradespeople able to buy each job. The plans and prices changed over the years, so I'm not going to quote old figures as if they still mean anything.

The point that matters now is that those plans are gone. You can't join Rated People on its own any more, and any old price you find online is history. Rated People's help pages for tradespeople now say you need to join Checkatrade to keep getting its leads.

What Rated People costs now

Rated People's announcement says you can currently only buy Rated People leads by becoming a Checkatrade member, and that "membership starts at £30 per month". Here's what that means in practice, using Checkatrade's own pricing as of October 2026:

So the honest answer to "how much is Rated People per month" is at least £36 a month with VAT for the entry tier, but that tier doesn't include leads. For a steady flow of Rated People and Checkatrade leads, you're on a lead plan from £59 a month upwards, for a year.

One thing to clear up on the call: Rated People's help page says creating an account for the Opportunities Board is free and you only pay when you take a lead, while Checkatrade's own pages describe the board as part of its paid memberships. Ask the sales team which applies to you before you sign anything.

All Checkatrade paid memberships run for 12 months and renew automatically unless you phone to cancel in the 35 days before renewal. I've broken down every tier in Checkatrade prices per month, and whether it pays in is Checkatrade worth it.

If you were a Rated People member

• Your account is closed. Rated People's help page says leads you had on the platform are no longer reachable through your Rated People account. If you're eligible for your old data (jobs, contacts and invoices), it says Checkatrade will email you with instructions.
• Your reviews stay where they are. They don't automatically move to Checkatrade. There's been talk of being able to bring them across in future, but I couldn't find a date.
• Money you'd prepaid. Questions about past memberships go to the liquidators at ratedpeople@swgroup.com. If you'd paid for a period you didn't get, ask them how to make a claim. I'm not an insolvency adviser, so get proper advice if it's a large sum.
• Tell your past customers where to find you. If they used to find you through Rated People, a text with your Google profile link costs you nothing.

Is Rated People worth it for tradesmen now?

Because there's no separate Rated People membership any more, this is really the question "is Checkatrade worth it?". Checkatrade says its members now get leads from both brands, so the lead plans should, in theory, be a bit fuller. Whether that shows up in your postcode, only a quote and a chat with a couple of local members will tell you.

MyJobQuote: how it works and what it costs

MyJobQuote is one of the closest things to the old Rated People model still running. As of October 2026, its own help pages say:

• Signing up is free, and memberships come with a free month's trial and no contract. You can cancel any time, though you may lose membership benefits.
• There's also pay-as-you-go: you buy credit packs and spend credits on the jobs you want. Credits expire after six months if they're not used.
• New trades get a free lead when they sign up and add a payment card, once fully verified.
• On the homeowner side, it says up to three local trades will be in touch to quote.
• Prices for memberships and credits are only shown once you've signed up or logged in.

How does MyJobQuote work for tradesmen?

You set the jobs you want and how far you'll travel, get verified, and leads arrive by text and email. You choose which ones to buy, then ring the customer and quote. If a lead turns out to be a dud or the customer can't be reached, its policy says it may give you a free replacement lead, at its discretion.

Is MyJobQuote any good for tradesmen?

In its favour: no contract, a free month to try a membership, and a free lead to start. Against it: you can't compare prices before you sign up, and you're one of up to three trades on each job. My advice is the same as for every pay-per-lead site. Try it for a month, keep score of what each won job cost you, and stop if the numbers don't work.

How does Bidvine work? (It mostly doesn't, any more)

Bidvine used to be a quotes marketplace much like Bark: customers posted a request, professionals paid to send quotes, and the customer got up to five bids. But Bidvine Limited, the company behind it, went into administration in September 2021 and was dissolved in December 2024, according to Companies House. Trustpilot now lists it as absorbed by Bark.

So for a UK tradesperson in 2026, the place that model lives on is Bark. I've covered how Bark credits work, and whether it's worth it, in my Bark review for tradesmen. If anyone offers you a "Bidvine" account today, check exactly who you'd be paying.

The lesson from Rated People

If you were a Rated People member, you found out the hard way what renting your leads means. One week you had an account, a lead history and a page of reviews. The next, the account was closed, the history was out of reach and the reviews were stuck on a website that now sends its jobs to someone else.

That's not a dig at anyone who used it. Using a platform was a reasonable choice. It's just a reminder that any platform can change its prices, its rules or its owner, and your business gets no say.

The fix isn't to avoid platforms. It's to make sure they're never the only thing you've got. A Google Business Profile full of your own reviews, a website that makes ringing you easy and steady work on your local search presence don't disappear when a company changes hands. I've set out the paid and owned routes on my lead generation for tradesmen page, and the platform options in Checkatrade alternatives.

FAQs

Can I still join Rated People?

Not as a separate membership. As of October 2026, Rated People says you can only buy its leads by becoming a Checkatrade member.

How much is Rated People per month now?

Rated People says membership starts at £30 a month, which is Checkatrade's Approved tier (plus VAT). That tier has no leads included. Lead plans start from £59 a month, on a 12-month term.

Did Rated People members get refunds?

I couldn't find any confirmation of refunds as of October 2026. Questions about past memberships go to the liquidators at ratedpeople@swgroup.com.

What happened to my Rated People reviews?

Rated People says existing reviews stay where they are. They don't automatically move to Checkatrade.

Is MyJobQuote cheaper than Rated People was?

MyJobQuote doesn't publish its prices before you sign up, so there's no fair comparison. It does offer a free month's trial and no contract, which makes it cheap to find out.

What I'd do next

If Rated People was a big part of your work, now is a good time to build the part nobody can switch off. My free Search Opportunity Review shows what people in your area search for in your trade, who's winning those searches now, and what it would take for you to be one of them.