Rated People is reported to have closed its trade memberships, so this is now a choice between two. If you were a Rated People member and the leads have just stopped, start with Rated People closed — what now?
MyBuilder and Bark both sell you the chance to quote rather than the work itself. That is the thing to hold on to while comparing them, because it explains every difference between them: what varies is how many other trades get the same chance, how much that chance costs, and how well filtered the customer was before it reached you.
How each one works
MyBuilder
Customers post a job in some detail and tradespeople express interest; the customer then chooses who to talk to. Because the customer writes a real description and reads real replies, it tends to suit larger, considered jobs where the decision is made on written detail rather than on who rang first. Reviews carry weight, so it rewards trades who have been on it a while.
Rated People
Rated People pushed leads to a few trades quickly, which favoured whoever answered first. It is reported to have since closed its trade memberships, and the reviews members built there stay on its site. It is the clearest example of the risk every lead platform carries: when the platform stops, the leads stop with it.
Update, October 2026: Rated People is reported to have entered liquidation in September 2026, with member accounts closed the same day. The description above is how it worked; it is no longer an option. If you were a member, see what tradespeople can do now.
Bark
The broadest of the platforms and not trade-specific — it covers everything from plumbing to photography. The filter is correspondingly lighter, so lead quality varies most and competition per job tends to be highest. The volume is real; so is the proportion of enquiries that were never going to become jobs.
The comparison that matters
Not cost per lead. Cost per won job. A £5 lead shared with five trades and a £25 lead shared with two are not remotely the same product, and only the second number tells you which is cheaper for your business.
Track it for one quarter: every lead paid for, every job won, every pound of profit. Divide the spend by the jobs. Most trades who do this find one platform is carrying the results and the others are noise — but which one differs by trade and by region, which is why nobody can tell you the answer in advance.
Three things to watch on any of them
- You pay whether or not you win. Budget for the losses. If you win one job in five, the true cost of that job is five leads, not one.
- Speed beats suitability. On the faster platforms, the trade who replies within ten minutes frequently wins over the trade who was better for the job. Decide whether you can genuinely play that game before you buy into it.
- The reviews are theirs. The reputation you build lives on their platform and does not move with you. Collect Google reviews in parallel, from the same happy customers.
Where they fit
Lead platforms are good at filling a gap this month and poor at being the whole strategy for three years. Used deliberately — to fill quiet weeks, or to break into a new area or service — they are a reasonable tool. Used as the only channel, they set your prices for you.
We have written honest accounts of moving on from MyBuilder and Bark, and of what to do now Rated People has closed. And if you want the thing that keeps working when you stop paying any of them, we’ll rebuild your homepage free in 48 hours.