Orvia vs Checkatrade
Checkatrade is a lead generation directory. Compared as at 2026-09-11.
These are not the same kind of thing, which is exactly why the comparison matters. Checkatrade rents you visibility on somebody else's platform, alongside your competitors. Orvia builds visibility you own, where an enquiry comes to you alone.
What Checkatrade is genuinely good at
- Real leads from day one, before you have any online presence
- Consumer brand recognition and trust
- Vetting and review system customers already know
- No effort required to appear — you pay and you are listed
Choose Checkatrade if…
A brand new trade business with no website, no reviews and no reputation, that needs work this month and can absorb the monthly cost.
Choose Orvia if…
Any trade business that wants enquiries coming to it directly, and wants to stop paying a monthly fee to compete for the same job as three others.
Side by side
| Orvia | Checkatrade | |
|---|---|---|
| Who the enquiry goes to | Only you | You and other listed trades |
| What you own at the end | Your site, address, reviews and customer list | Nothing — the listing stops when you stop paying |
| Speed to first lead | Depends on search visibility building | Fast |
| Cost model | Flat monthly plan, £0 to £79 | Monthly membership, varies by trade and area |
| Reviews | Yours, on your own site and Google profile | On their platform |
| Repeat customers | In your CRM, yours to market to | Yours, but not organised for you |
| Job admin, quotes, invoices | Included from £29/month | Not included |
Prices for other products are described as published on their own websites at the date checked, and are typically charged per user. Always check their current pricing before deciding.
Our take
The real cost of a directory is not the monthly fee, it is that you never build anything. Three years of membership leaves you with the same position you started in: stop paying and the work stops the same week. Three years of your own site, reviews and town pages leaves you with an asset that keeps producing enquiries.
The competition point is the other half. A directory enquiry is usually shared, so you are quoting against people who are, at that moment, also being paid to be there. An enquiry through your own site came to you because somebody read your page and chose you.
In practice the sensible plan is both, in sequence. Keep the directory while your own presence is new, build the site, the town pages and the reviews, watch where enquiries actually come from in your analytics, and cut the membership when your own channels carry the load. That is a decision you can only make if you are measuring, which Orvia does for you.
Where directories are genuinely useful: you have just started, nobody has heard of you, and you need work in the next fortnight. Nothing Orvia does works that fast, and we will not pretend otherwise.
The verdict
Use a directory to survive the first few months if you must. Use Orvia to build the presence, reviews and customer list that make you independent of one — and measure the switch rather than guessing at it.
Other comparisons
Last reviewed 2026-09-11.