Website vs Checkatrade for Painters — Which Gets You More Work?

Every painter and decorator reaches the same crossroads eventually: should I keep paying for Checkatrade, invest in my own website, or do both? It's a fair question, and the answer depends on where you are in your business and what you're trying to achieve.

Let's compare them properly.

How Checkatrade Works for Painters

Checkatrade is a directory platform. You pay a monthly subscription, build a profile, and homeowners searching on Checkatrade can find you alongside other painters in your area.

The good:

• Immediate visibility to homeowners looking for painters right now
• Reviews and vetting badges help build trust
• No technical skills required — just fill in your profile
• Strong brand recognition with homeowners

The not so good:

• You're listed directly alongside competing painters and decorators
• Customers can compare you with others on the same page
• You pay every month whether or not you get a single lead
• Limited control over how your work is presented
• Small gallery space that doesn't do your transformations justice

That gallery limitation is a real problem for painters. Your work is all about visual transformation — a tired room made beautiful. Checkatrade gives you a handful of small thumbnails. That's like judging a paint finish from across the street.

How Your Own Website Works

Your website is your own digital space. When someone searches "painter near me" or "decorator in [your area]" on Google, a well-built website appears in the results. They click through and land on your site — just you, your work, your reviews, your contact details.

The good:

• Complete control over how you present your work
• A full gallery with large before-and-after images
• No competitors on your page — the customer's attention is entirely on you
• SEO builds compound traffic — the longer your site exists, the more visible it becomes
• You can rank for specific searches: "house painter in Leeds," "wallpaper hanger near me"
• One-time investment with minimal ongoing costs

The not so good:

• Takes time to rank on Google (typically 3-6 months for local searches)
• Requires an upfront investment
• Benefits from occasional content updates

Why Visual Presentation Matters More for Painters

Painting and decorating is a trade where the result is immediately visible. Unlike plumbing or electrical work where much of what you do is hidden, your work is right there on the walls for everyone to see.

This makes your portfolio your most powerful sales tool. And here's the crucial difference:

On Checkatrade, your photos sit in a small carousel on a profile page shared with text reviews and business details. The images are compressed, the layout is fixed, and the customer is one click away from your competitor's profile.

On your own website, you control everything. You can create:

• Full-width before-and-after comparisons that show the dramatic transformation
• Project pages with details about the colours used, the preparation involved, and the client's brief
• Separate galleries for interior work, exterior work, wallpapering, and commercial jobs
• Video walkthroughs of finished rooms

When a homeowner is choosing between two painters — one with a Checkatrade profile and one with a website full of stunning room transformations — the website wins every time. People hire painters based on what they've seen. Give them plenty to see.

Cost Comparison

Here are the real numbers.

Checkatrade:

• Monthly membership: approximately £60-£120/month depending on area
• Annual cost: £720-£1,440
• Every lead is shared with competing painters on the platform

Your own website:

• One-time build cost: from £497 (hand-coded, SEO optimised)
• Domain renewal: £10-15/year
• Hosting: included in the build
• First year total: approximately £510
• Every year after: approximately £15

The maths speaks for itself. After year one, your website costs next to nothing while Checkatrade keeps billing you monthly. Over three years, Checkatrade costs you between £2,160 and £4,320. Your website costs around £540 total for the same period — and it's getting stronger on Google every month.

Lead Quality

Checkatrade leads are shared. A homeowner requests quotes, and several painters receive the enquiry. You're competing on price and response speed before you've even spoken to them. It often turns into a race to the bottom, and the cheapest quote wins regardless of quality.

Website leads are yours alone. Someone has searched on Google, found your site, browsed your gallery, read about your approach, and decided to contact you specifically. These customers have already chosen you in their head. They're not comparing you with three other painters — they're confirming their decision.

Exclusive leads convert better, and the customers are typically less price-sensitive. They've seen your work and they want that quality. That's a completely different conversation from "can you beat this other quote?"

The Long Game

Checkatrade is renting. You pay each month for access to a shared platform. Stop paying and you disappear overnight. Nothing carries over.

A website is owning. Your investment on day one creates an asset that grows in value. Google learns about your site over time and shows it to more people. Blog posts you write today can bring in leads years from now. Every new project photo you add makes your portfolio stronger.

After twelve months, your website has more authority than it did on launch day. After two years, it's established. Checkatrade after two years is exactly the same as Checkatrade on day one — same monthly payment, same listing format, same competition.

The Best Strategy: Website First

If budget allows for both, here's the smart approach:

1. Get your painter website built first — this is your foundation
2. Link it from your Checkatrade profile — painters with websites get more clicks because customers want to see more work
3. Use the website for Google Ads — paid traffic converts much better on your own site than on Checkatrade
4. Let SEO build organically — within 6-12 months, your website will bring in its own leads from Google searches
5. Reassess Checkatrade — once organic leads are steady, you may not need it at all

The Verdict

For painters and decorators, a website is an especially strong investment because your work is so visual. Checkatrade gives you a small gallery on a shared page. A website gives you a full-blown portfolio where every transformation gets the space it deserves.

If you can only choose one, choose the website. It pays for itself faster, costs almost nothing to maintain, and every lead that comes through it is exclusively yours.

Ready for a professional painter website that showcases your work properly? We build them from £497. Hand-coded, SEO optimised, and designed to turn browsers into booked jobs.

Axel

Full-stack developer specializing in Shopify and Django. Building automated e-commerce solutions.