- Bark sells credits, about £1.20 plus VAT each in most 2023–2025 reports and £1.80 according to Bark's help centre in mid-2026. A lead costs 5–20 credits, so £7–£40.
- Three to five professionals typically contact the same customer, and more than half of paid leads never respond according to user reports. Since 1 November 2025 new credits expire three months after purchase.
- An active tradesman spends £150–£400 a month in practice. It can work for firms with spare capacity and a fast callback habit; it is a poor fit for survey-led work where one lost shared job costs hundreds.
How Bark charges tradespeople
Listing on Bark is free. A homeowner posts a request, Bark shows it to matching professionals, and you spend credits to get the customer's contact details. Independent write-ups put a credit at about £1.20 plus VAT, and Bark's own help centre was quoting £1.80 by mid-2026. A lead costs between 5 and 20 credits depending on trade and job size, which works out at roughly £7 to £40 to contact one customer.
Two rules matter more than the credit price. First, several professionals can buy the same request: three to five is the range tradespeople report. Second, credits bought since 1 November 2025 expire three months after purchase, so a quiet quarter can cost you the balance.
| What | Figure |
|---|---|
| Monthly fee | None; free to list |
| Credit price | about £1.20 + VAT (2023–2025 reports); £1.80 per Bark's help centre, mid-2026 |
| Credits per lead | 5–20 |
| Cost to contact one customer | £7–£40 |
| Pros contacting the same customer | 3–5 |
| Credit expiry | 3 months from purchase (from 1 November 2025) |
| Realistic monthly spend, active tradesman | £150–£400 |
| Paid leads that never respond | more than half, by user reports |
What it costs per booked job, not per lead
Take a £25 lead. If you reach half the customers you pay for, quote half of those and win a third of the quotes, that is twelve leads and £300 for one job, before materials. Bark's own weak spot is the first step: user reports across review sites put non-responders at more than half of paid leads, which is what happens when three to five firms are dialling the same number within the hour.
This is the same arithmetic as every directory, and the response side is where it is won or lost. The maths is worked through in full here with numbers you can swap for your own.
Who Bark suits
Bark works best for firms with spare capacity, quick small jobs and someone who can ring back inside a few minutes, because the first caller usually gets the work. It also covers many more categories than the trade-specific directories, so volume is rarely the problem.
It suits survey-led trades least. A boiler replacement, a bathroom or a re-roof is won at the survey, and losing a shared enquiry to a faster caller is hundreds of pounds of margin gone. Paying £40 for a request that four other installers also hold is not a lead, it is a race.
The verdict
Worth a month's test if you have capacity to fill and a phone that gets answered, with a hard budget and a spreadsheet: what you paid, who answered, who quoted, who booked. Not worth it if your work is big-ticket and survey-led, or if nobody in the business can call back within minutes.
The alternatives fall into three groups. Membership directories (Checkatrade, TrustATrader) charge monthly instead of per lead. Subscription-plus-credits sites like Rated People sit in between. And outcome-priced systems charge per result: MyTradeBuddy generates demand for one business per area, answers and chases every enquiry, and bills per booked survey with no monthly fee and no contract; the trade-off is that it is built for survey-led work and one business per area means your patch may already be taken. The full directory comparison is here.
Read next
- Checkatrade Cost 2026: Membership Fees, What Members Really Pay, and the Price Per Lead
- Rated People Cost 2026: Monthly Fee, Lead Credits and Whether It Is Worth It
- Checkatrade or Trust a Trader? Fees, Lead Sharing and Which Wins for UK Trades (2026)
- Checkatrade Alternatives for UK Trades (2026): Directories, Agencies and Pay-Per-Booked-Survey Compared
Frequently asked questions
About £1.20 plus VAT per credit in most 2023–2025 reports, and £1.80 according to Bark's help centre in mid-2026. A lead costs 5–20 credits, so roughly £7–£40 to contact one customer.
No. Listing is free and you pay in credits when you choose to contact a customer. Credits bought since 1 November 2025 expire three months after purchase.
Tradespeople report three to five professionals typically contacting the same customer. You are paying to join that competition, not to be the only option.
It can be, for firms with spare capacity, small quick jobs and a fast callback habit. It is a poor fit for survey-led work such as boilers, bathrooms and roofs, where a shared enquiry lost to a faster caller costs hundreds of pounds.
Independent reviews put a realistic figure for an active tradesman at £150–£400 a month.