A Fairer Alternative to Checkatrade for Yorkshire Gardeners

How Checkatrade's membership actually works

Checkatrade's own sign-up flow is straightforward about the shape of it, even if the exact price varies by trade and postcode. You tell them your trade, the postcode areas you want to cover, and roughly how many job enquiries you would like to receive each year. They then set a monthly membership fee for that flow of leads. Their process describes it plainly: pick the number of leads you want, and get a regular flow of leads for a monthly cost.

That monthly cost is charged whether or not those leads turn into paid, completed jobs. If a slow month lands, the membership still comes out of your account. On top of the core membership, Checkatrade also sells optional extras such as sponsored listings and directory placement, which are separate add-ons rather than part of the base fee.

None of that makes Checkatrade a bad choice for every gardener or landscaper. A membership that generates enough booked work will pay for itself many times over, and plenty of tradespeople make it work well. But it is worth being clear-eyed about the shape of the risk: the cost sits with you every month regardless of outcome, before you know how much of that flow of leads will actually become paid work.

How Yorkshire Lawn & Garden compares

We run a website that ranks across Yorkshire for gardening and landscaping searches and turns them into real customers with a name, a postcode, and a job description. We pass each one to a trusted local gardener or landscaper for that area. We do not do the gardening. We are the customer-generation side of the business, so you do not have to be.

	Checkatrade	Yorkshire Lawn & Garden
Cost to join	Monthly membership fee	Free, no joining fee
Charged when work is slow?	Yes, membership continues	No, nothing is owed
First job	Paid membership before any leads land	Free and direct, you keep everything
Contract	Ongoing monthly subscription	No contract, leave any time
Ongoing cost	Membership regardless of jobs won	10% of jobs actually completed and paid

The difference is where the risk sits. A membership model asks you to pay for the chance of leads before you know how many will convert. Our model only ever takes a share of work you have already done and already been paid for. If nothing lands in a given week, you owe us nothing, because there is nothing to take a share of.

What you get from Yorkshire Lawn & Garden

• We generate the customers. They have already searched for a gardener and asked for help. No cold leads, no bidding against other firms.
• You keep 90% of every job. One flat number. No subscription, no card on file, no minimum spend.
• You get paid fast on completion. Once the job is confirmed done, your money is sent straight to your bank, same or next day.
• No lead fees, ever. You never pay us to be sent a job. We only take our share out of work you have actually done and been paid for.
• Work the jobs you want. Too busy, wrong patch, not your sort of work? Say no and we place it elsewhere. No penalty for turning work down.
• Stay your own boss. Your business, your name, your tools, your way of working. We are simply the digital arm that finds the customers.

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

How does Checkatrade charge gardeners and landscapers?

Checkatrade's own sign-up process has you pick your trade, your postcode area, and roughly how many job enquiries you want each year, then charges a monthly membership fee for that flow of leads. That membership is billed every month whether the leads you receive turn into paid, completed jobs or not, alongside optional extras like sponsored listings and payment tools.

Is Yorkshire Lawn & Garden really free to join?

Yes. There is no membership, no joining fee, and no minimum spend. Your first job is free and direct, you keep every penny of it. After that you keep 90% of every job and we only take our share out of work you have actually completed and been paid for.

Do I have to sign a contract with Yorkshire Lawn & Garden?

No. There is no contract and no minimum term. If it stops suiting you, you simply stop taking jobs from us. There is no cancellation process because there was never a subscription to cancel.

Can I use Yorkshire Lawn & Garden alongside my Checkatrade membership?

Yes, completely. Plenty of gardeners run more than one channel at once. Nothing about applying to us affects any membership or listing you already have elsewhere. The difference is simply that we never charge you to be sent a job.

What areas does Yorkshire Lawn & Garden cover?

The whole of Yorkshire. Our pages already rank for towns across North, South, East and West Yorkshire, and enquiries come in from across the region. Tell us your town and travel radius when you apply and we will match you to nearby work.

More on getting work without paying for it

For the full picture of how gardeners find customers across Yorkshire, including word of mouth, Google Business Profile and the other paid platforms, see how to get more gardening work in Yorkshire. If Bark is the platform you are weighing up, see our Bark alternative for gardeners. If you just want the short version, go straight to gardening leads in Yorkshire.