Bark sells you the lead. Tradehand gets you found and does the office work.
On Bark you buy credits and spend them to contact customers, paid whether or not they ever reply. Tradehand gets you found instead: on its marketplace and through a website under your own name on paid plans, with an Assistant that answers, quotes, books and collects payment. Free includes the manual tools and the Assistant with £1 of usage a month: 5% of each payment Tradehand takes, card fees included. Paid plans from £19 a month, billed yearly. They add automation and more usage. Basic payment fees on your own jobs: From 1.25% + 20p, deducted automatically when the customer pays. Grow and Advanced have lower Tradehand payment fees.
Tradehand
Bark
The short answer
Choose Bark if you sell a service outside the trades and want a national pool of leads you can pick from, priced per lead. Choose Tradehand if you would rather customers come to you, an assistant answers them under your name, with the Assistant on Free and automation and more usage on paid plans.
An honest recommendation
Choose Bark if…
- You sell a service outside the trades that Tradehand does not cover
- You want to hand-pick leads nationally and pay lead by lead
- You are filling a brand-new diary and will accept paying for silence
Choose Tradehand if…
- You would rather customers find you than pay to message strangers
- You want missed calls answered, quotes sent and payment chased for you
- You want Free tools with the Assistant or a paid plan for automation, with unlimited team members
Where Bark genuinely beats us: breadth and reach. It covers over 1,000 service categories across several countries, shows each lead's price on its own pricing page before you commit, takes no cut of the job itself, and its starter-pack guarantee, in Bark's own terms, returns your credits if the first pack wins you nothing. For work outside the trades, Tradehand is not the answer and Bark may be.
Should you have to buy your customers at all?
Bark charges at the start of the job, when you send your first message. Tradehand earns at the end, when the invoice is paid. Where the charge sits decides who carries the risk of a customer who goes quiet.
UK office manager starter salary, before NI and pension. Paid whether or not the invoices land.
Source: Office manager salary, £25,000 starter (National Careers Service)
TradehandFree, or paid plans from £19 a month, billed yearly
BarkBuy a credit pack, spend credits to contact each customer. The cost per lead varies with the service, job value and area, and is shown before you commit.
Source: Bark sellers pricing: lead cost varies by job, shown before you commitSalary: National Careers Service. Bark publishes no price per credit; each lead's cost appears when you respond. Credits are valid for three months. Tradehand offers Free tools with the Assistant and paid plans for automation.
See pricingSide by side
| What matters |  Tradehand |  Bark |
|---|---|---|
| What it isSource: Bark services directory: over 1,000 service categories | TradehandUK marketplace to find and book trades, plus an AI assistant | BarkLead site covering 1,000+ services: customers post, pros respond |
| What triggers a chargeSource: Bark sellers pricing: lead cost varies by job, shown before you commit | Tradehand✓ Free and paid plans, with a fee on collected payments | BarkContacting a customer spends credits, priced per lead |
| If the customer never repliesSource: Bark terms: no credit return for non-response, five pros max per customer | Tradehand✓ You have paid nothing | BarkNo credit return when a correct contact does not respond |
| Who else gets the same customerSource: Bark terms: no credit return for non-response, five pros max per customer | TradehandThey contact one trade; details stay with that trade | BarkUp to five professionals can contact one customer |
| Who answers and chases the jobSource: Bark, how it works: pros respond to posted customer requests | Tradehand✓ An assistant under your name: answers, quotes, books, chases payment | BarkYou message each lead and do the follow-up yourself |
| Being found | TradehandMarketplace profile plus a website under your own name on paid plans | BarkA Bark profile page shown to matching customers |
| CommitmentSource: Bark terms: no credit return for non-response, five pros max per customer | TradehandNo contract, leave whenever you like | BarkNo contract; credit packs are valid for three months |
“About 90% of leads are always blank.”
What happens when the customer comes to you
A homeowner finds your business on Tradehand while you are mid-job. Your Tradehand assistant answers every call and message that follows without you stopping work, with no fee for the lead.
On Bark you spent credits to open this conversation, and the chasing is yours from there. On Tradehand your assistant answers people already looking for you, follows the quote up and books the visit under your name.
You can run both while you decide
Keep your remaining Bark credits while your Tradehand assistant switches on. Spend them or let them lapse once your own calls are being answered for you.
- Day 1
Find or claim your listing
Search the Tradehand marketplace for your business, or sign up at tradehand.com/for-trades if you are new.
- Day 1
Set up your assistant
A person connects your number, rates and diary so your assistant can answer under your name.
- Week 1
Run both in parallel
Keep responding to Bark leads you have already paid for while Tradehand answers your own line and website.
- When ready
Review your spend
Use tradehand.com/tools/marketplace-roi to see what each won job really costs in credits, then stop topping up if your own customers are filling the diary.
Your questions
Is Tradehand a Bark alternative for UK trades?
For trade work, yes, and they charge at opposite ends of the job. Bark sells you the introduction: you spend credits to contact a customer, paid whether or not they reply. Tradehand gets you found on its marketplace and your own website, answers the call under your name, on a paid plan. Free includes the manual tools and the Assistant with £1 of usage a month: 5% of each payment Tradehand takes, card fees included. Paid plans from £19 a month, billed yearly. They add automation and more usage. Basic payment fees on your own jobs: From 1.25% + 20p, deducted automatically when the customer pays. Grow and Advanced have lower Tradehand payment fees.
How much does Bark actually cost a tradesperson?
Bark does not publish a price per credit. You buy a pack of credits, and each lead shows its own credit cost before you respond, based on the service, the job's value and the area. Credits are valid for three months from purchase.
Does Bark refund credits if the customer never replies?
Not for silence. Bark's terms return credits when contact details turn out to be invalid or fraudulent, but not when the details are correct and the customer simply chooses not to respond. Its starter-pack guarantee returns credits, not cash, if the first pack wins you no work.
How many trades can contact the same Bark customer?
Up to five professionals can contact one customer directly, under Bark's own terms. Each of them has paid credits for the same introduction, and the customer can reply to any or none.
Does Tradehand sell leads?
No. Homeowners search the Tradehand marketplace free and contact one trade, and that job stays with that trade. Tradehand never charges you to see or answer a customer.
How does Tradehand get me found?
Three ways: your business is listed on the Tradehand marketplace where homeowners search by trade and area, you get a website under your own name on paid plans, built to win local searches, and you get hands-on help setting up and optimising your Google Business Profile. The work comes to you under your own brand.
What do I pay Tradehand?
Free includes the manual tools and the Assistant with £1 of usage a month: 5% of each payment Tradehand takes, card fees included. Paid plans from £19 a month, billed yearly. They add automation and more usage. Basic payment fees on your own jobs: From 1.25% + 20p, deducted automatically when the customer pays. Grow and Advanced have lower Tradehand payment fees.
Can I use Bark and Tradehand together?
Yes. Plenty of trades keep buying leads while their own work builds up. Tradehand answers whatever comes in, whichever door it arrived through, and you can use the Assistant on Free before choosing a subscription.
Sources & references
- Bark sellers pricing: lead cost varies by job, shown before you commit
- Bark terms: no credit return for non-response, five pros max per customer
- Bark, how it works: pros respond to posted customer requests
- Bark services directory: over 1,000 service categories
- Office manager salary, £25,000 starter (National Careers Service)
More comparisons
Hear your assistant answer the phone
Get started. Tradehand takes a call, sends the quote and books the job under a trade's own name. Then compare that with what a pack of credits bought you.
