Is MyBuilder Worth It for Builders? Fees and Maths
The short answer
For small domestic jobs it can be: no joining fee, and you pay only when a homeowner shortlists you. For £50K–£100K projects it isn't the route. You compete with other trades on small jobs, so bigger work needs your own pipeline.
- No joining or membership fee. You pay a shortlist fee, typically £2–£35 + VAT, each time a homeowner shortlists you.
- You pay whether or not you win. Fees are non-refundable; any refund is discretionary and comes as account credit only.
- Judge it on cost per won job, not cost per lead. Fee × shortlists per win, plus your unpaid visiting and quoting hours.
- Good for filling gaps with small domestic jobs. £50K–£100K projects come from architects, developers, past clients and main contractors.
Written by Sviat Jay, founder of BizMentor and of Craftex, a London design & build company. BizMentor has no commercial relationship with MyBuilder. Fees and terms below are taken from MyBuilder's own pages, checked on 17 October 2026.
Is MyBuilder worth it? Here are the fees, the maths per won job and what to do instead. If you want your own pipeline of bigger jobs, book a free strategy call.
The short answer
MyBuilder can pay for itself on small domestic jobs, if you reply fast and price properly. You pay nothing to join. You pay a fee only when a homeowner shortlists you.
It is not the way to bigger work. You are one of several trades answering the same homeowner, and most jobs are small. Projects of £50K–£100K come from people you build relationships with: architects, developers, past clients and main contractors.
Skip MyBuilder and Checkatrade if you want bigger work. You compete on price with five other trades for small jobs. They're built for homeowners hiring a single tradesperson, not for contractors growing a business.
What MyBuilder actually charges in 2026
MyBuilder is pay-as-you-go. There's no subscription for a standard account. Here's how the money works, from MyBuilder's sign-up page and its tradesperson terms (updated 4 March 2026):
- Joining: free. No joining or membership fees.
- Messaging a homeowner: free to send an introduction.
- Shortlist fee: charged when the homeowner shortlists you and contact details are shared. MyBuilder says fees "typically range from £2 to £35 depending on the size of the job".
- How the fee is set: by the job's likely size, value and location. You see it before you act. VAT goes on top.
- Win or lose: the fee is due either way. The terms say you don't need to be awarded the job for it to be payable.
- Refunds: at MyBuilder's discretion, as account credit only. Credit can't be cashed and expires after 12 months unless stated otherwise.
- Billing: invoices at least weekly; your card is charged automatically. Accounts can be suspended when an invoice is 15 days overdue.
- Extras: optional sponsored placement for a monthly fee, and a £20 + VAT admin fee if a payment fails.
Treating a cheap fee as a cheap lead. A £15 fee on a job you don't win still costs £15, plus the evening you spent pricing it.
Is the gap in your pipeline or in how you convert enquiries? Take the free 4-minute Construction Business Scorecard: 18 questions on your pipeline, sales, pricing, cash flow and systems, with your weakest area shown first. Want the enquiries handled for you? See our construction marketing service.
The real cost: per won job, not per lead
The fee is the small part. What matters is what each won job costs you.
| Line | How to work it out |
|---|---|
| Fees per won job | Average shortlist fee × shortlists it takes to win one |
| Time per won job | Hours per visit and quote × shortlists per win |
| Is it worth it? | Gross profit on the job − fees − the value of your time |
Worked example (example figures, not MyBuilder data): a £20 fee, and you win 1 job in 5 shortlists.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Fees per won job (5 × £20) | £100 + VAT |
| Visits and quotes (5 × 2 hours) | 10 hours unpaid |
| Job value | £1,500 |
| Gross profit at 30% | £450 |
| Fees as a share of the profit | about 22% |
Win 1 in 3 and the fees drop to £60. Win 1 in 10 and they are £200, almost half the profit, before you count the 20 hours.
So the lever isn't the platform. It's your win rate and your margin. If you win one job in ten, fix how you quote before you buy more leads, and stop pricing big jobs for free.
Not sure what a won job really costs you today?
Book a free call and we'll work it out from your last 10 quotes.
Pros and cons for a building business
What works
- No fixed cost. Nothing to pay in a quiet month, unlike a 12-month membership.
- You see the fee first. You can skip jobs that don't make sense.
- Fast start. Useful when you're new, or a job falls through and you need to fill a week.
- Reviews build up. Feedback affects where you appear in MyBuilder's search.
What doesn't
- Small jobs. The platform is built for homeowners hiring for domestic work.
- Price competition. Several trades can answer the same job, so the homeowner compares prices.
- You pay to lose. Fees are due whether or not you're hired.
- It's rented, not owned. Stop paying and the enquiries stop. Your reviews live on their site.
This is for you if
- Sole traders and small firms filling gaps with domestic jobs
- New businesses that need first reviews and cash flow
- Trades that can visit and quote the same day
It’s not for you if
- Firms chasing £50K+ refurbishments, fit-outs or design & build
- Anyone who quotes slowly or doesn't track which quotes they win
- Owners who want to get off the tools
If you use MyBuilder, use it like a business
- Reply in minutes, not hours. The first trade to ring usually gets the visit.
- Pick jobs, don't spray. Check the description, location and fee before you express interest. Skip anyone who only wants "a rough idea".
- Visit, then present the quote live. On a call or in person, not a PDF sent at midnight. The same rule we use on every channel.
- Price to your margin, not to the others. Undercutting wins the job and loses the profit.
- Track every shortlist. Fee, job, won or lost, value. After 20 shortlists you'll know your real cost per won job.
- Ask every happy client for a review. Honestly, with no incentives: MyBuilder's terms ban paid or fake feedback.
20+ Ways to Get Construction Projects in the UK
Every channel we use at Craftex to find work, with scripts and a 30-day plan.
Get the free guideWhat to do instead: build your own pipeline
Bigger, better-paid work doesn't come from lead platforms. It comes from channels you own. Want a plan for them? Book a free strategy call. These are the channels we use at Craftex and teach in the free guide:
- Past clients and contacts. Call, don't text. Adam, a builder I mentored, signed £91,796 of work in 8 days by calling people he already knew.
- Small architecture studios and interior designers. They decide who gets recommended. Adam & Ali's £528K project came through an architect, with an estimated £175–180K profit.
- The general contractor model. Take the whole job and subcontract the trades you don't cover, adding margin on each.
- Main contractors and developers. Start with one small problem package, deliver it well, then grow.
- Your own Google profile and reviews. Enquiries that come to you, not to five trades at once. (A client threatening a bad one? Here's what to do.)
Individual results, not typical or guaranteed.
The maths changes with job size. On a £50K job with £15K profit you can spend £3–3.5K to win it and still keep most of the profit. On a £1,500 job, every £20 matters.
In this video I explain why lead platforms rarely work for builders who want to grow. I cover what to have in place before you approach clients, and where to find £50,000–£100,000 projects.
Want a pipeline that doesn't depend on a lead app?
Book a free strategy call and leave with a 90-day plan.
Before you pay for another lead
MyBuilder's fees and terms can change. Check the fee shown on each job and the current terms before you sign up.
Weighing up a monthly membership instead? See is Checkatrade worth it for builders. Paying per lead with credits? See whether Bark is worth it for tradesmen.
Before you go
- You know your win rate on platform leads (won ÷ shortlisted)
- You know your gross profit per job, not just the price
- Every quote is presented live and followed up weekly
- At least two channels you own bring in enquiries every month
- You've called every past client in the last 90 days
