Tradesmen Online review (2026): the Stoke directory with unpublished prices, a 3.5 Trustpilot score, and a simpler alternative
Tradesmen Online is a Stoke-on-Trent directory, incorporated in 2019, that lists tradespeople for a subscription it does not publish and says it never sells leads. It has 175 Trustpilot reviews at 3.5, with 62 percent five-star and 35 percent one-star. Growth Bull is £69 a month, cancel any month, for the Google review and ranking part.
Written by Tom Riley, founder of Growth Bull
8 min read Prices checked October 2026
Tradesmen Online is a small paid directory run from Stoke-on-Trent. Homeowners search it by trade and town and ring the tradesperson directly; tradespeople pay a subscription, sold in six-month terms, at a price the site does not publish. It is on this list because it ranks for tradesmen marketing searches and because its Trustpilot record is the most divided we have seen: 175 reviews at 3.5, with 62 percent five-star and 35 percent one-star.
Growth Bull is not a directory. It is £69 a month of software, cancelled any month, that gets Google reviews from every paid invoice and shows where you rank. This review is for the tradesperson who has had the call from Tradesmen Online and wants to know what the record says before paying up front.
Written by Tom Riley, founder of Growth Bull. Where Tradesmen Online is the better choice, we say so. Facts checked 1 October 2026.
For the directories with large audiences, see our Checkatrade review and our MyBuilder review, and for all of them side by side, the best lead generation for tradesmen in the UK.
Growth Bull vs Tradesmen Online
Tradesmen Online is a small paid directory with a sharply divided Trustpilot record, where the risk is paying a subscription up front for a listing that may bring nothing, while Growth Bull is a £69 a month tool, cancelled any month, that builds the Google reviews homeowners actually search.
Choose Growth Bull if
you want more Google reviews and a clear view of your map and search rankings for a fixed monthly price with no upfront subscription.
Starting price: £69/mo, no contract
Choose Tradesmen Online if
Pick Tradesmen Online only after you have the price in writing, have checked how many homeowners search its directory in your area, and have read both the five-star and the one-star reviews.
Starting price: Subscription, not published
Side by side
What each company says about itself, on its own website, next to ours.
Both screenshots show the public websites as they looked on 1 October 2026. The Tradesmen Online screenshot belongs to Tradesmen Online and is shown here for a fair, like-for-like comparison.
At a glance
Growth Bull ahead: 4Tradesmen Online ahead: 0Level: 4
| What you get | Growth Bull | Tradesmen Online |
|---|---|---|
| What you are buying | Software: review requests, Rank Map, Keyword Tracker, AI Visibility | A directory profile; homeowners contact you directly |
| Gets new Google reviews automatically | Yes, one text and one email after every paid invoice | No |
| Sends you leads | No; it grows the free enquiries from Google | Says it does not sell leads; enquiries come from the directory |
| Map and search rank tracking | Yes, Rank Map and Keyword Tracker on Complete Growth | Not offered |
| Published price | Review Builder £69 a month, Complete Growth £129 a month | Not published; six-month subscriptions mentioned |
| Commitment | None, 7-day free trial, cancel any month | Subscription paid up front; term from six months |
| Public reviews | Growth Bull is new; see the live examples on our site | Trustpilot 3.5 from 175 reviews, 35 percent one-star |
| Company | UK, prices in pounds and dollars | Tradesmen Online Limited, Stoke-on-Trent, incorporated 2019 |
The tick marks the stronger option on that row. Prices per month, checked 1 October 2026.
Who are Tradesmen Online and what do they sell?
Tradesmen Online Limited (company number 11974220) was incorporated on 1 May 2019, is registered at 4 Ridge House, Ridge House Drive in Stoke-on-Trent and is active, with an advertising agency SIC code. The about page says the founder started as a tradesman running his own business, moved into digital marketing for tradespeople and then built the directory; it does not name him. The site carries a Best Tradesperson Directory 2026 badge from the SME News awards.
What a tradesperson buys is a profile in the directory:
- A business profile page listing the trades you cover, which homeowners find by searching a trade and a location.
- Direct contact: the FAQ says homeowners call tradespeople directly, there are no lead fees or commissions, and the site does not sell leads.
- Verification on contact and business details and public liability insurance, with certificates required for gas engineers and electricians.
Its claim to tradespeople is that every month thousands of people submit a job on the site looking for a local tradesperson. It also offers websites and marketing as a separate service.
What does Tradesmen Online cost and what is the commitment?
Tradesmen Online does not publish its prices. The site mentions six-month subscriptions and says other packages are available, including longer memberships and online advertising, with the figure given on enquiry. One Trustpilot reviewer mentions paying £385 for a subscription period; that is one person's number, not a price list. The subscription is paid up front for the term.
In our view that combination, an unpublished price paid in advance for six months or more, is the thing to be careful about. Before you pay, ask how many homeowner searches the directory had in your trade and area last month, and get the price and the refund terms in writing.
What do customers say about Tradesmen Online?
Tradesmen Online has 175 reviews on Trustpilot with a TrustScore of 3.5: 62 percent five-star, 2 percent two-star and 35 percent one-star. The two ends tell opposite stories. A recent five-star review reads "Made my money back so quick! Such good service" (Jamie-Leigh Ross, Trustpilot, September 2026), and other positive reviewers describe leads arriving and the subscription paying for itself within months.
The one-star reviews, more than a third of the total, consistently say the reviewer paid, set up a profile and received no leads, in some cases even after being offered extra months free, and several use the word scam. We cannot say which experience you would have; we can say the split is far wider than at Checkatrade, MyBuilder, TrustATrader or Bark. We could not retrieve Google or Facebook review counts from public pages, so they are not published here.
Who does Tradesmen Online suit?
Tradesmen Online may suit a tradesperson in a trade and area where its directory happens to have traffic, who can get the price in writing and treats the subscription as a small experiment. The no-lead-fee model is fair in principle: once the fee is covered, enquiries are free.
It suits anyone who cannot afford to lose the subscription less well, and in our view it is not where a new business should put its first marketing money. The audience is a fraction of the big directories' and the record says the result is a coin toss.
Where Growth Bull fits instead
Growth Bull puts the money where homeowners already look. Growth Bull's Review Builder connects to Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, FreeAgent, HubSpot or Pipedrive and sends one text and one email asking for a Google review after every paid invoice. Those reviews sit on your own Google Business Profile and lift you into the map pack (the box of three businesses with a map at the top of Google), which is searched by every homeowner in your town rather than the ones who found a particular directory. It is £69 a month, with a 7-day free trial and no contract.
Complete Growth at £129 a month adds Rank Map, which scans a grid of points around your town and names who holds number one for your trade; Keyword Tracker, which follows your search positions; and AI Visibility, which asks ChatGPT, Claude and Google's AI who they recommend in your town and shows whether you are named.
Growth Bull does not run a directory. If you want a listing, the big directories have the audience and are reviewed above. The Google reviews are worth building whichever you choose.
Verdict
In our view, Tradesmen Online is a directory to approach with the price in writing, a question about traffic in your area, and both halves of its Trustpilot page read. The fair no-lead-fee model is undercut by the unpublished price, the upfront term and a one-star share above a third. If you try it, try it small.
For the spend you keep, Growth Bull's Review Builder is £69 a month with a 7-day free trial at growthbull.io/signup, or book a call with Tom.
Questions people ask
How much does Tradesmen Online cost?
Tradesmen Online does not publish its prices. Its site says it offers six-month subscriptions and other packages including longer memberships and online advertising, with the figure given when you enquire. One Trustpilot reviewer mentions paying £385 for a subscription period, which is one person's figure rather than a price list. We treat the price as not published (checked October 2026).
Is Tradesmen Online legitimate?
Tradesmen Online Limited, company number 11974220, was incorporated on 1 May 2019, is registered in Stoke-on-Trent and is active with an advertising agency SIC code. It is a real company with a working directory. The question is whether the listing pays: its 175 Trustpilot reviews are split between 62 percent five-star and 35 percent one-star, with the one-star reviews saying they received no leads after paying up front.
What are the Tradesmen Online reviews like?
On Trustpilot Tradesmen Online has a 3.5 TrustScore from 175 reviews. The positive reviews report leads and quick payback; the negative ones consistently say they paid, set up a profile and heard nothing, and some use the word scam. That is a wider split than any other directory we reviewed, so read both ends before you pay.
How does Tradesmen Online work?
It is a directory rather than a lead marketplace. Homeowners search by trade and location, read a tradesperson's profile and call them directly; the FAQ says there are no lead fees or commissions and that it does not sell leads. Tradespeople are verified on contact and business details and public liability insurance, with certificates required for gas and electrical trades.
Who runs Tradesmen Online?
The about page says the founder started as a tradesman running his own business before moving into digital marketing for tradespeople, but does not name him. The company's registered office is 4 Ridge House, Ridge House Drive, Stoke-on-Trent, and the site carries a Best Tradesperson Directory 2026 badge from the SME News awards.
What is a better alternative to Tradesmen Online?
For a tradesperson who does not want to pay up front for a listing, Growth Bull's Review Builder is £69 a month with a 7-day free trial and no contract. It asks every customer for a Google review after their invoice is paid, which lifts you where homeowners already search. Complete Growth at £129 a month adds map, keyword and AI visibility tracking. For a directory with a large audience, see our Checkatrade and MyBuilder reviews.