Kitchen Companies: Checkatrade vs Facebook Ads

Last updated: April 2026.

Think about what happens when someone searches "kitchen fitter near me" on Checkatrade. They see a list of 8-12 companies, all with similar reviews, similar photos, similar descriptions. They message three of them. You are now competing on speed and price against companies who got the exact same lead at the exact same time.

For a £500 boiler repair, that model is fine. For a £15,000-50,000 kitchen where the buyer needs to trust your taste, visit your showroom, and commit to weeks of disruption in their home? Checkatrade is the wrong shape of tool.

Facebook ads let you show that homeowner a before-and-after of a kitchen you actually built. They see your work, not a directory listing. They contact you - and only you. Here is how the two compare on real numbers.

How Checkatrade works for kitchen companies

You already know how Checkatrade works. Homeowner searches, gets a list of vetted kitchen fitters sorted by reviews and proximity, contacts 2-3 of them. The question is what you are actually getting for your £70-120/month membership.

Here is what you are actually paying for:

The monthly subscription

Checkatrade membership costs between £70 and £120 per month depending on your category and location. Kitchen companies typically sit at the higher end. That works out to roughly £840-1,440 per year - and that is before you have won a single job from it.

The 12-month lock-in

Checkatrade requires a 12-month minimum contract. You cannot try it for a month and cancel. If leads dry up after month two, you are still paying for the remaining ten months. For a kitchen company testing a new marketing channel, that is a significant commitment.

Shared leads

This is where it falls apart for kitchen companies. When a homeowner searches for kitchen installers in your area, Checkatrade does not send that lead exclusively to you. It shows the homeowner every Checkatrade member in that area and category. The homeowner might contact three, four, or five of you.

You are not buying leads. You are buying visibility on a platform where you compete with other paying members for the same homeowner. For a £30,000 kitchen project, that homeowner deserves your full attention - not a race to see who calls back first.

Limited visual selling

Kitchens are one of the most visual home improvement products. Homeowners scroll through Instagram, Pinterest, and Houzz looking at kitchen designs for months before they enquire. Checkatrade gives you a basic profile page with a text description and some reviews. It is not built to showcase stunning kitchen photography, before-and-after transformations, or showroom walkthroughs. For a product that sells on aesthetics, that is a fundamental mismatch.

How Facebook ads work for kitchen companies

Facebook and Instagram ads work in the opposite direction. Instead of waiting for a homeowner to search, you put your best kitchen imagery directly in front of homeowners who match your ideal customer profile - before they have even started getting quotes.

You show your work where people are already looking for inspiration

Homeowners spend hours on Instagram looking at kitchen designs. Your ads appear naturally in that feed - a beautiful image of a handleless kitchen with marble worktops, or a before-and-after transformation video. It does not feel like an advert. It feels like inspiration. And when they are ready, they fill in your form.

Every lead is exclusively yours

When someone fills in a form on your Facebook ad, that lead goes to you and only you. No list of competitors. No race to call back. That homeowner has seen your specific work, liked the look of it, and actively asked to hear from you. The intent is completely different from someone browsing a Checkatrade directory.

You target the right homeowners

Facebook lets you target by location (down to specific postcodes), age, income bracket, homeownership status, property type, and interests like interior design, kitchen renovation, Houzz, and home improvement. You can show your bespoke kitchen ads to affluent homeowners in detached houses within 30 miles of your showroom. No wasted spend on renters or people outside your area.

You build your own brand

Every time your ad appears in someone's feed - even if they do not click - they see your company name, your logo, and your kitchens. Over time, you become the kitchen company people think of when they are ready. That brand recognition compounds month after month. Checkatrade builds Checkatrade's brand. Facebook ads build yours.

No lock-in, no minimums

Diary full for the next three months? Pause the ads. Quiet spell coming? Increase the budget. You are in complete control. No 12-month contract. No cancellation fees. If something is not working, you change it tomorrow.

Side-by-side cost comparison

Here are the real numbers, side by side. These figures are based on typical UK kitchen companies - fitted kitchens, bespoke kitchens, and kitchen renovation specialists.

At first glance, Checkatrade looks far cheaper. £100 a month versus £3,000. But the cost that matters is cost per actual sale, not cost per lead.

Let us run the numbers. Imagine both channels generate 15 leads in a month for your kitchen company:

Checkatrade scenario: 15 shared leads. At an 10% close rate (because those leads went to three other kitchen companies too), you close 1.5 jobs. With an average kitchen order of £27,500, that is £41,250 in revenue. Sounds decent - until you realise your close rate is being dragged down by competition on every single lead.

Facebook ads scenario: 15 exclusive leads at £45 each = £675 in lead cost, plus £2,000 management = roughly £2,700 total. At a 25% close rate (because nobody else has those leads), you close 3.75 jobs. That is £103,125 in revenue from the same number of leads. More than double the sales, more than double the revenue.

The Facebook leads cost more individually, but because they close at more than double the rate, the cost per sale is lower and the revenue is dramatically higher.

What kitchen companies are saying about Checkatrade

You do not have to take our word for it. A quick look at Trustpilot tells the story. These are the kinds of complaints that come up again and again from tradespeople - including kitchen installers:

"Spent £1,200 over the year and got precisely zero phone calls. Complete waste of money. They lock you in for 12 months so you cannot even leave when it is clearly not working."

"The leads I did get were tyre-kickers who had requested quotes from five different companies. By the time I called back, someone cheaper had already booked the job."

"Paid over £900 in membership fees and only received three leads in six months. Two of them never answered when I called. The third wanted a kitchen for half the market price."

"They keep putting more and more companies in my area so the leads get diluted further. When I joined there were four kitchen fitters listed. Now there are eleven. Same number of leads, split eleven ways."

The pattern is consistent: high fees, shared leads, low conversion, and a 12-month contract that prevents you from leaving when it is not working. For a kitchen company where each lead needs careful nurturing and design consultation, this model is a poor fit.

When Checkatrade makes sense

We are not saying Checkatrade is useless for every kitchen company. There are two specific situations where it can still be a reasonable choice:

You are a brand new kitchen company with zero portfolio

If you have just started out and have no completed projects to photograph, no reviews, and no online presence at all, Checkatrade can be a way to get your first five or ten jobs. You need that initial work to build a portfolio and collect testimonials. Think of it as a short-term launchpad - not a long-term strategy.

As a supplementary channel alongside other marketing

Some established kitchen companies keep a Checkatrade listing running as one of several lead sources, purely to catch the odd homeowner who searches there. That is fine - as long as it is not your primary strategy and you are tracking the actual ROI. If the numbers do not stack up after six months, cut it.

When Facebook ads make sense

For most established kitchen companies, Facebook ads are the stronger option. Here is when they work best:

You have good photos of completed kitchens

This is the single most important factor. If you have professional (or even well-lit smartphone) photos of your finished kitchens, you have the raw material for ads that stop the scroll. Before-and-after shots are particularly powerful. Handleless kitchens, island units, marble worktops, integrated appliances - this content was made for Instagram.

You want exclusive leads, not shared ones

If you are tired of racing three other companies to return a call, Facebook ads solve that problem permanently. Every lead that comes through your ads has seen your specific work and chosen to enquire with you. No competition. No price wars on day one.

You want to control your pipeline

With Facebook ads, you can turn the tap up when you need more work and dial it back when your diary is full. You choose the budget, the area, and the audience. With Checkatrade, you are entirely at the mercy of how many homeowners happen to search that month.

You want to build a brand, not just get leads

Every Facebook and Instagram ad impression builds your brand in your local area. After three months of running ads, people start recognising your company name. They search for you directly. They recommend you to friends. That compounding brand effect is worth far more than any directory listing - and it is something Checkatrade can never give you.

Curious whether other kitchen companies in your area are already running Facebook ads? Use our free Competitor Spy Tool to check any company's Meta Ad Library presence in seconds.

The verdict

For most established kitchen companies, Facebook ads win on ROI. The leads cost more individually, but they close at double the rate, they are exclusively yours, and they build your brand whilst generating enquiries.

Checkatrade was designed for volume trades where speed of response determines who wins the job. Kitchen installations are the opposite - they are considered purchases where trust, design expertise, and visual quality determine the sale. Facebook and Instagram are built for exactly that kind of selling.

If you are currently spending £100+ per month on Checkatrade and wondering why the leads are not converting, the answer is almost always the same: shared leads with no visual showcase, competing on price instead of quality. Switch to a channel where your beautiful kitchen photography does the selling, and the difference shows up in your close rates within weeks.