NI Trades vs MyBuilder for NI tradespeople
Side-by-side comparison
| NI Trades | MyBuilder | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat monthly fee | Pay-per-shortlist (per won customer contact) |
| Annual cost (typical) | £360 (Listed) or £660 (Featured) | Variable; trades report £400 to £2,000+/yr depending on bid volume |
| Per-lead charges | None, ever | Around £2 to £35 per shortlist, set by job size |
| Geographic focus | Northern Ireland only | UK-wide |
| Trades per job | Capped at 3 | Up to ~5 quoting per job (bidding-war dynamic) |
| Contract / lock-in | No tie-in, cancel any time | No contract; account credit expires 12 months from issue |
| Cancellation | Self-serve, any time | Stop responding; request closure in writing for full removal |
| Reviews source | Verified reviews from real NI customers | MyBuilder-collected reviews from completed jobs |
| Vetting at application | ID, public liability insurance, statutory credentials, references | ID, insurance and credential review at signup |
| Best for | Established NI trades who want predictable cost and local reach | Trades with capacity to bid high volume and absorb misses |
Figures above reflect publicly-reported MyBuilder pricing in 2026 and the current NI Trades plans. Both can change. For the detail behind every row, see our full MyBuilder review.
When MyBuilder still makes sense
The no-monthly-fee model is genuinely useful for trades who want to test paid lead generation without committing to a subscription. If you have capacity to write thoughtful job responses at speed and can compete on more than price, MyBuilder will produce work.
When NI Trades is the better fit
The bidding-war dynamic is the issue for most NI trades. Quoting against four or five other trades on the same job pushes the price down to whoever needs the work most, which undercuts the established local trade who is busy enough to charge fairly. NI Trades caps the number of tradespeople on a job at three, the cost is flat and predictable, and there are no per-shortlist fees that get billed even when a homeowner ghosts. The audience is local rather than a slice of a UK-wide platform.
The bottom line for NI tradespeople
MyBuilder works for trades who can absorb misses, bid on volume, and accept the race-to-the-bottom dynamic. For an established NI tradesperson who wants predictable monthly cost and a smaller pool of competitors on each job, NI Trades is the more sustainable fit.
Are you a homeowner looking for a tradesperson in NI?
If you searched for MyBuilder in Northern Ireland as a homeowner rather than a tradesperson, here is the short version. MyBuilder runs a shortlist-and-bid model suited to busier English markets, and NI coverage and category depth are thinner than in England, especially for NI-specific work such as oil-fired heating, so you may post a job and get few local replies.
NI Trades is built only for Northern Ireland. Every tradesperson is vetted at application stage (ID, public liability insurance, references and any trade credentials), you post your job for free, your details stay private until you choose who to contact, and no more than three trades are shown on any one job. It is the local, vetted way to find a tradesperson you can trust in NI, with no cold-callers and no national call centre.
Frequently asked questions
Pricing and terms on third-party platforms named here change frequently and vary by trade and region. Figures quoted were validated against publicly-reported sources in May 2026. Always confirm current pricing directly with each provider before you commit.
NI Trades content is researched and written in house in Northern Ireland: figures are compiled from written NI quotes and official published sources, drafted with the help of AI tools as disclosed in our editorial standards, then checked against the cited primary sources before publishing. Every page carries its sources and review date, and corrections are made fast when readers or tradespeople spot an error.