What Is Onlinetradesmen.ie?
Onlinetradesmen.ie has been part of the Irish home services market since 2006. Founded by Ted Laverty following a personal bad experience with an unqualified plumber, the platform was built around a simple idea: create a marketplace where only formally qualified tradespeople could operate, and make it easy for homeowners to find and rate them.
Nearly two decades later, Onlinetradesmen claims to have processed over 1.45 million jobs across all 26 counties, accumulated 85,000+ customer ratings, and built a community of 35,000 trade professionals. It is run by Dublin 14-based Feely Consulting Ltd (Company No. 331220) and has expanded well beyond a simple leads board into what it calls an "Everything App" — a bundled platform covering job leads, invoicing, marketing, recruitment, and training.
For a tradesperson evaluating whether to pay for it, the key questions are: does the lead volume justify the cost, and does the platform's age and scale translate into genuine business results?
Already set up and looking for leads? List your services free on ShamFix — listing is free for providers.
Pricing Breakdown
Onlinetradesmen.ie operates on a subscription model starting from €43.33 per month as of June 2026 (onlinetradesmen.ie/Tradesmen/JoinNow.aspx). There are no per-lead fees and no commission charged on jobs you win — you keep everything you earn from customers.
The platform does not publish a detailed multi-tier pricing table publicly, but it advertises a flat entry point of €43.33/month with the option to upgrade plans later. You pay for the app and lead access; the customer pays you directly.
| Cost model | Detail |
|---|---|
| Entry price | From €43.33/month |
| Per-lead fee | None |
| Commission on jobs | None |
| Contract lock-in | None (cancel anytime) |
| Money-back guarantee | Yes, subject to best-practice conditions |
For comparison, Bark.com charges per lead regardless of whether you win the job — credit costs vary by job type and competition (full breakdown in our Bark.com review). If you close even a handful of jobs per month, the subscription model on Onlinetradesmen will often cost less in total. The trade-off is that you pay whether the lead pool is active that month or not.
One commonly cited benchmark from active members is that a single job typically covers the full monthly subscription cost. An electrician winning one rewiring quote, or a plumber completing one bathroom fit-out, more than offsets €43.33. The real risk is months where leads are thin or reply rates are low.
How It Works for Tradespeople
The core workflow is straightforward. A homeowner submits a job request (from 450+ listed job types), and qualified tradespeople in the relevant area receive the lead via the app and can respond with a quote or message.
Key mechanics:
- Lead access is unlimited — you are not buying individual credits
- Leads are filtered by location and job type — you can set what you want to see
- You contact the homeowner directly — there is no intermediary step
- You get paid directly — the platform has no involvement in the transaction
Beyond leads, the "Everything App" bundles several business tools into the membership. The invoicing feature lets you create and send quotes and invoices from your phone on site. There is a marketing module that provides a standalone business profile page and a basic website. "TradeChat" is a tradesman-only social feed for sharing advice and subcontracting leads. The platform also includes a recruitment feature for finding apprentices or subcontractors, and a discounts module covering fuel cards, FBD Insurance and trade suppliers.
The verification step is worth understanding clearly. To access job leads, Onlinetradesmen runs a 4-point check requiring formal qualifications or recognised accreditation. For trades without a formal certification pathway (e.g. power washing, garden maintenance), they accept verifiable commercial references plus proof of public liability insurance. This standard is higher than platforms like Bark, which do not require qualification verification.
Pros
Flat subscription with no per-lead fees. This is the most significant structural advantage over pay-per-lead platforms. Your cost is predictable regardless of how many leads you view or respond to. If your close rate is reasonable, the economics work strongly in your favour.
No commission ever. Every euro a customer pays you stays with you. There is no hidden percentage taken at payment stage.
Established lead volume. With €25M+ in job leads claimed across Ireland each month and 1.45 million jobs processed since 2006, the platform has genuine homeowner traffic. For common trades in Dublin, Cork, Galway and other cities, lead volume is broadly sufficient.
Qualification barrier filters out unqualified competition. Because membership requires verified credentials, the job leads you see are competed for by qualified trades rather than any casual operator who signed up for free. This is meaningful both for your win rate and for the quality of fellow members you might subcontract to or from.
Bundled business tools. The invoicing app, website builder and TradeChat add practical value beyond raw lead access. For a sole trader managing everything themselves, having invoicing in the same app as your leads reduces tool sprawl.
Cancel anytime with money-back guarantee. The absence of a lock-in contract means the risk of trialling is low. The money-back guarantee, while conditional on following best-practice guidelines, provides a further safety net.
20 years of brand recognition in Ireland. Many Irish homeowners know Onlinetradesmen. Brand familiarity means homeowners are more likely to post jobs there first, and they are more likely to respond to messages from verified members.
Cons
Lead quality varies significantly by trade and location. Members in Dublin and other cities consistently report better results than those in rural or low-density areas. Niche or specialist trades may find that job matches are infrequent enough that the monthly cost becomes harder to justify.
The platform's own rating system has a contested history. Multiple independent user reports, spanning from 2011 through 2018, have described negative reviews being removed from tradesman profiles on the Onlinetradesmen site itself. The platform has since adopted third-party Trustpilot reviews, which are independently controlled — but the pattern of complaints about the internal rating system is worth knowing. It means the star ratings you see on a tradesman's Onlinetradesmen profile may not reflect the full range of customer experiences.
Response competition on popular job types. Popular jobs — particularly in the building and renovation category — can attract multiple tradespeople responding to the same lead, requiring you to be quick and competitive to stand out. The platform does not cap the number of tradespeople who can see or respond to a given job.
Pricing opacity. While €43.33/month is advertised as the entry point, the platform does not publish a clear breakdown of what different plans include or how pricing scales. Getting clarity on what you are actually buying requires contacting them directly or signing up.
Tools are broad rather than deep. The "Everything App" includes a website builder, invoicing tool, social feed and more — but none of these are best-in-class compared to dedicated standalone tools. If you already use Xero for accounting, a proper CMS for your website, or Slack for team communication, the bundled tools may add little.