What Checkatrade is (for those who know it from the UK)
Checkatrade is one of the best-known ways to find a tradesperson in the United Kingdom. Homeowners search by trade and area, read customer reviews, compare profiles and request quotes. For tradespeople, it works on a paid model: they apply, pass sign-up vetting checks (such as identity, insurance and relevant qualifications), and then pay to be listed.
That membership is not trivial. Checkatrade membership typically runs from around £60 per month up to £150 or more once featured placements and category boosts are added, usually on a twelve-month contract. In many trades there are also per-lead charges on top — a few pounds for a small job, considerably more for larger ones. The model works for trades that need a steady stream of enquiries, but the cost is borne entirely by the provider.
Does Checkatrade work in Mauritius?
No. Checkatrade operates in the United Kingdom only. Its vetted members are UK businesses, and you cannot use it to find a plumber in Grand Baie or an electrician in Curepipe. The same is true of most of the platforms people know from home — Rated People, MyBuilder and similar services are also UK-focused.
That leaves a real gap for anyone used to having a trusted-trades directory at their fingertips. Mauritius has plenty of excellent tradespeople, but historically they have been found through word of mouth, scattered Facebook pages and unverified listings — with no single, trustworthy place to compare them or read honest reviews. That gap is exactly what Prouva is built to fill.
Prouva: the Mauritius equivalent
Prouva is a free directory of home-service providers across Mauritius, built around honest, verified reviews. You can search by trade and area, read what real customers experienced, and contact providers directly. It is run as a non-profit community project: the goal is a more trustworthy market for everyone, not advertising revenue.
The biggest practical differences from a platform like Checkatrade are cost and how trust is established. Prouva is free for customers and for providers — there is no membership fee and no pay-per-lead. And rather than relying on raw star ratings, Prouva computes a provider's score from a short factual survey about what actually happened, gives far more weight to reviews backed by an invoice or contract, and lets recent experience count for more than old jobs.
Checkatrade vs Prouva at a glance
The table below sets out the main differences. Checkatrade is a large, mature commercial platform in a different market; Prouva is a newer, free, non-profit service built specifically for Mauritius. Both exist to help you hire with more confidence.
How the two compare
| Checkatrade (UK) | Prouva (Mauritius) | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it operates | United Kingdom only | Mauritius |
| Cost to you (the customer) | Free | Free |
| Cost to the tradesperson | Paid membership (around £60–£150+/month), often plus per-lead fees, typically on a 12-month contract | Free — no membership and no pay-per-lead |
| Who runs it | A commercial company | A non-profit community project |
| How providers are checked | Vetting checks at sign-up (e.g. ID, insurance, qualifications) | Listings start from public information; owners can claim and earn a Verified badge after identity and business-registration (BRN) checks |
| How ratings work | Customer star reviews | The average of a provider's reviews, computed from a factual survey and weighted toward invoice-verified and recent ones |
| Lead fees | Trades often pay per enquiry | None — customers contact providers directly |
Finding a trusted tradesperson in Mauritius today
Whether or not you've used Checkatrade before, the approach to hiring well in Mauritius is the same:
- Search Prouva for the trade and area you need, and shortlist two or three providers with solid, recent reviews.
- Favour providers with Verified reviews (backed by an invoice or contract) and, where it matters, a Verified business badge.
- Get a written, itemised quote from each before you commit, and agree payment in stages tied to completed work.
- After the job, leave an honest review yourself — it's how the directory stays useful for the next person.
Prouva is free, so there's no downside to checking it before you hire — and the more people who leave honest reviews, the closer Mauritius gets to the kind of trusted-trades directory many of us took for granted back home.