The trades-only alternative to Indeed
Indeed reaches everyone. We only reach the trades.
Which One Should You Use?
Outside the trades, Indeed is the better tool.
CHOOSE INDEED IF
- You hire across many departments
- You fill office and warehouse roles too
- You want volume and will screen it yourself
- Your hiring system needs an Indeed feed
- You want to test one opening for free
- A trades-only board is thin in your area
CHOOSE SKILLEDTRADES.COM IF
- Most of the people you hire are trades
- You run travel or per diem crews
- You need a cost you can budget once
- You screen on licenses and certifications
- You want nine relevant, not ninety mixed
- You want a person to call when it stalls
SkilledTrades.com vs. Indeed
Answered for both, including where our answer is no.
| Price | SkilledTrades.com | Indeed |
|---|---|---|
| Type of pricing | Flat monthly rate | Variable |
| Cheapest way to post a job | $40 a month | Free, 3 a month |
| Long-term contract | No | Varies |
| Features | SkilledTrades.com | Indeed |
|---|---|---|
| Per diem rate as a field | Yes | No |
| State license with expiry | Yes | Self-reported |
| Certifications tracked | Yes | Screener question |
| Hours per week | Yes | Shift tags only |
| Construction terminology | Yes | All industries |
| Built only for the trades | Yes | Every industry |
| A person sources for you | Yes | No |
| Searchable resume database | No | Sold separately |
| Applicant tracking systems | No | Yes |
| Live customer support | Yes | Yes |
| Free company profile | Yes | Yes |
The Per Diem Problem
If you run travel crews, this is the difference that matters most, and it is not a matter of opinion. Indeed has one pay field on a job post and it is for salary. There is no field for per diem, travel pay, subsistence, lodging, or mileage. Your daily rate can only go in the description text, where nobody can search or sort by it.
There is a second problem. On Indeed the phrase "per diem" already means something else: as-needed shift work, mostly in nursing. A pipefitter searching Indeed for per diem work is shown hospital shifts.
On SkilledTrades.com the daily rate is a field on the job post and it appears on the listing, because for a traveling tradesperson it is the number that decides whether the job is worth taking.
SkilledTrades.com by the Numbers
Every job on the platform is a trades job. Local and per diem hiring live in the same place, the price is published, and you can cancel any time.
What a Job Post Actually Costs
Ours is published. Indeed's is set by auction.
LOCAL JOB SLOT
- $40 a month for one slot
- Down to $30 a month per slot at high volume
- Unlimited applications, no per-click fee
- Reusable: close a filled job and post another in its place at no extra charge
PER DIEM JOB SLOT
- $80 a month for one slot
- Down to $60 a month per slot at high volume
- Nationwide reach for travel crews
- Your daily per diem rate shows on the listing
ONE-OFF POST
- $100 for a single local job post
- $200 for a single per diem job post
- No subscription and no recurring charge
- For a one-time opening you do not expect to repeat
You Do Not Have to Switch
Add us to what you already do. Most contractors post in both.
We are not asking you to leave Indeed. We are one more tool on the belt for finding tradespeople, running alongside whatever already works for you. Your Indeed postings and your history stay exactly where they are.
What you get by adding us is relevance rather than reach. Indeed will always put your opening in front of more people than we can. Every job here is a trades job, so the people looking are looking for trades work. What comes back is a shorter list with less in it to sort through.
Posting in both places is the normal pattern, not a compromise. Put the same opening on Indeed and on SkilledTrades.com in the same week, leave both live, and look at where the applications you would actually hire came from. Whatever that tells you, you gave up nothing to find it out.
Common Questions
Short answers, including the ones that do not flatter us.
Is SkilledTrades.com cheaper than Indeed?
It is more predictable, which is not the same thing. A local job slot costs $40 a month whatever the market does. Indeed's sponsored pricing is set by auction, so it can come in under us in a quiet market and a good deal over us in a busy one.
If your problem is a bill that changes every month, flat-rate pricing solves it. If your problem is spending nothing at all on one easy role, Indeed's free tier beats us outright, because we do not have one.
Does SkilledTrades.com have as many candidates as Indeed?
No, and it is not close. Indeed reports 685 million jobseeker profiles across more than 60 countries. We are a United States trades board covering 32 trades, so our audience is a fraction of that by design.
The argument for the smaller pool is what is in it. On a general board your electrician posting competes for attention with every other job in your city. On ours it competes with other trades jobs. Judge a board on relevant applications per dollar, not on the size of the number it puts on its About page.
Can I post a per diem job on Indeed?
You can describe per diem in the job text, but there is no per diem field. Indeed has one pay field on a job post and it is for salary, so the daily rate cannot be searched, filtered, or shown as a labeled figure. On Indeed the phrase "per diem" also already means as-needed shift work, mostly nursing, so a tradesperson searching it finds hospital shifts. On SkilledTrades.com the daily rate is a field on the post and it shows on the listing.
Is Indeed free for employers?
Partly. Indeed allows up to three free job posts per calendar month, each visible for up to 30 days, and accounts under the same parent company share that limit. Indeed's own guidance is candid about what free gets you: a free post "falls back in job seeker search results as new jobs are posted, which means these job postings can lose visibility quickly." Treat it as free to list, not free to be seen.
What trades does SkilledTrades.com cover?
32 trades, including electricians, welders, pipefitters, plumbers, HVAC technicians, boilermakers, millwrights, ironworkers, carpenters, masons, heavy equipment operators, linemen, machinists, and the supervisory roles that run them. We cover all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
What makes a job post fill faster?
State the pay clearly, and if it is travel work, state the daily per diem rate, because that is the number a tradesperson decides on. If a post is not drawing the right people, our Employment Specialists will review it with you and put it in front of matching tradespeople.
Is there a contract with SkilledTrades.com?
No. Job slots are month to month and you can cancel any time. One-off posts carry no recurring commitment at all.
Try It on One Job
Run the same opening on both and count who applies.