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Last Updated: Apr 2024

Best People Search Services of 2024

Search people, social media posts, public records and the deep web
to arm yourself with information—quickly and easily.

46,468 people

visited a background check site this month

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Note: Some or all background search services featured on this site are not subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 USC 1681 et seq., ("FCRA") In order to make decisions about consumer credit, employment, insurance, tenant screening, or any other purpose that would require FCRA compliance, make sure you choose the appropriate service for you. Be advised that only consumer reporting agencies may provide consumer reports. This is applicable, but not limited to, a background search, credit background check, criminal background check, and/or driving record.

We find the 10 best options, so you can make informed decisions on tons of products and services.

The Benefits of Using a People Search

Personal safety should always come first. Maybe you are moving in to a new neighborhood and you want more information on whoever is living next door. Or perhaps you're just looking for old school buddies to reconnect with. Whatever your reason may be, using a people search engine is a great way to check someone's background discreetly. 

What is a People Search?

It is a comprehensive search engine that has a large database with the records of thousands of people. Search people using a name, an address, or a number and find all kinds of information linked to it. 

Basically, it does all the detective work for you with high accuracy. The information is gathered from a wide variety of places, from both governmental and non-governmental places. These sources might include:

• birth certificates

• death certificates

• voter registrations

• drivers licenses

• trademark filings

• census statistics

• utility companies 

• unsealed lawsuits or legal actions

• political campaign contributions

• sex offender registrations

• professional and business licenses

• criminal records

• real estate transactions

• marriage licenses

• online account registrations and profiles

• forum posts

• government spending reports

• business and entity filings

• credit bureaus

All of this information is legally obtained and is safe for you to view. Background searches protect privacy rights. People can choose to opt out of the search engine if they want to. Often times, contact information is not offered directly but you can contact the person through the providing website. 

Benefits of using People Search Engines

Using a background check service is the safest way to find information on someone, an address, or a phone number. It can help you:

• Reconnect with old friends or lost family

• Check the history of an address

• Find out who has been calling you

• See the background history of your neighbors

• Find hidden social media accounts

Search services are much safer to use than trying to do your own detective work. It is far less invasive and completely legal. It can help you restore your peace of mind without compromising your personal safety. 

While other search engines like Google may work, the information they offer will be incomplete and harder to compile. You may only find a couple of social media accounts instead of the vast amount of information a people-specific search engine can provide.

What Kinds of People Use It?

All kinds of individuals utilize this kind of tool, for both professional and personal reasons. Often times, people are just trying to verify their knowledge of someone they know. It may be used to check on a daughter's new boyfriend or to see how an old co-worker is doing. Though it can be used in a professional setting, people search engines may not be used for pre-employment screening. 

Using a people search gives you access to useful public information. It is a safe, secure way to find people and can help you reconnect with loved ones. Search people, find people, and find your peace of mind.

Our Top 3 Picks

    1
    TruthFinder
    Finding the truth is a few clicks awayVisit Site
    • Best for - Reconnecting with friends and family
    • Pricing - From $28.05/month ($4.99/month for reverse phone lookups)
    • Reports Offered - Social networks, Dark Web, public records
    Finding the truth is a few clicks away
    Visit Site

    TruthFinder is one of the most popular background check services for people searches. It's an invaluable resource for consumers looking to reconnect with a friend, family member, or colleague as it supports multiple search methods and provides thorough checks. Depending on the membership level, TruthFinder allows users to search by name, address, phone number, or email address.

    Like other services we evaluated, TruthFinder's full background check report includes contact information, address history, social media usernames, academic records, employment history, information on associates, dating profiles, personal assets, criminal history, business information, and licenses.

    A monthly membership gives you access to unlimited background searches. However, some services cost extra, like unlimited phone and email searches, printable PDF reports, report monitoring, and dark web searches.

    Why we chose TruthFinder: TruthFinder offers dark web monitoring services, which scour the darker parts of the web to see if your personal information is being sold there. According to the Dark Web Price Index 2022, more than 9,000 vendors are actively selling personal information products on the deep web. This includes approximately 4.5 million credit cards, sold at $120 each.

    Our experience: We liked the convenient "timeline" feature that showcases report highlights in chronological order and the "report quality score," which let us gauge the accuracy of the information included in our report. Our test report, for example, had a few stray email addresses, phone numbers, and photos that weren't associated with the subject of our search. 

    Read TruthFinder Review

    PROS

    Variety in search options
    Delivers well-organized, chronological reports
    Allows unlimited background searches

    CONS

    Some add-on services require additional payments
    No trial period
    truthfinder logo
    TruthFinder
    Visit Site
    2
    Intelius
    Intelligent background checking Visit Site
    • Best for - A variety of pricing options and trial periods
    • Pricing - From $24.86/month
    • Reports Offered - Background checks, criminal records
    Intelligent background checking

    Intelius has a variety of search term options and pricing plans, which makes it a perfect fit if you know exactly what kind of information you're looking for. While many other background check providers require a flat monthly fee for all services, Intelius allows users to choose a monthly plan specific to the type of search they're most interested in.

    For example, someone using the service to look up details about homes in their neighborhood could choose Intelius's unlimited reverse address lookup plan. With it, they can find property history, ownership information, property tax details, property value, and contact information. 

    In contrast, someone interested in conducting background checks could choose the site's unlimited people search plan. For the price of the plan, they get criminal history, social media, address history, photos, relatives and associates, lawsuits and civil judgments, traffic violations, and financial history.

    These search options, including the criminal records search, public records search, and people search, are all available directly from the site's homepage. But because the pricing structure varies according to search type, knowing how much you'll need to pay for a particular service can become confusing. 

    Why we chose Intelius: Intelius regularly updates its search engine to ensure it consistently delivers quick, confidential, and accurate results. It is one of the most thorough background check services available and has access to over 20 billion public records. 

    Our experience: We were impressed by the various types of unlimited searches and different pricing plan options offered by Intelius. But we encountered several "special offers" during the pre-billing process, which made it difficult to determine each service's monthly cost. For example, the unlimited address search plan was initially advertised as $29 a month but was later reduced to a special price of $4.99 during checkout.

    Read Intelius Review

    PROS

    Provides multiple search options
    Offers various trial periods
    Has access to 20 billion public records

    CONS

    Confusing pricing structure
    Subscription cancellation can be lengthy
    intelius logo
    Intelius
    3
    Instant Checkmate
    Detailed reports from wide databasesVisit Site
    • Best for - Immediate access to background check results
    • Pricing - From $35.12/month ($5.99/month for reverse phone lookups)
    • Reports Offered - Criminal records, sex offender database+
    Detailed reports from wide databases

    Instant Checkmate combs through millions of data points and publicly available information sources to provide thorough background check reports. 

    Its full monthly subscription gives users access to various search functions that can pull up tons of information on a subject. This includes their relatives and relationships, social media accounts, criminal history, employment history, data about bankruptcies and liens, licenses, and address history.

    In particular, Instant Checkmate's reverse phone lookup subscription is an affordable way to conduct quick background checks on suspected scam calls. The service also allows its members to run a tailored criminal history search and pull up crime statistics according to city, state, or zip code. 

    Why we chose Instant Checkmate: This service delivers detailed results in under five minutes. Its ability to look up federal inmates, a unique feature we didn't find on the other sites we reviewed, also sets it apart from other background check providers. 

    Our experience: Each search tab, both on Instant Checkmate's website and its mobile app, clearly explained what kind of information the sections required. This helped us know exactly what we needed to include. We also liked that we could search for traffic and criminal records directly from the homepage.

    Read Instant Checkmate Review

    PROS

    Offers an affordable phone search plan
    Supports federal inmate lookup
    Provides a tailored criminal history search option

    CONS

    Price points vary between the website and mobile app
    Expensive monthly subscription plan
    instant-checkmate logo
    Instant Checkmate

46,468 people

visited a background check site this month

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Editorial ReviewsRead all reviews
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TruthFinder
TruthFinder
TruthFinder
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Intelius
Intelius
Intelius
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Instant Checkmate
Instant Checkmate
Instant Checkmate
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