10 Best People Search Sites And Engines To Check Out In 2021

Curious to learn more about your new roommate? Or perhaps you want to unearth a thing or two about that seemingly perfect date? 

If so, then a people search site might be just what you need!

A good people search site should help you retrieve publicly available records about a stranger or a long-lost loved one. 

Searches you can make on people search websites range from criminal records to reverse call lookups, social media, and even dark web searches.

But with several people finder sites around - finding a credible one with access to enough data can prove daunting. 

Exactly where we come in!

In this read, we'll take a look at some of the best people search sites around based on effectiveness, scope, and reputation. 

Ready? Then let's get straight to business. 

Best People Search Sites: First Look Section

1. Truthfinder - One of the Best People Search Engines

Truthfinder is an online people search service that aggregates data from a variety of sources. 

The platform works by scanning federal records, state records, deep web information, social media data, and county records to unearth helpful information about a person of interest. 

Some of the details you can retrieve through Truthfinder include: 

• Criminal or Traffic records
• Census data
• Social media accounts
• Location History
• Property records
• Business affiliations 
• Weapons permits 
• Contact information 
• Professional licenses 
• Potential Relatives
• Employment and Education History 

To run a search on the platform, you'll only need to provide your subject's first and last names, and Truthfinder will do the rest! 

No need to worry about Truthfinder's customer service as it boasts an impressive A+ BBB rating!

Best Features 

Dark Web Scan: By searching through millions of data points, Truthfinder can help you know if your personal information is being used (or sold) by malicious people on the dark web. 

Reverse Phone Lookup: You can also count on Truthfinder to perform a reverse phone lookup and know more about the owner of that mystery number that keeps calling.

Disclaimer and detailed information: Truthfinder is more than just a platform for conducting online searches. The search company provides tons of useful information about what you can and can't do with the retrieved details. 

Quick Results: One of Truthfinder's major selling points is its speed of retrieving user data, as a typical search will be completed in slightly under 5 minutes. 

Self Monitoring: You can also use Truthfinder to search your profile and see what other people might find. This allows you to correct inaccuracies and make your profile clean. 

Plans And Pricing 

• 1-month membership: $28
• 3 month membership: $26 ( $72 one-off fee) 
• Unlimited reverse phone lookup: $2/month

2. Intelius - Best People Finder for User Privacy

Since launching in 2003, Intelius has established itself as one of the most reliable background check services around. 

Through the platform's unique interactive tool, you can uncover your subject's additional information and narrow down your search. 

You'll also appreciate that Intelius respects user privacy and never alerts subjects when you conduct searches. This ensures that your roommate or date won't know you searched their profiles. 

Although not the fastest background check service, running a search on Intelius is pretty straightforward as you'll just need to key in the subject's first and last names as well as the city and state. 

Some of the services offered by Intelius include: 

• Public Records Search
• Criminal records search
• Reverse address lookup
• Phone reverse search
• Self-search 
• Phone directory 

Did we mention that you can pay for a one-off report on Intelius?  

The pay-per-look-up feature is ideal if you're not interested in lengthy subscriptions. However, if you prefer running unlimited searches, then you might want to consider the premium package.  

Best Features 

Interactive Tool: Intelius' interactive tool allows you to discover additional connections, which helps narrow down the search and boost chances of accurate results. 

Identity Protect: By subscribing to the Identity Protect subscription, Intelius will keep a close eye on your public records and monitor your credit card activity to keep you extra safe. 

Large Database: With access to well over 19 billion states, federal and social media records, Intelius allows you to conduct thorough, highly accurate searches. You can easily retrieve a subject's court records and educational background on the search engine. 

Individual Searches: Intelius allows you to pay for a single lookup, which is ideal if you aren't interested in making multiple searches. 

Plans and Pricing 

• Premier plus membership: $29.95/month
• 1-month unlimited reports: $22.86 
• Identity protect: 19.95/month

3. Instant Checkmate - Best for Customer Support

Instant Checkmate, as the name suggests, provides quick results to search queries. 

All you'll need to do is type in the subject's details (name and location), and voila! You'll have your results in 3 to 5 minutes. 

The background check company regularly updates its database, thereby increasing the chances of retrieving up-to-date results. 

Besides its impressive search accuracy, Instant Checkmate also stands out due to its customer support. 

Clients can call through a toll-free number posted on the top right side of the home page for help with any of their questions. 

Best Features 

Toll-Free Number: Instant Checkmate has a toll-free number dedicated to helping clients register complaints, concerns or ask questions at no extra cost. 

Detailed FAQ page: Through the well-detailed FAQ page, you get to learn the limits of the details you retrieve, which guides your decision-making. 

Quick: Although not the fastest background check service around, Instant Checkmate still delivers accurate reports in slightly under five minutes. 

Plans and Pricing

• 1-month subscription: $22.86
• 3 Month Subscription: $44 (14.86/month)
• 6 Month subscription: $59 (9.86/month)

4. Spokeo - Best People Finder for Identity Protection

In addition to scanning billions of public records, Spokeo also aggregates data obtained from third parties like Criteo and Google, which significantly increases result accuracy. 

You'll also love that Spokeo provides personal identity protection services. 

If you subscribe to Spokeo's identity protection program, the platform will monitor your details and even scan the dark web to keep your profile safe and clean. 

Spokeo allows you to retrieve sensitive criminal details like past convictions, serving time, pending cases, and arrest records. 

You can also retrieve misdemeanors, felony records, and even a subject's historical reports. 

With Spokeo, however, you'll have to contend with relatively slow results. 

But the wait is totally worth it as the people search platform is known to provide accurate, highly relevant results. 

Best Features

Simplistic Interface: Using Spokeo is a breeze for both regulars and first-timers due to its simplistic, easy-to-use interface. 

Identity Protection: Spokeo takes it a notch higher and provides identity protection services to clients that want their personal details monitored for online fraud. 

Accurate Searches: Spokeo's extensive database and unique geo-grouping algorithm boost the chances of retrieving relevant results, provided you know a subject's home or work state. 

App: The people search site has an app that's free to download. This feature is perfect for business or date searches on the go. 

Plans and Pricing

• Monthly subscription: $13.95 
• 3 months subscription: $23.85

5. Publicseek - Best For Reverse Email Lookup

Publicseek is a people search engine that allows you to search for criminal records, social media accounts, and address history, among other sensitive details. 

However, Public Seek's most popular services are reverse phone lookup and reverse email lookup, which allows you to unearth a subject's identity without knowing their real name.

To increase effectiveness, Public Seek provides a list of a subject's close friends and family members, which can help you confirm whether or not you've found the right person. 

And although some clients have complained about PublicSeek's slow response to emails, you can take the shorter route and reach them via call if you need any additional information. 

Best Features 

Easy to Use: Public Seek aims to keep its services simple. Signing up is easy, and you can conduct searches by typing your subject's names and details on the search bar. 

Reverse Email and Phone Lookup: You can easily conduct searches by keying in a subject's email address or phone number. 

Plans and Pricing

• Monthly subscription: $26.87
• 2 months subscription: $22.98

6. Infotracer - Best For Facial Recognition Searches 

Infotracer allows you to retrieve a person's public information by phone number, name, email, address, or social media username. 

Besides these methods, you can also use Infotracer's facial recognition feature to retrieve a person of interest's identity. This feature is ideal if you don't know a subject's name but you have his or her photo. 

Infotracer offers stand-alone searches, a feature that allows you to make dedicated searches. 

For instance, you can search a new roommate's criminal records to know if he or she has been previously convicted. 

Best Features 

Targeted Lookup: Not too many people search sites allow you to make specific searches as Infotracer does. You can exclusively search for criminal records or check a potential date's marital history without receiving irrelevant details. 

Facial recognition: Infotracer allows you to make searches using a subject's photo. For this to work, however, it's best to use clear, well-taken pictures. 

Live chat: Infotracer has one of the best customer care teams. You can access the support team 24/7 via call, live chat, or email. 

Plans and Pricing

• Monthly Subscription: $19.95
• 1-time report: $19.95

7. BeenVerified - Best for Easy To Use App

BeenVerified has been around for well over a decade and claims to have helped millions of its clients to retrieve contacts of long-lost friends and loved ones. 

And although BeenVerified's services are a bit slow, it still has a solid, highly responsive app that makes it ideal for people on the move.

BeenVerified also allows you to conduct username searches, email lookups, address lookups, vehicle lookups, and reverse phone lookups. 

8. US Search - Best for Old Database Searches

US Search is one of the most experienced people search engines in the country. 

The people search website has been in business since 1993 and continues to cement its reputation as a reliable background checker. 

Before conducting a search, you must specify whether to search by name, phone number, or address as there is no search bar on the home page. . 

9. InfoMart - Best for Employment Screening 

InfoMart isn't your typical people search site as it primarily focuses on conducting pre-and post-employment background checks. 

Some of the verification services offered by InfoMart include education, employment, and professional license verification. 

The background check company also allows you to check for personal references and even worker's compensation history. 

10. BackgroundChecks.com - Best For Custom Search Packages

Backgroundchecks.com is an FCRA-compliant agency known for performing pre-employment and post-hiring checks.  

And although mostly used for business checks, Backgroundchecks.com still offers people search services courtesy of its partnership with Beenverified. 

However, you cannot use the details retrieved from criminal searches for tenant, credit, or employment screening. 

Best People Search Sites: FAQs

What Is the Best Free Search Engine to Find a Person?

The best way to search people for free is through social media and search engines.

Free people search sites like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter can help you renew old ties with long-lost friends and family members, especially if you know their location, previous contacts, or aliases.

You can also use search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo to find people for free. But you'll need enough information about a subject for the search to be successful.

What Are the Best People Search Sites?

The best people search websites should be thorough enough to retrieve publicly available information. 

Premium people search sites like Truthfinder and Intelius are known to offer some of the most conclusive search reports ranging from sexual offenses, marriage history, business affiliations, and previous convictions.  

What Is the Best Website to Search for People on Social or Dating Sites?

If you want to know more about an online date or a social media friend, then searching on a people search engine with a large enough database like Instant Checkmate can help you retrieve potentially sensitive information. 

Spokeo is also a great option since it will keep your search anonymous, allowing you to run checks on a date or a new roommate without them knowing. 

What Is The Best Criminal Background Check Website?

There are several people search engines that can conduct thorough criminal background checks. 

However, people finder websites like Truthfinder, Intelius, and Instant Checkmate comb through billions of federal, state, county, and social databases to provide detailed reports about a subject's criminal history. 

What Causes A Red Flag On A Background Check?

The cause of a red flag on a people search engine greatly depends on the type of search you're conducting.

 For both personal and business checks, red flags might appear due to the following reasons: 

• Sexual offenses 
• Drug convictions
• Theft cases  
• Several divorces
• Court records
• Misrepresented credentials
• Job-related convictions 
• Poor credit
• Bad references 

The Takeaway: What Are The Best People Search Sites?

The best people search sites should be fast, accurate, and capable of scanning through large and frequently updated databases. 

If you want to run extensive people (and individual) searches that cover the dark web, then Truthfinder is a great option.

Intelius is also an ideal pick if you prefer single reports to monthly subscription plans, while Instant Checkmate is great if you want to search on a fast-loading, highly responsive app. 

Whatever your preferences, you should always consider factors like speed, accuracy, databases, and customer care when choosing people search sites. 

Remember to provide as much information as possible to boost the chances of retrieving detailed reports.

Good luck!