When it comes to background checks, there is a common misconception that their primary purpose is to uncover criminal records. However, online background services provide a much broader scope of information.
These sites compile data from public records, online websites and other sources to provide comprehensive reports on an individual’s background. This can include information like education history, social media activity and address history.
We want to provide comprehensive reviews of the leading background check sites. By doing so, you can better understand the specific offerings of these services and decide which site is best suited to provide you with the information you require.
Comprehensive Background Check Services Reviewed Below:
- Truthfinder: Best Overall Background Check Service
- Intelius: Best for Background Checks
- Instant Checkmate: Best Background Check Service for Beginners
- Spokeo: Best Background Check Service for Finding Friends and Family
Best Background Check Sites
1. Truthfinder: Best Overall Background Check Service
Truthfinder provides a range of different search services that are widely regarded as some of the best available. With its extensive public record and online sources, this site offers comprehensive background checks, efficient reverse phone number lookups and valuable self-monitoring tools for the dark web.
Its extensive search capabilities allow you to uncover information to make a well-informed decision about an individual’s identity ultimately. For example, if you’re seeking confirmation regarding the authenticity of someone you’ve met, Truthfinder is an excellent choice for learning about them.
Truthfinder Background Checks May Include (when available):
- Full name
- Date of birth
- Known aliases
- Possible pictures and videos online
- Social media profiles
- Education history
- Possible relatives and associates
- Personal websites and blogs
- Contact details
- Location history
- Criminal and traffic records
- Civil court records
- Sex offender information
Other Features
Criminal & Traffic Records
Truthfinder is known for its criminal and traffic record search capabilities. As long as you have the person’s full name, this background check service will examine available court records, including county court records, as well as at the state and federal levels.
Truthfinder can also scan social media data to provide insights into an individual’s online presence. This provides a deeper understanding of the person’s connections and any potential red flags.
Dark Web Scan
Truthfinder also offers comprehensive self-monitoring tools, which is an invaluable feature in today’s digital ecosystem. This service has the capability to perform a dark web scan to see if any of your information is being sold online, ensuring that you do not become a victim of online identity theft.
Once cybercriminals compromise your data, it could lead to significant financial loss. Far too many people today have learned the hard way that identity thieves can cause immense financial hardships once they purchase your information on the dark web. Truthfinder can alert you to any situations where your personal or financial information has been compromised.
Pricing
Truthfinder pricing for its background check services is simple and comparable to some of the other background check sites.
The standard one-month membership, to run unlimited background reports, will cost $28.05 per month, and the same plan is offered for just $23.28 per month for power users billed $46.56 every two months.
Suppose you don’t need unlimited background checks and only want the reverse phone search options. In that case, Truthfinder offers a plan at only $4.99 monthly for unlimited searches using the reverse phone number lookup feature.
Truthfinder also offers dark web monitoring for $2.99 per month and an email report for $7.99.
Pros
- Affordable plans with unlimited reports
- Known to be some of the most comprehensive background reports
- Dark web monitoring plans
- Several search parameters and filtering options
- Easy-to-use interface
Cons
- No option to get a one-off background check
- Not compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), which means information can’t be used for employment, insurance, tenancy, or credit purposes
2. Intelius: Best for Background Checks
Intelius is the best in the business regarding getting background check results quickly. The site delivers detailed background reports rapidly, solidifying its position as one of the premier background check websites available today.
Intelius aggregates its data from many different public record sources, including federal, state and local government agencies and online sources. This comprehensive approach offers a well-rounded view of someone’s background and gives you the confidence to know about that person.
While Intelius can provide you further insight into someone’s criminal and traffic records, possible relationships and property records, it cannot be used for employment, insurance, tenancy, or credit purposes. This is because it is not a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), which means that its reports cannot be used for those purposes.
Intelius is best used as a resource for your own due diligence. For example, Intelius is right for you to locate long-lost family members, check out an upcoming romantic date, or look at someone’s criminal and traffic history.
Intelius Background Checks Can Include, when available:
- Full name
- Age and date of birth
- Phone numbers and other contact information
- Possible relatives
- Address history
- Social media profiles
- Records of lawsuits (civil records)
Other Features
With an easy-to-use interface, Intelius sets itself apart as a reliable and efficient background check service. It offers its customers several unique services and features, including reverse phone number lookups and reverse email address lookups, in addition to its extensive background search capabilities.
Comprehensive Access to Public Records
Intelius ensures that its data is continuously updated to provide you with available up-to-date information. It draws from millions of available public record sources. This capability enhances the depth of its background check reports, providing detailed information that other background check companies may miss.
Unlimited Searches
Intelius prioritizes the privacy and security of its customers. They understand the sensitivity of conducting background searches, which is why the service has implemented strict measures to ensure confidentiality. This means that the people you look up will never be notified, and all of your searches will remain private.
Customer Privacy and Security
Pricing
Intelius has several levels of membership, ensuring you can get what you need and stay within your budget. Its background search will provide extensive public record information from sources and online websites for just $24.86 per monthly plan or $42.26 for a two-month plan. Pros
- Quick background checks
- Affordable monthly subscription plans
- Provides detailed reports
- Direct and responsive customer support
- Easy-to-use interface
Cons
- No option to get a one-time background check
- Not compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA:), which means information in its reports can’t be used for employment, insurance, tenancy, or credit purposes
3. Instant CheckMate: Best Background Check Service for Beginners
Instant CheckMate is another of the best background check companies on the market. The site enables you to search for background checks based on an individual’s name, city and state.
Instant Checkmate uses a variety of public record sources, including federal, state and local agencies, to gather data for its background check services. This means that it has the ability to find an impressive amount of available information on the person in question, such as criminal and traffic records and contact details. Plus, it’s simple to use, providing a seamless background check solution.
You can always be careful. With all the scammers diligently working to exploit your personal information daily, taking precautions such as using a reliable background check service like Instant Checkmate can provide an added layer of security.
Instant CheckMate Background Checks Include:
Instant Checkmate can provide tons of available information, including potentially the individual’s name, past addresses, possible relationships and social media data. Here’s a more detailed look at what an Instant Checkmate background check may include:
- Possible relatives and associates
- Criminal records and traffic records (and sometimes arrest records)
- Professional licenses
- Past addresses
- Phone numbers (with the chance to do a reverse phone search)
- Email address
- Professional licenses and permits
- Sex offender information
- Civil court and civil judgment records
Other Features
Dedicated Customer Privacy
Instant CheckMate puts the privacy of its customers first, ensuring safety, security and complete anonymity of your searches. This online background check service will never alert the person to the fact that you searched them, keeping your own details and personal investigations safe and private. Moreover, all searches on this site are made secure with an encrypted connection.
Unlimited Searches
With a paid monthly subscription, you can use the site’s background search services as much as possible. This means you get unlimited background checks, people search and reverse phone number lookups depending on the plan you choose.
Specialized Sources and Databases
Instant CheckMate is one of the best background check sites because it scours data from across the internet, including public record sources and online websites, so that it can provide you with valuable information. Pricing
Like the others on our list of the best background check services, Instant Checkmate has several different tiers of pricing, depending on what you need. This background check service offers background checks for $35.12 per month, reverse phone lookups for $5.99 per month, dark web monitoring for $1.99 per month and email reports for $7.99.
Pros
- A background check that is provided quickly
- Easy-to-use interface
- In-depth criminal and traffic records and criminal history searches
- Top-notch customer support
- Confidential searches
Cons
- While results are not immediate, they are quick
- Not compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA:), which means information in its reports can’t be used for employment, insurance, tenancy, or credit purposes
4. Spokeo: Best Background Check Service for Finding Friends and Family
Spokeo started as a social network aggregator developed by Stanford graduates in 2006. This background check site has quickly become one of the most trusted background check sites because of what it offers and how it works. The algorithm that drives Spokeo is lighting fast even though it is sifting through 12 billion records from thousands of data sources. It’s an invaluable resource for searching, connecting, and gaining insights.
Whether you want to reconnect with old friends, identify unfamiliar callers, or research your potential romantic partners, Spokeo provides the means to achieve these goals. The background check service has access to over 12 billion records gathered from numerous data sources, which are used to compile comprehensive reports that are easy to understand. These reports may include details such as contact information, social media profiles and family members.
Spokeo Background Checks Include
- Phone numbers
- Email addresses
- Age and date of birth
- Addresses and location history
- Social media accounts
- Online dating profiles
- Photos and videos posted online
- Family members and possible relatives
- Court records
Other Features
Easy-To-Use Interface
Despite having so many options, add-ons and services, Spokeo offers an extremely easy and fast user interface. We were genuinely surprised by how easy it is to work with despite how complex the inner workings are.
Data-Driven Background Check Reports
Spokeo takes a data-driven approach to deliver relevant and timely insights in its background check reports. This helps to ensure that your conclusions surrounding the information provided are grounded in sound analysis and understanding.
Robust Search Function
You can conduct a variety of discreet searches by using the individual’s name, phone number, address, or email, and Spokeo’s comprehensive search capability will retrieve relevant information. This enables you to understand the person you are searching for, whether it’s yourself, friends, family members, or acquaintances.
Pricing
You can create your account on Spokeo and unlock background check reports for an affordable price. Simply choose from two membership plans: a 3-month subscription for only $14.95 per month or a 1-month subscription for $19.95 per month. With a secure checkout process, you can easily select the plan that suits your needs and enjoy the benefits of Spokeo’s reliable background checks.
Pros
- Provides industry-leading background check reports
- Robust search capabilities with access to over 12 billion records
- Transparent service that’s data-driven
- Good customer support
Cons
- Not the best option for criminal records or criminal history searches
Background Check FAQs
What Is a Background Check?
A background check aims to find information about someone or their history that may be challenging to find. The best background check services provide an opportunity to uncover an individual’s background history and other past activities to get the full picture of that person and discover details they may not have disclosed.
What Shows up on a Background Check?
Criminal and traffic records, sex offender status, social media accounts, address and location histories, contact info, possible relatives and associates can show up in a background check. The best background check services will search through various public records and online sources available to them. Information found in these records on the searched person will appear in a background report.
Can I Find the Information on My Own?
Theoretically, you can find the information on your own or through professional background screeners. But in practice, many people turn to the best background check services because they can find information that may be difficult to locate. Government records, for example, can be notoriously difficult to navigate. But services like Truthfunder, Intelius and Instant Checkmate specialize in sifting through public records to find available information on things like criminal and traffic records and civil judgments.
On top of the government records, many services can even discover social media profiles and other online information that would be extremely time-consuming or difficult to find on your own. Additionally, some of these background check services can search the dark web, where criminals tend to congregate, because it cannot be navigated without certain tools (it’s not indexed like the typical websites you visit).
If you were willing to take the time to search and acquire the tools needed to get the info on your own, you could. But the best background check services can do it for you quickly and at a minimal price.
What Are the Different Types of Background Checks?
Various types of background checks are used for different situations. While each type is designed to help you get a detailed background report, the motivating reasons behind these background checks could influence what information is looked for.
For example, a criminal background check is used to find information or records pertaining to someone’s possible criminal background. This could include violent crimes, sexual misconduct, fraud, embezzlement, or even felony charges.
These reports differ from other types of searches. Criminal background checks will sort through various public records, including:
- Federal and state criminal and traffic records
- Sex offender registries
- County criminal courts
- Domestic and global watch lists
- National criminal records
Which is the Best Background Check Service?
Truthfinder, Intelius, and Instant CheckMate are the best background check services. They all can deliver up-to-date background checks, making searching for information on people simple. These sites are also reputable. They collect their data legally and provide disclosure information to you.
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Conclusion
In today’s world, you can never be too careful. It’s a shame that it has to be that way, but criminal activity, online scammers, catfishing, and even in-person impersonators are a real threat.
Whether you want to perform a background check to locate a long-lost family member or check out a potential new suitor, it never hurts to get additional details on a person and their past. The information obtained through background checks can help to ensure personal safety and satisfy your need for reassurance.
When you are dealing with something as important as this, it is vital that you only use a reputable company. The companies listed above have been reviewed and are widely accepted as the best background check sites available. We hope this review brought you all the information you need and that your background checks are helpful!
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Members of the editorial and news staff of the Las Vegas Review-Journal were not involved in the creation of this content.