Best free people search finder service of 2024 - TechRadar
The best free people search finder services make it simple and easy to find friends and family you've lost contact with, without having to pay a fee.
Using many of the same tools as background check services, these services and engines use public databases to find specific information on a person.
Although we live in a world where learning more about someone is as simple as visiting an internet page and asking a few questions, sometimes it can be very difficult to track someone down, especially if they are an old friend from many years ago. Simple problems might include their name being too common, or the city they live in being too big for a simple search.
People search finder services and search engines aim to make the whole process a lot more manageable so that it's easier to get results, and although many such services are paid-for, there are from free ones around.
Look at our roundup of the best free people finders, and you'll notice some important differences. Not every solution, for example, offers someone's address or social footprint. So decide which information you really need before deciding which service to use. It will save you some time over the long term.
Below we list what we think are the best free people search finder services and search engines currently available.
You might also like the best people search finders.
The best free people search finder services and engines of 2024 in full:
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Best overall
With That's Them, you can find information about individuals using their name, home address, phone number, email address, IP, or vehicle identification number (VIN). ThatsThem primarily uses public records, social media profiles, and other online sources to find information about those living in the United States.
Among the free people search finder services and engines, That's Them is perhaps the most thorough in terms of the information you receive without paying a dime. Most search tools, for example, won't give away full addresses and phone numbers, and offering IP and VIN search capabilities is unheard of in 2023.
That's Them is also noted for being among the fastest engines available and, best of all, has the fewest ads. It's ideally suited when you only have someone's email and wish to find their phone number, got a spam call repeated from the same number, and want the address of a house you like. Other uses include finding out who's crawling your website, needing a new phone number for an old college friend, and much more.
Best unlimited
Zabasearch is another free people search engine that uses public records to find information. Searches begin with a name, address, phone number, or email address. After that, the results come from government agencies, social media profiles, and other online directories. Unfortunately, the free results are limited to addresses and phone numbers.
Powered mainly by Intelius (see below), Zabasearch relies on third-party providers for search results. For expanded information, Zabasearch will suggest an Intelius subscription plan, which starts at about $25/month, although you can often find these for much less through promotions. Intelius has much going for it, including its thorough reports, direct support, and reverse phone lookup capabilities.
Zabasearch isn't a great search tool. However, it will help point you in the right direction. Better still, it provides unlimited daily searches, which is something similar services don't. So it's a great tool if you're hoping to find a long-lost friend or need to know who recently called you; beyond this, you might be better off looking at one of the other solutions.
Best start
Previous generations received physical phone books each year called white pages. These free books offered a listing of names, home addresses, and phone numbers of those in a particular area.
Whitepages.com isn't your parent's phone book. Sure, the site provides a directory of contact information for people and businesses in the United States. You can easily search for addresses, phone numbers, and other information here. But unfortunately, most of this information is hidden behind a paywall.
The free version of Whitepages.com will allow you to search for someone by city, state, and zip and use a reverse phone or address lookup. However, for more thorough information, you'll need to pay for a service with flaws, as our Whitepages.com review shows.
For essential services, you should consider Whitepages.com, which offers data from various sources. However, it sometimes provides incorrect information, so you might want to look elsewhere to confirm what you found. Additionally, phone numbers aren't provided for free, and no social networking information is offered.
Best for social
PeekYou is another free people finder service and engine. Its biggest selling point is you can find social media information on individuals. You can search for individuals by name, email address, and, yes, social media username. The quick results are primarily confined to name, age, location, and social media presence. Facebook results, however, aren't included.
A premium option is available that unlocks all of the service's features. These extras include criminal records that PeekYou gets through partnerships with Truthfinder and BeenVerified and more.
Best photo tool
If you've ever used online dating tools, you've probably encountered TinEye. The 15-year-old service is a reverse image search engine that is a terrific resource when you want to confirm someone's identity when all you have is a photo.
Behind the scenes, TinEye uses image recognition algorithms to create a digital fingerprint based on the photo you submit. Then, it sees whether the same image is available elsewhere on the web. So by digging, you can determine whether the person you've been chatting with is real — or a scammer. It supports images in various formats, including JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP.
TinyEye isn't just beneficial for checking out possible romantic partners. Photographers, designers, artists, and researchers use the tool to look for original images. With this information, they can determine whether an image is copyrighted and, if it is, who owns the rights.
Overall TinyEye is good at what it does and is one of the fastest search tools available.
Best paid services
Not free, but ...
As you can see, few free people search finder tools exist. However, those available also provide premium options that might be a better solution, depending on what you hope to find.
We recommend checking out the free version before handing over your bank card. You should also spend some time looking for individuals using social networking sites. An excellent place to start is through one of the best social media management tools.
If you believe paying for people's search information is your best bet, there are a few that we recommend, including our top three:
With Instant Checkmate, you can find all sorts of data on someone. It pulls information from many sources, including criminal records, family relations and marriages, and finances. As such, it also works well as a background checker.
However, getting results from Instant CheckMate requires a little patience, as the process includes countless slow progress bars and warning messages.
Instant Checkmate isn't a cheap solution. However, it does become more affordable if you add extra months. Unfortunately, pricing isn't always easy to find, and support is somewhat lacking.
Intelius is one of the most popular people search tools, and with good reason. It uncovers a lot of data that other sites don't, such as education information.
As our Intelius review shows, one of the service's biggest strengths is how it visually presents information. In doing so, it does a terrific job of showing how people are connected. On the negative side, Intelius is one of the slowest people search tools online. There are multiple barriers before you get your results, which can quickly become highly annoying.
Despite this, pricing is reasonable, with discounts available when purchasing a longer-term subscription. Canceling your subscription is a somewhat confusing process — something huge to remember.
There's much to love about Truthfinder, which we noted in our TechRadar review. Using various public databases and social media accounts, Truthfinder's results are second-to-none. Perhaps its most unique feature is the self-checking tool, which shows you what others may be able to learn about you. With this information, you can alert the relevant sources of any inaccuracies.\
With an extensive feature list, Truthfinder offers a straightforward and simple-to-use interface. Two drawbacks: it's expensive, and support is poorer than most.
We've also listed the best identity theft protection.
FAQs
What is a people search finder?
With online people search finders, you can search for crucial information on a specific person, such as their address, employment history, educational background, and social media profiles. You can use this information for various purposes, such as finding an old college friend, knowing more about a potential date, conducting background checks, verifying someone's identity, and more.
Information gathered by online people search finders come from different public sources such as government databases, social media platforms, ancestry sites, and more. This information is then presented to you as a single record.
The difference between free and paid people search tools primarily comes down to the amount of information presented. Free services only provide basic information about a person, such as their name, phone number, and address. Some services might also include email addresses and social networking information.
Free services don't go beyond the basics. For example, if you want to find a person's criminal record or financial health, it requires subscribing to one of the best-paid people search services or the best employee background check services. If you have more advanced requirements, services like Truthfinder or Intelius are highly recommended.
How we test
We've tested the best people search finder services and engines across numerous aspects, like the type of searches they perform, how long they take to complete checks, and the simplicity of their user interface.
We evaluated how easily users could use each search finder to find people they might know, and we considered whether the service could be accessed easily through mobile platforms and whether there were any human guidance features.
We also looked at their pricing plans and whether they were flexible regarding their offerings and pricing, among other things.
Read how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar.
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