Look up the “best phone number lookup service” on Google and you’ll get recommended tons of different reverse phone lookup sites. Every single website claims that their recommended service is the best, but that can’t possibly be true. So, what’s the deal?
Almost all of these reverse phone lookup sites have been paid to promote a different lookup service. Presenting the full picture to you is not on the agenda. The content writers don’t even bother to use the reverse phone lookup service to judge it on its merits. That’s not to say that their recommendations are bad, but they’re far from the best.
It’s safe to say that, if you’re searching for the best service on Google, you’re looking for the most bang for your buck. That’s why we went ahead and used several lookup services to determine the best ones.
Top Phone Number Lookup by Name Services:
- Truthfinder: Best Service To Find Phone Number By Name
- Instant Checkmate: Most Trustworthy
- Intelius: Best For Address Details
How We Made the List
Here’s how we compared all these reverse phone lookup services and decided which ones are worthy of the top 5:
- Quality of information: The most important thing is the quality of the information you get from the service. It has to be top-notch in both its depth and breadth.
- Accuracy of the data: Information is useless if it’s inaccurate. The accuracy of a lookup service is no exception.
- Sources of the information: The data turned up by the lookup service should be at least a little difficult to find through ordinary means. If you can find all the info on the first page of a search engine, the lookup service isn’t worth paying for.
- Ease of use: The lookup service should offer an intuitive and easy-to-use interface, both on its website and mobile app (if available).
- Customer service: We rated each service based on how friendly their customer service was, as well as how many channels they have available to get in touch with their support (cell phone, email, website, etc.). We also included how easy it is to cancel your subscription.
- Info on how the data can be used: The service should tell you how the data it’s producing for you can be used, and, more importantly, how it cannot be used. The last thing you want is to get in trouble with the law.
- Customer reviews: Last, but not least, the people who use the service should be satisfied with it.
10 Best Phone Number Lookup Services
#1. Truthfinder: Best Service to Find Phone Number by Name
Overview
Truthfinder is a cell phone number lookup service. It nails all the metrics we’ve mentioned above, and the quality and accuracy of the information generated by this reverse phone lookup service is by far the best. It lets you look into public as well as some private databases. You can search police records, run background reports, look up civil judgments, and much more.
Pros
- Rich and accurate reports, generated within 10 minutes
- Easy to use the website and mobile apps
- Can run unlimited searches when you’re a member
- Inform you how the data can and cannot be used
- Cell phone number lookup membership can be purchased separately from the regular membership
- Customer support is very friendly and helpful
Cons
- Expensive
- Don’t offer a free reverse phone lookup trial
- Phone number lookup isn’t included in the regular membership. You have to purchase it separately
- Separate $2 fee to download reports
Highlights
Value for money: The best doesn’t come cheap, but if you’ll be running a lot of searches every month, it’s more than worth the cost. Their membership costs $28 per month if you subscribe to a single month. If you subscribe for two months, it’ll cost you $23 per month. The cell phone number lookup service is sold separately at $5 per month. It’s also worth noting that they charge a separate $2 fee if you want to download a report.
Accuracy: You’ll get the most amount of information for every lookup, and the information will be very accurate. They let you know how you can use the information, and their customer service is very responsive and helpful if you encounter any issues.
Ease of access: Their website is extremely easy to use, and reports are generated within 10 minutes. They also have mobile apps, so you can run lookups on the go. Lastly, they have more than 60,000 5-star customer reviews, so you can be sure to get the best here.
#2. Instant Checkmate: Most Trustworthy
Overview
You can use Instant Checkmate as a cheaper alternative to Truthfinder. If you want to run a quick reverse phone lookup or two, this is the best service for you. They offer a cheap 5-day trial during which you can run as many reverse phone number searches as you like.
The website’s interface is incredibly easy to use, and they also have mobile apps. Moreover, they also provide you with plenty of info on how their generated information can be used.
Pros
- Generates a lot of information from varied sources
- Offer a cheap trial so you can test it out before committing, or in case you just want to run a few lookups
- Easy to use website and apps
- Inform you on how you can use the data
- Unlimited lookups during the membership period
- Customer service is great, and it’s relatively easy to cancel your membership
Cons
- Not very clear on how much more information will be included in their premium reports. The only way to know for certain is to buy a premium report and compare it to a regular report yourself.
- Don’t offer a free reverse phone lookup trial period
Highlights
One subscription for all your lookups: Unlike Truthfinder, one membership will cover all the different lookups. You can choose to look by phone number, email address, or name. However, you should be aware that the first two don’t yield as much info as the last one.
The membership costs $35 if you pay monthly. They have a cheaper option available for a quarterly membership at $28 per month. As for the trial period, their 5-day trial costs only $1.
Additional information: You also have the option of running a more in-depth “premium” report, costing $20 for each report generated. Like Truthfinder, there’s a $2 fee on every downloadable report you generate.
Thorough reports: Once you search for someone, it’ll give you a list of their social media pages, their arrest history (if they have one), whether the person is a sex offender, phone number(s), email addresses, present and past address(es), their birthdate and age, whether they’re single or married, and more. That’s quite a lot of information already.
#3. Intelius: Best for Address Details
Overview
Intelius is a slightly cheaper alternative to the other top reverse phone lookup services on this list. As expected, the quality of the information won’t be the same. Based on our usage, their accuracy with reverse phone lookup wasn’t very reliable.
That being said, their membership will still let you run unlimited searches, and their normal reports come up with a lot of information on their own. One curious thing here is that they have a lot of hidden charges, and if you’re not careful your card can be charged without you knowing. We highly recommend reading the fine print here.
Pros
- More affordable than Truthfinder or Instant Checkmate (basic membership)
- Detailed reports, including work and educational history
Cons
- Not the most reliable information
- Reports with basic membership contain less information.
- Sneaky pricing practices.
- Customer reviews aren’t stellar
- Trial period comes with a cancellation fee
Highlights
Affordability with little to no compromise: Their Premier subscription costs $25 per month, while the Premier Plus subscription is available for $30 per month. The difference is in how detailed the reports come out to be.
Based on our usage, the reports contained plenty of information on both packages. However, as mentioned earlier, they aren’t as detailed as those generated by Truthfinder or Instant Checkmate. Still, if you can’t afford the first two options, this is the next best one.
Trial fees: They offer a trial period for $0.95, but this is where their sneaky pricing practices come in. If you cancel the trial period within 7 days, you get charged $8. If you don’t cancel it, you’ll get automatically signed up for the Premier Plus membership after 7 days. If you want a hassle-free trial, use Instant Checkmate instead.
Acceptable customer support: As far as their customer service goes, it’s nothing to write home about. Their subscription is easy enough to cancel online, and they do respond to queries through phone and email.
#4. US Search: Reputable Brand
Overview
US Search has similar pricing as Intelius but is missing some key features. This reverse phone lookup service pulls information from social media, public records, criminal records, and more. You don’t need a membership to run a search, but you’ll need to pay for individual reports.
While the data it generates is pretty detailed, it doesn’t cover contact information. Another downside is that it’s not good at determining relationships. Most of the time, it shows relationships with people that the person has no connection to at all.
If you want contact info, you’ll have to shell out extra for a premium report. The service lets you search by name, address, phone number, and email address.
Pros
- No membership required to search; you can just pay for individual reports
- Plenty of detail in the reports
- Free report downloads and printing
- Website interface is easy to use
Cons
- Not transparent about how the data can be used; there’s very little info about data usage included on their website, and it’s not nearly enough.
- No mobile app
- No free trial
- Bad customer reviews
Highlights
No additional fees on report downloads: US search costs $20 per month or $50 per quarter, which, as we mentioned earlier, is comparable to Intelius. Curiously, they don’t charge you for a downloadable and printable report, like the previous options.
No recommendations on the usage of the information you received: We also noticed that the service doesn’t tell you how the information can be used. If you look on the site, there are only brief details in the fine print, but detailed info is nowhere to be found on their website.
Bad customer support: Lastly, their customer support is terrible. Customer reviews for US Search are less than stellar, and most people emphasize how the customer service is virtually non-existent.
#5. PeopleFinders
Overview
Like US Search, PeopleFinders doesn’t require membership for you to be able to run searches. All you need to do is input the person’s details, pay for the report, and download it.
Once you purchase their membership, you can run unlimited searches. There’s plenty of information in the reports, including their name and address, information on properties/foreclosures/evictions, the person’s relations, and even their criminal records. Interestingly though, there is no social media information included.
Pros
- Easy to use interface on their website
- Android app available
- Doesn’t require a membership to run searches
Cons
- No app available for iOS devices
- No option to run a search for social media
- Trial period has a cancellation fee
Highlights
Charges and fees: If you want to try their service out, there’s a 3-day trial available for $3. After 3 days, you’ll automatically get charged $30 for the monthly membership, and canceling the trial during the trial period will cost you $8.
Sleek design: Their website is intuitive and easy to use. The service can come up with a lot of information for your searches. If you need social media information to be included, though, you might want to look elsewhere.
Professional customer support: Customer reviews indicate that their customer service is stellar. They’re very responsive and helpful, and they’ve provided several channels through which you can reach them, including phone, email, and even letters.
#6. PeopleLooker
Overview
Although it requires a membership subscription to run unlimited searches, PeopleLooker gives you access to all the public records of a person. You can search by name, city or state, phone number, address, or email address to run a background check on anyone. The reports include name and address, social media, asset information, relations, education history, criminal record, marital history, traffic offenses, and many more. Their reports are very reliable and precise.
Pros
- Extremely easy to use
- 4-way search to make finding someone easier
- Available on almost all prominent platforms
- Very detailed
- Modern user interface
Cons
- Reports can take long to generate
- Poor reviews
Highlights
Pricing: The monthly subscription costs $23, but you can try it for as low as $1 for 5 days with their trial subscription. The subscription covers all the best features, so you won’t need to pay extra for anything else.
Detail: The amount of detail offered by PeopleLooker is excellent. However, it only searches public records and doesn’t have access to any private databases. The accuracy and detail of information is also pretty good.
Advanced features: Apart from the usual lookup features, this site offers other, more advanced features as well. For example, the information removal feature is nice because it allows you to remove false or misleading information about you.
Bad reviews: PeopleLooker has received a lot of bad reviews from its customers, mostly because of the time it takes to generate reports.
#7. BeenVerified
Overview
Trusted by many users for being more than a people search, BeenVerified is most popular for the variety of its lookups. You can even search for a vehicle’s information or unclaimed money.
The searching method and user interface are similar to those of PeopleLooker, and the website is modern-looking. Moreover, the public records it sifts through to get you information on an individual, property, vehicle, or unclaimed cash are immense and provided by large public records providers.
Pros
- Modern design
- 6-way search
- Wide range of records
- Both Android and iOS apps available
- Details regarding the usage of data
- Excellent customer support
Cons
- Slow
- Might not be as accurate at times
Highlights
Pricing: The monthly subscription for BeenVerified costs the same as a PeopleLooker subscription, which is $23 per month. Moreover, their $1 trial membership lets you have unlimited access to all the features for a week.
Variety: As mentioned above, the site offers a variety of data that can’t be found on many reverse phone lookup sites. These include anything from contact info and social media to finding distant relatives or friends, to car ownership, court records, and personal information. You can even find information about a person’s neighbors using BeenVerified.
Guidance: BeenVerified is filled with thorough advice on how to and how not to use the data you find using the service. They also give you complete details of the origins and sources of the records they show you.
#8. GoodHire
Overview
The go-to background check service for employers, GoodHire is very fast and accurate when it comes to running background checks on anyone. The service is usually for employers recruiting new people or candidates who are trying to see what kind of information their potential employers can see about them.
The dynamic pricing based on what you need and the accuracy of the data makes it a great tool for anyone who wants to run a background check on someone.
Pros
- Uses copious resources to run background checks
- Highly professional service
- Accurate
Cons
- Costly.
- Overestimated delivery times
- No mobile apps
Highlights
Dynamic plans: Unlike the monthly subscriptions of most of the services on this list, GoodHire uses different kinds of plans, which vary in price based on the features they offer. There are three plans: Basic, Standard, and Premium. Along with a one-time setup fee of $50, the packages cost $30, $55, and $80 per background check.
Speed: The required time for basic checks is 1-3 business days, and sometimes longer if you use standard or premium plans, but usually the delivery times are far quicker without it affecting the accuracy. Don’t let the overestimated delivery times put second thoughts in your mind.
Large variety of background checks: GoodHire runs background checks in many industries, including criminal background checks, employment and education verification checks, credit checks, driving record checks, and international background checks.
#9. RentPrep
Overview
Similar to GoodHire when it comes to FCRA compliance, RentPrep is a service that lets people run a background check on tenants and overall makes the tenant screening process more straightforward.
The types of background checks include rental background checks, credit checks, income verification, and more. The eviction, sex offense, and bankruptcy background checks cover the entire United States, which makes it a very dependable feature for that kind of information.
Pros
- Every report is handled by a trained professional, making it accurate and reliable
- Reports are delivered very fast
- Pricing is dynamic and affordable
Cons
- Few features are only available as extra purchases (add-ons) even if you buy the full package
- Information provided about a person’s income is very scarce
- Extra fee for credit information
- No mobile apps
Highlights
Affordable packages: Their packages (two in total) are designed to be very affordable. The basic package starts at just $19 and covers SSN verification, nationwide evictions, bankruptcies, and judgments and liens. It also comes with an option to purchase additional information like criminal records, income verification, and CDR. The FullMove package starts at $38 and covers virtually everything, with little left to purchase as extras.
Good information: Despite having to deal with judicial limitations on the local data sources, RentPrep provides its users with quality information. Many landlords rely on this data to make their final decision on a tenant.
Easy-to-use service: The registration procedure is very basic and doesn’t require a lot of time. After signing up, you can purchase either of the two packages and order your report. As a result, RentPrep works as a hassle-free solution for landlords and property managers.
#10. PeopleSmart
Overview
The last service on our list is slightly different from the top ones in that it offers slightly less information but also costs less. PeopleSmart is designed to help sales professionals connect with potential clients.
However, the contact information it can find out is very much usable by anyone looking to do a reverse phone lookup. You can search by name, phone, email, LinkedIn, and even company and job title.
Pros
- Information is ranked, based on the confidence of the data
- Option to save searches for later
- Notifications for any changes in the records that you accessed
- Reports are organized in a neat, orderly manner
- User dashboard makes accessing every feature and saved information just a click/tap away
Cons
- Leaves out some of the important aspects of background checks, e.g. criminal records
- Usually returns more than one result for a query, out of which you have to pick the right one
- No mobile app
- Information isn’t up-to-date (however, this rarely occurs)
Highlights
Better value: The data covered in PeopleSmart reports are the most essential and should be enough to give you ample information on a person. Combined with the pricing plans of PeopleSmart, it becomes a great option for people looking to run basic background checks.
The standard monthly subscription for PeopleSmart is $30 + tax. They also have a 1-week trial for $1, which automatically subscribes you to the monthly memberships when it’s over unless you cancel it beforehand.
User friendly: The website, although designed for sales professionals, is very easy to navigate and simple to use, so anyone can make use of it without much difficulty. Moreover, you can save the reports for later to save yourself the trouble of having to re-run them every time.
No extra charges: The information covered in the reports is clearly stated beforehand, and there are no extra charges for extra information. They also never ask you for additional fees that weren’t mentioned at the start.
Buying guide
Reverse phone number lookups have become a very popular method of background checks since the digitization of public and private records. As a result, you can find countless services offering to run these lookups for you for a specific price. This makes it important to know some important factors before deciding on using one of these services.
Things to Consider Before Purchasing a Service
There are certain things you need to keep in mind before making a purchase. Apart from the ones mentioned at the beginning of this guide, you should keep the following in mind:
- Type of information: First and foremost, you need to know what kind of information you need. There are services for employers, landlords, and general usage. Choose one depending on what you need from the information.
- Quality, accuracy, and time it takes to provide data: It goes without saying that the quality of data, its accuracy, and how long the service takes to deliver it make a lot of difference when deciding on a phone number lookup service.
- Number of searches you plan to run: Some services are ideal if you only need to run a few searches a month, while others can be great if your searches are in the hundreds.
Hidden charges and cancellation fees: Some services have hidden fees, subscriptions, and even trial cancellation fees among them. You can tell a lot about a service based on how easy it is to cancel their subscription. - Customer support: Most people often ignore looking at the customer support team, however, the quality of customer service can make or break a company’s reputation.
- Legal information: Along with the information the service provides when you look someone up, it’s essential that you know the ethical usage and legal aspects of accessing that information. If you’re not familiar with those aspects, subscribe for a service that thoroughly details you on the usage of its information.
Benefits of Reverse Phone Lookup Services
There can be many benefits of reverse phone lookup services depending on your needs, but generally they can be beneficial to anyone looking to protect themselves by finding out more about a person.
Addressing incidents of harassment: Whether you or a loved one is being harassed by some unknown number, you can effectively find out more about the perpetrator’s personal details through a reverse phone number lookup and report them to the appropriate authorities.
Finding an alternative way to contact someone: If you haven’t contacted someone in a long time, it’s likely that their contact information might have changed. Using their old number that you have to look up other means of contacting them is the smartest way to get back in touch.
Identifying people in your voicemail: You might find, every now and then, messages in your machine that people left without giving their name. A reverse phone number lookup is a fast and convenient way to find out that information.
To verify information on someone: If you’ve recently made a new friend, come into a stranger’s acquaintance, or are seeing someone, a reverse phone number lookup helps to verify what they have told you about themselves.
Side Effects of Phone Number Lookup Services
Cell phone number lookups can be used for harmful purposes, just as they can be used for the aforementioned good purposes. Beware of the following side effects of phone number lookup services:
- Unwanted calls/emails/texts etc.: People can, and do, use number lookup services to annoy, prank, or sometimes even stalk a person.
- Scamming and fraud: With the information that can be availed through these services, like name, address history, age, etc., people can commit scams and fraud.
- Potential exposure to people looking for you: Another danger of such services can be that, if someone is looking for you, they will have ample information about you through the use of these services.
Keeping in mind that some uses of these services are illegal, but using them in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act will keep you on the right side of the law. Although the side effects of these services are mostly illegal and unethical, you should always be aware of them.
FAQs About Phone Number Lookup Services
Q. Is Reverse Phone Lookup Safe?
As mentioned earlier, the safety of reverse phone lookups depends on usage. Mostly, services take preventive measures to keep their consumers safe and avoid any misuse.
Q. Are Reverse Phone Lookups Legal?
As per Fair Credit Reporting Act, they’re legal as long as you don’t use them to make decisions about employment, admission, insurance, tenant screening, etc. (GoodHire and RentPrep are exceptions because they have FCRA-certified personnel to make sure of compliance). Make sure not to misuse the information you get from reverse phone lookups and you should be good to go.
Q. Is Reverse Phone Lookup Accurate?
For the most part, it depends on the reverse phone lookup service you’re using to look up a cell phone number. There are reverse phone lookup platforms that are very diligent toward the accuracy of their information. With a dedicated staff to keep the data up-to-date, such services usually provide the most accurate information.
Q. Does Reverse Phone Lookup Work?
Although there are “services” that claim to be free, most of them are not useful. But if you’re using the right service, reverse phone lookups work like a charm. So, just make sure to pick the right service for your needs and you won’t have anything to complain about.
Q. How Can I Use Free Reverse Phone Lookup Services?
The services that provide reverse phone lookups collect data from countless sources, saving you the trouble of doing so, and make it easily accessible in a single place. Keep in mind that you are paying for this convenience and not the data itself (which is mostly public records). Free reverse phone number services are usually scams and don’t provide true information. Authentic services can provide information collected from private data sources while taking care of the legal aspects of looking up such data.
Concluding Thoughts About Reverse Phone Lookup Sites
We hope our overview on the best reverse phone lookup services will help you choose just the right one for your needs. However, we personally suggest you go for Truthfinder, as we found it to be the best service all around.