Unfortunately, there has been a rise in the number of spam calls we get nowadays. Of course, not having anything to do with the companies that call to offer you services, your caller ID shows it as an unknown phone number.
Luckily, some people saw this as a gap in the market and have designed a service that allows you to see exactly who it is that has been calling you by running that unknown phone number through a database and retrieving the personal details associated with that specific phone number—saving you time if you are not interested in what that specific company may be selling.
This free phone number lookup is also a great little invention to be used on a more personal level. Maybe some creepy guy got your phone number from somewhere, and you have no idea where he got it from. As soon as the free phone number lookup service shows you exactly who is calling, you can let it go straight to voicemail.
However, if one of your friends has gotten themselves a new phone number and shows as unrecognized on your side… You’re going to want to take that call, which is why reverse phone lookups are a great thing to use again.
Reverse phone lookups, however, are more than just an advanced caller ID. The services we’re going to investigate provide all kinds of information.
Things such as where they may have lived, where they went to school, if they ever took part in any kind of criminal activity, birthdays, their Facebook and Instagram accounts, along with any other social media platform they may be using. These sites even go as far as alerting you of a possible scam caller.
Before we go into looking for the best reverse phone lookup services for you, we’re first going to dive deeper into a lot of the questions asked about them.
The Best Reverse Phone Lookup Sites for 2022
We’ve gone one step further after shortlisting and have chosen one winner in each category. The best overall site, the best value, and the best trial version.
They are as follows:
- TruthFinder – Editor’s Choice
- Instant Checkmate – Runner Up
- Intelius – Honorable Mention
#1. TruthFinder – Editor’s Choice
Brand Overview
TruthFinder cell phone number lookup service offers a highly detailed report. It means you have the best type of access to public and private databases all over the United States.
You can even do a trial run and search for yourself on the site, finding out what others may be able to retrieve from you. This site also offers a huge variety in what information is given to whoever you search, even as much as who the person searched was previously romantically involved with and where they have lived.
The cell phone application is also a nifty tool to use, which is available for android and iOS. A feature that is extremely helpful for quick background for those who are always on the move. There is also a feature that allows you to search through the dark web.
Pros:
- A very comprehensively detailed set of reports available for each search
- No hidden costs, pricing is simple and transparent
- Extremely reliable customer support
- Efficient and user-friendly cell phone application
- The site is very clear in its methods of data retrieval.
Cons:
- It cannot be tested out by using a free trial version
- You must be a member to use their services
- The phone search membership is separate from the actual membership.
Cost?
The standard price of membership is $29 from month to month. However, you obviously get a discounted price of $24 monthly if you subscribe to a 2-month membership.
TruthFinder also has the reverse phone lookup with name feature available for only $5 a month. A lot cheaper alternative, providing you’re only using it to search phone numbers.
Each phone number report you need to download will cost you a further $2.
Features
The transparency this company offers in the way of how they operate and how the information they have obtained can be used is extremely straightforward. It takes as little as 10 minutes for the site to compile a report of a search made.
TruthFinder employees continuously ensure that the databases they use are up to date. You will be given information from the user’s public and social media records.
Customer Service
Customer service is as good as any kind of service can get. There have been complaints of recurring promotional emails being sent to clients, but this is expected of every company with an internet connection.
You’ll also need to physically call in and cancel the membership if required. However, the people on the other side of the phone line are extremely helpful, and things get done extremely efficiently.
⇒ Click Here to Visit the Official Website of TruthFinder
#2. Instant Checkmate – Runner Up
Brand Overview
Instant Checkmate is very useful information you want to find about a phone number and it can help in obtaining history in any arrests made. Anybody number can be searched for, and this site will have all their arrest records available almost immediately.
A much better alternative than going through the cumbersome process of using the local police for the same service, which can take up to a few days. Just remember that going through the local police may give you a much more accurate report.
Pros:
- Affordable trial version available
- Cell Phone Contact information is continuously updated
- Cell Phone Applications for all android and iOS platforms
- Transparency on how to manipulate the data found
- Unlimited searches when you subscribe to a paid membership
Cons:
- You have to be a member to use this service.
Cost?
You try out their trial version, which will last 5 days, for a low price of only $1 as good as free reverse phone lookup. Just wait a few moments before checking out for a discounted pop-up price offer to show itself.
Of course, you would need to sign up for the full membership plan when the trial period has expired. This will set you back $35 monthly.
Alternatively, it will cost $28 monthly if you take a quarterly subscription. Again, all it will cost you for the reverse phone lookup feature is $5 monthly.
Features
If you decide to use this service on the Instant Checkmate site on a more permanent basis, you’ll find it offers a wide range of reverse phone number search features. They have what you’d expect from such a service, with added value.
Basic details, like someone’s first and last names, if you’d need to search for information, just as you would do when your Facebook stalking someone going through their social media accounts, along with any other basic information you may have on them like where they might be from when they were born and so on.
The site will give you various types of personal details you can sort through, such as the following:
- Information about social media
- Information regarding marriages and divorces
- Information regarding sex offenders
- Email addresses
- Cell Phone numbers
- Places lived
- Current place of residence
- Birthday and age (if you didn’t already have that)
- Different aliases that they may have gone by.
They also have the best reverse phone lookup features available, as discussed before, which you can use for any unknown phone number searches that may have been used to contact you.
As with reverse phone number lookup, you also have the option to look up unknown email addresses. You know the struggle, hundreds of emails filling up your inbox daily with promotional nonsense and spam.
Customer Service
A 5-star rating for the customer service offered by this service. They are friendly, and the cancelation of membership is only an email away.
⇒ Click Here to Visit the Official Website of Instant Checkmate
#3. Intelius – Honorable Mention
Brand Overview
Intelius is a platform designed and used for more personal reasons. Such as finding old friends from high school, where members of the family may be in the world now, or searching for the one that got away in an attempt to reignite an old flame.
The searches are entirely anonymous, keeping the people who are searching completely safe and not leaving any trace of them being there behind. There is an enormous database of people, so if you’re looking for someone… chances are you’ll find them here.
You can also use the reverse phone lookup or email feature and not leave a single digital fingerprint behind.
The Trial version helps you look up information by account; a more detailed report will require you to subscribe as a member.
Unfortunately, we are unable to confirm this website in the way of how accurate they are in the information they provide, hence why it is used as more of a long last relationship finder rather than verifying information.
Pros:
- Extremely cheap subscriptions
- Any kind of history relating to working and education is all-inclusive in the reports.
- Detailed information
Cons:
- Prices are not completely transparent
- Poor customer reviews
How Much Damage Will Such A Service Do to My Pocket?
Now it’s time to fully exploit the costs associated with such a service. Considering that these prices are extremely confusing and may catch you unaware.
The premier plus plan costs $30 a month; Premier is $20 a month, Background checks total $40, and checking criminal records will be another $15 for the state and $30 countrywide.
Reverse address lookup services can cost as much as $15, and Reverse phone searches will cost you just $1 as well as completely free reverse phone lookup. People searches will set you back another $1.
So, as you can see, a lot of different costs for different services. Another downside is that if you do go ahead and perform any of the $1 searches, the site will automatically sign you up to the trial plan, lasting seven days; canceling before the week is over will cost you a further $8 fee.
Features
Features include background checks, reverse lookup searches, criminal records, reverse cell phone number lookups, public records, and people searches. Pretty much just the basic features you’d expect from such a service.
Customer Service
Good customer service, but in dire need of some improvements.
⇒ Click Here to Visit the Official Website of Intelius
#4. US Search – Reputed Brand
Brand Overview
US Search allows you to run searches without committing to a lengthy subscription. Not the best reason to favor this site in that approach. However, this poses a unique attribute compared to other sites. Reports are also available to be printed free for no charge.
However, this site does have a lot of work still to do, as it can be improved in many ways. Even though the information we got back was extremely accurate, it wasn’t enough.
When running a personal search, we found a variety of personal information. There was, unfortunately, no contact information such as an email address or any phone number. This is pretty much a standard requirement in services such as these.
The information not reliable on this platform is contacted by the association. When we ran our information through their database, it showed people who may be associated with it. Suffice it to say; we had never seen those people in our lives.
Transparency is another issue when using these services. There are so many confusing rules dictating the use of the information provided by the site. Whereas companies elsewhere are incredibly cautious in their method of advising you on the legal terms associated with utilizing such information. US Search is famous for its fine print.
Pros:
- Membership isn’t required to run searches.
- Extremely detailed reports
- Reports can be printed for free.
Cons:
- Non-transparent
- Not able to test a trial version for free beforehand
- Mobile application not available
How Much Damage Will Such A Service Do to My Pocket?
This site also has many different and confusing options when it comes to subscriptions. Background checks will cost you $40, Criminal records are a further $15, your standard monthly subscription is $20, and the people search is more expensive than the other sites, costing you $2,45.
Features
As mentioned before, this site still requires a lot more in terms of improvement. Their features are immensely basic. They can’t even offer you the basics. Other services offer a lot more like dark web searches or even just contact information when running a people search.
Customer Service
Customer reviews were not at all in favor with regard to the website. Most of them were incredibly negative, deeming the so-called 5-star rating service a 2-star at the very best.
⇒ Click Here to Visit the Official Website of US Search
#5. People Finders- Best For Dark Web Monitoring
Brand Overview
Very user-friendly and basic platform. We only had to enter the first and last name of the person we were looking for, along with the city in which they resided in. We only needed to send through our credit card information after the match was found to download a full report.
This report gives you an immense amount of information. Things like all the places they have lived, relatives, phone numbers, the property they’ve owned, along with any foreclosures or evictions they’ve gone through.
Pros:
- Android application available
- Affordable trial period
- Membership is not required to use the service
Cons:
- Apple application not available
- Cannot utilize the wonder of social media for searches
- Cancellation fee required upon termination of membership
How Much Damage Will Such A Service Do to My Pocket?
If you’re unsure if you want to make such a commitment to a service, an extremely affordable trial version is available lasting 3 days. The trial will only set you back $3, but it’s a recurring membership, so don’t forget to cancel before the 3 days are over.
Forgetting to cancel will mean you will automatically subscribe for another month at $30.
Concerning cancellation, there is a fee of $8. A nuisance, but not as bad in the grander scheme of things. The price isn’t extremely high, and they’re very transparent about it.
Features
The features relating to this service are rather appetizing compared to what you get from other services. These features include things like an unlimited amount of time you can run background checks.
Learning somebody’s date of birth, aliases, relatives, records referring to property, and a lot more through the public record search. Phone number search, address searches, criminal check reports are also available.
Customer Service
The website has an outstanding average rating of 4.6 stars; these guys excel on their customer service platform. Their operating hours are from 7 am to 6 pm Monday through to Friday and 7 am to 3:30 pm on the weekends.
An email can be sent outside of operating hours, which will then be addressed as soon as possible.
#6. PeopleLooker- Best For Finding Prison Inmates
Brand Overview
Massive variety of all kinds of features that we enjoyed. All searches we made were confidential, and the site was very helpful in how we can properly utilize the information we’ve found.
According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, all rules are strictly followed, and ensuring privacy while being perfectly transparent is their top priority.
Pros:
- Simple to grasp
- User-friendly and organized interface
- Applications are available for both Android and Apple
- Searches made are confidential
Cons:
- Processing requests is an extremely lengthy process
- Poor customer service
How Much Damage Will Such A Service Do to My Pocket?
The trial version is extremely low at $1 for the whole 5 days. On a month-to-month basis, the service will cost you $23. A longer commitment means bigger savings and subscribing for 3 months will cost you only $19 monthly.
Features
The people search feature allows the site to sort through an enormous amount of data, cross-referencing different records until the closest possible match can be made, returning an easy-to-read list to you. This process can take quite some time but will produce an immensely detailed report.
The court runner feature will show you criminal history, provided that they have one. It will carefully analyze various records, outstanding warrants for arrest, and a whole lot of other sources to verify that it is the person in question’s records and not someone else’s due to confusion with people of similar names.
The information removal feature is a feature that allows you to look up what information there is concerning you and remove incorrect information through the site’s help.
The property check feature allows you to search through the history of ownership on the property in question. It will also give out detailed reports about things like how big it is, how old it is, and even property taxes. This feature will give you a great idea of what kind of neighborhood it is.
Customer Service
The availability of reps is almost the entire day. This is from 6 am up to 11:30 pm. They can be contacted by phone, email, or even through the contact form online.
The reps come across as extremely friendly and provide effective solutions to any problems you encounter.
#7. BeenVerified-Best Value Monthly Subscription
Brand Overview
The main reason why this site is on our list is due to its uniqueness. There are many ways in which you can use the search functions.
For example, when looking up using the VIN search. You’d go about entering the 17-digit VIN number of a specific vehicle, and the website will scan endless databases for information regarding the vehicle.
The site will return information regarding ownership, the car’s estimated value, all recalls done on the car due to safety issues and accident reports.
The unclaimed money search is extremely useful in finding out if there is any money owed to you that you have not claimed yet. Companies are very quick to contact you regarding money owed to them but very reluctant to notify you if they owe you anything.
The unclaimed money search will scan databases in search of any money that may be owed to you from savings bonds, utility bills that you paid too much towards, and any other private company that may be owing funds to you.
The final point as to why this excellent site has been added to our list is because of what they have to offer in terms of mobile applications. They are user-friendly, can be used on Android and iOS devices, have the same functionality as the site, and allows you to keep reports saved on your device for easy accessibility when needed.
Pros:
- Up to date and current
- Available for download in Apple and Android
- Extremely transparent
- A variety of ways to navigate
- Unlimited searches for members
Cons:
- There aren’t any free trials
- Poor accuracy on search results
- Lengthy waiting times
How Much Damage Will Such A Service Do to My Pocket?
Unfortunately, trial periods are not available on this option. You do have an option to have a month-to-month subscription or commit to a membership lasting 3 months.
Month-to-month membership will set you back $23 a month, and the 3-month subscription will cost you $15 a month, saving you 35%.
Customer Service
We need to give the customer service for BeenVerified a massive thumbs up. They are always available to assist the customer in any regard, minus just a couple of hours a day. Support is easily available every day of the week, at an amazing 17 hours daily.
The reps are responsive and efficient to any queries made by the customer. Any support email you send them will most likely be responded to in a matter of hours.
#8. GoodHire-Best For Finding Location
Brand Overview
They’re incredibly professional and friendly and have designed their pricing structure to accommodate a whole range of clients. They have different options in different pricing tiers, so small businesses can join and upgrade as they grow. Still relatively new to the market, GoodHire still managed to obtain 75 000 customers.
This service is an excellent way for HR departments in small business ventures to properly vet possible candidates. It’s easy to figure out how to use it, so the training needed is very minimal.
It uses hand-in-hand tracking software, and people who run themselves through the program are never disappointed with the accuracy of the reports.
GoodHire has an extremely modern interface and presents itself beautifully on mobile platforms. It has built-in compliance tools, making it easy to use on the mobile platform.
Pros:
- A range of pricing options available
- Applications are easy and effortless
- Abundance of resources
- Welcoming website
Cons:
- The estimation time for when the information will be available is often exceeded.
How Much Damage Will Such A Service Do to My Pocket?
This service offers packages in three different pricing tiers: The Basic plan, standard plan, and premium plan.
The basic plan will cost you $30 for every background check made, with a turnaround time of only 1 day. You’ll receive an SSN trace and checks the user against the criminal database and sex offender registry.
The standard plan costs $55 for every background check with a turnaround time of about 2 days. However, this report will include an SSN trace, checks the user against the criminal database and sex offender registry, and check for county criminal details. The report also provides court records for the past seven years.
The premium plan will cost $80 for every check. This report will take 2 to 4 business days to reach you and also comes with an SSN trace, checks the user against the criminal database and sex offender registry, and check for county criminal details.
The added feature of the premium pack is that it also returns a domestic watchlist check. So, you can use this for those very severe cases.
Setting up your account will require a further $50 from your pocket.
Features
This type of service comes with all the basic features you’d expect from background running services yet still offer a few more features for a slightly higher price.
These features include:
- Checks on motor vehicles
- Checks on drug use
- Ongoing alerts
- Sanctions in the health sector
- Credit reports
Customer Service
We give the customer service for these guys a solid 5 stars. They can be reached by sending them an email, calling them, or online chat.
When calling in, pretending to be a start-up business, the reps assisted in a very courteous manner with an overflow of information. They even offered web links to navigate to their website.
#9. RentPrep- Best For Landline Searches
Brand Overview
This background checking service was designed more for landlords to get different tenants. Landlords using this software can decide between two different options, with different things to offer. The first option is based on the SmartMove software. It’s very similar. However, it does offer a few extra features.
The second lets you retrieve addresses, bankruptcy reports, check against the sex offender registry, and a nationwide search on evictions.
Both packages are great to use; however, the former offers more in the way of sturdier search results and returns a resident score. You can pay a little extra for a full credit report.
Pros:
- 2 plans to choose from
- Extremely competitive prices
- Criminal reports covering the whole of the USA and DC
Cons:
- Limited income information
- A credit pull can be conducted for an extra charge.
How Much Damage Will Such A Service Do to My Pocket?
The background check will cost you $19, and the SmartMove full credit Report will cost $38.
Features
Unlike services used for credit checks, this platform uses a completely different algorithm designed to calculate the risk of the potential tenant.
There is an option to retrieve the credit score, but it will not be the full FICO version. A nice added feature to use, but the ResidentScore may be more advisable to use. There is also another feature to list the past evictions the tenant has undergone.
As with all background checks, this site will also give a detailed list of criminal activity and an income report to ensure the possible tenant has been fully vetted.
Customer Service
The friendly and up-to-date reps are available to contact from Monday through to Saturday by email and phone. Most of the reviews of RentPrep have been extremely positive.
#10. PeopleSmart-Best Browsable Person Directory
Brand Overview
The extremely affordable trial will only cost you $1 for 7 days for testing. Thereafter, charges amounting to $30 on a month-to-month basis will be made to your account.
Pros:
- Easy navigation
- Information is neatly ranked
- Constant monitoring of a record for changes
- Save and view any previous searches made
- Organized results
Cons:
- Multiple records are returned for each search, so you need to sort through various returns.
- No returns on the court or criminal history
- You can’t use this service to run background checks.
Features
It has a very user-friendly dashboard that gives you the option to update your information, views the history of orders, and easy view of membership ID.
You can keep track of up to ten separate reports with ease.
Meaning that you will continuously be getting notifications by email if any updates were made on the reports.
There is an option from the dashboard to organize your reports. You can access them by clicking on the option labeled “recent reports.” You will even be able to download it in a .pdf format if you need to. Reports can be removed from the list when they are no longer helpful.
Customer Service
What puts this service above the rest is its customer service, available 24 hours a day. It’s rare to find any service that offers this kind of support and can be utilized by phone online.
What Exactly Is A Reverse Phone Lookup Service?
It is known as the grey pages, and this is because instead of using a specific person’s name and surname to find their phone number, it is a kind of reverse-lookup by using their phone number to find out their name and surname.
More sensitive information is used by institutions such as law enforcement to track down certain suspects or possible witnesses. However, there are services available to the public. Every company has a database of information about certain people. This is how some spam services can contact you by picking out your details from one of these databases.
So, What Information Do These Free Phone Number Lookup Services Give Me?
For reverse phone lookup services, use a landline or a number that isn’t mobile. It will provide you with the most accurate results.
The joy added to these kinds of services is that they can return more than just a name and address. Below is a list of things that a reverse phone lookup service can give you.
- First and foremost, if your caller ID didn’t already give it to you, the service provides you with the name and surname of the person calling.
- They’ll return the address of the person calling
- What social media accounts they may be using
- Any criminal activity they may have taken part in
- History relating to property ownership and education
- Their age and birthday
- Information relating to marriages and divorces
- Other cell numbers they may be using
- If it is a scam
How Can I Use This Free Reverse Phone Number Lookup Information?
Even though this kind of information is available to the public, there are certain aspects of the information that you cannot use. There is this act put into place used to protect people, and this is called the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
There is a list of things you’re allowed to use this kind of information for and a list of things you can’t. Most of the sites that we’re going to be reviewing in this article will also help you understand what you can and cannot do.
The most primary and basic idea behind this technology, though, is to properly vet possible employees, residents, or even a babysitter that you have to trust to leave around your child.
Most of them offer the basic free reverse phone number lookup services that return the most basic information, such as a name and surname, yet you can pay a little extra for all kinds of information.
Conclusion – Who Is The Best Phone Lookup Service?
So, now you know where to look the next time you want to do a background check on anyone. Whether it’s hiring a possible babysitter or hiring someone for your small company you’re growing or even if you’re a homeowner and looking for a tenant.
The bottom line is, spend that little bit extra to be sure that whoever you’re letting into your life is reliable. From our own R&D, we found TruthFinder to be the best free reverse phone lookup service.
