Well, there are several people finder services that let you search for people and get details around them. Apart from finding people that you are looking for, the people search websites can come in handy when you are looking for a roommate or starting to work with someone. So, without any further ado, here are the 15 best people search engines you should use.z Note: Some search engines mentioned on this list work better in some countries like the USA, UK, and more. Do check if your country is supported or not before buying a paid subscription.
Best People Search Websites You Should Use (Updated 2022)
Before we go ahead, take a quick look at all the people search engines we have covered in this article. You can click on the link below to move to the relevant website easily. After that, go through our explainer and find out why you should use people search engines to your advantage.
Why You Should Use People Search Engines
Whenever we hear the term people search engine, our mind mostly goes to finding people with whom we were connected in the past. While people finder services will help you find those people too, there are myriad of real-life scenarios where they come in handy and might even save you a ton of headache and regret in the future. For example, if you own a business and work with a number of remote workers, it is always good to find out information on them before you give them important business details. You might be a college student who is looking for a flatmate to share the rent. One thing that you should make sure is that the person is trustworthy. Note: Some services, like TruthFinder, do not allow usage of their platform for employment screening, consumer credit, or tenant screening. So make sure you don’t use services like TruthFinder for Consumer Reports. You might be someone who is looking to buy a property and wants to make sure that the seller has a good record. In hundreds of scenarios like this, the people search websites we have mentioned below can help you a lot. Not only they can help you find people’s social profiles but also let you know if they have any criminal or arrest records. In the lighter terms, these search engines can help you find email addresses and phone numbers so that you can contact someone who is hard to find. Overall, when used correctly, the people search websites mentioned on this list can help you a lot. Now that you know why one should use People Search Engines, let us take a look at the best of them.
List of People Search Websites You Should Use
1. Truthfinder
Truthfinder is a people search engine that offers accurate information and its results are almost comparable to Pipl. While Pipl works across the globe, Truthfinder is a US-only website. You can search for police records of an individual, check court records, photos from social media, contact information, and much more. More than connecting with people, Truthfinder is about background checks. For example, if you are moving to a new location then Truthfinder will be a better pick than Pipl. It uses information from Federal, State, and County data sources.
Truthfinder also has some great tools like reverse phone, address lookup, dark web scan, and more. Earlier, there was a Family Tree feature as well, but that is no longer available. Basically, if you are in the US then Truthfinder seems to be the best option for background checks. Having said that, keep in mind, the service is not entirely free. For free users, you can only see basic information like age and possible location. In addition, the search takes considerable time to show the results. Pros
Best for background checks Accurate US-only results Huge database of criminal and court orders Multiple tools including reverse phone
Cons
Basic information for free users Takes considerable time to show results
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2. US Search
US Search is a reputable website for finding people across the US. It has a simple UI where you just need to enter the first and last name and you will get results within a few seconds. If you want, you can provide additional information so that it can filter the results much faster. In my brief usage, the website was able to locate individuals for whom I was looking for.
Again, just like other people search engine, for free users, it only shows age, places where one has lived, and possible relatives. If you want complete information like recent addresses, phone number then you will have to pay $1.99 for a basic report. And if you want to do a full background check then the pricing goes even higher. To sum up, US Search has a vast amount of data and it’s one of the oldest people search engines out there. Pros
Affordable service Pretty fast Best for US-based searches Oldest database Automatic filter
Cons
Limited information for free users
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3. BeenVerified – Background Checks, Public Records & People Search
BeenVerified is one of my personal favorites people search websites, thanks to its simplicity and feature-set that make it stand out against other people finder services. With BeenVerified, you can search using names, email addresses, phone numbers or location. The platform brings you all the details you might expect, like social media accounts, pictures, friends & connections, professional records, address history, background records etc.
While the basic details can be checked by just signing up for an account at BeenVerified, if you want a full report on someone’s background like criminal records, court records, and more, you will have to get a membership ($39.99 for one month). BeenVerified brings you details of people from all over the world but some features might be limited to the US. It’s available as a website, as well as a mobile app for Android (Free) and iOS (Free). Pros
Combines social graph and public record Authentic information Offers criminal record Affordable service App available for smartphones
Cons
US-centric
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4. Pipl – People Search and Identity Verification
Pipl is arguably the most popular people search engine and deservedly so, considering it works in almost all the countries and offers very accurate results. The platform lets you easily get professional, social, and contact info. You can find people using their name, email, username, or phone number. When we tested the service when it was available for free, it worked pretty well and results were fairly accurate. I searched using names of 10 different people and found 9 of them in the results.
Seven of them were in the top five search results. I am still shocked as to how accurate this search is. Note that I have not connected any social media account to this, used my work email, and went incognito. While Pipl Search was available in a free tier before, that is no longer the case. Moreover, Pipl is now limited to professional users. The company also makes it clear on its website that the service is not intended for personal, non-commercial purposes. The pricing starts at $298 per month for an annual subscription. There’s also a $198/month/user plan that supports up to 5 users and a $148/month/user capable of accomodating 10 users. There is no cap on the number of searches you can do with Pipl Search. Pros
Accurate information Free search for 5 days Social media linking Minimal information required Available worldwide
Cons
Very Expensive Not intended for personal use
Visit Note: You need to create a paid account to see the results.
5. Spokeo – Search and Reunite People
Spokeo is another popular people search engine that shows you details from white pages listings, public records, and social networks. You can search for people in Spokeo using name, email address, phone details or location. The results include details from more than 60 social networks, photos and online profiles, dating site profiles etc. Also, Spokeo claims that it uses proprietary deep web technology to get results that usually search engines miss out on.
The service also has a paid subscription, starting at $4.95/month. However, before you purchase the subscription, do note that it works only in US. I mean, you can use it outside US but its results are US-based. So, although I was able to use the service without using any VPN, I was not able to find any of my friends as they don’t live in the US. However, I was able to find my cousin brother who does resides there. If you are searching for people in the US, this is one of the best people finder services that you can use. Pros
Best for connecting with people US-based searches Basic results for free Easy to use
Cons
Quite expensive
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6. PeekYou – Find Family, Old Friends, Classmates, & More
PeekYou is one of the few free people search engines that bring you details around a person, based on their social media accounts, web profiles, email addresses, contact details, and other public records. It also uses its patented technology to bring you results from over 60 websites, news sources, homepages, blog platforms, and several other sources. You can search for people using names, location, web username, or phone reverse search. While the website works best when you are searching for someone residing in the USA, it also works decently when you are doing a global search.
I have tested this with a few searches and while the results were not as exemplary as I would have hoped, they were not bad either. Also, you are getting all the details for free so I don’t think we have a right to complain. Just use this people search website and see if it’s for you or not. Pros
Proprietary algorithm to offer accurate results Phone reverse search Global search available No sign-up required
Cons
Results are limited
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7. Intelius – People Search, Lookup Phone Numbers, & Background Checks
Intelius is a people finder service that has you covered on most fronts. Be it the usual people search details, email lookup, social network search, property records, background check, criminal records, or reverse lookup. The results are great too, thanks to Intelius’ robust database.
That being said, the drawbacks of Intelius is that it is not free and the results are only catered for the US. There are different subscriptions for people search report, people search report plus (includes email search & social network) and background report, starting at $24.86/month. However, if you just want a reverse phone lookup, Intellius offers that for just $4.99 for the first month. Pros
Reconnect with old friends Review property data Exhaustive criminal and court records Best for background checks Myriad of social tools
Cons
US-only Pretty expensive
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8. Instant Checkmate – Background Check
Instant Checkmate is a more of a public records search service but it’s still handy if you want to know about important details of a person. The US-only people search engine lets you easily check a person’s criminal records, related court documents, addresses, age, phone numbers etc. It brings you data from online profiles, federal data sources, and state & country data sources. The results are pretty great, thanks to Instant Checkmate’s advanced search tech. All the details around a search are compiled in a neat report which is helpful.
Instant Checkmate is one powerful service and while it seems a bit overwhelming with all the details around background reports, it can be used as a people finder service too. However, you can only get the reports after you’ve bought one of the subscriptions, starting at $35.12. Pros
Search through publicly available data Best for criminal and background checks Advanced search filters Access property data
Cons
Premium price for detailed data
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9. PeopleFinder
If you want to reconnect with people with whom you have lost contact then PeopleFinder is a great platform that you must try. It has indexed millions of publicly available data which helps in accurately identifying an individual. On top of that, PeopleFinder uses Intelius’ backend service for a more detailed report.
What I like about PeopleFinder is that it offers a complete address even for free users, which is rarely found in many people search engines mentioned here. If you choose to pay $2.95 then you can access the whole report which includes financial information, relatives, phone numbers, court records, and much more. So if you are looking for a free people search engine that offers decent information then just go for PoepleFinder. Pros
Best for free users Recent address available for basic users Quite affordable Intelius-backed service Check criminal and social records
Cons
Search results can take considerable time
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10. Whitepages – Find People, Phone Numbers, Addresses, & More
Whitepages is much more than just a person finder service. It’s a great tool for users who want to get more than just social or professional information. The website brings you detailed background reports on a person that includes info like contact, addresses, properties, court & criminal records, liens & judgments, and more. If you are just looking to find a person, Whitepages is still a great service, as it offers details around family members & associates, current contact details etc. You can find a person using name & location, phone number, address, or business. So, yeah it’s a very powerful tool. You also get both Android (Free, offers in-app purchases) and iOS (Free, offers in-app purchases) apps to search on the go.
While details like phone number, address, family members, locations etc. are available for free, if you want a full background report, you will have to get the premium subscription, starting at $19.95/month. Also, the premium service of the website is only available in the US as the service works best there. It’s not as good as Pipl when it comes to data in India as my test results were not as good as what I got with the former. Pros
Best for hiring employees Accurate contact information Basic info for free users Global search available
Cons
Expensive Limited dataset
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11. Facebook – People Search via Social Profiles
Now, who is not aware of Facebook? Chances are, you are looking for people search services after you failed to find a person on Facebook. Well, there’s lot more to Facebook search than you might know of. For instance, you can search for people based on the place they work, interests, location, places they’ve been to etc., all thanks to the Graph Search feature.
Graph Search in Facebook is designed to offer results to natural language queries. You can even search for people through the “Find Friends” feature, which lets you filter searches through various options. Overall, Facebook is a really good people finder and one of the great options to search for people globally. Pros
Good for connecting with old friends and relatives Search based on interests, place, college Unmatched social graph Free to use Available globally
Cons
Not for background checks
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12. LinkedIn – Professional Profiles and Work History
If you are looking to search for people through their professional details, LinkedIn is the best option there is. The Microsoft-owned service features some great search capabilities, not everyone is aware of. You can search for specific keywords with names & location, use Boolean searches, and more.
The search page in LinkedIn also features a very handy sidebar, which lets you use filters to refine your search. So, if you are looking for a person you met at a professional meet, LinkedIn should help you find him/her with ease. Pros
Excellent platform for employers Get professional details Handy sidebar for filtering Personalized recommendation
Cons
Premium subscription needed to get the best out of it
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13. Quora
Another option worth checking out is Quora. Although Quora is originally a question-and-answer website where you can write and ask answers, you can make a quick Quora lookup to find who you’re looking for, especially if the person is interested in reading or writing. All you have to do is open Quora and search for the person’s name.
You can narrow down the results by switching to ‘Profiles’ from the left side menu. If the person has filled in all the basic details, you can easily find the profile. Simply put, you can use Quora to find a person, but the chances of finding them highly depends on their interests. For what it’s worth, you can give it a shot if you can’t find them in other people finder services we’ve listed above. Pros
Sidebar for basic filtering Good for finding friends with reading and writing interests Free to use Available globally
Cons
No advanced filter options Not suitable for everyone
14. Truecaller – Find People Using Phone Numbers
If you got a missed call from someone and are wondering how to find them, Truecaller is your best bet. With Truecaller, you can search phone numbers to know the name of the person. For those with privacy concerns, you can learn more about how Truecaller handles privacy in our article here. You can follow our guide on completely deleting the Truecaller account if you’re not satisfied with the service or want to remove yourself from the platform.
Pros
Works well for Indian users Can find the name, approximate location of a person using phone number Works on web Free to use
Cons
Requires phone number
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15. Google Search and Reverse Image Search
Google Search might not really be marketed as a people search engine but it can do the job pretty well. You can search for people using names with specific keywords like location, job, interests etc.
You can also do a reverse phone number search and if you have a photo of the person, you can also do a reverse image search to find the person you want. Plus, Google offers various tools like filters for time, country and an advanced search page, where you can narrow down your search easily.
Bonus: Twitter
While Facebook is the place to search for your long lost friends, I have found Twitter to be extremely useful. Since Facebook comes with a big privacy concern, many people are leaving it behind by deleting their Facebook accounts. However, you can still find them on Twitter as they don’t have to share personal information on Twitter.
I am not on Facebook but use Twitter as it acts as my primary news source and allows me to follow people I want to keep tabs on. Twitter also makes it really easy to send direct messages to users and is generally a good place to break the ice. If you have never used Twitter as a people finder search engine before, I urge you to give this a try. Also, check out our Twitter tips and tricks article to get the most out of this service. Visit
Q. What are Some Totally Free People Search Sites?
As we went through the article, it’s clear that not many services offer detailed reports for free. That said, I think you can use Pipl for free, but it’s limited to 5 searches. Apart from that, PeopleFinder is also pretty good for basic yet informative results.
Q. Which is the Best Free Website to Find a Person?
I would say Pipl and PeopleFinder are a few websites that allow you to find a person for free albeit in a limited manner.
Q. What is The Best Way to Search for a Person?
People Search Engines are one of the easiest ways to search for a person. We have mentioned many websites above so go through that and find your preferred website.
Q. What is The Best Website to Find Someone’s Address?
In my experience, PeopleFinder was able to show recent and past addresses of an individual without paying any charge so you should try that out.
Q. What are Some Totally Free People Search Sites?
As we went through the article, it’s clear that not many services offer detailed reports for free. That said, I think you can use Truthfinder for free to search people by name. Apart from that, PeopleFinder is also pretty good for basic yet informative results.
Q. Which is the Best Free Website to Find a Person?
I would say Truthfinder and PeopleFinder are a few websites that allow you to find a person for free albeit in a limited manner.
Find People with These People Finder Services
So, those were some of the best people finder services that you can use in 2022. Some of them work best in the US, while some work globally, so you can choose accordingly. Also, we are positive that you will be able to find the person you are looking for with one of these websites, considering all of them are pretty capable and offer advanced features. Well, try them out and let us know if they managed to help you out. Sound off in the comments section below.
