The Best Background Check Services

Thursday, April 24th

2025 Background Check Service Reviews

SpyFly

SpyFly is everything you could want in a background check service: the pricing is straightforward, the search interface is quick and accurate, and over 1,000 people have given this company a 5-star rating. Even more, SpyFly doesn't make you wade through screen after screen of progress bars or try to draw you in with what "might” be on your target's report. "A” rated by the Better Business Bureau, SpyFly has a reputation we can get behind, and we're pleased to give this background check platform our own perfect score.

Find Out The Truth

Find Out The Truth does background checks that are all handled by a licensed private investigator with at least five years of experience, setting it apart from automated online services. With over 20 years in business and an "A+" rating from the BBB, this company offers a variety of background check options, including international searches and FCRA compliant reports. Prices range from $9.95 to $299.95 per report, and results may even be available same-day. While thorough, Find Out The Truth lacks extensive customer feedback and has minimal social media presence. Although we'd like to see more in that department, we still give Find Out The Truth a high rating as a great option if you need a detailed, professional background check with a la carte pricing and no annoying subscriptions to cancel.

US Search

Since 1994, US Search has worked to connect people with one another, often through reverse address and phone lookups. It's the highest-ranked of the four PeopleConnect platforms on our list, and the least expensive at $19.86/month for unlimited reports. While we're glad that the overall feedback from US Search users is positive, including an "A+” rating from the BBB, we're not convinced that this platform is different enough from its sister sites to earn a higher rating. Check out the higher-ranked background check services on our list before you commit to US Search.

Intelius

As one of four services offered under the PeopleConnect umbrella, Intelius is one of the better of that bunch. Initial search results are more accurate than two of its sister platforms, and customer service seems to be more responsive. You'll still have to wade through an unreasonably long process to get to your reports, and many users say you should expect disappointment in the results once you've paid for them. However, an "A+” rating and accreditation from the BBB is enough to keep Intelius off the bottom of the barrel.

Truthfinder

PeopleConnect is the company behind four of the background check services on our list, and TruthFinder is one of them. Like its "sisters”, this service will lure you in with tempting tidbits that might match the person you're searching for, but users say that the end result is almost always lacking in detail, outdated, or just plain incorrect. While you could take advantage of the 5-day trial for just a dollar, people say that canceling before the subscription automatically kicks in or renews is problematic.

Info Tracer

Reputation-wise, InfoTracer is a great option for background checks. You won't find hundreds of people rushing to the BBB to claim that this is a scam: you'll get what you pay for, and lots of users have praise for the helpful, available 24/7 customer service team at this company. However, when it came to the subject of our background check, InfoTracer fell flat on its face when almost every other service on our list correctly identified the individual (and some even found him under both known aliases). You could try InfoTracer for $2.95 and see if it delivers what you need during that one-week trial, but our results (or lack thereof) have resulted in a below-average rating from us.

Spokeo

Spokeo is one of the most user-friendly background check platforms we've found. You won't be bombarded with flashing lights and "Did you know??” messaging here: just enter what you know of who you're searching for, and in just a minute or two, you'll see what Spokeo comes up with. It's really affordable to give it a try, at just $0.95 for a 7-day trial (which includes the report for the person you searched for). But, Spokeo absolutely missed the mark with our test case, when many rival platforms had no problem showing us the right person (and several others with the same name).

Instant Checkmate

Instant Checkmate is in the same family of sites as US Search, Intelius, and TruthFinder, but winds up lower on our list. Why? Despite offering an enticing 5-day trial for just $1, this particular platform has earned more than 1,000 one-star reviews, and people say that it's almost impossible to cancel before the trial ends. The reports aren't thorough enough, and the process of even running the initial search can take up to 20 minutes. We've dropped Instant Checkmate even further in our ratings.

PeopleFinders

PeopleFinders used to be one of our favorite background check services. There's no arguing that they've been around a long time (since 1999) and they give you a good preview of each person that might be a match to the one you're researching, including known aliases, relatives, age, and location. But, not only did PeopleFinders fail to identify our test case individual, but it also has a really bad reputation (including an "F” from the Better Business Bureau) for shady billing tactics. We strongly recommend looking at the more reliable background check platforms in our evaluation and skipping PeopleFinders.

BeenVerified

BeenVerified has been providing background checks for almost 20 years from its headquarters in NYC. In theory, you'll have access to the standard panorama of information here: addresses, criminal records, reverse phone searches, property records, and so on. However, BeenVerified requires you to pay for a week-long trial or a monthly plan before showing you anything they might have about the person you're searching for. Those costs have gone up recently, and many people have complained to the BBB about being roped into a long-term subscription while getting lackluster (or inaccurate) information in the reports. BeenVerified remains at the bottom of our list for background check services.