Best free people search sites
With the best free people search sites, you can fact-check someone’s identity by confirming their name, location, and phone number
How can you find someone for free on the internet? Choosing one of the best free people search sites can enable you to confirm someone’s identity, or regain contact with an acquaintance in a faster, cheaper way. The best people search sites offer sufficient free information for you to confirm someone’s identity and location, while including the option of a paid comprehensive background check.
Below, we list the best free people search sites, discussing and reviewing providers whose databases you can query using a name, phone number, photo, or even vehicle identification number. Each service provides valuable free information in return for your search.
What do free people search sites include?
If you’re on a budget and only need to verify basic identity information such as age, address, and phone number, the free solutions in this guide can help with that. Most free people search sites offer unlimited searches based on name, phone number, and other identifiers such as residential address.
However, free searches don’t normally include criminal record or financial solvency checks. Most of the solutions below include the option to pay for full background reports, but a premium provider like Truthfinder or Intelius would be better suited to users with advanced requirements.
What are the best free people search sites?
After testing, we determined that the best free people search site is That’s Them, due to the amount of personal data a free search provides, as well as its ability to perform reverse searches based on email, Internet Protocol (IP), and vehicle identification number (VIN).
Whitepages, Zaba Search, TinEye, and Peek You are close competitors, offering a range of free search services that rank them among the top free people search sites available. Keep reading to find out which is best suited to your specific needs.
| Free people search site | Search method | Includes phone numbers | Includes social media profiles | Premium plan available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| That's Them | Name, address, phone, email, IP, VIN | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Whitepages | Name, phone, address, business | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
| Zaba Search | Name, phone | ✔ (partial) | ✖ | ✔ |
| TinEye | Photo | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ |
| Peek You | Name, social media username | ✔ (partial) | ✔ | ✔ |
The best free people search sites available right now
That’s Them
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Can search by email, IP, and VIN | Limited to 10 searches per day |
Checks include address and phone number | |
Checks include Facebook profiles |
There’s a wealth of information offered through That’s Them that you won’t get from most free people search sites. There are six search methods at your disposal: name, phone, address, email, IP, and VIN, all available for free.
Most people search solutions place full addresses and phone numbers behind a premium paywall, and don’t offer IP and VIN search functionality, which is why we ranked That’s Them as our top pick of the best free people search sites.
Searching by any of these means returns the person’s current and past addresses, phone number, email address, date of birth, and the names of personal associates. Results also include Facebook, LinkedIn, and other available social media profiles. The search is very quick, with That’s Them informing us that our query took 0.1 seconds, while premium plans offer more searches and fewer advertisements.
| Includes phone numbers? | ✔ |
|---|---|
| Includes social media profiles? | ✔ |
| Premium plan available? | ✔ |
Whitepages
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Can filter results by age and city | Name checks don’t include contact details |
Reverse address checks are in-depth | Reverse phone checks don’t include name or address |
Reverse phone checks include spam risk |
Whitepages is widely known as a phone directory, but you can search by name and address as well as by phone number. A name search returns a list of individuals, their family members, and cities of residence, which you can filter by age and location. Further information, including contact details and full addresses, is available by purchasing a Whitepages premium plan.
The reverse address search can be hugely valuable, especially if you’re a prospective tenant or buyer looking into a property owner. It returns the names of the occupants, their ages, and their apartment number if the residence is in an apartment complex.
| Includes phone numbers? | ✖ |
|---|---|
| Includes social media profiles? | ✖ |
| Premium plan available? | ✔ |
Zaba Search
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Can filter results by age and city | Checks don’t include past addresses |
Checks include age and current address | Occasional ads |
Unlimited free searches |
Zaba Search allows you to search someone by their name or phone number, with results including age, current address, and the first six digits of their phone number. With multiple search results, a toolbar at the top of the page allows you to filter by age and city, which is useful if the queried name is relatively common.
While its results aren’t as detailed as That’s Them—which lists email addresses, birthdays, and even IP addresses for free—Zaba Search enables you to quickly verify someone’s full address and age, and put a name to an unknown caller. This is useful, for instance, if a new person enters your inner circle or a repeat caller is creating a nuisance.
For further information such as previous locations, contact details, and social media profiles, a premium plan is available for purchase from the provider’s affiliate, Intelius.
| Includes phone numbers? | ✔(partial) |
|---|---|
| Includes social media profiles? | ✖ |
| Premium plan available? | ✔ |
TinEye
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Great if you don’t have a name or phone number | Checks don’t include Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn |
Can add image via upload or URL | Requires visiting external websites to verify identities |
Can filter results by website |
On TinEye, you add an image file or URL, and the site returns a list of websites that may contain that image. This can be a powerful tool if you don’t have a person’s name, phone number, or address. For instance, you can upload a screenshot of someone from a dating app to TinEye to fact-check their identity against the websites in the results.
A disadvantage of TinEye is that it can’t generally search photos across popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Linkedin. However, results can include other job platforms or blogging websites, which can help you verify basic information such as name, location, and profession.
Results can be filtered by website, which is useful when queried people have a significant online presence.
| Includes phone numbers? | ✖ |
|---|---|
| Includes social media profiles? | ✖ |
| Premium plan available? | ✖ |
Peek You
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Can search by online username | Full address and contact details on premium plan only |
Checks include age, city, and family members | Checks don’t include Facebook profiles |
Checks include some social media profiles |
With Peek You, you get a summary of someone’s online presence when searching for their name or online username. Say, for example, you got an unpleasant reply from an anonymous Twitter profile. You can paste their username into the search bar, and Peek You will retrieve online profiles associated with that username.
Results can contain possible photos and links to Instagram and Twitter profiles, as well as high-level identifiers including name, age, family members, and city of residence. Premium plans that provide advanced data, including contact details and criminal records, are available through affiliates including Truthfinder and BeenVerified.
| Includes phone numbers? | ✔(partial) |
|---|---|
| Includes social media profiles? | ✔ |
| Premium plan available? | ✔ |
Free people search sites FAQs
Looking for more information about the best free people search sites? Our FAQ will help you understand the benefits of people search sites, and specifically, the ability to search for free.
What is the best site to search for a person for free?
Our top pick among the best free people search sites is That’s Them, which offers more search methods and personal information than any other competitor. You’re able to query a person even if you don’t know their name or phone number by using an email, IP address, or vehicle identification number. The results you get include full address, date of birth, and phone number.
Are people search websites illegal?
Many people search websites scan publicly-available information to summarize and present information to users, which means they operate legally. Where in doubt, you should do your own due diligence before signing up for a specific provider’s services by reading industry and customer reviews.
Are there any true free people search sites?
The people search sites in this guide are completely free, though some have a daily search limit. They may promote affiliate paid plans for advanced background reports, but the information provided via a free search is often sufficient for basic fact-checking.
The benefits of people search sites
Fact-check someone
Whether you’re tracking down a childhood friend or vetting a potential employee, a people search site can put you at ease by confirming someone’s location, phone number, or online profiles.
Save time
A people search website with instant access to public records can save you hours or even days compared to manually researching via Google and social media, or liaising with public institutions.
Have information in one place
Accessing someone’s public records on one platform is convenient, particularly when a provider aggregates personal information and social media data.
How we review people search sites
When reviewing a people search site, we look at the array of features it offers and how user-friendly and effective it is at solving user problems. Additionally, we compare the provider’s pricing and plan structure with that of its competitors, thus establishing what type of customer the solution is best suited to.
The best people search sites offer names, addresses, and phone numbers on a free or low-cost basis, are transparent about what’s included in their premium plans, and provide a quick, easy-to-use search platform.
Next steps with people finders
Check out our PeopleFinders review, and find out what TruthFinder is, as examples of premium people search site, and our buying guide for the best people search sites to discover the top free and paid providers.
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