Best Background Check Sites in 2025 Who Put Quality on Top
When you check into someone, you’ll quickly find countless options. Hundreds of sites make big claims. They say they can save you the hard graft and long hours of background checks. They promise to deliver the information you need quickly and easily. Choosing the best background check site saves time and ensures accurate results.
Some will deliver on this promise, while others will just take your money and run. Which is why choosing the right background check site is an important decision.
That is where this article comes in. A background check site takes the legwork out of researching someone’s history. In the same way, we have taken the legwork out of choosing a background check site.
We tested all of the main players on the market. We compared them against the core criteria that our research and user feedback highlighted. These criteria reflect what most background check site users want. From there, we narrowed the market down to four sites. We are confident these are the best background check sites available.
So, to find out everything you need to know about background check sites as well as which ones we recommend, just keep on reading.
Best background check sites
Picking through the huge number of background check sites to find the right one can feel daunting. Hundreds flood the market. Many operate legitimately and work hard to provide accurate results. But quite a few try to mislead you, and you should steer clear of them.
To identify the best background check sites available right now, we used a number of core criteria. Our research and user feedback suggested these were the main things customers want from these sites. Those criteria were:
- Comprehensive background checks – Different sites will collate data from different sources and some are far more comprehensive than others.
- Accurate and comprehensible reports – The end-product that the customer receives is all important, but the quality and detail of final reports can vary wildly from site to site.
- Ease-of-use – Most background check sites use a dashboard to allow users to easily manage their projects. But some of these can be easier to use than others.
- Thorough research – There are a few sites which will do little more than a basic internet search and then put what they find in a pretty report document. But most customers expect more than that, so we have sought out those sites which go the extra mile to find out as much as possible.
- Search customization – A good background check site will allow you to customize your research depending on the information you have available and what you want to know. We have only recommended those sites with the best possible search customization options.
- Effective customer support – Background checking is an imprecise science and it is quite common for users to need to engage with the site to get to the information they need. Good customer support is therefore vital.
- Mobile apps – As well as a good desktop dashboard, more and more background check site users want to be able to access their data on mobile devices too. Not all sites can offer this facility to date, so we have only picked out sites which have mobile apps available.
It is important to state that while we have only had positive experiences with all of the background checking sites we have recommended in this article, background checking is not a precise science.
We cannot absolutely guarantee that all of our recommended sites will get everything right every time. But we can guarantee that they will always do their best to deliver customer satisfaction and that they are the very best that are available on the market.
The four background checking sites we recommend based on the above criteria are:
1. Instant CheckMate
Based on our testing and the core criteria most users prioritise, the best background check Site on the market in 2020 is definitely Instant CheckMate.
Users of CheckMate can set up a background check using an absolute minimum of information. Their service lets you search by full or even partial name, as well as last known location. This means they are great for researching long-lost friends, relatives, or even new neighbours you want to find out more about.
In general, they charge slightly more than some rivals, but you can trust that they deliver quality work for the money. They provide detailed, accurate, and easy-to-read reports, and their customer service team answers around the clock by phone or email.
CheckMate offers a basic and premium level of service. If we are honest, the basic CheckMate service is a bit limited, but it will still offer you information on things like sex offender status, criminal records, marriage and divorce records, details of relatives, address history and any public social media profiles.
For detailed information on such things as financial history, court records, driving licenses and weapons licenses, you will need to pay a bit more for their premium plan.
CheckMate only has an app available for Android devices at the moment, so while iOS users may not fancy them, for everyone else, they are one of the best background check sites around.
2. Truthfinder
This site’s name is a bold one, but in testing it’s certainly living up to its billing. Truthfinder claim to search through millions of public records and can provide such information as contact details, current and previous addresses, criminal and court records, driving records, personal information, and details of known relatives.
In addition, they offer a “deep web research” service that digs out more information from social media and other online resources than any of their competitors.
Their results are unquestionably comprehensive and their reports of a high standard.
Like other background check sites, Truthfinder offers basic and premium rates. If you want details such as a person’s education history, voter registration records, weapons and other licenses held, you will need to pay a little more. But their prices are about average for the background check market at the moment and good value for money given the service they provide.
Truthfinder only offers an Android app at the moment, which means iOS users cannot access their data on the go. But their desktop dashboard is another well-thought-through one and Truthfinder is another provider which offers 24/7 customer support too.
3. Intelius
Our final recommended background check site for 2020 is Intelius. Intelius offers background checks which cover an enormous range of data sources and these are available at an extremely reasonable price.
The research that goes into an Intelius background check includes a criminal records check, financial history research, information on property records, educational history, job history, and a lot more besides. They also offer a reverse phone number lookup service. Intelius are one of the best-regarded sites around and with good reason.
Their attention to detail is remarkable and they have already completed more than 50 million background checks for satisfied customers from across the USA.
The Intelius offer is not just an automated one either, there is a human element to much of what they do too. This includes sending an individual to search through non-digitized records in criminal and civil courthouses to ensure no information slips through the net.
Intelius customers access their reports and other information through the site’s dashboard, a well-designed and easy-to-navigate tool that most users love.
Customers also regard their reports highly because they are accurate, detailed, and easy to read. Intelius provides dedicated apps for Android and iOS, allowing customers to access their data on the go. Their excellent customer service team answers questions via email, phone, or the online troubleshooter service.
What is an online background check?
Online background checking sites the place to go if you want to find out more information about just about anyone. They offer research services and will search through all publically available information and data about a person based on the details someone enters into the site. This can be as little as a partial name, an email address, or even just a phone number.
These sites will delve into thousands of different sources to find out as much about that person as they can, or as much as their customer has asked for. They will then collate all of this information they gather into an easy-to-read report. Background checking sites use a completely legal process to access and compile information that is already in the public domain.
They remove the stress of finding this information by using the latest technology to search quickly through a wide range of sources. Then, they compile the data to build a clear portrait of the person being checked.
If the process is done by an individual manually it would take many days of hard graft. But a background checking site can do the job in a fraction of the time and for a minimal amount of effort. When they have done this, they will provide customers with a straightforward report which distills all of this information into an easily-readable format which tells you everything you need to know.
Where do background checking companies source their information?
This really is a $64,000 question, and there is no clearly defined answer to give. Every background checking site operates differently. They gather data from different sources depending on what information they can access and what their customers want.
Having said that, background checking sites still generally look at the same type of data, even if they collect it from different places. All of this information is freely available, legal, and already in the public domain.
The type of information they access includes criminal records, education records, credit checks, and driving records. They also search social security data, litigation records that reveal legal proceedings, archive records, and personal references. In addition, they pull information that has been posted publicly on social media sites and other web forums.
Because this data is openly available, most sites use algorithms to search and compile it. These algorithms work much faster than a researcher could manually. So, if you want to run a background check that is quick, thorough, and reliable, using a background checking site is the only way to do it.
Why are some background checks free while others have to be paid for?
A lot of people will search around for a free background checking site when they first decide to do a check into someone. The idea of paying for all this information that is freely in the public domain anyway is something many are uncomfortable with. That is understandable, but also unrealistic.
Carrying out a background check is not a simple task. It requires using either man-hours or technology to access and search the data, and then putting that information together in a report requires yet more resources.
If you want a comprehensive, accurate, and reliable background check to be carried out, then there is inevitably going to be some cost involved. What is impressive is the fact that many of the best background checking sites have kept this cost so low.
Prices can vary quite a bit between different background checking sites and if affordability is a big deal for you, this is something worth considering when choosing which site to use.
But do bear in mind that if you do go for a cheaper option, you do run the risk of compromising on the quality of service you receive too. And you get nothing for free these days, and any background checking site that is offering a report for free is highly unlikely to provide with either in-depth or trustworthy information.
When can I use a background check?
Running a background check on someone can create a moral dilemma. It might feel intrusive or even like spying. That’s why you should remember that background check sites only access information already available in the public domain.
This is not surveillance to uncover hidden secrets. It’s simply gathering information that is already open to the public.
In the USA, laws still govern when you can and cannot run a background check. If you plan to use a background check site, make sure you understand the situations where doing so could break the law.
Not all sites explain these rules clearly. For this reason, we’ve compiled an easy-to-follow list showing when background check sites can and cannot be used.
Background checking sites CAN be used for…
It’s ok to use a background checking site in the following scenarios:
- Finding out about your new neighbors
- Looking into your new partner
- Seeking out long-lost friends or relatives
- Finding out who keeps calling your phone
- Identifying sex offenders in your community
- Research what information is publically available about yourself
Background checking sites CANNOT be used for…
It is not ok to use a background checking site in the following scenarios:
- Researching future employees without their permission – This is considered illegal under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) in the USA. If you do want to research a potential employee, you must first obtain written permission from them to do so.
- Researching the background of domestic workers – Looking into the history of potential cleaners or other domestic assistants is also illegal under the FCRA unless you have first obtaining written permission.
- Finding out if someone is eligible for credit, insurance, scholarships, or grants is also illegal under the FCRA.
- Identifying suitable tenants for a property to be rented out. Again, this is illegal under the FCRA.
If you use a background check company for these four purposes, you risk getting caught. Getting caught can lead to legal trouble. You might even have to pay significant damages to the person you investigated.
Conclusions
Background checking is a big business right now. Many sites claim to offer the best service available. Some deliver far better results than others. If you want to run a background check, choosing the right site can feel difficult.
In this article, we outline the main criteria most users look for. We also combine those standards with our own testing experience. Using both, we selected four sites that stand out as the best background check sites on the web in 2020.
Have you had any experiences using a background checking site?
How did you find them? How did our recommended sites work for you? Are there any other background check
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