It's happened to all of us: you're at home, and an unknown number calls your cell phone. Is it an important call from a doctor or a scammer trying to steal your money? Fortunately, reverse phone lookup services make finding who is calling you easy and helps give you some much-needed peace of mind.

A reverse phone lookup service is often free or low-cost and can quickly and efficiently tell you who is on the other end of the line, allowing you to decide whether to answer or call back.

With so many reverse phone lookup sites available, we want to ensure you use the best one that fits your needs. We’ve done the legwork for you and have curated a list of the best free reverse phone lookup services available. 

These services will provide you with the name and contact information of the caller and offer additional details such as their address, occupation, and background information. This makes these reverse phone lookup services excellent tools for conducting a comprehensive background check too! 

5 Best Free Reverse Phone Lookup Services

1. Most Comprehensive Phone Lookup Service: TruthFinder

2. Most Flexible: Intelius

3. Best Social Media Profile Search: Instant Checkmate

4. Fastest Results: PeopleFinders

5. Best Plan Variety: Spokeo

1. Most Comprehensive Phone Lookup Service: TruthFinder

TruthFinder has a free reverse phone lookup as part of their offerings. Using their reverse phone number lookup is easy. The website has a tab that allows you to type in a phone number and get results almost instantly. 

But that’s not all — TruthFinder bills itself as a public records search operation. It can provide a wide array of information about anyone, which makes this site far more helpful than the standard reverse phone lookup.

By entering a person's name and the state where they live, you can gain access to personal details about their social media accounts, public records, police records, civil judgment information and more.

TruthFinder also offers many services in addition to a reverse phone lookup, including:

• People search
• Background check
• Reverse address lookup
• Public records search
• Dark web scan

With a simple phone number, we can now uncover a treasure trove of personal details that would otherwise be unattainable about anyone. This is one of the best features of that reverse phone number lookup service. 

Think of the myriad use cases for free reverse phone lookups — reconnecting with long-lost friends, investigating suspicious characters, or even gaining insight into the background of potential business partners. The possibilities are endless.

Plus, customer service representatives are available round the clock to answer questions or provide professional guidance on using TruthFinder's services, including their reverse phone lookup. 

Pros

• A comprehensive array of information beyond just identifying the phone number owner 
• Great customer service 
• Convenient search user interface
• Services accessible across multiple formats, including a website or app

Cons

• The website can sometimes take some time to load the result pages

What Customers Love

TruthFinder is a highly popular website among its customers, with many praising its user-friendly features and comprehensive customer service. The website's intuitive interface, smooth navigation, and free reverse phone lookup feature receive special mention for their ease of use.

Users love the ability to extract pertinent information from minimal data, like a simple phone number, and transform it into a comprehensive identification report. TruthFinder’s customer service team is described as professional, knowledgeable, and adept at addressing any queries or concerns about how to use their services.

Specs

• TruthFinder has many plans, including people search, reverse phone lookup and reverse email lookup. These plans provide different features and benefits, which you can use to identify people with limited data.
• Other options, such as a dark web or PDF reports, are less expensive than other plans.
• Reports are downloadable directly to your phone or computer.

Learn more about TruthFinder

2. Most Flexible: Intelius

Intelius is another comprehensive reverse phone lookup site. One of its greatest distinguishing features is their People Directory.

While many free reverse phone lookup sites focus on providing individuals with potentially incriminating evidence on someone they are dating or delving into the background of someone they know, Intelius uses a different approach.

Rather than emphasizing these uses, the platform primarily positions itself as a tool for scam protection and thorough background investigations. This emphasis on safety and security sets Intelius apart from other similar phone lookup websites.

One more thing — Intelius encourages you to perform a background check on yourself to find out what others see about you. As such, you may be able to find and remedy less-than-flattering information. This can allow you to enter social or professional situations more confidently.

Intelius offers a very comprehensive People Directory. All you need is someone’s last name. More than just a simple reverse phone lookup, the people directory allows you to click through and manually search for someone based on their name. This is a deep, time-consuming search, but it can benefit people without additional information.

Each plan provides access to different types of information, but all plans offer the convenience of unlimited searches, including an unlimited number of reverse phone number lookup queries. This flexibility allows you to perform as many searches as necessary to find the information you need.

Intelius also offers the added security of identity theft protection. This specific plan goes above and beyond standard searches by monitoring mentions of your name on the dark web, providing peace of mind that your personal information is not being used without your knowledge.

Furthermore, this plan allows you to detect and prevent fraudulent activity so that you can gain better control over your credit information. With automatic notifications of any potentially suspicious activity, it offers an added level of protection to keep your personal information safe and secure.

Like other reverse phone lookup sites, Intelius gives you limited information for free but charges you for a more comprehensive report. They also offer discounted services, including their reverse phone number lookup. This gives you flexibility on what information you want to pay for. You have the opportunity to see what works for you. If you don't like the service, you can cancel before the trial period ends.

Pros

• Unique people search allowing manual searches 
• You only need minimal information to perform a search
• Wide range of searches, including reverse phone lookup, reverse address lookup, public records search, background check, and more 
• Offers free trials for many of its services, including reverse phone lookup and address lookup. 

Cons

• Intelius' customer service is only a chatbot. 

What Customers Love

This phone number lookup site has many fans and supporters. Customers praised the service for many reasons, including their high levels of accuracy. Most customers find the information they paid for up-to-date, useful, relevant and accurate. The reports are described as highly detailed and thorough.

Customers also enjoy the ability to narrow searches by common names, which allows them to better focus on the person they are trying to find. 

Specs

• Intelius has many plans and pricing options, including specific plans for reverse phone number lookup, people search and address lookup. 
• Unlimited searches and background reports with membership
• Specialized plan available for identity theft protection

Learn more about Intelius

3. Best Social Media Profiles Search: Instant Checkmate

Even though Instant Checkmate bills itself as a people search and reverse phone lookup website, this platform truly stands out in social media profile searches, offering a comprehensive and user-friendly experience.

Instant Checkmate scours the internet to gather information from a wide range of social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more. The result is a complete and accurate picture of an individual's online presence. In addition, reverse phone lookup reports can be incredibly useful for various purposes, whether for personal or professional reasons. 

The people search function will enable you to identify someone by their name and state. Instant Checkmate will then review various publicly available information, confirm it has identified the correct person via a series of challenge questions, and present you with a full report on the individual in question.

One of the unique aspects of Instant Checkmate is a "trending searches" page that showcases the most searched names on the platform. This feature adds an interesting social dimension to this phone lookup service and is a fun way to see the popularity of specific names.

Instant Checkmate has an impressive help center with many FAQs to answer your questions. Their customer service is available by phone and email five days a week. Its emphasis on customer service distinguishes Instant Checkmate from other free reverse phone lookup sites.

Pros

• Convenient customer service options
• Multiple ways of accessing the database, including websites and apps
• Full transparency in their services, including detailed and comprehensive FAQs
• Highly flexible price offerings that you can customize around your needs

Cons

• There is no free trial period, meaning users must purchase a one- or three-month plan immediately

What Customers Love

A search of reviews for Instant Checkmate shows that the site is generally well-regarded on most services. Customers like many of the service's features, including the wide range of sources used for its reports. Customers also clearly appreciate the highly effective customer service.

Specs

Instant Checkmate offers multiple plans. These plans include:

• Person reports: This allows you to access unlimited person reports. You can purchase this plan on a three-month or one-month basis. It is the most comprehensive report on this reverse phone lookup site. It comes with a wide variety of information, including where someone has lived and worked, their educational history if they've ever interacted with the court system, etc.

• Phone reports: This plan allows you to conduct a reverse phone lookup. This specific membership is only available for one month. The information you get includes the name and photo of the person calling you. This plan is less expensive than the full-fledged personal report, allowing users to get additional data.

Learn more about Checkmate

4. Fastest Results: PeopleFinders

PeopleFinders is a lightning-fast and highly accurate free reverse phone lookup website. The home page has an immediate section where you can type in a name, city and state. Some reverse phone lookup sites listed in this article can take up to two or three minutes to generate partial reports. Not PeopleFinders! You will usually get results from the website within a few seconds. 

This website shows the name of the person you searched for, their age, where they live, and where they have lived — all based on public information. You can use this data to immediately conduct a detailed search and determine if this is the person you were looking for.

You can then get a deeper report by signing up, although this is where you will have to break out your credit card and make a payment. The good news is that some data is available without paying with this free reverse phone number lookup service.

PeopleFinders allows you to use thousands of publicly available databases. In fact, the website specifically advertises that it will scroll through 6,000 databases. 

Pros

• Extremely fast results — the quickest of any on this list
• Free options that enable you to see limited data without having to pay
• Wide breadth of databases that ensure accuracy
• Enterprise plans available for conducting many searches

Cons

• The website has many search options available and can be more challenging to navigate than other reverse phone lookup sites on this list

What Customers Love

Customers responded positively to many of the website's services. Customers praise the website for its speed, the information offered and the accuracy of the information found in the reports. The platform's customer service is also consistently commended, with users praising the assistance and support they receive from the team.

Specs

• The regular membership allows you to conduct a people search or reverse phone number search and get contact information, associates, and aliases.
• A premium membership — which is more expensive — includes additional information. Added reporting details include property records, criminal records, civil judgments, and more.
• PeopleFinders also offers an email lookup, which many of the free reverse phone lookups do not typically offer.

Learn more about PeopleFinders

5. Best Plan Variety: Spokeo

Spokeo is a free reverse phone lookup site that allows you to conduct searches based on the information you already have on an individual. The platform enables you to search for additional details by using someone's name, phone number, email address, or home address.

Like other phone number lookup services, it pulls information from property, business and criminal records. It will also scan more than 120 social networks to create a comprehensive report on an individual. Spokeo even asserts that they search "billions" of records to give you the most comprehensive personal details possible.

In addition to their comprehensive background checks, Spokeo offers users the chance to try a "quick search." This function allows you to get limited information on a record, including name, full address, history of addresses lived and family members.

Spokeo also offers additional information beyond what is usually offered on these websites. Their homepage clearly explains how to use the website, including how to do a reverse cell phone lookup search and find a person's phone number by name.

Pros

• Searches comprehensive list of records and databases
• A variety of plans are available
• Trustworthy and well-established lookup service founded in 2006 
• Single report pricing option available 

Cons

• Spokeo doesn't have a mobile app

What Customers Love

Users of Spokeo repeatedly praised its flexibility. A review of Spokeo's user comments reveals a few commonalities. Users appreciate the ability to pay for a single record rather than purchase a one or three-month subscription plan. Some background search features are free, and the website is easy to navigate once you type in a name or address.

Specs

• Spokeo offers many different membership types: you can buy a three-month or one-month plan.
• These plans will give you unlimited searches and access to Spokeo's services.
• The Premium data reports include criminal records.
• A single record search option is available for a fraction of the price of a full plan (this allows you to conduct a reverse phone search).

Learn more about Spokeo

How We Made This List

We developed this list of phone number lookup sites based on a thorough review of a variety of factors, including:

• The features provided by the reverse phone lookup sites, including their speed, the comprehensive nature of the information provided and the types of plans offered.

• An examination of the various features of each website, including accuracy, the information given with each report, speed, customer service, ease of navigation on their website, databases searched and flexibility of price plans. Unique features, such as a mobile phone app, were also noted.

• The reviews of the reverse phone lookup sites that customers made on many different business rating sites, as well as the feedback on these sites gathered from professional organizations, such as the Better Business Bureau.

What is a Reverse Phone Lookup?

A reverse phone lookup service allows individuals to uncover information about phone numbers. This can include identifying the owner of the number, their contact information, and details about the phone number itself.

Phone numbers are checked against numerous professional databases to determine the identity of the person operating the phone line.

With the rise of online scams, many people turn to free reverse phone lookups to protect themselves and their loved ones. The services can work for landline phone numbers and reverse cell phone lookup searches.

These reverse phone lookups have become increasingly popular for identifying unknown or suspicious phone numbers, conducting background checks, and reuniting lost contacts. They also guarantee the most up-to-date information.

How To Choose the Best Free Reverse Phone Lookup Service

Fundamentally, it comes down to what you are looking for. There isn't necessarily a "best" reverse phone lookup site — the best phone number lookup site for you may not be the best one for someone else. As such, you'll have to have a better idea of what you are looking for before you start looking anything up.

The five reverse phone lookup services highlighted above all have their own unique strengths and weaknesses. However, many other services lack the same level of features and benefits.

When searching for a free reverse phone lookup service, you should pay attention to the following factors:

• Accuracy: If a reverse phone number lookup service can't get the basics right — including the owner of a number that called you — they are not worth your business. A reverse phone search must be accurate or there is no point in using it. That's not to say that unknown numbers or callers won't be found occasionally, but if they happen regularly, this is a big red flag.

• Transparency: A free reverse phone lookup service should be clear about what they charge and when you will be charged. They should also clearly state the circumstances under which you can cancel your account and make it as easy as possible for you to do so.

• Affordability: A free reverse phone lookup will always be preferable to one that charges you. However, no service can give you a comprehensive overview for free. You may have to pay for more advanced reverse phone number lookup programs — but these programs should be affordable and reasonably priced.

• Flexibility: Some reverse phone lookup sites offer a variety of packages that can give you access to different levels of data. You should be able to select a package that allows you access to the reverse phone numbers you need and any other ancillary information. Furthermore, you should only pay for the services you need and the programs you use.

• Customer Service: Free phone lookup sites can be confusing. Most reverse phone lookup services also usually have an array of advanced options. Evaluating all those options and figuring out which works best for your needs can become complex. A good reverse phone number lookup should give you access to prompt support when you need it.

What Details Can I Find Out From a Reverse Phone Lookup?

The details you can find from a free reverse lookup ultimately come down to the quality of the website. At a minimum, you should find out who is calling you. However, most websites, including those reviewed above, go much deeper. They provide a variety of personal details, including names, social media accounts, business information, etc.

Most websites also lock their more in-depth content behind a paywall, meaning you generally have to pay to access the more advanced features of a reverse phone lookup site. This includes access to an individual's criminal records, cell phone numbers, reviews of any research, etc.

Unfortunately, conducting a reverse phone lookup with a spam caller can often be impossible. This is because spam callers often use a technique known as spoofing that allows them to falsify the true number from which they are calling.

FAQs

Are free reverse phone websites legal?

Yes. A free reverse phone lookup is legal. However, that is not to say that all reverse phone lookup sites practice within the confines of the law.

Some may make promises that they can allow you access to confidential information. Others may claim that they will enable you to see non-public information. The truth is that most reverse phone lookup sites operate by using algorithms to compile publicly available information.

These websites do not have special access to data and any attempt to imply otherwise is a marketing gimmick. They have the programming expertise to give you access to information that would be extremely difficult and time-consuming to compile on your own.

A free phone reverse lookup can be legally conducted anywhere, including any search engine. However, the reverse phone number lookup you do on a search engine may not be as accurate as the ones performed on any of the reverse phone number sites listed above.

Can someone see when I look them up?

No. A free reverse phone lookup website does not work like a credit inquiry. You do not leave any public record when you search for someone. Depending on the company, your search information may be stored within the database of the free reverse phone lookup company.

Can I see other data protected by privacy laws?

Absolutely not. All free reverse phone lookup organizations use publicly available information.

Giving out private information, like using private pictures or accessing text messages or emails, would violate numerous federal and state laws. As such, it would be a crime punishable by appropriate legal authorities. Most websites are clear: they only give access to the legally available information.

Could I look up this information myself?

You certainly could. There is nothing to stop you from looking up someone's social media accounts, running a free reverse phone search, or looking for someone's publicly available information when all you have is a cell phone number or their name.

The challenge is that finding all this information can be tough. Free reverse phone lookup sites cut out all the trouble of manually looking for this level of detail yourself. If you are trying to conduct a background check on a person and use that for any legally appropriate reason — as determined by the Fair Reporting Credit Act — you can use one of these websites.

Can I use these phone number lookup sites in a professional context?

The answer depends on your specific situation. You can use these websites to garner more information about a person on a personal level. However, using these services in an employment or tenant context can create legal problems.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act explicitly defines when you can use background searches to make employment decisions. For example, some jobs have requirements in terms of criminal history. Then you can use a background check with the applicant's permission to confirm their criminal history. However, an applicant is entitled to certain rights in this scenario, including knowing what information you found and having the opportunity to correct any inaccuracies.

Using these websites to make employment decisions may expose you to certain legal liabilities. Let's say you used the information on any of these websites to screen a job applicant and found information that alerted you to the religious beliefs or sexual orientation of an applicant. Suppose it was ever determined that you had seen this information before making an employment or rental decision. In that case, it could create the impression that you used this information to make decisions that violated protections in state or federal law.

How accurate are free reverse phone lookup websites?

This question can be a very difficult one to answer. Phone number lookup services are typically tied to many public sources and databases. They will usually be able to pull from these sources to give you a comprehensive profile of a person or phone number.

That's not to say that the data you glean from a detailed report will always be accurate. With so much data available, it is easy to imagine situations in which data is either missing, outdated, or reflects the wrong person.

Unfortunately, there is simply no way around these issues. That's why it is so important that you check out reviews and compare the information you get from one of these services against the publicly available information you can find.

Conclusion

Reviews of reverse phone number lookup services reveal a common theme — fear and concern, leading people to use reverse phone lookup to verify their suspicions and protect themselves from being scammed.

Here's the good news — thanks to the many free reverse phone lookup websites available online, you can check out the number who is calling you and ensure that the person on the other line is telling you the truth.

Armed with the data that reverse phone lookup sites provide, you can protect yourself and the people you care about. With their help, you'll easily determine who is calling, whether you should answer or call back, or even conduct a background check on an individual.

So, next time you receive a call from an unknown number, don't let it cause you undue stress or anxiety. Utilize one of these services, regain control over your phone calls, and say goodbye to the guessing game and hello to peace of mind. Give it a try today!