The Best Online Background Check Services of 2023

When it comes to hiring an agency to perform a background check, company reviews suggest that Spokeo provides a top-notch experience. Numbers on their website indicate that they answer around 500,000 search requests a day and service up to 20 million customers a month.

The price structure is clear and gives you more than enough insight into what it is that you’re paying for exactly. Having a basic subscription plan will get you basic information about the person you’re looking for — contact information, location, and additional personal information, most probably from their social media profiles.

Suppose we combine the relatively low price of reports because it is not a CRA approved agency and it doesn’t offer advanced research information. In that case, Spokeo appears to be the best background check site for reconnecting with old friends, relatives, or high school crushes.

While these companies rarely offer this option, a one-time search on Spokeo ($0.95 within the trial period, or $1.95 without one) will provide you with exactly the same information, which certainly makes Spokeo one of the cheapest background check agencies on the market.

However, if you wish to expand your basic search and get historical records and court data, you will have to pay an additional $2.95 for each of these additions.

Instant Checkmate will be your best mate if you’re looking for the best background check for dating. Although the company doesn’t offer one-time purchases, there is a $1 trial period, which is a fair price for a report you need.

As with all background check agencies, your subscription price will depend on the number of months you commit to and the details you need to be researched.

If you opt for Basic reports, you will get the usual paid report content: date of birth, address, license information, phone numbers, family names, arrest records, social media profiles, and sex offenders nearby, which might be a good option if you want to do best background check for your boyfriend.

Upgrading to Premium Reports will give you additional information concerning one’s permits, properties, and even neighbors.

Overall, the service Instant Checkmate provides is truly a great value for money, since they are among the less expensive agencies out there. It’s up to you to decide how much information you need.

The only downside we managed to find is that it takes around 10 minutes to fully load a search. The waiting time isn’t indicated on the website, but it should be mentioned, as it can look like the page needs to be refreshed or that something stopped working.

For over 30 years, InfoMart has been among the top-rated background check companies, conducting business in 200+ countries through qualified local experts. Their website indicates that they are compliant with FCRA and the Background Screening Credentialing Council, making them the best background check for employers. These credentials mean that InfoMart follows all legal procedures in obtaining information.

Their services range from social media searches and criminal histories to screening sanction lists and audits for employers across 11 industries (automotive, finance, retail, education, transportation, healthcare, food services, etc.).

While it is a tremendous competitive advantage that all their reports are revised and composed by real people, this leaves space for a slow delay in report delivery and longer wait times for more specific research needs.

Although most background check agencies offer an insight into criminal records, if you need a verified, up-to-date criminal background check, you should definitely hire a CRA-verified agency.

At InfoMart, the watch lists are checked by a certified team of experts, ensuring that the information you paid for is not mismatched or subjected to the statute of limitations, thus being entirely irrelevant for the hiring process.

On the not so bright side, their website offers no information on trial periods or additional fees that might apply, making it hard to make any definite decisions.

InfoTracer generates some of the most extensive background check reports in the industry. It gives easy access to public records and criminal histories.

Premium members also get detailed criminal records, licenses, and permits issued to the subject’s name. If you are keen on doing a background check this detailed, $19.95 is a reasonable sum.

One of the positive sides is a fully functional app you can use if you need reports on the go. It gives you the same experience while browsing on your home computer. It may not sound like much, but you’d be surprised how rare this is and why working apps are a feature of the best online background check sites.

The catch is that even though both a one-time purchase and a monthly subscription cost $19.95, the subscription gives you access to an unlimited number of searches and features to customize every single report you may need.

Even though some of the information regarding the terms of use remain undisclosed on their website, the company seems to be quite open and invested in educating its buyers on the legal uses of the information they can obtain through the reports.

Other than that, their website is user-friendly and offers various research options to customize the experience. Together with the user reviews that praise accurate and up-to-date results, these make an excellent argument for hitting the subscribe button.

Going through the background check company reviews, we encountered some that indicate that the reports include information on zodiac signs and its compatibility with the customer’s sign. This is a unique feature among the sites we have reviewed, and even if you don’t believe in the zodiac, it can be an entertaining read.

Subscription prices are in the middle of what is offered in the market, making TruthFinder affordable. That being said, you still have to pay $2 every time you wish to download the report, as downloading isn’t included in the subscription.

Moreover, while most online background check services actively work on increasing the impact of their marketing statistics, thus featuring dramatic pop-ups, TruthFinder is going over the top by far. While you wait for your report, you get at least a dozen pop-ups and disclaimers warning you that there is ‘shocking’ information waiting for you inside.

Doing an Intelius background check review is a bit of a challenge, given that their company is at the very top for almost 20 years now. Despite not being an FCRA compliant agency, Intelius has access to over 20 billion public records and provides services ranging from basic people searches and reverse phone identification to exhaustive background check reports.

The company provides highly customized services through seven different subscription plans and offers a one-time purchase to provide a report for customers who don’t want to pay for subscriptions.

However, this is the most expensive option and will cost you $39.95 even though the Premier Plus subscription plan costs $29.95.

Doing an Intelius background check will provide you with a report more detailed than almost any review you can get elsewhere. In addition to the information usually found in these reports, the company includes visual data, and even provides free basic searches.

The only downside to an otherwise perfect situation is that reports cannot be downloaded, regardless of whether it is a free or paid option.

Although there are instances of user-reported inaccuracies in submitted reports, it is rare. The company never faced accusations concerning privacy violations or similar trespasses, which can be considered a success for a company in this business for 17 years.

Being listed among the top-rated FCRA and NAPBS compliant agencies, Intelifi is certainly among those employment background check companies you might want to consider as your partner in the hiring process. Their reports are exhaustive but precise and always checked by real employees, i.e., not simply generated by computers.

Their total turnaround time spans two hours at most. It may sound like a lot of time in an industry where companies offer instant results, but this is a very short time to access the criminal databases the company owns.

The technology behind Intelifi is undoubtedly its greatest strength. The platform is simplified, intuitive, and enables users to start even the most complex searches independently, all under a custom AI engine in charge of minimizing human errors.

Intelifi keeps hitting all lists of the best background check services due to its databases that cover all 50 US states. Apart from criminal records, people searches, and the sex offender registry (which most agencies offer), they screen employment and education, drug tests, and even run federal FBI checks.

Accurate is the only service on our list of the best online background check sites that includes a setup fee, aside from its already pricey subscription deals. In addition to the Basic ($29.95) and Standard ($59.95) package, the company offers a Premium ($74.95) deal that gives you the possibility of conducting the most complex of searches.

The Premium subscription deal includes Global Watch scanning, verification of identity, education and employment history, as well as the subject’s address history.

As expensive as it may seem, paying for the Global Watch will enable your business to comply with all legal demands of the USA Patriot Act, OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control), and the Bank Secrecy Act almost effortlessly.

Performing a background check review can sometimes be a bit confusing though. In the case of Accurate, it is a seemingly endless stream of unclear follow-up emails and confusing documents.

Apart from the subscription plan and the setup fee, the platform offers various add-ons for $5–$10 to get some additional information, depending on the industry you are searching for.

GoodHire is certainly the closest to the instant background check you can get out there. Most of the searches are performed in under a minute, regardless of what you’re searching for. The only exception seems to be the information on civil convictions, which can take a day or two to be completed.

The company offers three different subscription deals: Basic ($29.99), Standard ($54.99) and Premium ($79.99). However, no matter which package you subscribe to, it covers only up to 25 reports a year. For over 25 background checks per year, you can get a custom quote.

The American-based company is frequently listed as the best background check service for employers, but the truth is that its platform is optimized for both employers and future employees.

GoodHire also offers a chance to dispute if any of the results turn out to be untrue, but the dispute rate seems to be virtually non-existent.

Screenings cover about a dozen industries (including tech and healthcare) and provide clients with information on the candidate’s criminal records, identity and credit checks, as well as any existing drug relations.

If you need an extensive background check, you should consider BeenVerified; they extract information from all levels of public criminal records, including the FBI data, census data, court records, and social media accounts. They deliver comprehensive and clear reports with minimal user-reported inaccuracies.

Since its beginnings in 2007, this website has grown to be one of the most popular, with 10 million users a month and collecting $100,000 in subscriptions. The site offers different useful research tools that can be customized to suit individual needs for every search.

Furthermore, BeenVerified is one of the rare background check companies with highly-efficient, responsive customer care for all kinds of problems.

One of the best things about BeenVerified is most certainly that it is one of the best cheap background check services out there. You can pay a monthly $24.86 subscription or a three months’ subscription that comes with a significant discount, costing you only $14.86 a month.

The pricing model is straightforward, with all its elements and terms of use clearly explained on the company’s website.

Keep in mind that both subscription plans offer the exact same features — unlimited searches and reports. If you think there is a possibility that your need for background checks will last for more than a month, choose the three-month option. Savings are significant!