Looking for the best one-time background check service? We’ve put together a list of the very best based on criteria such as:

  • Information quantity and quality
  • Features
  • Value
  • Customer support
  • Legal transparency

We also explain how we selected and reviewed these background check services to help you make the right choice. We also include tips on how to find the best background check service and plenty of other relevant information.

Read on to learn more about the top one-time background check companies in our extensive guide!

The Top 10 One-Time Background Check Companies

Here are our top ten best background check services and a short description of their strengths:

  1. Intelius – Top choice for one-time background checks
  2. InfoTracer – The best pick for accuracy
  3. Spokeo – The best budget-friendly background check option
  4. GoodHire – Ideal for pre-employment checks
  5. TruthFinder – Includes a dark web scan
  6. Instant Checkmate – Top choice for criminal background searches
  7. USSearch.com – Best for tenant screening
  8. BeenVerified – Best background search app for mobile
  9. PeopleFinders – Excellent choice for dating checks
  10. PeopleLooker – Ideal for personal background checks

This selection is based on several stringent criteria, as mentioned above. Read on to learn why these services beat the competition.

Reviews of the Top One-Time Background Check Companies

Here’s a closer look at our ten best background check services:

1. Intelius

Best background check service overall

Intelius is our top pick for the best background check firm. Accurate, reliable, and affordable, it is an especially good background check service for conducting personal research.

Intelius provides an extensive range of data in its results. Reports include everything from personal information and social media profiles to relationships and relatives, address history, phone numbers, and even criminal records.

Watch for deals on the company’s Premier Plus plan. It is usually priced at $29.95, but it occasionally goes for $14.95.

You could also conduct a one-time people search and a reverse phone lookup for $0.95. Statewide criminal records are considerably more expensive at $19.95.

2. InfoTracer

Best for: Accuracy

InfoTracer is our top pick for accuracy. It is also one of the cheapest one-time background check services around, which is always a plus.

For just under $4, you get a 7-day unlimited pass with unlimited reports. This background check site even has a deep web search feature, which is ideal for finding out whether your identity has been compromised.

A one-time report costs $19.95, the same as its monthly subscription. You can also try the background check company for five days for $2.95.

3. Spokeo

Best for: Budget-friendly background check option

Spokeo stands out for the sheer breadth of its data, pulling from over 12 billion records and 65+ social media platforms, so it can surface details competitors often miss, including profiles for people located outside the US and searches by social media username alone. Reports typically come back in under five minutes thanks to real-time data pulls rather than cached results, which is handy when you need information fast.

Spokeo runs on a subscription model rather than a true one-time fee: you can start with a 7-day trial for $0.95, then plans run roughly $17.95–$22.95 a month depending on the term you choose, with a separate a la carte fee for premium record types like court, criminal, or historical records. One thing worth flagging for readers: the trial auto-renews into a full membership, so it’s worth noting the cancellation window rather than implying it’s a no-strings one-time purchase.

4. GoodHire

Best for: Pre-employment verification

Employers who need to run background checks on prospective applicants’ employment and criminal history should check out GoodHire. In addition to being the best background check site for employment verification, education verification, drug screening, and credit checks, it is also one of the few FCRA-approved options.

GoodHire offers a pretty extensive range of search types. You can find everything from credit histories to civil court backgrounds, social media, education and employment history, and even drug, sex offense, and criminal records.

What GoodHire doesn’t have is a free trial period or money-back guarantee. You can perform a basic check for $29.99 or run a more detailed check for $54.99. A premium check costs $79.99.

5. TruthFinder

Best for: Dark web scans

In terms of features, TruthFinder comes out on top. It offers a comprehensive range of features, including dark web monitoring and reverse phone lookup.

Its easy-to-use interface makes it simple to unearth personal and social media information, family members, address history, property records, and even criminal records and civil judgment histories.

TruthFinder is also easy to use, relying on only a few search parameters to find the information you’re looking for from criminal records, court registers, and other sources. The results are also consistently accurate, as you’d expect from a reputable background checker.

A monthly membership with TruthFinder costs $30. You could also sign up for a 3-month plan at $26 per month. Both plans offer unlimited reports.

6. Instant Checkmate

Best for: Criminal background searches

Instant Checkmate has an A+ rating from the BBB, which reflects its accuracy and reliability for criminal background checks. Instant Checkmate offers a wide range of public information search features, with many search parameters to explore someone’s criminal history or financial records.

Instant Checkmate lets you run a thorough background check on search subjects by typing their names. You can also perform email and social media searches, check phone numbers and family members, look up criminal records, and even sex offenses.

Although Instant Checkmate doesn’t offer free background checks, you can try out the service for five days for only a dollar. You can also perform a one-time search for $19.99 or sign up for a monthly subscription for $22.86.

7. USSearch.com

Best for: Tenant screening

US Search is another background check service that offers an extensive range of features. The site provides multiple search options, and results are more accurate and reliable than most background check services.

US Search is especially suitable for tenant screening and performing criminal and property searches. Criminal reports are detailed and data-rich yet laid out remarkably well.

The site doesn’t offer a free trial period, and one-time background searches are a bit expensive at $39.95. But you can do a much more affordable basic people search for only $2.45.

8. BeenVerified

Best for: Mobile searches

BeenVerified is the best background check service for mobile devices. The app is well laid out and extremely easy to use, allowing for a surprisingly wide range of search types.

Highlights include username search and vehicle lookup, both of which provide consistently accurate results. The service also lets you find an extensive range of other data by typing in names, addresses, phone numbers, and social media details.

You can use BeenVerified for a one-time background check, but you’ll need a membership plan to see the results. A one-month membership costs $26.89, while a three-month membership costs $52.44, or $17.48 per month.

9. PeopleFinders

Best for: Dating checks

For dating checks, few services compare to PeopleFinders. Of course, you can use it for many other types of searches as well, and you always get detailed results.

PeopleFinders gathers information from more than 43 billion public records and over 6,000 data sources. Its extensive network of data sources ensures accurate and verifiable results every time.

You can perform one-time background checks with PeopleFinders via their affordable trial periods. A standard plan trial costs only $0.95, while a premium plan trial costs $3.95. You could also sign up for a monthly membership for $24.95 per month (standard) and $29.95 per month (premium).

10. PeopleLooker

Best for: Personal background checks

PeopleLooker is possibly the easiest background check service around. The site is extremely well laid out, and it’s clear a lot of effort went into ensuring a smooth, streamlined user experience.

All the essential search features for doing your own background checks are available, and search results are periodically updated with the latest civil records information. Processing times can be a bit long, but the comprehensiveness of the background report makes it worth the wait

PeopleLooker doesn’t offer a free one-time background check. But you can try out the service for five days for only a dollar. Monthly membership costs $22.86, while a three-month membership costs $18.28 per month.

How We Selected the Best One-Time Background Check Sites

Here’s how we settled on the background check services in this rundown:

We first did an extensive internet search for background check websites and services. We then did a quick but thorough review of review sites to see which ones consistently ranked.

This was no small feat. There are literally hundreds of background check services out there, and most seem to offer pretty much the same features and functionality. Still, a few stood out and consistently topped the lists.

Next, we signed up for accounts with about twenty of the best background check services. This was the hard part. We tested each one thoroughly to see if they delivered on their promises. Some did and made our top ten list; others fell short.

We also went back and read more detailed reviews to see if customer experiences supported our findings. Those that consistently received favorable reviews were among our top picks. We then shortlisted these and included them in our top ten list.

Throughout our tests, we weighed each service’s value from an end-user standpoint. Although we noted the technical and legal aspects of each service, we focused on how helpful each would be to the user.

Ultimately, we made our selection based on the following criteria:

  • Information accuracy
  • User-friendliness
  • Value for money
  • Customer service quality

What to Look for in One-Time Background Check Sites

Most background check sites offer very similar services, so it can be difficult to choose the right one for your needs. And considering that many charge a fee even for trial periods, it is essential to know what to look for when doing preliminary research.

Consider the following when choosing a background check site:

Accuracy

Accurate data is the bare minimum a background check site should provide. After all, what good is a search service if the background report is incomplete, inaccurate, or collected from out-of-date public records? Thankfully, all the services reviewed here have excellent reputations for accuracy.

Search Options

A good background check service lets you search for a person using different criteria. Most sites allow you to type in a person’s name to generate a comprehensive background check report.

But what if you only have a phone number, address, or social media profile? The best sites offer multiple search types for phone records, court records, medical records, social media accounts, and other public records.

Speed

How quickly a site returns reports can be crucial. In some cases, you may need to run background screenings or credit checks on a potential employee or tenant quickly, which means you can’t afford to wait hours for background check reports. The best sites give you results in just a few minutes.

Cost

Background checking services vary widely in cost. Some charge only a few cents for a trial period or forego the trial fee altogether. Monthly rates can range from $5 to $11 a month, which may matter if you need to run regular searches.

Legality

The legality of background reports is a touchy subject, so we’ll delve into it in more detail.

Background checks for a criminal record might seem like a standard part of screening a tenant or interviewing a prospective employee. But sometimes checking a person’s criminal history or arrest records is inappropriate and even illegal.

The main issue with running a background check is that it can run afoul of a federal law known as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

FCRA essentially governs the collection, dissemination, and usage of consumer data. It is intended to ensure fairness and accuracy in matters involving specific persons. FCRA ensures that any data gathered when you run a background check won’t adversely affect a person’s ability to obtain the following:

  • Employment
  • Medical services
  • Consumer credit
  • Insurance and banking services
  • Housing

FCRA and Pre-Employment Background Checks

Knowledge of the FCRA is especially critical when running pre-employment background checks. The law states that prospective employers can’t deny a position based on information discovered through an online background check service, social media accounts, or other data sources.

Misinformation isn’t the only issue. Anyone subject to a background check has the right to refute any findings and conduct their own investigation to clear their name. But they shouldn’t have to do that when applying for a job, getting insurance, or renting an apartment.

The FCRA essentially protects prospective employees from being penalized for information that may no longer be accurate or relevant. For example, if they have already settled their debts, employers shouldn’t use court records to reject them for a company position.

Furthermore, the FCRA doesn’t consider background check sites as Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs). As a result, most can’t be used to determine an individual’s eligibility for employment, insurance, credit, or tenancy.

Legal Use of Background Checks

Background check services can serve legitimate purposes. But you should always consider fairness and compliance with federal law, particularly the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

How can you ensure the legality of background checks you conduct on someone? First, rely only on information you get from a consumer reporting agency or an FCRA-compliant background check service.

Using either service ensures you don’t use irrelevant or unlawful information that could harm the search subject. These include:

  • Misdemeanor criminal records from seven or more years ago
  • Bankruptcy records from ten or more years ago
  • Unpaid tax liens from seven or more years ago
  • Account collections from seven or more years ago
  • Inaccurate and wrongful accusations

The second way to ensure a background check is legal is to always get permission before running one. This helps you avoid a potentially costly lawsuit.

It is also advisable to present the search subject with a disclosure signifying adverse action. This should explain the planned action and include a statement of FCRA compliance.

Accompany the disclosure with an adverse action notice. This notice should include the background check service’s company name, address, and phone number.

Finally, consider sending the subject a notice of dispute. This gives them the opportunity to clarify possible errors or issues in the report. For example, they could prove they were acquitted of a particular charge or clear up multiple reports involving a single case.

Conclusion

Background check services can be valuable resources for identity verification. Employers, landlords, insurance investigators, law enforcement personnel, professional background screeners, and anyone seeking background information, contact details, or arrest records for a particular person can use them.

One-time background check services are especially useful for those who need to conduct background searches only occasionally. They are more cost-effective than monthly site subscriptions, and the comprehensive report can be just as effective.

Any of the services reviewed here should help you find the results you are looking for. Whether you want background information on yourself or someone else, education history, previous addresses, contact details, or criminal records for a prospective tenant, employee, or even a date, these services should help your research.

Contact EraseMugshots Today

If you’ve run a background check on yourself—or worry a prospective employer, financial services group, or individual will find your personal details during a background check—we can help.

If you need help removing sensitive personal information online, act now. Contact us now to learn how to remove your information online with our proven background check service.  We also provide a cutting-edge reputation monitoring service to help you stay abreast of emerging threats in the digital environment.

Learn more about how to remove harmful content online by calling 866-601-6803 . If you need help protecting your privacy online, contact us now.