Dating-safety watchdog · compared
Dating background checks, compared
These are the services people reach for to “check” a match. They cost $20–$37 a month and look authoritative — so we ranked 6 of them on what the affiliate roundups skip: whether you can legally use them, how accurate the data is, and the documented dark patterns. Fewer dark patterns = better grade.
6 are not consumer reporting agencies (so screening with them can break the FCRA) · 3 carry an FTC penalty · and the one honest, dating-native option folded in 2023. We take no money from any of them and run none of their affiliate links.
| Service | From | Legal to screen? | Accuracy | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Catfish Social Catfish (Murrieta, CA) · Reverse-image check | $5.73 | no legal screening | Mixed | D |
| Intelius PeopleConnect, Inc. · People-search | ≈$24.86/month(gated) | no legal screening | Unverified | E |
| BeenVerified The Lifetime Value Co. (LTV) · People-search | ≈$36.89/month(gated) | no legal screening | Unverified | F |
| Instant Checkmate PeopleConnect, Inc. · People-search | ≈$29.89/month(gated) | no legal screening | Unverified | F |
| Spokeo Spokeo, Inc. · People-search | $0.95 | no legal screening | Mixed | F |
| TruthFinder PeopleConnect, Inc. · People-search | ≈$28.33/month(gated) | no legal screening | Unverified | F |
The grade reflects documented dark patternsonly — FTC findings, deceptive “criminal record” teasers, $0.95/$1 trials that auto-renew, gated pricing, data-broker resale — credited back for genuine protections. It is not a measure of data quality (the “Accuracy” column is) and a higher grade is not an endorsement. People-search prices are gated behind a search and discount-tested, so “From” figures are dated, secondary, and flagged where gated. Figures observed 2026-06-08. See methodology.
Before you pay any of them
For checking a date, a free reverse-image search, your county's public court records, the dating app's own verification and a quick video call cover most of what people actually need — at $0, and without joining a data broker you can't legally screen with. See the free checks →
Keep digging