Start with what you are searching for
The clearest way to sort this group is by the job you are doing. Intelius, PeopleLooker, WhitePages and Instant Checkmate sit in the people search category, where a free search is a stated yes for Intelius, PeopleLooker and WhitePages, and a no for Instant Checkmate. TransUnion SmartMove and Yoti sit elsewhere, and it shows in the details.
Price: the number that separates the group
Prices here come in two shapes, and mixing them up is the most common mistake. A subscription price buys access to the service, while a report price buys a single piece of work on one person.
Across the services we track, report prices run €0.88 to €39.46 and subscription prices run €0.83 to €60.51. Those are the full spans, so use them to see where a brand sits, not as a quote.
Inside that span, WhitePages lists a subscription price of $5.99 to $119.99 on a budget pricing model, and its tiered structure means the top of the range costs several times the bottom. Instant Checkmate is tighter, at $28.38 to $35.47, so the plan you pick matters less than the fact that there is no entry point. PeopleLooker splits the two: $1 for a single report against $24.99 for a subscription.
Two brands price a one-off job rather than a membership. TransUnion SmartMove charges $25 per report, which suits a single screening, and it has no free search. Yoti has a free search, so the cost conversation starts later in the process. Read the Background check and people search rankings for the full price picture before you commit.
Free search: a genuine filter
A free search tells you how a service lets you explore before paying. Intelius, PeopleLooker, WhitePages and Yoti all offer one. Instant Checkmate and TransUnion SmartMove do not, which means every lookup is a paid one.
This matters more for occasional users than for regular ones. If you need a single answer about one person, a free search to sample the results can be worth more than a cheaper paid tier. If you are running repeated lookups, prioritise the subscription price instead. The Intelius and PeopleLooker reviews show how the free search behaves in practice for each.
Opt-out and regulatory posture
Record opt-out is a yes for Intelius, PeopleLooker, WhitePages and Instant Checkmate, so each offers a route for someone who wants their details removed. That is a baseline expectation rather than a differentiator in this group.
Regulatory status does separate them. TransUnion SmartMove is the one service here with a stated yes on FCRA compliance, which carries weight for anyone doing tenant or employment screening. Intelius, PeopleLooker, WhitePages and Instant Checkmate all carry a stated no on that measure. For housing decisions, the TransUnion SmartMove review is the one to read.
Where each brand is registered
Jurisdiction shapes what a service can actually find for you. WhitePages and Instant Checkmate are both registered in the US, and Instant Checkmate operates as Instant Checkmate, LLC. WhitePages operates as Whitepages, Inc.
Yoti is registered in the GB as Yoti Ltd, and SenteLink is registered in the UG. If you need records from outside the country a brand is registered in, check that it actually covers your target before paying. The WhitePages and Instant Checkmate reviews both spell out the scope of their US data.
Support: reach when a search goes wrong
Support is the section most people read last and need first. Instant Checkmate and Intelius lead on reach, with phone, chat, help-centre and email all available. PeopleLooker and Yoti offer phone, email and a help-centre, while WhitePages and TransUnion SmartMove are narrower with phone and a help-centre.
SenteLink offers email, phone, chat and a help-centre, so reach is not the reason to rule it out. Yoti also has a founding year of 2014, and WhitePages was founded in 1997, which gives you a sense of how long each has been operating.
A short checklist before you pay
Decide whether you need a membership or a single report, then check whether the service offers a free search to sample results. Confirm you are in the right jurisdiction for the person you are searching. If the search is for housing or employment, weigh the regulatory posture, not just the price. Then check the support channels, because a failed search still needs a route to a person.