Nobody wants to pay $25 a month only to discover the reports are garbage. That’s why a free trial background check matters so much. You get to kick the tires before handing over your credit card.
I’ve tested more of these services than I’d like to admit, and the difference between good and bad ones becomes obvious within minutes.
Some platforms promise a free trial but hide anything useful behind upgrade buttons. Others actually let you search, dig through reports, and decide if the data is worth paying for.
These days, 96% of employers run checks, and regular people have started using them too, whether to screen a new roommate or check out a Tinder match. Here are five services that won’t waste your trial period.
Top 5 Best Background Check Services With a Trial
Each service below offers some form of trial access, though the terms vary. I tested them by running the same searches and comparing what information actually appeared during the trial period versus after payment.
1. Searqle
Searqle offers a free trial background search for $0.99 that lasts three days. You can run up to five searches during this time and get reports that include criminal records, address history, employment history, and social media profiles. The platform pulls data from over 1.3 billion publicly available records.
Pros:
- Low trial cost of under $1
- Full access to reports during the trial window
- Anonymous searches that don’t notify the person being checked
Cons:
- US records only
Best for: Parents who want to test the platform’s depth before subscribing and anyone who needs a quick one-time check.
2. NumLookup (Free Basic)
NumLookup takes a different approach by letting you do basic searches for free without a trial period. You don’t need to make an account or give your payment information to look up a phone number and get the owner’s name, carrier information, and location.
More than 3 million people use the platform every month to quickly find out who is calling.
Pros:
- No payment information required for basic searches
- Instant results without registration
- Private searches that aren’t logged
Cons:
- Limited to phone number lookups
- No criminal records or background reports on free tier
- VoIP numbers often return incomplete data
Best for: Quick caller identification when you just need a name attached to a phone number.
3. Spokeo 7-Day Trial
Spokeo offers a 7-day free trial background check for $0.95, which gives you access to their database of over 12 billion records. The trial lets you search for people, look up phone numbers, search for emails, and get basic background reports.
Stanford graduates started Spokeo in 2006, and it has since become one of the most well-known names in background checks.
Pros:
- Full week to test the service
- Strong social media tracking across 120+ networks
- Reports pull together contact info, locations, and online profiles
Cons:
- Court and criminal records cost extra beyond the basic subscription
- Renews at $24.95/month automatically
- Some users report outdated information in reports
Best for: Finding someone’s online presence and social media activity across multiple platforms.
4. CocoFinder Basic Free
CocoFinder provides free preview searches that show you what information is available before you pay for a full report. The background report free trial approach lets you see a summary, while detailed data requires a subscription. The platform links to public records from all 50 states and gives you results in a matter of minutes.
Pros:
- Free preview shows data availability before payment
- Searches stay anonymous and aren’t stored
- Reports can include photos and family connections
Cons:
- Full reports require a paid subscription
- Urban areas return better results than rural locations
- Not authorized for employment screening
Best for: Checking whether a service has data on someone before committing to payment.
5. TruthFinder $1 Trial
TruthFinder offers a $1 dollar free trial background check that runs for 5 days with unlimited searches. The platform has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and processes over 9.5 million searches monthly. You can access criminal records, contact information, social media profiles, and address history during that trial.
Pros:
- Unlimited searches during the 5-day trial
- Detailed reports with visual relationship mapping
- Dark web monitoring included on some plans
Cons:
- Renews at $29.89/month if not cancelled
- Reports take several minutes to generate
- Phone cancellation required during business hours
Best for: Users who need to run multiple searches quickly and want detailed reports on each person.
Read Also: 7 Best Websites to Perform Background Check by Phone Number
Trial vs Full Report: What’s the Difference
Think of a background report free trial as a test drive, not the whole ownership experience. It lets you see what a service has to offer before you decide if it’s right for you. A full subscription lets you use all of the service’s features.
Most trials only show you the basics, but a paid plan goes much deeper.
| Feature | Trial Access | Full Subscription |
| Basic Contact Info | ✅ | ✅ |
| Address History | ✅ | ✅ |
| General Public Records | ✅ | ✅ |
| Criminal/Court Records | ❌ | ✅ |
| Detailed Employment History | ❌ | ✅ |
| Property Ownership Data | ❌ | ✅ |
| Ongoing Monitoring Alerts | ❌ | ✅ |
Note: Some services, like Spokeo, might charge extra for court records even with a paid membership.
So, what’s the point of a trial? It lets you see if the service is a good fit. You can check out the user interface, see how quickly you get results, and confirm if it has information on the people you’re searching for.
The trial also shows you how reports are laid out, which is important if you plan to use the service regularly to check on new contacts or people you meet online.
What Is a Searqle Trial Offer
Want to know more about Searqle? You can get a three-day $1 dollar free trial background check, during which you can run up to five searches in all of their databases. You will have full access to the same reports that paid subscribers do, such as background checks, phone lookups, and more.
You can look up criminal records, sex offender registry results, and social media profiles for anyone in Searqle’s huge US database during your trial. You can get a report in seconds by entering a name or phone number. Searqle will search its 1.3 billion records.
Is the trial right for you? It’s a great tool for parents wanting to check on their kids’ new friends or for anyone using dating apps. It lets you check out several people and decide if the service is worth the monthly subscription.
Typical Mistakes to Avoid in Trials
What is the worst thing about background check trials? Let me name a few:
Forgetting to Cancel Before the Trial Ends
Almost all services automatically renew, and when the trial period ends, your card will be charged $20 to $35. Set a reminder in your calendar for the day before your trial ends to avoid this. It’s easy to avoid surprise charges.
Giving up Too Soon
Another mistake people make is thinking that a free trial background check service is bad because it doesn’t work well in trials. If a report shows little data, it could be because the person you looked up doesn’t have a lot of digital footprints.
Instead, try looking for yourself or someone you know well. You can check the accuracy this way against information that has been confirmed.
Read the cancellation policy
Some services let you cancel online, but others only let you do it by phone during business hours. TruthFinder, for instance, needs phone cancellations between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Pacific time, which surprises a lot of users.
Finally, don’t think that all trials give you the same level of access. Some show full reports, while others hide important information like criminal records behind paywalls, even during trials.
Read Also: 8 Best Cheap Background Check Websites Worth Your Money
FAQ
Services like That’sThem and NumLookup really do offer free basic lookups for phone numbers and other contact information. You will need to pay for a service or trial to get full background reports with criminal records. You can search for specific counties on free county court websites, but it takes a long time.
No. Searqle, Spokeo, and TruthFinder are examples of background check services that do anonymous searches. The person who is being searched does not get any notice. You don’t need permission to use these platforms for personal use because they only use information that is already available to the public.
Your payment method is charged the full monthly subscription fee. Most services don’t give refunds for the first billing cycle after a trial. If this happens, call customer service right away because some companies make exceptions for first-time charges. When you sign up for a trial, set a phone reminder for yourself.
Conclusion
Free trial background check periods let you try out people search services without spending a lot of money. If you only need to do a few searches, Searqle’s $0.99 trial is a good deal. You can use NumLookup and CocoFinder for free to do basic lookups without having to sign up.
Before the trial ends, make sure to read the cancellation terms, set a reminder, and try out the service by looking up someone whose information you can verify. This way, you get something useful out of the trial and don’t have any surprise charges on your card.
