Instant Checkmate vs US Search Comparison

Instant Checkmate is a fresh face in the background check industry but was founded by the same people who brought us TruthFinder and clearly uses its experience well. US Search on the other hand has been around for more than 20 years, and so the question stands: which one is better, the newcomer or the veteran? Instant Checkmate boasts numerous customer-friendly features, while US Search has a vast library of knowledge on how to collect data from public records. Even so, one of them has a definite advantage over the other…

Beside this slow processing, Instant Checkmate’s only other flaw is the segmented – and rather expensive – pricing structure. By paying $34.78 per month you will receive unlimited access to the standard reports, which covers about two thirds of the report. If you wish to see data on the subject’s bankruptcies, liens and permits then an additional $19.95 must be paid per report. In exchange for your money you’ll receive top-quality reports that can be downloaded as a PDF as well as the privilege of doing background checks from your smartphone.

Unfortunately, US Search has very little else to offer other than the main ability to perform a background search from an internet browser. It lacks a desktop client or a smartphone app and it remains cryptic about the ins and outs of the actual search, making the service difficult for first-time users. On the plus side, all information that is handled by the site is protected by a 128-bit encryption key. As for the pricing, you can choose between a monthly membership of $19.95 per month or pay separately for each report, which ranges from $2.45 to huge $39.95.

When compared side by side, Instant Checkmate has a definite leg up over US Search. Even though the latter is equally capable of collecting data from public records, it lacks some of the features that would make the venture more convenient for the user. Instant Checkmate is available on smartphones, the reports are organized to emphasize easy readability and the reports can also be downloaded as PDF. The only positive is that US Search lets you pay separately for reports without the need to subscribe and it features a sample for each of the report types to build your expectations from. Pricing-wise, Instant Checkmate is more cost-effective in the long run, while US Search is the better deal if you only need one background report.