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FaceSearch vs Social Catfish
Social Catfish is a US people-search service: you search by name, phone, email, username, address or image and buy a report. Its image search uses face matching rather than file matching. FaceSearch is a face search engine only: one photo in, public pages with that face out, free to start and $5 a week with every link. They overlap on dating checks and differ on everything else.
First search free. No account needed. Updated November 6, 2026 by The FaceSearch Team. Prices checked on November 6, 2026.
Pick Social Catfish if you want a report that ties a name, phone number or email to other records, and you are in the US. Pick FaceSearch if your question is where a face appears on the public web, you want to start free without an account, and you do not want a monthly people-search subscription.
At a glance
| FaceSearch | Social Catfish | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A face search engine | A people-search service with reports; image search is one input |
| What is matched | The face in the photo, against public web pages | The face in the photo, against its own image sources, plus records by name, phone, email, username and address |
| Price for ten searches | Two Starter weeks at $5 each, or part of Daily Pro at $20 a month | A low-cost trial followed by a monthly subscription; prices are shown on its site after a search starts, see socialcatfish.com on November 6, 2026 |
| Free tier | First search free with no account; Free plan adds 2 credits, links locked | A search runs free; results and reports are behind the trial or a subscription |
| Account needed | No for the first search | Yes to see results |
| Deep search | On every paid plan | No equivalent; reports pull from additional record sources instead |
| Source links on the free tier | Locked; open on any paid plan | Not shown free |
| Apps | iOS and Android | Web, plus a Chrome extension for image search |
| API | None | None listed |
| Removal flow | Free, by email with a photo of your face | Opt-out of records through its site |
| Region availability | Every region we serve | Built around US records; image search works anywhere, record searches are US-centred |
| Index note | Public web pages, faces only | Image sources plus public records and data-broker style sources behind reports |
| Billing terms | Weekly or monthly, cancel any time | Trial then recurring subscription; some report types carry extra fees per its own pricing |
Two different products that meet on one question
The question both get asked is "is the person on this dating profile real?" Social Catfish answers it with a report: run the photo, the name or the phone number, and see what records and profiles connect to it. FaceSearch answers it with public pages: run the photo and see where that face appears, under what names, in what context. The report is broader and slower and costs a subscription; the face search is narrower, faster and free to start. Our catfish check guide shows how to read a face search result for exactly this situation.
Social Catfish's own marketing says its image search uses facial recognition rather than file matching, which puts it in the same category as FaceSearch for photos and ahead of Google Lens or TinEye for finding a different photo of the same person. It also runs a large scam-education blog and sells reports by name, phone, email, username and address, which FaceSearch does not do at all.
Where Social Catfish wins
- Non-photo searches. Phone number, email address, username, name and address lookups, each returning a report. FaceSearch searches faces only.
- Connecting the dots. A report can tie a profile photo to a phone number and a name in one place. FaceSearch gives you pages; you do the connecting.
- Scam education. Its Scamfish blog is one of the largest guides to romance and catfish scams on the web.
- US records. For a US-based person, the record sources behind its reports add context no face search has.
- A browser extension for image search from any page.
Where FaceSearch wins
- Free to start, no account. Drop a photo on the search page and see ranked matches. Social Catfish shows results behind a trial.
- No recurring people-search subscription. A $5 Starter week with every source link, or $20 a month for daily use; cancel any time.
- Works outside the US. Face search over the public web does not depend on US records.
- Deep search for a wider pass when the first search finds little.
- Apps on iOS and Android.
- Scope you can explain. A FaceSearch result is a public page with a similar face. A people-search report mixes sources of varying quality, and reports of this kind are not background checks and must not be used for employment, tenant, credit or insurance decisions, a rule that applies to FaceSearch results too; see acceptable use.
Pricing in detail
FaceSearch: first search free without an account; a free account with two credits and locked links; Starter $5 a week with five normal and three deep searches, all links unlocked; Daily Pro $20 a month with 25 normal searches a day, 15 deep searches, top-ups and premium support; Business $50 a month with 2,500 normal and 50 deep searches, take-down request help and 24/7 support. See the pricing page.
Social Catfish sells access rather than searches: a trial that converts to a monthly subscription, with the figures shown on its site once a search has run. On November 6, 2026 we could not fetch its pricing page automatically, so we quote none here. Read the trial terms carefully; the common complaint in reviews of people-search services is a trial that renews at the monthly rate before the user expects it. Cancelling on time is the main cost control.
Removal compared
FaceSearch removes your face from results for free by email; see remove my photos. Social Catfish, like other people-search services, offers an opt-out for records about you through its site; that removes you from its reports, not from the sources the reports draw on. Neither removes a photo from the site that published it. The removal guide covers data-broker opt-outs alongside face search engines.
Switching from Social Catfish to FaceSearch
- Run the profile photo on FaceSearch without an account and read the matches with the catfish check guide.
- If you still need a phone or email lookup, use the free routes first: search the number or address in quotes, then decide whether a report is worth it. FaceSearch does not replace that.
- Start a $5 Starter week for every source link if the face search found something worth following.
- Cancel the Social Catfish subscription before its renewal date, and submit its opt-out if you want your own records out of its reports.
Questions
01Is Social Catfish better than FaceSearch?
For tying a photo to a name, phone number and other records in one US-focused report, Social Catfish does something FaceSearch does not. For finding where a face appears on the public web, free to start and from $5 a week with every link, FaceSearch is the simpler and cheaper tool. Many people with a dating doubt use the face search first and a report only if it is needed.
02Is Social Catfish free?
A search runs free, but results and reports sit behind a trial that converts to a monthly subscription. Prices appear on its site after a search starts; we could not fetch its pricing page on November 6, 2026. FaceSearch's first search is free without an account; every link needs a plan from $5 a week.
03Does Social Catfish use face recognition?
Its own pages say the image search uses AI facial recognition rather than the file matching Google, TinEye and Bing use. That makes it a face search for photos, like FaceSearch, with the difference that its results feed a report rather than a list of public pages.
04Is Social Catfish legal or safe to use?
Checking who you are dealing with is a lawful purpose on both services. People-search reports are not FCRA background checks and must not be used for employment, tenant, credit or insurance decisions, a limit FaceSearch applies to its own results too. See our legal guide and acceptable use page.
05Can I use both Social Catfish and FaceSearch?
Yes. Run the face search first because it is free and immediate; if it leaves the question open and the person is in the US, a report can add the phone and name context. Removal is separate on each service.
06Which is cheaper?
FaceSearch for an occasional check: $5 for a Starter week with all links, no renewal unless you choose it. Social Catfish's trial is cheap on day one but converts to a monthly subscription, which is where the cost sits. Compare the monthly figure on its site with FaceSearch's $20 Daily Pro.
Sources
Related pages
- Catfish checkSee whether a dating photo appears elsewhere under another name before you invest time, trust or money.
- Verify someone is realA face search plus non-photo checks before you pay a deposit, hand over keys or meet a stranger.
- Social Catfish alternativesFace engines and free image tools for the photo check alone, without a people-search report or a trial that converts.
- FaceSearch vs FaceCheck.IDWeekly plans and no identity claims versus expiring credit packs and a scammer database.
- Our test methodTwelve scenarios, 0 to 5 points each, the same photos for every engine, dated and signed.
- Acceptable useThe uses FaceSearch is built for, the uses that are banned, and how we enforce the line.
Your face is out there. Find it first.
Search with a photoPublic pages only. Your photo is never sold and never used to build a face database.