Pipl People Search: What It Is, How It Works, and Better Alternatives

What is Pipl and How Does People Search Work?

Pipl is an identity resolution and people search platform that connects digital identities to real people. Originally launched as a basic search tool, Pipl has evolved into an enterprise-grade identity verification solution used by fraud prevention teams, law enforcement, insurance investigators, and financial institutions.

The platform aggregates data from multiple sources—public records, social media profiles, email databases, and deep web sources—to create comprehensive identity profiles. Unlike basic Google searches, Pipl uses multivariate linking technology to connect more than 28 billion unique identifiers, helping users verify whether an online persona belongs to a real person.

For B2B professionals, Pipl's appeal lies in its ability to enrich sparse contact data into actionable intelligence. Sales teams use it to verify leads before outreach. Recruiters check candidate backgrounds. Fraud analysts validate customer identities before approving transactions.

What Pipl Actually Costs (Enterprise Pricing Reality)

Here's what many people don't realize about Pipl: it's not a consumer tool anymore. The free search functionality that made Pipl popular was discontinued, and the platform now operates on custom enterprise pricing.

According to transaction data, Pipl contracts typically range from $3,000 to $130,000 annually, with an average cost of around $58,000 per year. For API access, pricing starts at approximately $0.10 per query, with a default spending limit of $1,000 per month. The platform does not offer a free trial, and accessing the service requires going through a sales process.

This pricing structure makes Pipl impractical for individual professionals, small sales teams, or recruiters who need occasional background information. The platform is clearly positioned for enterprise fraud prevention and large-scale identity verification operations.

Who Should Actually Use Pipl?

Pipl works well for specific enterprise use cases:

• Financial fraud detection teams who need to verify customer identities at scale before approving transactions
• Insurance investigators analyzing claims and detecting fraudulent patterns
• Law enforcement and cybercrime units conducting official investigations
• Large eCommerce platforms protecting against account fraud and fake identities

If you're a sales professional trying to find contact information for prospects, a recruiter vetting candidates, or a marketer building targeted lists, Pipl's pricing and complexity make it overkill for your needs.

Key Limitations of Pipl for B2B Professionals

Beyond the enterprise pricing, Pipl has practical limitations worth considering:

Rate limiting: If your IP sends too many searches, Pipl blocks access temporarily—a significant issue for teams doing high-volume prospecting.

No self-service option: Users consistently note frustration with the lack of a direct web interface. Most interactions require API integration or going back and forth with Pipl's team for data exchange.

Primarily identity verification focused: Pipl is built for fraud detection and identity resolution. It's optimized for answering "Is this person who they claim to be?" rather than "How do I contact this decision-maker?"

Value concerns: Multiple user reviews indicate mixed feelings about whether the depth of information justifies the cost, particularly for teams with simpler needs.

Free and Affordable Alternatives for People Search

For B2B professionals who need background information without enterprise-level budgets, several alternatives deliver solid results:

For Background Checks and Identity Verification

If you need to verify someone's identity, check for criminal history, or assess trustworthiness before doing business, Galadon's free Background Checker provides comprehensive reports with trust scores. Unlike Pipl, it's accessible to individual professionals without sales calls or minimum contracts.

The tool pulls from public records, social profiles, and other data sources to generate actionable background reports—exactly what sales professionals need before a major deal or recruiters require before making an offer.

For Finding Contact Information

Pipl's strength was always identity resolution, not contact discovery. For finding emails and phone numbers, purpose-built tools work better:

• Email discovery: Use Galadon's Email Finder to locate professional emails from names and company information
• Phone numbers: The Mobile Number Finder helps you get direct cell numbers when you need to reach decision-makers
• Outreach platforms: Tools like Reply and Lemlist combine contact finding with automated outreach sequences

For Sales Intelligence and Lead Enrichment

If your goal is building detailed prospect profiles for sales outreach, consider these options that specialize in B2B intelligence:

RocketReach provides email and phone data for business professionals, with integration capabilities for CRMs. Lusha offers a browser extension that enriches LinkedIn profiles with contact information—perfect for prospecting workflows.

How to Run an Effective Background Check (Practical Process)

Whether you're vetting a potential client, checking a candidate, or verifying a business partner, here's how to approach background research systematically:

Step 1: Start with What You Know

Begin with any data point you have—a name, email address, phone number, company, or LinkedIn profile. Modern people search tools can cross-reference minimal starting information to build comprehensive profiles.

Step 2: Verify Contact Information

Before diving deep into background details, confirm that the contact information you have is accurate and current. Use email verification tools to check if addresses are valid (try Galadon's free Email Verifier). Invalid contact data often signals outdated records throughout the profile.

Step 3: Check Multiple Sources

Don't rely on a single data source. Cross-reference information across:

• Professional networks (LinkedIn, company websites)
• Public records (court records, property ownership, business filings)
• Social media profiles (can reveal connections and activity patterns)
• News mentions and professional publications

Step 4: Look for Red Flags and Patterns

Effective background checks aren't just about collecting data—they're about spotting inconsistencies. Watch for:

• Employment gaps that don't match LinkedIn history
• Location mismatches between claimed and verified addresses
• Recently created social profiles (potential fake identity indicators)
• Discrepancies in education claims versus verifiable records

Step 5: Document and Score

For formal vetting processes, maintain records of what you verified and from which sources. Tools like Galadon's Background Checker automatically generate trust scores that aggregate multiple verification factors into actionable ratings.

OSINT Techniques for B2B People Search

Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) methods can supplement or replace paid tools for people research. Here are techniques that experienced investigators use:

Reverse Image Search

Upload profile photos to Google Images, TinEye, or Yandex to find where else the image appears. Fake profiles often use stock photos or stolen images that will match elsewhere online.

Domain and Company Research

When someone claims to represent a company, verify it. Check domain registration (WHOIS), look for the company in state business registries, and cross-reference LinkedIn company pages with official websites.

Social Graph Analysis

Look at who follows and interacts with the person on social media. Legitimate professionals have organic networks of real connections. Fake profiles often show sparse or bot-like follower patterns.

Email Header Analysis

For emails you've received, the header data reveals the actual sending server and route. This helps identify spoofed emails or verify that communication genuinely originated from claimed domains.

Building a Complete Prospecting Toolkit

For B2B professionals, people search is just one piece of an effective prospecting workflow. Here's how the components fit together:

Discovery: Find companies matching your ideal customer profile, then identify decision-makers within those organizations.

Contact enrichment: Use email finders and phone lookup tools to get direct contact information for your targets.

Verification: Validate contact data before outreach to avoid bounces and wasted effort.

Background intelligence: Research key prospects to personalize outreach and identify potential red flags.

Outreach execution: Deploy your contact data through email sequences, cold calls, or LinkedIn messaging.

The right combination of free tools can handle most of these steps. Galadon provides free tools for email finding, phone lookup, email verification, and background checking. For outreach automation, platforms like Smartlead or Instantly handle the campaign execution side.

When Pipl-Level Depth is Actually Necessary

There are legitimate scenarios where enterprise identity resolution makes sense:

If you're processing thousands of identity verifications monthly for compliance purposes, API-based solutions like Pipl become cost-effective at scale. If you're building fraud prevention into a platform with real financial exposure, the depth of identity linking justifies the investment.

But for most B2B sales, recruiting, and marketing professionals, the combination of targeted free tools provides the intelligence needed without the enterprise overhead. Start with the free options, measure what's missing, and upgrade only when the gap costs more than the premium solution.

Bottom Line

Pipl built its reputation as a powerful people search engine, but today it operates as an enterprise identity verification platform with pricing to match. For individual professionals and small teams, the cost and complexity don't make sense.

Instead, build your people research workflow around purpose-built tools: free email finders for contact discovery, phone lookup tools for direct numbers, email verification to maintain data quality, and background checkers for identity vetting when deals get serious.

The intelligence you need is accessible without a $50,000 annual contract. Start with free tools, develop your research process, and scale up only when the data gaps justify the investment.