Looking for a free cell phone lookup that will tell you the owner of a cell phone number for free? Numbers are listed in the phone book for free, so cell phone numbers are going to be listed for free too... right?

Well, not quite.

Here's the deal. Traditional phone numbers are public record and are freely available so anyone can find them. This means a "reverse phone" lookup on one of these numbers will also be free. Here's a few of the most popular free reverse lookup services (remember, these are not useful for cell phone numbers):

    * AnyWho.com
    * WhitePages.com
    * Addresses.com

Why aren't Reverse Cell Phone Lookups Free?

So, there are free reverse LANDLINE phone services... but what's different about cell phone numbers?

Basically, cell phone numbers are not published openly the same way as landlines are. This means that the companies that actually organize reverse cell phone directories have to do much of the compilation manually. The information often comes from opt-in services (where customers volunteer to be in the database) or other small databases.

So, for there to be any sort of considerable coverage, reverse cell phone database designers must purchase the information they use from other companies. Ultimately this means that reverse cell phone lookups cannot be offered for free.

However, more popular reverse cell phone lookup providers are able to negotiate special volume discounts, create professionally written advice and search tips, and combine background check and people-search technology into reverse phone lookups.