Which is Better for Face Search:
PimEyes or Tineye?
Top Reverse Image Search Engines Analyzed and Tested
Disclaimer: This is not an independent review. These tests were conducted in May 2024 as part of internal competitive analysis by an expert paid by FaceCheck.ID.
Below tests evaluate the effectiveness of PimEyes and Tineye for searching the Internet using a photo of someone's face. We used various criteria to match different practical use cases. You should test the search engines yourself to see which one works best for your needs. Each search test is awarded 0 to 5 score points based on how well the search performed. Points are summarized and charted at the end.;
Versus
16 Search by Face Tests
VS
Discover the Best Alternative to PimEyes or Tineye Reverse Image Search
PimEyes vs Tineye
PimEyes and TinEye both provide reverse image search services, but they operate with differing strengths and limitations in image recognition. PimEyes excels in identifying individuals across various contexts, including explicit and adult-oriented content, making it particularly useful for addressing issues like revenge porn. It can find multiple images of the same person, even when the photo quality is poor, though it struggles with extremely low-quality images or blurred faces. PimEyes lacks social media integration, which limits its effectiveness for broader personal or professional searches but remains powerful in its niche of adult content detection.
Conversely, TinEye maintains a vast database claimed to host over 67 billion images but frequently falls short in practical searches, particularly when it comes to finding images of people from different angles or in varied contexts. It focuses on exact matches and does not support facial recognition, which significantly hampers its utility for personal identification. Many of TinEye's links are outdated, leading to frustrations related to link rot and the inability to access the purportedly indexed content.
Both platforms demonstrate specific capabilities suited to certain types of searches: PimEyes is invaluable for specific personal security concerns related to online imagery, while TinEye offers a broad but often superficial search capability that is best used for identifying non-personal images where exact matches are possible.
Can PimEyes and Tineye Recognize a Side Facial Profile?
Side Facial Profile
This screenshot from a recent video interview shows the side profile of a famous person. The goal is to test the search engine to see if it can recognize the person and find front-facing photos of them.
This screenshot from a recent video interview shows the side profile of a famous person. The goal is to test the search engine to see if it can recognize the person and find front-facing photos of them.
PimEyes failed this test showing a message "The photo appears to be low quality, making it difficult to identify facial features."
Score: 0 Points
VS
TinEye did not find any matching photos.
Score: 0 Points
Can PimEyes and Tineye Find Romance Scammers?
Romance Scam Photo
This picture of a handsome unsuspecting doctor has been stolen by scammers and published on dating apps and used in many online romance scams. The goal of this test is to see if the search engine can help the user uncover that this pic is associated with a scam operation. The doctor is innocent!
This picture of a handsome unsuspecting doctor has been stolen by scammers and published on dating apps and used in many online romance scams. The goal of this test is to see if the search engine can help the user uncover that this pic is associated with a scam operation. The doctor is innocent!
PimEyes found plenty of matching pictures of this doctor. After clicking thru the results, the user would find out this pic is used in many scams.
Score: +5 Points
VS
TinEye did not find any matching photos. There are plenty of images of this doctor published online on scammy dating websites, social profiles, and forums. This makes us suspicious about TinEye's claim of 67+ billion images in their database.
Score: 0 Points
Can PimEyes and Tineye Work with Poor Quality Photos?
Bad Photo of a Killer
A low-quality photo of a serial rapist, murderer, and ex-colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force. The goal is to test the search engine's ability with a bad quality image with .jpeg artifacts where the person isn't facing the camera directly.
A low-quality photo of a serial rapist, murderer, and ex-colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force. The goal is to test the search engine's ability with a bad quality image with .jpeg artifacts where the person isn't facing the camera directly.
PimEyes failed to find the face in this poor-quality image and displayed the message "Face not found. Make sure the face on the photo is clearly visible."
Score: 0 Points
VS
TinEye found a few exact matches of the photo. It is not able to find the subject in different photos with his face from different angles, which means TinEye does not use facial recognition.
Score: +3 Points
Can PimEyes and Tineye Find Child Abusers?
Child Molester on the Run
This is a photo of someone on the offender list for molesting kids. His status is 'Absconded,' meaning he ran away from his registered address without telling the authorities. The goal is to see if the search engine is able to find high-risk offenders.
This is a photo of someone on the offender list for molesting kids. His status is 'Absconded,' meaning he ran away from his registered address without telling the authorities. The goal is to see if the search engine is able to find high-risk offenders.
PimEyes found five matching photos of this child predator.
Score: +5 Points
VS
TinEye found a few exact match results. However, most of the links are old and broken.
Score: +2 Points
Can PimEyes and Tineye Find Recent News?
Recently Arrested
A photo of a serious sexual offender involving a child, who fled from the police and was hunted down and arrested, was all over the Australian news two weeks ago. The goal is to check if the search engine can find recently published images in its database.
A photo of a serious sexual offender involving a child, who fled from the police and was hunted down and arrested, was all over the Australian news two weeks ago. The goal is to check if the search engine can find recently published images in its database.
PimEyes found many matching photos on news websites, showing that it regularly updates its image database with new content.
Score: +5 Points
VS
TinEye found recent results, which means TinEye is indexing new content. However, only 3 links for a website that claims to index 67+ billion images is rather underwhelming.
Score: +3 Points
Can PimEyes and Tineye Recognize a Person wearing a Mask?
Masked Celebrity Actress
This is a B-list celebrity wearing a face mask, only showing her eyes and forehead. The test is to see if the search engine can recognize faces even when they're covered by a mask. There is thousands of images of this celebrity all over the Internet, so finding a few matches should not be a problem.
This is a B-list celebrity wearing a face mask, only showing her eyes and forehead. The test is to see if the search engine can recognize faces even when they're covered by a mask. There is thousands of images of this celebrity all over the Internet, so finding a few matches should not be a problem.
PimEyes failed to find the face in this photo and displayed the message "Face not found. Make sure the face on the photo is clearly visible."
Score: 0 Points
VS
TinEye did not find any matching photos. Since this celebrity has thousands of photos all over the Internet, it is proof TinEye is not using facial recognition and is not well-suited for this task.
Score: 0 Points
Can PimEyes and Tineye Find Obscure Foreign Celebrities?
Unknown Singer from Laos
A picture of a not-so-famous singer from the country of Laos. Hardly anyone outside of Laos knows her. The goal of this test is to see if the search engine can find info on obscure public figures from other countries.
A picture of a not-so-famous singer from the country of Laos. Hardly anyone outside of Laos knows her. The goal of this test is to see if the search engine can find info on obscure public figures from other countries.
PimEyes found many matching photos of this obscure celebrity from Laos.
Score: +5 Points
VS
TinEye did not find any matching photos for this beauty from Laos. This makes us suspicious about their 67+ billion images indexed claim.
Score: 0 Points
Can PimEyes and Tineye Find an OnlyFans Model?
Random OnlyFans Model
A photo of a random woman on OnlyFans who lives in Vietnam. The goal is to see if the search engine can find OnlyFans profiles.
A photo of a random woman on OnlyFans who lives in Vietnam. The goal is to see if the search engine can find OnlyFans profiles.
PimEyes found explicit images of this OnlyFans girl on many shady copyright-infringing "leak" websites. PimEyes seems to be focused on helping users fighting "revenge" kind of content.
Score: +5 Points
VS
TinEye did not find any matching photos.
Score: 0 Points
Can PimEyes and Tineye Find an Adult Actress by Low-Res Pic?
Low-Res Pic of Adult Actress
A low-resolution picture of an obscure Japanese adult film actress. The goal is to see if the search engine can find Asian adult film stars using low-resolution photos.
A low-resolution picture of an obscure Japanese adult film actress. The goal is to see if the search engine can find Asian adult film stars using low-resolution photos.
PimEyes found many matching photos of this Japanese adult performer. PimEyes shines when it comes to searching for adult film stars.
Score: +5 Points
VS
TinEye did not find any matching photos.
Score: 0 Points
Can PimEyes and Tineye Find an Old Person by Their Young Pic?
Find Old Person by Young Pic
This photo is from 1976, showing a woman who was 27 years old at the time. The goal is to see if the search engine can find a more recent photo of the same person.
This photo is from 1976, showing a woman who was 27 years old at the time. The goal is to see if the search engine can find a more recent photo of the same person.
PimEyes found many matching photos of this person in her older years. However the photos seem to be limited to the subject in her 30s and 40s.
Score: +5 Points
VS
TinEye found 2 exact match photos but did not find any similar matching images.
Score: +2 Points
Can PimEyes and Tineye Find a Profile of a War Criminal?
War Criminal Soldier
A picture of a Russian soldier who filmed himself committing terrible war crimes. The goal is to see if the search engine can find this soldier's social media profiles.
A picture of a Russian soldier who filmed himself committing terrible war crimes. The goal is to see if the search engine can find this soldier's social media profiles.
PimEyes found many matching photos of this soldier; however, it did not find any of his social media.
Score: +4 Points
VS
TinEye found many exact matching photos but not the person in different photos.
Score: +4 Points
Can PimEyes and Tineye Find Escort Ads?
Brazilian Escort Ad
A photo from a Brazilian escort ad. We blurred it on this page for privacy. The goal is to see if the search engine can find images on escort ads websites.
A photo from a Brazilian escort ad. We blurred it on this page for privacy. The goal is to see if the search engine can find images on escort ads websites.
PimEyes found many matching photos of this person.
Score: +5 Points
VS
TinEye did not find any matching photos.
Score: 0 Points
Can PimEyes and Tineye Handle Facial Expressions?
Exaggerated Expression
The camera captured a soccer player with a funny facial expression in this photo. The goal is to see if the search engine is robust enough to find images of the same person with a normal facial expression.
The camera captured a soccer player with a funny facial expression in this photo. The goal is to see if the search engine is robust enough to find images of the same person with a normal facial expression.
PimEyes found many memes with an exact match of this facial expression, and also found the player with other facial expressions.
Score: +5 Points
VS
TinEye found many exact matching photos but not the person in different photos.
Score: +4 Points
Can PimEyes and Tineye Find AI Generated Images?
AI Generated Girl
This image was generated by an artificial intelligence app. The goal is to test if the search engine can find similar AI images.
This image was generated by an artificial intelligence app. The goal is to test if the search engine can find similar AI images.
PimEyes found many similar images of AI-generated women.
Score: +5 Points
VS
TinEye did not find any matching photos.
Score: 0 Points
Can PimEyes and Tineye Work with Blurred Photos?
Blurred Photo
Even though this photo is heavily blurred, almost anyone would recognize the iconic president in the photo. A good reverse image search engine should be able to recognize this person too.
Even though this photo is heavily blurred, almost anyone would recognize the iconic president in the photo. A good reverse image search engine should be able to recognize this person too.
PimEyes failed to find a face in this blurred photo and displayed the message "Face not found. Make sure the face on the photo is clearly visible."
Score: 0 Points
VS
TinEye failed to process the blurred image, saying "Your image is too simple to find matches."
Score: 0 Points
Can PimEyes and Tineye Find Social Media Profiles?
Social Media Model
This person is a social media fitness model from Iraq. The test is: can the reverse image search engine find social media profiles of a person from an Islamic country?
This person is a social media fitness model from Iraq. The test is: can the reverse image search engine find social media profiles of a person from an Islamic country?
PimEyes found many matching photos of this Iraqi model. However found zero profiles from the top social media sites. Because this is a social media test, we are lowering the test score to 3.
Score: +3 Points
VS
TinEye did not find any matching photos.
Score: 0 Points
PimEyes and Tineye - Bottom Line Comparison
Pros
Bottom Line
PimEyes is a powerful search engine with a vast image database. It focuses on indexing shady, copyright-infringing websites with "leaked" adult content, specializing in helping users combat revenge porn. It is highly effective at finding adult content. However, its effectiveness for other purposes is limited by the lack of social media indexing and its inability to search blurry or low-quality images. Despite these drawbacks, PimEyes is a highly recommended reverse image search engine.
Excels in Adult Oriented Searches
Large Image Database
Decent Facial Recognition Algorithm
Cons
No Social Media Images
Does not work with Low Quality Photos
Lots of Low Quality Adult Website Results
Total Score: 57 Points
VS
Pros
Bottom Line
TinEye was one of the first reverse image search engines and claims to have an enormous database of over 67 billion images. However, due to its age, it suffers from a high level of link rot, with many broken links pointing to websites that no longer exist. Additionally, TinEye can only perform exact matches and does not utilize facial recognition. Consequently, our tests indicate it is very weak when searching for images of people.
67+ billion images
Fast Image Search
Free Search
Cons
No Facial Recognition
Old broken URL links
Exact Image Match Only
Total Score: 18 Points
Face-Off: The Best Facial Recognition Search Engines
| Test | FaceCheck | PimEyes | SocialCatfish | Yandex | Tineye | Bing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Side Facial Profile | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Romance Scam Photo | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bad Photo of a Killer | 5 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Child Molester on the Run | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Recently Arrested | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Masked Celebrity Actress | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Singer from Laos | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Random OnlyFans Model | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Low-Res Pic of Adult Actress | 4 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Find Old Person by Young Pic | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| War Criminal Soldier | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| Brazilian Escort Ad | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Exaggerated Expression | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| AI Generated Girl | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Blurred Photo | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Social Media Model | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total Points | |||||||
| FaceCheck | PimEyes | SocialCatfish | Yandex | Tineye | Bing |
Reverse Image Search: The Best Option Besides PimEyes or Tineye
Detailed Comparisons of All Reverse Image Search Engines
- PimEyes.com vs FaceCheck.ID
- PimEyes.com vs Google.com
- PimEyes.com vs Tineye.com
- PimEyes.com vs Bing.com
- PimEyes.com vs SocialCatfish.com
- PimEyes.com vs Yandex.com
- FaceCheck.ID vs Google.com
- FaceCheck.ID vs Tineye.com
- FaceCheck.ID vs Bing.com
- FaceCheck.ID vs SocialCatfish.com
- FaceCheck.ID vs Yandex.com
- Google.com vs Tineye.com
- Google.com vs Bing.com
- Google.com vs SocialCatfish.com
- Google.com vs Yandex.com
- Tineye.com vs Bing.com
- Tineye.com vs SocialCatfish.com
- Tineye.com vs Yandex.com
- Bing.com vs SocialCatfish.com
- Bing.com vs Yandex.com
- SocialCatfish.com vs Yandex.com
Single Test Results
On the subject in other languages
Qual è migliore per la ricerca di volti: PimEyes o Tineye?
¿Cuál es mejor para la búsqueda facial: PimEyes o Tineye?
Qual é melhor para busca de rostos: PimEyes ou Tineye?
Który jest lepszy do wyszukiwania twarzy: PimEyes czy Tineye?
Welcher ist besser für die Gesichtssuche: PimEyes oder Tineye?
얼굴 검색에 더 좋은 것은 무엇입니까: PimEyes 또는 Tineye?
Что лучше для поиска по лицам: PimEyes или Tineye?
Quel est le meilleur pour la recherche faciale : PimEyes ou Tineye ?
Který je lepší pro vyhledávání obličejů: PimEyes nebo Tineye?
哪一个更适合人脸搜索：PimEyes 还是 Tineye？
顔検索に最適なのはどちら？：PimEyes か Tineye?
ما هو الأفضل للبحث بالوجه: PimEyes أو Tineye؟
Yüz Araması için Hangisi Daha İyi: PimEyes veya Tineye?
