Is Tineye the Best for Face Search?

Reverse Image Search Engines: Top Contenders 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.

Is Tineye the Best for Face Search?

Below tests evaluate the effectiveness of 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.;

FaceCheck.ID 99% PimEyes.com 71% SocialCatfish.com 52% Yandex.com 35% Tineye.com 22% Google.com 18% Bing.com 16%
Versus
FaceCheck.ID 99% PimEyes.com 71% SocialCatfish.com 52% Yandex.com 35% Tineye.com 22% Google.com 18% Bing.com 16%
Tineye

16 Search by Face Tests

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Explore the Best Alternative to Tineye for Image Searching

Reverse Image Search: The Best Option Besides Tineye - FaceCheck.ID Start Face Search

Can Tineye Recognize a Side Facial Profile?

Side Facial Profile Can Tineye Recognize a 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.
Tineye.com Test result: 0 Points TinEye did not find any matching photos. Score: 0 Points

Can Tineye Find Romance Scammers?

Romance Scam Photo Can Tineye Find Romance Scammers? 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!
Tineye.com Test result: 0 Points 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 Tineye Work with Poor Quality Photos?

Bad Photo of a Killer Can Tineye Work with Poor Quality Photos? 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.
Tineye.com Test result: 3 Points 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 Tineye Find Child Abusers?

Child Molester on the Run Can Tineye Find Child Abusers? 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.
Tineye.com Test result: 2 Points TinEye found a few exact match results. However, most of the links are old and broken. Score: +2 Points

Can Tineye Find Recent News?

Recently Arrested Can Tineye Find Recent News? 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.
Tineye.com Test result: 3 Points 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 Tineye Recognize a Person wearing a Mask?

Masked Celebrity Actress Can Tineye Recognize a Person wearing a Mask? 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.
Tineye.com Test result: 0 Points 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 Tineye Find Obscure Foreign Celebrities?

Unknown Singer from Laos Can Tineye Find Obscure Foreign Celebrities? 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.
Tineye.com Test result: 0 Points 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 Tineye Find an OnlyFans Model?

Random OnlyFans Model Can Tineye Find an 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.
Tineye.com Test result: 0 Points TinEye did not find any matching photos. Score: 0 Points

Can Tineye Find an Adult Actress by Low-Res Pic?

Low-Res Pic of Adult Actress Can Tineye Find an Adult Actress by Low-Res Pic? 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.
Tineye.com Test result: 0 Points TinEye did not find any matching photos. Score: 0 Points

Can Tineye Find an Old Person by Their Young Pic?

Find Old Person by Young Pic Can Tineye Find an Old Person by Their 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.
Tineye.com Test result: 2 Points TinEye found 2 exact match photos but did not find any similar matching images. Score: +2 Points

Can Tineye Find a Profile of a War Criminal?

War Criminal Soldier Can Tineye Find a Profile of a War Criminal? 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.
Tineye.com Test result: 4 Points TinEye found many exact matching photos but not the person in different photos. Score: +4 Points

Can Tineye Find Escort Ads?

Brazilian Escort Ad Can Tineye Find Escort Ads? 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.
Tineye.com Test result: 0 Points TinEye did not find any matching photos. Score: 0 Points

Can Tineye Handle Facial Expressions?

Exaggerated Expression Can Tineye Handle Facial Expressions? 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.
Tineye.com Test result: 4 Points TinEye found many exact matching photos but not the person in different photos. Score: +4 Points

Can Tineye Find AI Generated Images?

AI Generated Girl Can Tineye Find AI Generated Images? This image was generated by an artificial intelligence app. The goal is to test if the search engine can find similar AI images.
Tineye.com Test result: 0 Points TinEye did not find any matching photos. Score: 0 Points

Can Tineye Work with Blurred Photos?

Blurred Photo Can Tineye Work with Blurred Photos? 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.
Tineye.com Test result: 0 Points TinEye failed to process the blurred image, saying "Your image is too simple to find matches." Score: 0 Points

Can Tineye Find Social Media Profiles?

Social Media Model Can Tineye Find Social Media Profiles? 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?
Tineye.com Test result: 0 Points TinEye did not find any matching photos. Score: 0 Points

Tineye - Bottom Line Comparison

Tineye.com
Pros
67+ billion images
Fast Image Search
Free Search
Cons
No Facial Recognition
Old broken URL links
Exact Image Match Only
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.
Total Score: 18 Points

Ultimate Guide to Facial Recognition Search Engines

Test FaceCheck PimEyes SocialCatfish Yandex Tineye Google 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
79
57
42
28
18
14
13
FaceCheck PimEyes SocialCatfish Yandex Tineye Google Bing

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Siti is an expert tech author that writes for the FaceCheck.ID blog and is enthusiastic about advancing FaceCheck.ID's goal of making the internet safer for all.