If you want to know where your face appears online, you have probably come across PimEyes. This page compares it with StopCatfish on purpose, consent, pricing, privacy and limits so you can decide on facts. We do not claim one is better than the other: they are designed for different needs.
Purpose: self-protection or general face search#
StopCatfish is built for self-protection: finding where your own photos are used, spotting fake profiles that use your picture and getting a removal roadmap. It is not a tool for identifying strangers, and the Terms prohibit that use. Before every upload you declare that the photo is of you or that you have the person's authorization, and you consent to the biometric processing for that search.
PimEyes describes itself as a search tool that, according to its official site, checked October 2026, "matches visual patterns and provides links to external websites where similar images appear", and states it is intended for personal and lawful use. On the pages we read, we did not find a mechanism that restricts a search to the user's own face; check its current terms.
Pricing and billing model#
With us, you see the number of matches before paying and nothing is charged if none are found; the full report unlocks with 1 credit, and credits come in packs of 1 ($9.90 / €9.90), 3 ($19.90 / €19.90) or 10 ($44.90 / €44.90); they never expire and there is no subscription. If the search finds nothing, there is nothing to unlock and nothing to pay. Payment is by card for USD/EUR through a card payment provider, or PIX for Brazil.
PimEyes lists, according to its official site, checked October 2026, a free plan with 10 searches per day and paid plans: Open Plus (up to 75 searches daily), PROtect (up to 125 daily) and Advanced (no daily search cap). The page we read did not display dollar amounts, so check the current pricing page.
Side-by-side table#
| Criterion | StopCatfish | PimEyes |
|---|---|---|
| Stated purpose | Self-protection: find and remove uses of your own photos | Face search tool for personal and lawful use |
| Free tier | Match count first; details unlocked on payment | Free plan with 10 searches per day |
| Full results | Paid report: 1 credit (packs from $9.90 / €9.90) | Paid plans; see the official site for what each unlocks |
| Plans | Credit packs of 1, 3 or 10; credits never expire; no subscription | Open Plus, PROtect, Advanced (75 / 125 daily searches / no daily cap) |
| Consent step | Declaration and explicit consent before every upload | Check the official terms |
| Uploaded image | Kept only to complete and verify the report, deleted within 7 days at most | Check the official privacy policy |
| Face pre-analysis | Local in your browser, never leaves the device | Check the official site |
| Payment | Card (USD/EUR) and PIX (Brazil) | Check the official site |
| Alerts / monitoring | Not offered | Check the official site |
Privacy and retention#
Our flow: You upload a photo and sign in. A face pre-analysis runs locally in your browser for visualization only and never leaves your device. The deep search then runs on our server (it takes a few minutes), and you get a summary on screen plus an email with a link. You pay only to unlock the full report, with 1 credit. The uploaded image is kept only as long as needed to complete and verify your report (7 days at most), and EXIF/GPS metadata is stripped in the browser when supported. We do not claim end-to-end encryption. Details are in the Privacy Policy.
For PimEyes, what happens to the biometric vector, how long it is retained and which jurisdiction applies are questions for its current privacy policy and terms; we have not verified them.
When PimEyes may be better for you#
- You want many searches per day or continuous monitoring: PimEyes lists plans with higher daily search limits, and we do not offer alerts.
- You want an established subscription plan: we sell credit packs, not subscriptions.
- You need an opt-out from a face search index in addition to removal from websites; check PimEyes's current opt-out process.
When StopCatfish may fit better#
- You want to run a search and pay only if there is a result to unlock.
- You prefer paying per report with credits that never expire, and no subscription.
- Your goal is self-protection, such as fake profiles using your photo, and you want a removal roadmap.
- You want a flow that records explicit consent before the image is processed.
Ethics and privacy: why a face search needs consent#
A face image used to identify a person is biometric data. Under the GDPR, processing biometric data to uniquely identify a person falls under the special categories of Article 9, which are prohibited by default unless an exception applies, such as the explicit consent of the person concerned (Article 9(2)(a)).
Separately, Article 5(1)(e) of the EU AI Act prohibits AI systems that create or expand facial recognition databases through the untargeted scraping of facial images from the internet or CCTV footage. This is one reason we focus on self-protection with the consent of the person pictured. We describe the rule for context only; we do not claim that any tool, ours included, is or is not compliant with it, and this is not legal advice.
Whatever tool you choose, use it only with your own images or with the explicit authorization of the person pictured.
Start a search and see how many matches exist before deciding to pay for anything.
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