Fact-checking directory
Fact-Checking Websites: The Reliable Ones and How to Use Them
The fact-checking sites worth trusting, what each one covers best, and how to find a fact check for the claim in front of you, or check it yourself when nobody has.
By the Factful News desk · Updated
How we chose these fact-checking sites
Every site below publishes its sources, names the people responsible, explains how it rates claims and corrects its mistakes in public. Those are the same tests the International Fact-Checking Network uses for its Code of Principles, and they are the tests you should apply to any fact-checker, including us. We have no business relationship with any site on this list.
No single fact-checker covers everything. Political fact-checkers pick statements by public figures; hoax debunkers follow what is going viral; wire services follow the news. Knowing which one fits your claim saves most of the searching.
Best fact-checking websites for US politics and viral claims
FactCheck.org(opens in a new tab)
A nonpartisan project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Best for US politics: speeches, ads, debates and viral political claims, with a SciCheck section for science claims. Every article lists its sources at the bottom.
PolitiFact(opens in a new tab)
Run by the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit journalism school. Rates statements by politicians and viral posts on its six-level Truth-O-Meter, from True to Pants on Fire, and lets you browse by speaker, so you can see one person's record.
Snopes(opens in a new tab)
One of the oldest fact-checking sites on the web, started in the 1990s to investigate urban legends. Strongest on viral rumours, hoaxes, doctored images and "is this real?" questions that political fact-checkers do not cover.
Lead Stories(opens in a new tab)
Focused on viral false and misleading posts, videos and images on social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Fast on trending hoaxes.
Wire-service fact checks
The big news agencies run their own fact-checking desks. Their checks are short, sourced and fast.
AP Fact Check(opens in a new tab)
The Associated Press checks political statements and viral claims, written to wire-service standards. Useful because AP stories are widely republished, so you often meet the same reporting elsewhere.
Reuters Fact Check(opens in a new tab)
Reuters checks viral social media claims, images and videos worldwide, and explains how each was verified.
AFP Fact Check(opens in a new tab)
Agence France-Presse runs fact-checking teams in many countries and languages. The best single place for claims that started outside the US or are spreading in several languages.
International, science and health fact-checkers
Full Fact(opens in a new tab)
An independent fact-checking charity in the UK that checks claims by politicians, public figures, the media and viral posts, and pushes for corrections.
Africa Check(opens in a new tab)
An independent, non-partisan organisation that fact-checks public claims across Africa, with a focus on South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Senegal.
Science Feedback(opens in a new tab)
A network of scientists who review viral claims about health, climate and energy and grade the scientific accuracy of articles. Use it when a story leans on a study or a statistic about the natural world.
Tools that search many fact-checkers at once
Google Fact Check Explorer(opens in a new tab)
A free search engine for fact checks. It collects fact-check articles that publishers mark up for Google, so one search shows what many fact-checkers have already said about a claim.
IFCN verified signatories(opens in a new tab)
The International Fact-Checking Network list of organisations that have been assessed against its Code of Principles: nonpartisanship, transparency of sources, funding and methods, and an open corrections policy. Check here before trusting an unfamiliar fact-checker.
Factful News article checker
Our own tool, for when no fact-checker has covered a story yet. Paste any public news article and get each claim checked against independent sources, with the evidence linked.
How to use a fact-checking website
A fact check is only useful if it is about the same claim you saw. Work through these steps.
- Reduce the claim to its key words: a name, a number and a verb usually beat pasting a whole headline.
- Search one tool that covers many fact-checkers: start with Google Fact Check Explorer, then the specialist site that fits the topic.
- Match the details: confirm the fact check covers the same quote, number, date and place, not a similar claim from another time.
- Read the evidence, not just the rating: open the sources the fact-checker links and check that they say what the article says they say.
- If nothing turns up, check the article itself: new stories often have no fact check yet, which is where an on-demand checker helps.
Are fact-checking websites biased?
Critics on the left and the right accuse fact-checkers of bias, usually about which claims they choose to check rather than the evidence in a given check. Selection is a real limitation: a site that checks one side more often can be accurate claim by claim and still leave a lopsided impression.
The practical answer is the same one that works for news: judge the sources, not the label. A good fact check links the documents it relied on, so you can read them and disagree with the rating if the evidence does not support it. When the stakes are high, compare two fact-checkers with different audiences.
When no fact-checker has covered it
Most news is never fact-checked by anyone. If your search comes up empty, check the article directly: paste its link into Factful to see which claims independent sources support, which they contradict and which nobody can confirm yet. Then follow our guide to checking whether news is true for the claims that matter most.
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Frequently asked questions
What are the most reliable fact-checking sites?
For US politics, FactCheck.org and PolitiFact; for viral rumours and hoaxes, Snopes and Lead Stories; for fast, global checks, the AP, Reuters and AFP fact-check desks; for the UK, Full Fact. Reliability shows in the work: named authors, linked sources, a clear rating method and public corrections.
Is Snopes reliable?
Snopes shows its sources and its rating on every article, which is what makes any fact check checkable. Judge each Snopes article the same way as any other: open the sources it cites and confirm they support the rating.
How can I fact check something myself?
Isolate the specific claim, find who first reported it, look for the primary document or data, and see whether independent outlets confirm it from their own reporting. Our guide to checking if news is true walks through the steps.
How do I find a fact check on Google?
Use Google Fact Check Explorer and search the key words of the claim. It gathers fact checks from many publishers in one place. Our guide to fact checking on Google covers it along with image search and other free Google tools.
Is there a free fact checker for any article?
Yes. Factful News checks any public news article for free: paste the link and it checks each claim against independent sources, with the evidence linked.
Are fact checkers biased?
Fact-checkers can be criticised for which claims they choose, and readers across the political spectrum make that argument. Good fact checks link their evidence, so you can check the reasoning yourself and compare more than one fact-checker.