What Retrace finds, and what it does not
One in five searches ends with a copy of the video confirmed frame by frame. Half end with pages that share frames with it. Three in ten find nothing. Here are the numbers by kind of input, from real searches, so you can decide before uploading whether yours is likely to work.
LAST 7 DAYS · LIVE FROM THE API
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What a result is
Retrace samples up to 24 distinctive frames from your video and searches each one in Google's web image index and, on some scans, Google Lens. Every page that carries one of those frames comes back. Then a verifier downloads each page's thumbnail and aligns it against your frames: a page whose thumbnail is a frame of your video is marked confirmed. A page that merely shares a frame is listed, but not confirmed.
The free scan shows how many pages were found and how many are confirmed before you pay. If nothing sellable was found, nothing is sold.
Where it works
Public reposts of a distinctive clip. A TikTok, a Reel, a tweet or a YouTube Short that has been copied around: more than half of TikTok and X links in the last week came back with a confirmed copy, usually the original account or a repost with the uploader's name on it.
Who posted this. A screen recording or a saved clip of somebody: when the footage is public, the page that hosts it names the account. This is not face recognition; a private person who never posted the video will not be found.
What is this. Cars, products, places: the image engine's own label ('toyota hiace', 'compact sport utility vehicle') is shown with the result, and for identification questions it is often the answer by itself.
Where it does not
Single screenshots. Four in five uploaded images find nothing: one frame gives the search one chance, and a screenshot usually includes interface, chat bubbles and a compressed, cropped picture. Upload the video or a screen recording instead; it gives up to 24 chances.
Generic footage. A sunset, a crowd, the Kaaba, a dashcam at night: the engine returns pages with similar footage, not your footage. The preview says 'none confirmed' in that case, and that is the moment not to pay.
Private or deleted sources. Only public, indexed pages can be found. A video that was only ever sent in a chat, or that lives on a private account, will not turn up, and neither will a lookalike.
| Input | Share of searches | Found pages | Confirmed copy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uploaded video | 31% | 86% | 11% |
| Screenshot or photo | 22% | 15% | 2% |
| Facebook link | 15% | 78% | 28% |
| TikTok link | 12% | 96% | 52% |
| Instagram link | 7% | 71% | 7% |
| X link | 4% | 100% | 88% |
| Screen recording | 4% | 88% | 25% |
How likely is it that Retrace finds my video?
Over the last seven days, about one search in five found a copy the verifier confirmed frame by frame, and about half found pages sharing frames with the clip. Pasted TikTok and X links do best; single screenshots do worst. The free scan tells you which case yours is before you pay.
Does a 'found' page mean it is my video?
Only when it is marked confirmed. Confirmed means the page's thumbnail aligned with your frames one by one. A page that is not confirmed shares at least one frame: often a repost, sometimes just similar footage. The preview says how many of each you have.
Is it face recognition?
No. Retrace searches the footage, never the face, and never builds a profile of anyone. If the same video is published somewhere public, that page is found; if it is not, nothing is.
What do you do with my video?
It is deleted one hour after the scan. Only frame hashes are kept while the search runs. Results from a search made without an account are kept for 30 days.
What does it cost if nothing is found?
Nothing. The scan is free, and the unlock is only offered when there are pages to open. Opening them costs $0.90, tax included, with no subscription.