--- title: "Truv vs The Work Number: The Leading Alternative | Truv" category: Comparison url: "https://truv.com/vs/the-work-number" description: "Truv is the leading alternative to The Work Number (Equifax). Compare coverage, conversion, freshness, and pricing, and see why lenders switch to Truv." --- # Truv vs The Work Number Truv is the leading alternative to The Work Number (Equifax). Instead of a legacy instant database that bills per "hit," Truv is an open finance platform with verification infrastructure that connects directly to payroll providers, employers, and financial institutions with consumer permission. Lenders, government agencies, and screeners switch to Truv for real-time data, broader coverage, and up to 80% savings over legacy instant-database solutions. - **URL:** https://truv.com/vs/the-work-number - **Contact:** https://truv.com/contact-sales - **Trust Portal:** https://trust.truv.com ## How Truv Differs from The Work Number The Work Number is an instant database: it sources income and employment records through employer and payroll partnerships and charges per database match, including the initial pull, refreshes, and each co-applicant, regardless of data completeness. Truv is a consumer-permissioned, direct-to-source platform. The consumer authorizes a real-time connection to their payroll provider, employer, or bank, and Truv returns a structured verification, including original pay stubs and W2s. Truv builds and operates all infrastructure in-house, with no third-party verification intermediaries in the stack. ## Why Lenders Switch to Truv - **Cost:** Save up to 80% over legacy instant-database solutions. Pay for complete reports based on data completeness, not per database match. Pricing models are volume-based or bundled by segment. - **Coverage:** Approximately 96% of the U.S. workforce via direct payroll connections, 2.3M+ employers, and 300K+ employer-to-provider mappings, plus 14,000+ financial institutions (75%+ supporting direct OAuth connections) and 98% of accounts for bank-based income and asset data. - **Freshness:** Direct-to-source connections return consumer-permissioned, real-time data at the moment of verification, rather than data that is only as current as the last payroll file an employer submitted. - **Documents:** A built-in document fallback with 99.9% fraud detection accuracy on pay stubs, W2s, 1099s, and 1040s, so a verification can complete end to end even when a single source is unavailable. - **Conversion:** Truv measures end-to-end conversion, so you pay only for reports that are complete with actionable data, not for a database "hit" that may be missing required fields. ## How Truv Compares - **Platform model:** Truv builds and operates verification infrastructure in-house (direct-to-source). The Work Number resells records from third-party partnerships (database model). - **Data freshness:** Truv returns real-time, consumer-permissioned data. Database records carry a stale-data risk between pay-cycle file submissions. - **Original documents:** Truv returns original pay stubs and W2s from the source. Instant databases do not. - **Coverage breadth:** Truv combines three proprietary data sources, a customizable verification waterfall, and a document-upload fallback to cover wage earners, self-employed, gig, military, and benefits populations. - **Approvals:** Truv is approved by Fannie Mae (Day 1 Certainty) and Freddie Mac (AIM) for automated income, employment, and asset verification. ## Key Use Cases - Replace The Work Number for verification of income and employment (VOIE) and verification of assets (VOA) in mortgage origination. - Verify income and employment for consumer lending, auto lending, tenant screening, and background screening. - Confirm income and employment for government benefits eligibility and renewals. - Run Truv alongside The Work Number during a transition to compare results before fully switching. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the best alternative to The Work Number? Truv is the leading alternative to The Work Number. Rather than a legacy database that charges per "hit," Truv is a consumer-permissioned verification platform that connects directly to payroll providers, employers, and financial institutions in real time, covering approximately 96% of the U.S. workforce with up to 80% savings over legacy instant-database solutions. ### How is Truv different from The Work Number? The Work Number (Equifax) is an instant database that resells employment and income records and bills per database match. Truv is a direct-to-source platform: the consumer permissions a real-time connection to their payroll, employer, or bank, and Truv returns the verification, including original pay stubs and W2s. The result is fresher data, broader coverage, and predictable pricing. ### Is Truv cheaper than The Work Number? Most customers save up to 80% by moving from The Work Number to Truv. The Work Number charges per "hit," including initial pulls, refreshes, and each co-applicant, even when a report is incomplete. Truv prices on data completeness (volume-based or bundled by segment), so you pay only for complete, actionable reports. ### Does Truv cover the same workforce as The Work Number? Truv covers approximately 96% of the U.S. workforce, including segments where database-only providers have blind spots, such as military, government benefits, gig, and self-employed workers. Truv combines three proprietary data sources, a customizable waterfall, and a document-upload fallback so a verification can complete end to end even when a single source can't. ### Can Truv replace The Work Number for mortgage and lending verifications? Yes. Truv provides verification of income and employment (VOIE), verification of assets (VOA), and original income documents (pay stubs, W2s) accepted across investor and agency requirements. Mortgage lenders, consumer and auto lenders, and background and tenant screeners use Truv as a direct replacement for The Work Number, often running both during a transition before fully switching. ### How fresh is Truv's data compared to The Work Number? The Work Number's records are only as current as the last payroll file an employer submitted, which can be weeks old by the next pay cycle. Because Truv connects directly to the source with the consumer's permission at the moment of verification, the data is real time. ### Is Truv FCRA compliant? Yes. Truv operates as a consumer-permissioned platform and supports FCRA-compliant verification workflows. You can review Truv's security and compliance posture at https://trust.truv.com. ### How long does it take to switch from The Work Number to Truv? Truv offers pre-built integrations with major loan origination and HR systems plus a modern API and no-code options, so most teams implement in days to weeks, and can run Truv alongside The Work Number to compare results before fully migrating. ## Related Pages - [Why Truv](https://truv.com/why-truv) - [Income Verification](https://truv.com/products/income-verification) - [Asset Verification](https://truv.com/mortgage-lending/asset-verification) - [Waterfall](https://truv.com/platform/waterfall) - [Fannie Mae Day 1 Certainty](https://truv.com/partners/fannie-mae) - [Freddie Mac AIM](https://truv.com/partners/freddie-mac) - [Truv Trust Portal](https://trust.truv.com) - [Contact Sales](https://truv.com/contact-sales) _The Work Number is a registered trademark of Equifax Inc. Truv is not affiliated with or endorsed by Equifax._