What Snopes.com does

Snopes.com is an independent, privately held digital fact-checking publication operating since 1994 from Tacoma, Washington. The company is wholly owned by Snopes, Inc., a subsidiary of Snopes Media Group, Inc. (SMG), which in turn is owned 60% by Chris Richmond and 40% by Drew Schoentrup. Its core product is the snopes.com website, which publishes structured, source-cited fact-checks on viral political, news, entertainment, science, and public-health claims, each carrying a standardized rating (True, Mostly True, Mixture, Mostly False, False, Fake, Miscaptioned, etc.). The platform has expanded into a multi-product ecosystem: a native iOS and Android mobile app (with deep-linking via AppsFlyer OneLink), an AI-powered RAG-style assistant called FactBot (BETA), a gamified True/False Daily Challenge, a Crossword, and two email newsletters (a free thrice-weekly Debunker and a members-only monthly Digest). Snopes is a signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) Code of Principles and holds a perfect 100/100 NewsGuard credibility rating.

The underlying technology combines a content publishing platform with AI capabilities operated against Snopes' own 30-year editorial archive. FactBot uses natural-language processing, knowledge retrieval over Snopes' fact-check corpus, and generative AI to answer user questions, while image and video verification workflows incorporate third-party tools, including OpenAI's image verification service and Google DeepMind's SynthID watermark detection. There is no public API, SDK, or developer-facing AI product; the AI features are consumer-facing and explicitly labeled as BETA with documented hallucination disclaimers. The technology stack is content-CMS centric with add-on native mobile applications and integrated social/RSS distribution.

The business model is a hybrid of advertising, subscription, and emerging AI-feature monetization. The primary historical revenue stream is display and programmatic advertising on the freely accessible website and mobile apps, supplemented by newsletter sponsorship and email monetization. A $10/month Snopes Membership was introduced in 2026 to bundle ad-free browsing, app access, higher FactBot query limits, a members-only newsletter, and exclusive community access, representing the company's first direct-to-consumer recurring revenue product. Distribution is direct-to-consumer via self-serve web, mobile app stores, email, and social channels, serving general consumers (primary) and journalists/researchers/educators (secondary) globally via the public web, with primary topical focus on U.S. political and news content.

Name

Snopes.com

Legal name

Snopes, Inc.

Website

https://snopes.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Snopes.com is an independent fact-checking publication founded in 1994 that publishes source-cited verdicts on viral political, news, and public-health claims, serving general consumers and journalists via a website, mobile apps, AI assistant (FactBot), and newsletters.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Fact-Checking Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131), Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (519290)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Misinformation/Disinformation & Narrative Defense (MPAAAOAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Newsletter & Email Digest Aggregators (MPACAKAG), Spam, Fake Engagement & Content Abuse Prevention (HDADALAG)

Keywords

• Fact-checking service
• Misinformation verification
• Online news publishing
• Urban legend research
• Media literacy content

Headquarters

HQ city

Tacoma

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Display & Programmatic Advertising: Primary revenue stream typical of free, high-traffic consumer publishing sites: monetizes pageviews on fact-check articles via on-site advertising inventory. No paywall or subscription gate is visible; the site is freely accessible to all visitors.
2. Newsletter Sponsorship & Email Monetization: Email newsletters (visible via "Newsletters" navigation) provide an owned-audience channel typically monetized through sponsored placements and email-advertising relationships.
3. Mobile App Distribution (iOS & Android): Native apps available on the Apple App Store and Google Play extend content reach and create an additional advertising and audience-engagement surface beyond the desktop web.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Snopes.com operates a fact-checking website and reference source that investigates, rates, and debunks urban legends, viral internet rumors, folklore, hoaxes, and misinformation across topics including news, politics, entertainment, science, and lifestyle. Each claim is tagged with a standardized editorial rating (e.g., True, Mostly True, Mixture, Mostly False, False, Fake, Miscaptioned) and the platform is extended through iOS and Android mobile apps, AI-assisted FactBot retrieval, the True/False daily game, a crossword, email newsletters, and a paid membership.

Product overview

Snopes.com operates an integrated fact-checking platform rather than a single product, combining a core web publication with a mobile app and several add-on products. The foundation is the snopes.com website, which has run since 1994 and is organized into News & Politics, Entertainment, Science & Technology, Lifestyle, and dedicated Fact Checks sections, each fact-check carrying one of Snopes' standardized ratings (True, Mostly True, Mixture, Mostly False, False, Fake, Miscaptioned, etc.). The Snopes mobile app for iOS and Android extends the platform with offline reading, the Snopes Crossword, the True/False Game, FactBot access, reading-list saving, Nightvision mode, and inline fact-check ratings. FactBot, embedded in the website and the app, is the platform's AI-powered (BETA) assistant that performs knowledge retrieval over Snopes' archive to answer user questions. Two email products, the free thrice-weekly Debunker newsletter and the members-only monthly Digest newsletter, push curated fact-checks to readers. The Snopes Membership subscription ($10/month) ties these pieces together by removing ads, providing app access, increasing FactBot query limits, and unlocking additional community and tip-submission features.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FactBot: Snopes' branded AI-powered fact-checking assistant, described as "FactBot AI Fact Checker" and available on the Snopes app and website.

Products and services

• Snopes.com fact-checking website The core Snopes publication, self-described as "the definitive fact-checking site and reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation." Organizes content into News & Politics, Entertainment, Science & Technology, Lifestyle and dedicated Fact Checks, with each fact-check tagged with a standardized rating (True, Mostly True, Mixture, Mostly False, False, Fake, Miscaptioned, Correct Attribution, Incorrect Attribution, Outdated, Scam, Legit, Recall, Labeled Satire, Originated as Satire or Legend). Free, no-login access for the general public.
• Snopes mobile app (iOS and Android) Official Snopes iOS and Android application providing on-the-go access to fact-checks and investigations. Features include the Snopes Crossword, the True/False Game, FactBot, fact-check ratings next to article headlines, reading-list saving, Nightvision mode, and unlimited ad-free articles for Snopes members. Distributed via Apple App Store and Google Play with AppsFlyer OneLink deep-linking from the Snopes website.
• FactBot AI fact-checker AI-powered (BETA) assistant embedded in snopes.com and the mobile app that lets users ask natural-language questions about any topic and returns answers grounded in Snopes' own fact-check archive, with citations to specific Snopes articles. Snopes explicitly warns that the underlying models may hallucinate and instructs users to confirm the cited article matches the answer. Members receive higher query limits.
• Snopes True/False Daily Challenge Game Daily trivia game on snopes.com and within the Snopes mobile app in which players classify 12 claims as True or False, earning +3 points for correct answers and -2 for incorrect (up to 6 skips per day). Free to play with optional login.
• Snopes Membership subscription Paid subscription product priced at $10/month (with quarterly and annual billing options) that bundles ad-free browsing on Snopes.com, a members-only newsletter, increased FactBot query limits, full access to the Snopes mobile/tablet app, priority tip submission, and exclusive Snopes Community access.
• Debunker newsletter (free) Free email newsletter distributed three times per week (Tue/Thu/Sat) summarizing Snopes fact-checks to opted-in subscribers, with unsubscribe available at any time.
• Digest newsletter (members-only) Members-only monthly email newsletter providing direct communication from the Snopes team to subscribers with an active Snopes Membership.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability8 records

Feature2 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• AFP Fact Check: Agence France-Presse runs a global multilingual fact-checking operation that verifies viral claims across many geographies. It is a broad incumbent with a much larger international footprint than Snopes, but with comparable methodology and IFCN certification.
• AP Fact Check: The Associated Press runs an AP Fact Check vertical that verifies viral political and public claims, often as part of election coverage. It is a broad incumbent offering overlapping fact-checking capability but is bundled into a global news cooperative rather than a standalone consumer brand.
• USA Today Fact Check: USA Today operates a dedicated fact-check vertical covering politics, viral claims, and consumer misinformation. It is a broad-incumbent national newsroom fact-checker that competes for the same political and viral-claim audience as Snopes but with significantly more resources.
• The Washington Post Fact Checker: The Washington Post Fact Checker column rates false or misleading political claims using a "Pinocchios" scale. It is a broad-incumbent fact-checker at a major newspaper, with a political focus that overlaps Snopes' political coverage, but it is embedded in a larger subscription newsroom.
• Reuters Fact Check: Reuters Fact Check is the global newswire's dedicated fact-checking vertical, covering political, health, and misinformation claims with a newsroom scale Snopes does not have. It is a broader incumbent that overlaps Snopes on political claim verification but is part of a much larger news organization.

Direct peers

• PolitiFact: PolitiFact is a Pulitzer Prize-winning U.S. fact-checking site that rates political claims on a Truth-O-Meter scale. It is the most direct editorial and audience comparable to Snopes, operating a similar consumer-facing, ad-supported, non-partisan fact-check model focused on U.S. political claims.
• FactCheck.org: FactCheck.org is a nonpartisan U.S. fact-checking project (originally at the Annenberg Public Policy Center) that monitors the accuracy of public statements, especially in U.S. politics. It is directly comparable to Snopes in audience, methodology, and IFCN-affiliated editorial standards.
• Lead Stories: Lead Stories is an IFCN-certified fact-checking site that focuses on trending online misinformation, hoaxes, and viral internet claims. Its subject mix (internet rumors, viral content) is essentially identical to Snopes' urban-legend heritage, making it a closely aligned direct peer.

Others

• NewsGuard: NewsGuard rates the credibility of news and information websites on a 0-100 scale and awards Snopes a perfect score. It is a thematically related trust-and-credibility rater rather than a direct fact-checker, but operates in the same misinformation-defense category and is a natural ecosystem partner or adjacent player.

Regional players

• Full Fact: Full Fact is the UK's leading independent fact-checking charity and IFCN signatory, focusing on UK political and public-health claims. It is a regional peer — same mission and methodology as Snopes, but operating in a different geography and a non-profit structure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/snopes
• Facebookfacebook.com/snopes

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Snopes.com