Protecting your personal and financial information is crucial in today’s digital landscape. Credit monitoring services act as an early warning system, alerting you to potential threats like identity theft and fraudulent activity. These services actively monitor your credit reports, scan the dark web for your information, and provide timely alerts.
To assist you in choosing the best service, CNBC Select evaluated over a dozen credit monitoring services, encompassing both free and premium options. Our evaluation considered the different levels of protection offered, with free services typically providing limited coverage and premium services offering extensive protection. (See our methodology at the end of the article for details on our selection process.)
Best Credit Monitoring Services
Here’s a rundown of the top credit monitoring services, categorized by their key strengths:
- Best for VantageScore® access: CreditWise® from Capital One
- Best for FICO® Score access: Experian free credit monitoring
- Best for families: Aura
- Best for extensive features: IdentityForce®
- Best for credit and identity protection in one: PrivacyGuard®
- Best for low cost: Experian IdentityWorks℠
- Best for most accurate credit score: FICO® Advanced
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Here’s an in-depth look at some of the top recommended services:
Aura
- Cost: Individual plan: $9/month (billed annually) or $12/month (billed monthly); Couple plan: $17/month (billed annually) or $20/month (billed monthly); Family plan: $25/month (billed annually) or $30/month (billed monthly)
- Standout features: Aura provides protection against financial fraud, identity theft, phishing and scam websites, viruses and malware and has security features tailored to kids and offers financial alerts like credit score monitoring.
[Visit Aura’s website](LEARN MOREOn Aura’s site)
Identity Guard
- Cost: $6.67 to $29.99 per month
- Identity theft insurance: Up to $1 million in insurance for eligible losses from identity theft
[Visit Identity Guard’s website](LEARN MOREOn Identity Guard’s site)
Best Free Credit Monitoring Services
If you’re looking to save money, you can consider these free options. While they have limitations, particularly regarding triple-bureau monitoring and identity theft insurance, they can still offer valuable features like regular credit score updates.
CreditWise® from Capital One
- Cost: Free
- Credit bureaus monitored: TransUnion and Experian
- Credit scoring model used: VantageScore
- Dark web scan: Yes
- Identity insurance: No
Who’s this for? CreditWise from Capital One is a free service that doesn’t require a credit card number to sign up. It offers a comprehensive set of features and is available to anyone, regardless of whether they’re a Capital One cardholder.
Standout Benefits: Unlike other free services, CreditWise offers both advanced dark web scanning and Social Security number tracking. You can also use its score simulator to see the potential effect of actions like paying off debt or closing a credit card on your credit score.
Experian free credit monitoring
- Cost: Free
- Credit bureaus monitored: Experian
- Credit scoring model used: FICO®
- Dark web scan: Yes, one-time only
- Identity insurance: No
Who’s this for? Experian’s free service allows you to sign up without providing a credit card. You’ll receive real-time alerts about new inquiries, newly opened accounts, changes to your personal information, and suspicious activity detected on your Experian credit report.
Standout benefits: Experian’s free service offers similar features to its paid IdentityWorks plans. Upon signup, you receive a one-time dark web surveillance report that searches over 600,000 web pages for your Social Security number, email, or phone number. You can also take advantage of Experian Boost®, which allows you to add positive payments for phone and utility bills to your Experian credit file, potentially increasing your FICO® Score.
Best Paid Credit Monitoring Services
For enhanced protection, consider a paid credit monitoring plan. These typically offer more comprehensive coverage, including triple-bureau credit monitoring, robust fraud alerts, and identity theft insurance, which are not available through basic, free plans.
Aura
- Cost: Individual plan: $9/month (billed annually) or $12/month (billed monthly); Couple plan: $17/month (billed annually) or $20/month (billed monthly); Family plan: $25/month (billed annually) or $30/month (billed monthly)
- Standout Features: Aura offers extensive security features to protect against financial fraud, identity theft, phishing and scam websites, viruses and malware, and includes security features specifically for kids, as well as financial alerts like credit score monitoring. Also offers a 14-day free trial and has the ability to have couple and family plans.
Who’s this for? Aura offers specific plans for couples and families, which isn’t always the case with other services. Family-oriented features include alert sharing, parental controls, video gaming with cyberbullying alerts, and child identity protection with Social Security number alerts.
Standout benefits: Aura offers the advantage of a white-glove fraud resolution team, which guides you through resolving identity theft incidents. It also provides email alias generation to hide your primary email, as well as automated child sex offender geo-alerts, in addition to typical three-bureau credit monitoring and monthly VantageScore access.
IdentityForce®
- Cost: UltraSecure Individual: $19.90 per month or $199.90 per year; UltraSecure+Credit Individual: $34.90 per month or $349.90 per year; UltraSecure Family: $24.90 per month or $249.90 per year; UltraSecure+Credit Family: $39.90 per month or $399.90 per year
- Credit bureaus monitored: 3-bureau credit monitoring, alerts and reports: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion®, with UltraSecure+Credit Individual and UltraSecure+Credit Family plans only
- Credit scoring model used: VantageScore® 3.0, with UltraSecure+Credit Individual and UltraSecure+Credit Family plans only
- Dark web scan: Yes, with all plans
- Identity theft insurance: Yes, at least $1 million with all plans
Who’s this for? IdentityForce excels in providing extensive security features, monitoring your information across various sites and services, like the dark web, court records, and social media (including assessing for potentially inappropriate content on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X).
Standout benefits: Consumers of IdentityForce get alerts for potential fraud on banking, credit card, and investment accounts, as well as misuse of their medical ID, Social Security number, and address. For comprehensive credit monitoring and identity protection, choose the UltraSecure+Credit plan, which adds three-bureau credit monitoring and credit score updates.
PrivacyGuard®
- Cost: $9.99 to $24.99 per month
- Identity theft insurance: Up to $1 million for Identity Protection and Total Protection plans; none for Credit Protection plan
- Credit monitoring: Total Protection and Credit Protection plans monitor Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion credit reports; Identity Protection doesn’t offer credit monitoring.
Who’s this for? PrivacyGuard provides three different plans, one of which combines the best features of both, including daily triple-bureau credit monitoring, monthly credit score and credit report tracking, and identity theft insurance.
Standout benefits: PrivacyGuard features well-rounded coverage that includes a dedicated identity fraud resolution agent, a financial calculator suite, neighborhood reports, emergency travel assistance, and medical records reimbursement.
Experian IdentityWorks℠
- Cost: Basic: Free; Premium: 7-day trial, after $24.99 per month; Family: 7-day trial, after $34.99 per month
- Credit bureaus monitored: 1-bureau credit monitoring, alerts and reports: Experian, with Basic plan only and 3-bureau credit monitoring, alerts and reports: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion®, with Premium and Family plans only
- Credit scoring model used: FICO® Score 8, with all plans
- Dark web scan: Yes, with all plans
- Identity theft insurance: Yes, up to $1 million with all plans
Who’s this for? Experian IdentityWorks offers affordable plans, including a free basic version and free trials for its paid plans.
Standout benefits: Experian IdentityWorks’ features across plans, including credit monitoring, dark web surveillance, Social Security number and change of address alerts, and identity theft insurance.
FICO® Advanced
- Cost: $29.95 to $39.95 per month
- Credit bureaus monitored: Experian for Basic plan or Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion for Advanced and Premier plans
- Credit scoring model used: FICO
- Dark web scan: Yes, for Advanced and Premier plans
- Identity insurance: Yes, up to $1 million
Who’s this for? Because FICO Scores are used in the majority of lending decisions, FICO Advanced provides the most accurate credit score updates. Its paid versions offer three-bureau coverage and identity monitoring with added benefits.
Standout benefits: All FICO Advanced plans provide up-to-date information on your FICO Score, including scores for credit cards, mortgages, and auto loans. With paid plans, you get $1 million identity theft insurance and around-the-clock access to U.S.-based identity theft experts who can help restore your identity if compromised.
Comparing Credit Monitoring Services at a Glance
Understanding Credit Monitoring and Related Services
It’s important to clarify what credit monitoring is and isn’t.
- Credit monitoring focuses on monitoring your credit report for suspicious activity.
- Identity theft protection is often more comprehensive, monitoring your personal information across the dark web, court records, and change-of-address requests, among other things. Identity theft protection services frequently include identity theft insurance.
What to Consider When Choosing a Service
When selecting a credit monitoring service, consider these features:
- Reports to all three major credit bureaus
- Offers fraud alerts in real-time
- Information is sent directly to you
- Scans the dark web for sensitive information
Some services offer additional features like dark web monitoring, so consider what features best meet your needs. Keep in mind that free services may not monitor all three credit bureaus.
Credit Monitoring Limitations
While credit monitoring is an important safeguard, it doesn’t prevent fraudulent activity. Here’s what credit monitoring typically doesn’t do:
- Prevent someone from opening new accounts in your name
- Protect your information from data breaches
- Warn you about phishing attempts or other financial scams
- Fix errors on your credit reports
- Prevent physical card theft or skimming
To maximize your financial security, combine credit monitoring with other identity theft protection tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most accurate way to check your credit score?
The three main credit bureaus are all generally considered equally accurate for credit scoring.
What are the three main credit monitoring bureaus?
The three main credit monitoring bureaus are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Many paid credit monitoring services cover all three.
How much do credit monitoring services cost?
Costs vary by service and plan, with free options available. Paid plans generally range from $9 to $40 per month.
How do I check my credit score without harming it?
Checking your credit score doesn’t negatively affect it. Actions that trigger a “hard” credit check, like applying for a credit card, might cause a temporary drop but aren’t necessarily harmful.
Is credit monitoring the same as identity theft protection?
No, credit monitoring is one aspect of identity theft protection, focusing on monitoring suspicious activity on your credit reports, while identity theft protection is more comprehensive.
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