6 Best Credit Monitoring Services of 2024

Whether you’re looking for ways to improve your credit score or have been a recent victim of identity theft, a credit monitoring service could help.

The best credit monitoring services will send you timely alerts, credit reports and scores and notify you of any potentially suspicious activity. This can help you take action to fix any problems and better protect your credit profile as quickly as possible.

Read on for our picks of the best credit monitoring companies, along with our guide to the services and tools they offer.

Our Top Picks for Best Credit Monitoring Services

• Aura – Best for Low-Cost Credit Monitoring
• Experian – Best Free Credit Monitoring Service
• PrivacyGuard – Best For Credit Reports And Score From All Three
• Experian IdentityWorks – Best for families
• IdentityForce - Best for families runner-up
• IDShield – Best for Cybersecurity Features

Best Credit Monitoring Services Reviews

Highlights

Plans and cost

• Individual plan $15 per month or $12 per month paid annually
• Couple plan $29 per month or $22 per month paid annually
• Family plan $50 per month or $37per month paid annually

Important features

• Three-bureau monitoring and daily reports
• Experian credit lock
• Multiple alerts for inquiries on your credit account, bank and investment accounts and credit card number
• 60 day money-back guarantee on annual plans

Trial period

• Free two-week trial

Why we chose Aura: Aura offers three-bureau credit monitoring paired with robust identity theft protection services for as low as $12 per month for individuals.

Along with real time three-bureau credit monitoring and alerts, Aura provides monthly credit score updates and annual credit reports from the three major credit bureaus. You also get bank and investment account monitoring.

Aura also offers cybersecurity and device protection features such as anti-virus, VPN, dark web monitoring, among others.

Additionally, the company sets itself apart from competitors when it comes to ID theft insurance. While most services in the industry offer a flat $1 million, Aura offers $1 million under the individual plan, $2 million in the couple’s plan and up to $5 million ($1 million per member) with the family plan.

Highlights

Plans and cost

• CreditWorks Basic plan is free

Important features

• Credit score simulator
• Credit hotline
• FICO® score tracker to visualize your score and activity over time
• Educational resources and tools like financial calculators

Discounts and benefits

• Free credit boost using your payment for utilities, phone and streaming services
• Free, one-time dark web scan
• Seven-day, free trial for the premium plan

Trial period

• N/A

Why we chose Experian: Experian is our pick for best free credit monitoring because it includes your FICO® score, the scoring model used by the majority of lenders.

With this free plan, you’ll receive real-time alerts of changes in your Experian file and monthly access to your full Experian credit report. You also get a free dark web surveillance report and a FICO® Score tracker, which is a tool that monitors your credit score over time so you can track your overall progress.

However, keep in mind that you'll only get access to your Experian information with this plan. If you want to monitor your credit across all bureaus, consider one of Experian's paid service plans, which start at $24.99 per month and include three-bureau credit monitoring.

Highlights

Plans and cost

• PrivacyGuard® Credit Protection - $19.99/month
• PrivacyGuard® Total Protection - $24.99/month

Important features

• 24/7 triple-bureau daily credit monitoring
• Credit information hotline
• Credit score tracker
• Dedicated ID fraud resolution agent

Trial period

• $1 for the first 14 days and automatically renews monthly (unless canceled during the trial period or at any time thereafter)

Why we chose it: PrivacyGuard offers competitively priced plans that provide daily credit monitoring from the three major credit scoring bureaus and monthly reports and scores.

For $19.99 per month, the PrivacyGuard Credit Protection plan offers credit monitoring across the three major credit reporting agencies. It also includes several useful tools, such as a credit score simulator, financial calculators and a credit hotline you can contact if you have credit-related doubts.

PrivacyGuard’s Total Protection plan, though more expensive at $24.99, is still a great price considering the additional cybersecurity protection features it includes. These include public and dark web scanning, bank account monitoring and a dedicated identity fraud resolution agent.

Note that, with both plans, you’ll get monthly three-bureau reports and scores instead of quarterly, bi-annual or annual reports, as most of Privacy Guard’s competitors do.

Highlights

Plans and costs

• IdentityWorks Family: $34.99 per month

Important features

• Includes Experian CreditLock
• FICO scores, score simulator and score tracking

Trial period

• 7-day trial

Why we chose it: We chose Experian IdentityWorks as the Best for Families because its family plan covers two adults and up to 10 children at a reasonable price and also includes useful identity monitoring and protection features.

Experian IdentityWorks Family costs $34.99 — pretty competitive pricing considering it can cover a family of up to twelve. The plan features over 10 credit and identity monitoring services, including three-bureau monitoring and quarterly reports with FICO scores. The plan features over 10 credit and identity monitoring services, including three-bureau monitoring and quarterly credit reports with FICO scores, which many credit monitoring services don’t offer.

The plan also offers notable credit and identity monitoring tools, such as a FICO score tracker and simulator, dark web surveillance, social network monitoring, lost wallet assistance and $1 million identity theft insurance.

Highlights

Plans and costs

• UltraSecure + Credit Individual: $24.90/mo $249.90/yr (billed annually)
• UltraSecure + Credit Family:$39.90/mo or $399.90/yr (billed annually)

Important features

<li">Monitoring for children under 18 free of charge

Trial period

• 30-day trial (Only available with the UltraSecure Plan)

Why we chose it: IdentityForce is another solid option for families since its family plans cover two adults and an unlimited number of children, as long as they’re under 18.

The company’s UltraSecure + Credit family plan includes three-bureau credit monitoring as well as quarterly credit reports and scores. Additionally, you’ll get access to a credit score tracker and a credit score simulator.

Besides credit monitoring, this plan also includes a comprehensive array of identity theft monitoring services and cybersecurity tools. These include dark web data analysis to locate breached personal information and online computer protection tools like anti-phishing and anti-keylogging software.

However, unlike Experian IdentityWorks, IdentityForce only provides your VantageScore 3.0. This credit scoring model isn’t as widely used as the FICO score.

Highlights

Plans and cost

• Individual – One-bureau monitoring $14.95 per month
• Family – One-bureau monitoring $29.95 per month
• Individual – Three-bureau monitoring $19.95 per month
• Family – Three-bureau monitoring $34.95 per month

Important features

• One- and three-bureau credit monitoring plans
• Monthly credit reports
• Monthly VantageScore®
• Credit threat alerts
• Credit freeze assistance

Trial period

• Free 30-day trial

Why we chose IDShield: IDShield is our pick for best security features because it offers a wide array of all-in-one credit monitoring services along with robust identity theft protection tools.

The company offers an individual and a family plan with prices ranging from $14.95 to $34.95, and you can choose between one- or three-bureau monitoring. The plans include device protection such as antivirus, VPN and password manager.

IDShield’s credit monitoring services include monthly credit reports and VantageScore® tracking from TransUnion. The company will also send you 12 different types of alerts for hard credit inquiries, data breaches, fraud alerts and more.

Note that IDShield only covers up to six devices, which could be a drawback if your family has a wide variety of devices. That being said, if you’re looking for credit monitoring protection with additional identity theft protection, IDShield is a great option.

Other credit monitoring services we considered

Credit Karma

Credit Karma is free and lets you access your credit scores and reports from Experian and Equifax. But keep in mind that the score you get is the VantageScore, which lenders rarely use when evaluating credit applications.

Why we didn't choose it: The company recommends numerous financial products, like credit cards and personal loans, that users are supposedly pre-approved for. This practice led to a lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which accused Credit Karma of using these offers to deceive customers into applying for products they didn't qualify for.

Credit Sesame

Credit Sesame provides free resources to help you monitor your own credit, including access to your VantageScore® and a free credit report, updated monthly, through TransUnion. You’ll also receive real-time alerts, notification of changes on your report and, under its premium plan, three-bureau monitoring.

Why we didn’t choose it: Credit Sesame offers minimal features for the price and its website doesn’t offer pricing details — you have to register to find pricing information. Additionally, there is no customer support number listed.

Equifax

Equifax offers six credit monitoring plans ranging from free to $29.95 per month. One-bureau plans offer an Equifax credit report and VantageScore®. Premium plans offer three-bureau credit monitoring, VantageScore® and annual reports.

Why we didn’t choose it: Its plans aren’t as comprehensive as the ones offered by our picks, and the website provides vague details about each plan.

ID Watchdog

ID Watchdog provides basic and premium plans for individuals and families and does offer some nice security features such as VPN and safe browsing.

Why we didn’t choose it: However, ID Watchdog’s credit monitoring features aren’t very robust when compared to other paid plans. For example, the premium plan features three-bureau monitoring but reports are only sent annually.

Identity Guard

IdentityGuard does offer strong cybersecurity features and a wide variety of plans at competitive prices.

Why we didn’t choose it: Identity Guard didn’t make our list because its credit monitoring features are a bit sparse. Three-bureau reports are only offered annually at the premium level, and the value plan offers no credit bureau monitoring or credit score updates at all.

IdentityIQ

IdentityIQ stands out for its highly customizable plan options. It offers four plan levels ranging in cost from $9.99 to $29.99 per month. Additionally, its website provides good credit tools such as a credit score simulator and credit score tracker.

Why we didn’t choose it: We didn't choose IdentityIQ because only its most costly plan features credit tools like a credit score simulator and tracker.

LifeLock by Norton

LifeLock by Norton offers three plans with identity monitoring features that can help you keep track of your personal information online.

Why we didn’t choose it: You'll only get three-bureau monitoring with the premium plan, whcich isn’t a solid option since it provides credit reports annually instead of monthly or quarterly.

myFICO

MyFICO offers three plans ranging from free to $39.95 per month, and they all include FICO® scores and ID restoration services. The company also stands out for its educational resources, like articles, videos, financial calculators and a community forum where you can discuss credit topics.

Why we didn’t choose it: However, other companies offer more comprehensive credit monitoring plans that also include identity protection and cybersecurity features for a similar price.

TransUnion Credit Monitoring

TransUnion provides a free plan and a premium credit monitoring plan for $29.95. The free plan offers credit reports through Annualcreditreport.com, your VantageScore® and alerts, which are features similar to other free plans we reviewed.

Why we didn’t choose it: However, TransUnion’s website doesn’t provide much detail about its paid plan. Additionally, its premium plan offers features like a score simulator and $1million ID theft insurance that other plans offer for less money.

Credit Monitoring Services Guide

Credit monitoring services can help you keep tabs on your credit report, which can make it easier to spot fraud before it causes serious damage.

This guide will help you understand how credit monitoring services work and how to choose one which best fits your needs.

What are credit monitoring services?

Credit monitoring services continuously scan and track the data in your credit reports from one or more of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. These services inform you of any changes to your reports that might impact your credit score or indicate any potential sign of identity theft.

How do credit monitoring services work?

There are typically two types of credit monitoring services: free or subscription, which will charge a monthly or annual fee.

When you sign up with a company, you’ll provide your social security number and other personal information like your date of birth, address and phone number. This information is used to access and monitor your credit reports.

They’ll also send alerts triggered by account activity that can include:

• hard inquiries

• changes to your credit score or credit utilization rate

• address changes

• new accounts such as credit cards or loans being opened in your name

• changes in public records such as court records

Many, though not all, also scan for the appearance of your personally identifiable information (PII) on the dark web

These services may also send you updated credit reports and scores or monitor financial accounts like credit cards and investment accounts for suspicious activity.

Note that credit monitoring services can’t prevent ID theft or fraud, but they can alert you to suspicious and potentially fraudulent activity on your credit file. You can then take action to prevent further damage to your credit, for example, by freezing your credit or contacting creditors.

Credit monitoring vs credit repair vs identity theft protection

There are a lot of similarities between credit monitoring, credit repair and identity theft services, and many plans share comparable features. However, there are also some important differences to keep in mind.

For more detailed information, check out our guides to the best credit repair companies and best identity theft protection services to learn how these services work and how to choose the best company for your needs.

Is credit monitoring worth it?

You can always monitor your credit yourself — in fact, you can access free weekly reports and scores from all three bureaus through AnnualCreditReport.com. The question to ask yourself, however, is how much self-monitoring do you actually want to do.

Credit monitoring services are valuable because they can save you time and directly provide you with important credit information, alerting you to potentially fraudulent activity before it causes serious damage to your personal finances.

How do you choose the best credit monitoring service?

Understanding your priorities, your credit history and your security needs can help you assess credit monitoring services. Consider the following factors to help you choose the service that’s right for you.

• Number of credit bureaus monitored: While some credit monitoring services only check one credit bureau, you’ll gain a more complete picture of the activity occurring on your credit file by monitoring all three bureaus and learning how to check your credit report.

• Credit monitoring alerts: Free or low-cost plans usually alert you to changes in your credit score, new inquiries on your credit file or applications for new lines of credit. More expensive services offer security features such as alerts if your personally identifying information (PII) is found in public records, the dark web or social networks.

• Credit score model: FICO score and VantageScore are the two most common scoring models. The FICO® score is the model most widely used by lenders, so if your goal is to improve your credit score in order to get a loan or buy a house, consider a plan that provides you with access to your FICO® score and find out how to check your credit score.

• Cost: Plans range from free to $50 a month. Free plans include basic one- or two-bureau monitoring reports and alerts. The pricier plans usually include a variety of security features such as device protection, dark web and social network monitoring.

• Security features: If you have been a victim of identity theft or have children, you may want to consider plans with additional features besides credit monitoring. Plenty of low-cost plans include dark web monitoring, financial account monitoring and identity theft insurance. Family plans may include social network, cyberbully and sex offender monitoring.

How We Chose The Best Credit Monitoring Services

To find the best credit monitoring services, we compared plans from 22 leading companies placing importance on the following criteria:

• Three-bureau monitoring. We preferred companies that offered three-bureau monitoring in their plans. This feature is key for comprehensive credit monitoring.

• Plan cost and features. We analyzed plan prices and available features for each of our categories.

• Credit scoring model. We evaluated whether plans offered VantageScore® or FICO®. We gave preference to FICO® because the majority of lenders use FICO® over VantageScore®.

• Transparency. We preferred companies whose websites clearly outlined pricing information and plan details.

• Ease of use. We evaluated the website and educational tools for functionality and ease of use.

• Customer service. We tested available communication options: phone, chat and email. We also investigated customer satisfaction reviews and complaints registered on sites like BBB, Trustpilot, Google Play and Apple.

Summary of Money’s Best Credit Monitoring Services of 2024

• Aura – Best for Low-Cost Credit Monitoring
• Experian – Best Free Credit Monitoring Service
• PrivacyGuard – Best For Credit Reports And Score From All Three
• Experian IdentityWorks – Best for families
• IdentityForce - Best for families runner-up
• IDShield – Best for Cybersecurity Features