Best Identity Theft Protection Services 2025: How They Compare

Identity theft protection companies pledge to act as guardians of your personal information for a monthly or annual fee. Generally, they start with credit monitoring, then layer on additional services to alert you to potential problems.

But alerts just flag you after the fact; they can't prevent someone from stealing and misusing your financial data. That’s why NerdWallet advises proactively freezing your credit — it can prevent the opening of fraudulent accounts. Compare providers and decide for yourself.

Aura

Cost: The plan for individuals is $15 a month if you pay monthly, or $144 if you choose the annual plan. The couples plan is $29 per month, or $264 annually. Families pay $50 a month, for the monthly plan or $384 for the annual plan.

Best for: People who are budget conscious or have larger families. Read our full Aura review.

LifeLock Ultimate Plus

Cost: Coverage for two adults is $69.99 a month. Discounts are available for paying annually — $32.99 a month for two — but the cost will be higher starting with the second year.

Best for: Those who don’t have an entire family to protect; those who can afford to spend a little extra for comprehensive coverage. Read our full LifeLock review.

IDShield

Cost: Monitoring of the three credit bureaus is $19.95 per month for individuals or $34.95 for a family plan.

Best for: Price-sensitive customers who want to have their social media accounts scanned as part of a package. Read our full IDShield review.

IdentityForce UltraSecure+Credit

Cost: $34.90 a month or $349.90 a year for the IdentityForce UltraSecure+Credit Individual plan, which offers monitoring at all three major credit bureaus. The UltraSecure+Credit family plan runs $39.90 a month, or $399.90 for a year.

Best for: Those who want advanced fraud monitoring. Read our full IdentityForce review.

ID Watchdog Premium

Cost: $21.95 a month or $220 for an annual plan for the individual ID Watchdog Premium, which offers three-bureau credit monitoring. The family plan costs $34.95 monthly or $350 annually.

Best for: Those who need help recovering from preexisting identity theft.

This is a small sampling; you may find a different provider that suits you better. You’ll need to unfreeze your credit temporarily, if you've already frozen it, to allow a provider access to your files for monitoring.

What identity theft protection services do

In general, identity theft protection companies offer three main services:

• Monitoring: Identity theft protection firms monitor your credit files and alert you about activity, such as new accounts opened in your name and credit inquiries received, so you can react quickly.

• Alerts: They notify you of instances where your personal information has been used, like if someone tries to open a bank account in your name. This can be helpful because many people don’t realize identity theft has happened until their credit is wrecked, their bank accounts are depleted or they suddenly have a lot of new debt in their name.

• Recovery: If someone hacks your information and uses it maliciously, these companies can help you recover lost money and help undo the damage to your credit. Most offer insurance policies of up to $1 million.

Many also offer tangential services, such as alerts about identity theft news and local sex offender registries. Some monitor dark web sites known to traffic in stolen personal and financial data, which is something you can't do yourself.

You can take steps to protect your identity yourself

You can perform the basic services offered by identity theft protection companies yourself, often at no charge:

• You can keep an eye on changes to your credit reports and get a free credit score through NerdWallet.com.

• You can report identity theft and follow free recovery paths outlined by the federal government at IdentityTheft.gov.

• You can freeze your credit files at all three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — for free, something an identity theft protection company cannot do for you.

"The first thing consumers need to do if they’re worried about ID theft is just to freeze their credit reports," says Chi Chi Wu, senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. "Freeze, freeze, freeze. Everything else is gravy on top of that."

Are identity theft protection services worth it?

Consider your time, energy and budget

You may want a full suite of safeguards and don’t mind paying for peace of mind. Or you may know you won’t do it yourself.

If so, compare prices and coverage details to find a plan that fits. Make sure the product you choose monitors credit data at all three credit bureaus; otherwise, you're paying for incomplete protection.

Avoid credit monitoring products from the credit bureaus, which tend to have less robust coverage and may limit your right to sue them, even if they are the ones that exposed your financial data.

Consider paying for an identity theft protection service if:

• You’re already the victim of identity theft or at high risk of it.

• You are unwilling to freeze your credit reports.

• You know that you won’t go through the effort of actively monitoring your own credit.

• You have checked and don't have adequate identity theft monitoring available for free as a benefit or as a result of a data breach.