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LifeLock offers three tiers of protection. Here are highlights.
What LifeLock does and what it costs
LifeLock Standard: Standard Individual (one adult) is $11.99 per month. Standard Family (two adults) is $23.99 per month. Standard Family (two adults, five kids) is $35.99 per month. You can save more than 40% by paying for a full year upfront.
The Standard plan includes monitoring the use of your Social Security number, name, birth date or address in applications. It also offers credit monitoring at one of the three credit bureaus. It patrols the dark web for your data, verifies any change of address and includes up to $25,000 reimbursement for stolen money or personal expenses.
LifeLock Advantage: You’ll pay $22.99 per month for the middle-tier option. If you spring for a full year upfront at $179.88 the total price lowers by 34%. It will renew at the regular annual price of $239.99. Stolen money and personal expense reimbursements increase to $100,000, but you will still only get monitoring from one of the three credit bureaus.
LifeLock Ultimate Plus: This bumps up stolen money and personal expense reimbursements to $1 million each, adds credit monitoring at all three major credit bureaus and monitors investment activity. Other additions: phone takeover and social media monitoring; home title monitoring; alerts on crimes in your name, and much more.
LifeLock Ultimate Plus for two adults is $69.99 per month. You can save by paying a year at a time; the plan is $32.99 a month for the first year if you pay for the year upfront. The cost will be higher starting with the second year.
If you want coverage for children, the Ultimate Plus option for two adults and up to five children costs $79.99 per month. Like the other plans, you’ll save by purchasing a year’s subscription upfront.
You also may be able to cut costs by finding discount codes.
AD
Protect Your Identity with LifeLock
GET STARTED
on LifeLock's website
AD
Protect Your Identity with LifeLock
- Get alerts for suspicious activity and data breaches.
- Monitor the dark web for your personal information.
- Bundle with antivirus for comprehensive digital security.
GET STARTED
on LifeLock's website
Is LifeLock worth the price?
You might find a NortonLifeLock product worth the cost if:
- You are unwilling to freeze your credit.
- You want help resolving an instance of identity theft or have other security worries.
- You have more money than time to monitor your accounts for potential signs of identity theft.
Also, weigh the pros and cons:
✅ LifeLock pros
- Wide-ranging monitoring and alerts: Helpful if you don’t have the time or desire to monitor your credit and accounts for suspicious activity yourself.
- Dark web monitoring: Searches for your personal data on the dark web. While stolen data can’t be removed, alerts let you take proactive steps, such as changing passwords or notifying the issuing agency for IDs, to make that information less useful for criminals.
- Helpful for high-risk individuals: If you’ve previously been a victim of identity theft or want monitoring, such as dark web scans or criminal activity checks that you can’t or won’t do on your own, this service is especially useful.
- Bundle option with antivirus protection: Can combine identity theft monitoring with virus protection. This may cost less and be easier to manage than paying for and juggling two separate services.
❌ LifeLock cons
- Higher cost: More expensive than some competing identity-protection services. Adding another adult or children increases the price.
- Auto-renewal: Automatically renews subscriptions, which may be convenient for some but frustrating for others.
- Free alternatives may be available: If you’re on a tight budget, you may already have access to free ID theft prevention services through an employer benefit or a data breach settlement.
- Cannot prevent identity theft: Like similar services, LifeLock focuses on detecting issues and helping with recovery — it cannot stop identity theft from happening.
- Limited monitoring scope: LifeLock does not monitor every transaction at every business.
Before You Pay: Free Credit Protection Tools
You can perform many of LifeLock’s identity theft protection services on your own, for free, such as:
👀 Monitor your accounts regularly — Frequently check accounts, read statements and set activity alerts.
🔐 Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication — Update passwords and turn on two-factor authentication, which is an extra step that protects your accounts by requiring your password and a code sent to your phone or app.
📊 Track your credit score and report — Check your credit score and see your credit report for free on NerdWallet.com.
🛟 Get recovery help if needed — If you’re a victim of identity theft, use IdentityTheft.gov for a free, personalized recovery plan.
Finally, there are risks of LifeLock or any other identity theft monitoring service:
- You may start to ignore alerts if you become accustomed to receiving many of them.
- You may become lax about your own cyber hygiene and checking over statements because you think it’s been taken care of for you.
Freezing your credit reports with the three major credit bureaus is the best way to prevent someone from using your personal information to open accounts.
Freezing and unfreezing your credit at each bureau is free, and NerdWallet recommends it for consumers who aren't actively applying for credit.
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