We've provided standardized ratings for each carrier featured on this list to help you compare your options. Here's a breakdown of what each category means:

1. Financial strength rating: These ratings indicate an insurer’s ability to pay future claims.

2. Online purchase: This indicates whether the company offers a way to apply for and purchase policies entirely online.

3. NAIC complaints: Ratings are based on complaints to state regulators relative to a company’s size, according to three years’ worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. NerdWallet conducts its data analysis and reaches conclusions independently and without the endorsement of the NAIC.

4. Policies offered: Term policies last a set number of years, while permanent policies typically last a lifetime. No-exam policies don’t require a medical exam.

Permanent life insurance generally covers you for the rest of your life and pays out regardless of when you die — as long as your policy remains in force. These types of policies also include a cash value component that you can withdraw from or borrow against while you’re still alive. Depending on the policy, you may be able to adjust your premium payments and coverage amount to fit your needs.

1. Whole life insurance: Whole life insurance policies have fixed premiums and a cash value component that (slowly) accumulates. Insurers may offer different payment schedules, such as paying premiums up to age 100, paying premiums for a fixed number of years (such as 10, 15 or 20 years while maintaining coverage after payments stop) and single-payment policies. When you die, your beneficiaries typically receive the face amount of the policy, not the face amount plus cash value. You can withdraw money or borrow against the cash value during your lifetime — just know that if you don't pay it back, the insurer will reduce the life insurance death benefit by the same dollar amount.

2. Universal life insurance: The main draw of universal life insurance is that it allows you to adjust your premiums and death benefit, giving you flexibility as your financial circumstances change. You can also combine the cash value with the death benefit to increase the payout to your beneficiaries, though the premiums will be more expensive if you choose this option. Indexed universal life insurance is a specific type of universal life insurance that’s tied to a stock or bond index, like the S&P 500. It offers similar flexibility in premiums and death benefits as universal life.

3. Variable life insurance: Variable life insurance offers policyholders the opportunity to put their cash value in investments of their choosing, which can make this type of coverage riskier than whole or universal life. You may have the option — similar to universal life — to include the cash value in the death benefit. Premiums are typically fixed, and returns on the cash value are not guaranteed.

4. Variable universal life insurance: What do you get when you mash together variable life and universal life? You get variable universal life, or VUL, a type of life insurance with a lot of moving parts. The policy’s underlying cash value is subject to the ups and downs of the investments you choose. You can adjust your premium payments and death benefit. However, this increased flexibility comes with risks. If your investment choices don’t pan out the way you’d hoped, you could end up owing money or even losing the coverage.

5. Other permanent policies: There are more specific types of permanent life such as survivorship policies, which are a form of family life insurance. These policies insure two lives at once — typically spouses — and pay out when the second person dies. If you’re looking at permanent life insurance for retirement or investment goals, discuss it along with other options with a fee-based life insurance advisor before making a decision.

Permanent policies may be worth it for people who:

Pros:
Coverage typically lasts your entire life.
You can tap into the policy’s cash value while you’re still alive.
Depending on the policy you choose, you might be able to combine the cash value growth with the death benefit, increasing the payout when you die.

Cons:
Permanent policies cost significantly more than term life policies.
Universal and variable policies require careful monitoring to ensure the cash value performs well and the policy stays in force, making them riskier than term life policies.
If you borrow from the cash value and don’t pay it back, the insurer typically reduces the death benefit by the same amount.