It took six months of rigorous testing, but I found it – the best identity theft protection service is Aura.
Aura offers:
- Award-winning identity theft and credit monitoring
- In-depth dark web monitoring with best accuracy
- Best threat resolution team
- 24/7 US-based customer service experts
- Highest theft insurance coverage (especially for couples and families)
And, they do this at the most affordable price.
Plus, if you get our exclusive OFF offer today, you lock in that price for life.
However, I wanted to be fair and ensure other identity theft products received credit for what they’re best at. So, here we go!
Top Identity Theft Protection Services Of October 2023
HSH Approved
#1 Aura – Best Identity Theft Protection
For most people, Aura offers the best peace of mind. Their monitoring & alert system is the best available. This coupled with excellent customer service & the highest theft insurance on the market makes it a no-brainer. And somehow they do this at the lowest price as well.
- Excellent Threat Monitoring & Alerts
- Up to $5M Theft Insurance ($1M per adult)
- Extremely Knowledgeable Threat Resolution Experts Available 24/7/365
- Automatic removal from data broker lists
- Antivirus, VPN, Password Manager & Parental Controls Included
HSH Approved
Identity Guard
Identity Guard (Aura’s predecessor) may not be the best, but it’s still an excellent choice for identity theft protection. It has great monitoring & alerts as well as knowledgeable threat resolution agents. Go with Identity Guard if you want excellent id theft protection with no extras at the best price.
- Same Excellent Threat Monitoring as Aura
- $1M Theft Insurance standard
- Responsive & Knowledgeable Resolution Experts based in the US
- Great Identity Theft Protection without the extras
HSH Approved
ID Shield
IDShield shines in two areas: best reputation management and threat resolution. If your identity is compromised, IDShield promises a team of licensed private investigators to restore your identity in the event of a breach.
- Good Threat Monitoring and Alerts
- Dedicated Threat Resolution Experts
- Prompt and Helpful US Based Customer Care
HSH Approved
Identity Force
If you are looking solely for the best credit monitoring, IdentityForce is hard to beat. While they do have US based customer service available 24/7, their identity theft protection service comes in after Aura & Identity Guard.
- Excellent Credit Monitoring Service
- 24/7 US Based Customer Service
- $1M Theft Insurance (total)
HSH Approved
Norton LifeLock
LifeLock offers a promising suite of identity theft protection products and while their antivirus service is one of the best out there, my experience with their id protection service was lacking, to say the least.
LifeLock’s threat monitoring found the least threats and their customer service & theft insurance leaves a lot to be desired. Plus, the renewal price is much higher than the signup price, unlike our top choice Aura
- Excellent Antivirus Protection
- Mediocre threat monitoring and resolution
- $1M Theft Insurance only on the highest plans, $25K–$100K otherwise
- Renewal Price is much Higher
HSH Approved
Costco Complete ID
Costco CompleteID might be worth looking into if you’re already a Costco executive member. It’s not the best as as far as identity theft protection services go, but it’s not bad. Still, the pricing doesn’t make sense if you don’t have a Costco membership.
- Accurate monitoring
- Fewer monitoring tools
- Slow-loading dashboard
HSH Approved
Allstate Identity Protection
Allstate offers the best fund reimbursement policies available – they’ll even refund the cash from a stolen wallet! However, their identity theft monitoring capabilities leave a lot to be desired.
- Best-in-class fund reimbursement policies
- Flexible family plans
- Inaccurate monitoring tools
HSH Approved
Experian IdentityWorks
If credit monitoring or repair is your main goal, Experian IdentityWorks might be the best tool for you. However, if you want full identity theft protection, it’s not right choice.
- Amazing credit tools
- Slow threat detection
- Less comprehensive monitoring
IDX Identity
If user interface matters more to you than anything else (and you’re willing to pay a premium for it), IDX is one of the best identity theft protection services. It’s sleek, modern, and provides comprehensive coverage, though its customer service is limited.
- Best-in-class user interface
- Limited customer service hours
- Expensive
ID Watchdog
ID Watchdog’s customer service is amongst the best, and its credit monitoring tools are fantastic. However, its identity monitoring tools don’t catch everything other identity theft protection services catch.
- Knowledgeable customer service
- Top-notch credit monitoring tools
- Poor identity monitoring
ReliaShield
ReliaShield offers some of the best alerts. They give you all the information you need to take proactive steps that protect your identity. They also offer very comprehensive monitoring. But, there are no added features, like a VPN or antivirus software included.
- Detailed alerts
- Comprehensive monitoring
- No included additional features
Home Security Heroes independently tests and reviews every product. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. Read more here.
Is Identity Theft Protection Worth it?
Nearly 50 percent of Americans are affected by identity theft every year, and research shows that Americans lost $24 billion due to identity fraud in 2021 alone – a number that’s been increasing year over year for decades (and shows no signs of slowing down.)
That means having the best identity theft protection is worth it.
You need to protect your credit score, your Social Security number, and your most valuable assets – like your home, car, and retirement savings. You also need to think about the best identity theft protection for families. Child identity theft is no joke, and protection for your spouse and college-aged kids is also crucial.
However, finding a theft protection company that does all of that at a price you can reasonably afford is hard.
Trust me, I know.
Researching and testing the best identity protection services is difficult because they’re hard to compare.
What one service calls “alternative loan protection” and another one calls “home title monitoring,” and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Nuanced and sometimes trademarked service names make it tricky to know what each identity theft protection service is really offering.
I did the hard part of figuring out what’s what and laid it all out below. Ultimately, Aura won, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other good theft protection services out there. If you’re wondering about certain features, or are curious about a specific brand, read on for my in-depth analysis.
And, if you want to know more about identity theft protection in general, skip to the end of this article. There, I cover how we picked the best identity theft protection service and what you should look for when comparing identity theft companies.
Our Best Identity Theft Protection Video Review
Top-notch Identity Fraud Prevention Deals Discounts Video
11 Best Identity Theft Protection Services of 2023
There are a lot of identity theft protection services to choose from, but after testing all of the big names (and many of the smaller ones, too), I found Aura was the best overall pick.
Just in case you’re not an Aura fan, though, there are ten identity theft protection services here to consider.
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1. Aura – Overall Winner
Aura sets the high bar for identity theft protection.
As the successor to an already excellent service (Identity Guard), I knew Aura would be top-notch. It uses the same technology, so I knew its monitoring capabilities would be the best available – and I was right.
Aura found the most unique dark web alerts (15) out of all the identity theft protection services I tested (other than Identity Guard, which found the same). Aura also offers the most comprehensive monitoring capabilities. It includes three-bureau credit monitoring, an in-portal Experian credit lock, 401(k) monitoring, and home and auto title monitoring – services that many other identity theft protection services miss.
Best of all, Aura includes these services as standard across all plans. You don’t have to pay extra to get the best in identity protection.
PLUS, Aura includes a few stand-out services that are hard to find, like automatic data broker removal requests. They also offer safe gaming, which alerts parents to potential threats on their kid’s gaming platforms, including signs of harassment, bullying, racism, and grooming.
I tried to find flaws with Aura’s services, I really did, but this identity theft protection service is truly the best available.
I even called their award-winning 24/7/365 customer service line on a Saturday at midnight and barraged them with questions, thinking I would catch them off guard. However I reached a U.S.-based resolution expert in under two minutes, and they answered all of my questions easily.
When it comes to theft insurance coverage, Aura blows all the competition away (including Identity Guard). Aura’s plans come with $1 million in theft insurance for each adult. So, couple’s plans come with $2 million, and family plans come with up to $5 million in theft insurance coverage – which brings me to my next point…
Aura’s family plans are the best – there’s no competition. They allow you to include up to five adults and unlimited children. This means you can cover your adult children, your parents, your in-laws, and any other adult in your family.
Their family plans also include fantastic features like the Circle parental app, which helps you monitor your children online with parental controls and cyberbullying notifications. The plan also includes a guided three-bureau children’s credit freeze, so you can prevent thieves from accessing your child’s credit.
Aura’s additional services could be better, but given that they’re additional and not key to identity protection, I can’t complain much. Their VPN and antivirus software may not be the best I’ve seen, but they’re usable. Also included with Aura are a password manager, credit file notifications, and malware alerts, all of which provide additional protection online.
If Aura charged more than most other identity theft protection services, I’d say it was justified – but that’s the best part, and why I give them the best overall – Aura costs less than every other identity theft protection service on this list when you use our 68% discount off.
To sum it up, Aura gives you more comprehensive monitoring, incredible customer service, the best theft insurance coverage, flexible family plans, and a full suite of additional features for less money than our runner-up. Aura truly is the best identity theft protection service available.
Aura Pricing and Plans
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Here are some of our other Aura comparisons:
2. Identity Guard – Best Value
Identity Guard comes from the same company as Aura and it’s excellent overall. Its monitoring is just as accurate as Aura’s, and it offers most of the same services, including 401(k) and home title monitoring. Plus, the threat resolution team is excellent. If Aura didn’t exist, I’d say Identity Guard was the best theft protection service.
But you have to get the best of Identity Guard, you have to purchase their top-tier plan – which costs significantly more than Aura.
Their base-level “Value” plan and mid-level “Total” plan don’t offer full identity theft protection. They’re missing key features like concierge identity restoration, three-bureau annual credit reports, Experian credit lock capabilities, investment account monitoring, and home title monitoring. See here for the full Identity Guard review.
Identity Guard Pricing and Plans
Identity Guard offers a simplified plan structure with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
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3. IDShield – Best For Reputation Management
IDShield offers a couple of unique features that make it stand out – reputation management and identity restoration from licensed private investigators.
If you’re interested in reputation management, it essentially helps you audit your online presence. Then, it helps you optimize and build the best possible professional network on LinkedIn and other platforms. If you’re looking for a new job, trying to secure a loan, or applying for college, it’s a feature worth considering, but it doesn’t do much in terms of protecting you from identity theft.
Using licensed private investigators to help you restore your identity should you fall victim to identity theft is also pretty cool. With IDShield, a licensed P.I. will work with you to restore your identity to pre-theft status, and they may help you figure out how the theft happened. Catching the bad guy isn’t always feasible with identity theft, but it’s sure satisfying.
Unfortunately, IDShield has some problems too. It’s not as accurate as Aura. For me, it only pulled eight unique dark web alerts (Aura found 15).
It’s also pricey.
IDShield’s plans are more expensive than a lot of other identity theft protection services. And given what they include (or don’t include), I don’t think it’s justified. They’re missing some of the best theft protection features like data broker removal, parental controls, 24/7 customer service, and deeper-level monitoring for investment accounts or your home and auto title. See our full IDShield review.
IDShield Plans & Pricing
IDShield offers two main service plans, as well as family plans, based on one credit bureau or three credit bureau monitoring.
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4. IdentityForce – Most Popular For Fastest Alerts
IdentityForce impressed me in several ways.
First, its initial scan was fast. Within a few minutes of signing, my phone was lighting up with alert notifications. Unfortunately, IdentityForce wasn’t the best accuracy (it found seven unique dark web alerts – Aura found 15). Still, its speed was extraordinary.
Second, IdentityForce has one of the best suites of credit monitoring tools, including three-bureau credit monitoring, credit freeze assistance, one-click credit freezes with TransUnion, a credit simulator, and a credit score tracker.
Sadly, they only make these credit features available with their top-tier protection plan, making them a little pricey (especially when you consider how many free credit monitoring services, like CreditKarma or CreditWorks, are available).
And, unfortunately, the tool I was most excited about, the credit simulator, didn’t seem to be accurate. Messing with the inputs, even putting in a delinquent loan, didn’t affect the credit score it gave.
Finally, IdentityForce offers some unique features for families, like white glove family restoration and their ChildWatch suite.
With white glove family restoration, IdentityForce promises to restore your immediate family member’s identities even if you don’t have a family plan. Without a family plan, your family won’t have access to monitoring tools or other features, of course, but they will be able to restore their identities if they’re victims of identity theft.
Identity Force also offers a comprehensive Internet and online child monitoring tool called ChildWatch. It includes some of the best social media monitoring for kids, though it’s missing other key protection features (like safe gaming and parental controls). You can add the ChildWatch protection feature to any plan for $2.95 per month, so you don’t need a full-blown family plan if you don’t want one.
And, that’s good because Identity Force makes it ridiculously hard to sign up for a family plan. You have to call and talk to a sales rep which is very frustrating. None of the other best services force you to do this.
Identity Force also has a clunky user interface. It’s not terrible, but given Identity Force’s price, I expect a more streamlined user experience. See our full Identity Force review here.
Identity Force Pricing Plans
IIdentityForce has two tiers of personal plans, one with credit monitoring and one without, plus a family plan. Each plan comes with a 2-week trial period to help you decide if it’s the right fit.
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5. LifeLock – Best Choice For Antivirus Software
LifeLock isn’t the best choice for identity protection. In fact, it’s one of my least favorite theft protection services. But it’s a big-name brand with a huge marketing budget, so a lot of people consider it the best choice. So, let’s discuss it.
First, the monitoring is mediocre at best. When I tested it, this supposed theft protection service only found one dark web alert. It also had issues figuring out who I was. It got me confused with every other person with my name. Had it also factored in my birthday, that wouldn’t have happened.
LifeLock’s customer service is also extremely far from the best available. It takes navigating through multiple “Contact Us” links just to find a phone number. Once you call, I can almost guarantee you’ll be on hold for at least ten minutes, only to reach a rep who’s not in the U.S.
LifeLock’s insurance coverage is also sub-par on anything but their top plan. At the top tier, this identity theft protection service’s insurance looks incredible if you opt for a mid or low-tier option, you’ll get insurance coverage that’s far lower than normal – as little as $25k for expenses and stolen fund reimbursement.
If all of that wasn’t enough to turn you off of LifeLock, their substantial price increase at the end of your first year’s subscription will be. See our full LifeLock review.
Where LifeLock stands out as the best is with its additional protection inclusions. LifeLock offers antivirus protection and a VPN for unlimited devices when you opt for its top-tier plan (lower plans have device limits). Norton 360 antivirus is the best of the best, but you could also just purchase Norton by itself. So that’s what I recommend – purchase Norton 360 antivirus software alongside a different identity protection service.
LifeLock Pricing & Plans
LifeLock offers a pretty straightforward plan menu with 3 variations of the Individual Plan and Family Plans.
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6. Complete ID – Best For Executive Costco Members
Pros
Cons
Costco CompleteID isn’t a Costco product. It’s backed by Experian, who partnered with Costco to offer identity theft protection services to Costco members. I’m normally not a fan of Experian identity theft protection products, but this one isn’t so bad.
If you’re already a Costco Executive member, it might be worth checking this theft protection service out. Executive members get the best rate for this service, but if you’re a regular Costco member (or don’t have a membership with Costco at all), the pricing stops making sense.
That said, even with an executive membership, there are some things to consider before you opt for Costco Complete ID’s identity protection service.
You should know that while its monitoring is accurate (it found a whooping 27 alerts!), it’s slow and repetitive. It took Costco CompleteID two days to uncover what Aura found in a matter of minutes and many of the alerts were duplicates, making their monitoring protection far from the best.
This theft protection service is also less comprehensive than other options. While it offers basic protection like SSN monitoring, credit monitoring with an Experian credit lock feature, and dark web monitoring, it’s missing other key features.
For example, it doesn’t offer any sort of social media or criminal record monitoring. And, it misses the deeper-level theft protection services like home and auto title monitoring.
Costco CompleteID is also slow to load, making it a little frustrating to use. In my experience, if an identity theft protection service is difficult to use in any way, you’re less likely to actually use it. We have here the full Complete ID Reviews.
Complete ID Plans and Pricing
Most identity theft protection services structure their plan offers according to the number of protection features you choose. Complete ID, however, has taken a different approach. You will be able to choose a protection plan according to the Costco membership you have.
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7. Allstate – Best For Fund Reimbursement Policy
Pros
Cons
Allstate is part of our best identity theft protection service list for several reasons. It offers very comprehensive protection features, including investment account monitoring, which many companies miss. And, though it doesn’t offer home title monitoring, it does provide home title fraud reimbursement (up to $2 million).
Unfortunately, its monitoring capabilities aren’t the best. When I tested it, it pulled up zero alerts.
You might think a lack of accuracy would knock this identity theft protection service off our best-of list, but Allstate stands out in other areas.
For example, it goes above and beyond to fix identity theft damages. As part of their theft insurance coverage, they provide up to $1 million in insurance reimbursement should a thief steal from your retirement account and up to $2 million in insurance reimbursement if you’re a victim of a ransomware attack. Allstate even provides up to $500 in cash reimbursement should you lose your wallet as part of its lost wallet insurance coverage.
Allstate’s identity theft protection service also includes a comprehensive set of family protection tools that includes detailed parental controls, featuring screen time limits and device location alerts. Their definition of family is also inclusive, allowing for college-aged kids and seniors on their family plans.
My only other gripe with Allstate is its load time. It’s not very fast, which can be frustrating.
Allstate Plans and Pricing
If you’re looking for some of the best insurance coverage and best family protection tools, you’ll want Allstate’s premier plan. The essentials option doesn’t include nearly as much.
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8. Experian IdentityWorks – Best For Credit Management Tools
Pros
Cons
There are certain people who might like Experian IdentityWorks service. If you’re trying to repair your credit or can only afford a very basic free plan, IdentityWorks might be your best option. For most people, though, it doesn’t provide enough protection, even when you pay for the top-tier protection plan.
Given that this is an Experian product, it makes sense that its credit tools are amongst the best. They offer 3-bureau credit reports and FICO® Scores each quarter, daily Experian FICO® Scores, a credit score tracker, an in-portal Experian credit lock, and credit score monitoring.
However, in other identity theft monitoring areas, IdentityWorks misses the mark. This theft protection service doesn’t offer financial transaction monitoring, investment account monitoring, or home and auto title monitoring.
And while the service is capable of detecting theft threats, it’s extremely slow. It took over a month of testing before it found the dark web threats I knew it should. It’s hard to fix vulnerabilities effectively when it takes that long to find them.
Experian IdentityWorks Plans and Pricing
Experian IdentityWorks offers a free theft protection plan which includes a single dark web scan and ongoing credit protection services. For real identity theft protection, though, the paid premium or plus plans are the best choice.
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