Is Aura Worth Checking Out?

Aura is the new identity theft protection service from the makers of Identity Guard. In some ways, that might be the only endorsement you need. But sequels often have the trend of being much worse than their predecessors, so you can’t always trust that just because a company has released a good product before that they can hit all the same high marks again.

There’s also the issue of many people already being established users of Identity Guard. If you’re satisfied with how it works and how much you’re paying, you may not want to go through the hassle of switching services and setting everything up again.

So, for both new and old users alike, let’s try and answer the question: is Aura worth it compared to everything else out there?

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What Makes Aura Unique?

In comparison to the rest of the market, the thing that sets Aura apart is the same thing as its predecessor: raw performance.

Aura has quite possibly the best identity monitoring on the market, with very fast and accurate monitoring tools that give you plenty of detail to work with to solve problems.

This monitoring is also spread across a broader array of monitoring types than other services of this kind, offering both the common and more niche monitoring tools to those who go with their top tier membership plan.

That, however, is something it shares with Identity Guard. So what sets it apart from the service that paved the way for it?

In a word more. Aura has more of pretty much everything than Identity Guard has had. More features, in the form of the WiFi protection and antivirus options. More insurance, with the  $5 million maximum for their Executive insurance plan members. More availability with 24/7 customer service.

So it borrows essentially everything that makes other services worth considering…and doesn’t compromise the power of its monitoring and threat resolution in the process. That’s what makes it unique.

Read: Full review of Aura Identity Protection.

How Does Aura Stack Up to Other Services?

Extremely well, as you might imagine.

Compared to everything else on the market its monitoring is either superior or equal. The only one I’d say is truly equal is, of course, Identity Guard. Everyone else falls just a bit short of Identity Guard, and by extension Aura in one way or another.

Maybe the monitoring is slower, or less accurate. More often the monitoring is just as fast (or faster!) and quite accurate, but the service simply doesn’t cover the same types of monitoring that Aura does.

Whatever the case, in this Aura stands at the top of the pile, and no option surpasses it in terms of monitoring.

Go down the list of all its other features, and Aura compares similarly well. It has some of the best threat resolution on the market, the best insurance policy I’ve seen from any identity theft protection service, and a suite of nice extra features.

The only real things I’d say Aura falls short in are its website layout (which is a bit cumbersome and annoying), and that its extra features are definitely lacking compared to other options. While any antivirus is better than nothing, Aura’s antivirus program is definitely not as robust as the Norton 360 plan that comes with a LifeLock subscription. The same goes when comparing Aura’s “WiFi protection” program and Norton’s VPN. While I don’t think much of Norton’s VPN compared to other options out there, it’s about as good as other free programs, and I’m disappointed that Aura was not able to meet that bare minimum of performance.

Ah, and it’s also worth noting that Aura is one of the most affordable options on the market, both for individuals and ESPECIALLY for  family plans. This is mostly taking into account our affiliate deal for up to 50% off, but the full price isn’t half bad either, again especially for the family plans.

These Aura Family Plan is top of the line and more flexible than other services, allowing for up to 10 adults or children in any combination (even up to 10 adults!) to share the same Aura plan among them.

So, is Aura Worth It?

As I hope I’ve hammered in pretty thoroughly over the course of this article, the answer to that is a resounding yes.

Aura is hands down the best identity theft protection service I’ve ever reviewed, and it takes every minor complaint I ever had about Identity Guard and fixes them.

While some of these fixes (primarily its absolutely pathetic “VPN” service that even they couldn’t justify with the name) are a bit lackluster, they’re all things that can be fixed up over time, and even if they aren’t don’t really mar the overall experience.

At the end of the day everything that actually matters is nearly perfect, and I can’t think of any major ways to improve them beyond what currently exists. A bit more detail on the alerts maybe? Slightly better archive organization?

These are the kinds of minor things I can think of to vaguely improve the experience, but even without them the service is, again, nearly perfect.

If you’re looking for an identity theft protection service for the first time, I can’t recommend Aura enough. If you already have a service you like, I wouldn’t go so far as to say you should definitely drop it to switch to Aura, since after all you went with that service in the first place because it served your needs. But I would strongly recommend looking into it and seeing if it gives you what you need.

If nothing else, take a look at the Aura free trial and see if you can get a feel for the service in the two weeks you get to test it out. You’ll probably be won over.