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LifeLock has long been among the big names in the identity theft protection business and there are many reviews on its services. Until recently, most of these reviews were positive. After all, if you wanted close to impenetrable online ID protection and budget wasn’t a priority then, choosing LifeLock made sense.
But now Aura blows Life Lock clean out of the water, providing vastly superior monitoring, far better value for your money and way more reliable customer service.
We’re also not the only ones who think that. While LifeLock’s customer reviews are mediocre at best, Aura gets stunning reviews from just about everyone who tries it.
Not to mention, if you lock in our OFF discount on Aura, they won’t increase your price next year like LifeLock.
- You want an excellent one-stop-shop digital solution to maximize your online safety.
- You want guaranteed access to white glove threat resolution specialists on all plans so you know you’ll always have excellent assistance on stand-by when something goes wrong.
- You want elite dark web monitoring so you can strike down threats before they happen.
- You’re mainly interested in Norton’s antivirus protection and only want barebones identity theft protection coverage.
- You don’t mind upgrading to Lifelock’s most expensive plan to ensure access to white glove support
- You already use another service for dark web monitoring to supplement this weak point of Lifelock.
So, is LifeLock worth it?
It might have been before, but now Norton Lifelock’s worth seems dismal compared to other services.
In this Life Lock review, I’ll show you exactly where Norton’s services fail to impress (and where Aura’s stand out) so you understand why LifeLock isn’t worth what you’ll pay for it, but other services, like Aura, are.
But First, Why Should You Trust Us?
You can learn more about our testing process here.
LifeLock Identity Theft Protection Video Review
Editor’s Ranking
Overall Score | Best Identity Theft Protection | |
Monitoring & Alerts |
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Threat Resolution |
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Theft Insurance Per Adult |
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Only Ultimate Plus offers $1M coverage |
Customer Support |
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Additional Services |
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Cost |
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Renewal Price Increased After 1st Year? |
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Promo Code |
Monitoring and Alerts Review: 3/10
I run a lot of testing and write a lot of reviews for identity protection services. I know some of my information is on the dark web, and better services, like Aura, found it right away.
Threat Resolution Review: 2/10
Expertise |
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US Based Support? |
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Customer Hours |
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Concierge Resolution |
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Lost Wallet Protection |
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For the purpose of this review, I break Norton LifeLock’s threat resolution into two primary features.
Connecting with Norton LifeLock isn’t particularly easy despite their 24/7 availability. When I did (finally) connect with someone, we found the ‘expertise’ of their threat resolution care people vague and we had more questions than answers after the call.
Furthermore, although they claim to offer US-based support, this is only half true. Norton LifeLock’s threat resolution team is U.S.-based but their general customer service line is not.
Theft Insurance Review: 5/10
Theft Insurance Score | ||
Theft Insurance |
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Family Plans Insurance Review
Moving on to family plan insurance – is LifeLock worth it for families?
Let’s take a look.
For 2 adults
For 2 adults and 5 kids
As you can see, the Standard plan is not really worth considering and the Advantage plan only a little bit better. Predictably, insurance for kids is pretty low as it’s expected they won’t have much to steal to begin with. That said, few reviews I’ve done feature a service that offers insurance coverage for children at all. So, this is a stand-out feature for Norton LifeLock, and if your children have wealth to protect, LifeLock’s higher-end family plans may be worth the price.
Ease of Use Review: 7/10
When I review a service I look for a user experience that’s modern and streamlined, with little to no learning curve.
Additional Services Review: 10/10
Additional Services |
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So, is LifeLock worth it if you value additional services more than straightforward identity protection? Probably. There’s no doubt you’ll feel safer while web browsing or downloading images, videos, and documents. But let’s remember, Norton LifeLock advertises as an identity protection service, not antivirus software and a VPN with ID tools thrown in.
Cost Review: 3/10
Promo Code | ||
Individual Plan Cost |
Aura only offers one plan but offers the same benefits as Identity Guard's Ultra plan | ANNUALLY
MONTHLY
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Couple Plan Cost |
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MONTHLY
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Family Plan Cost |
Aura only offers one plan but offers the same benefits as Identity Guard's Ultra plan | ANNUALLY
MONTHLY
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Renewal Price Increased After 1st Year? |
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Promo Code |
This brings us back to this review’s main question – is LifeLock worth it?
Aura Identity protection service is cheaper less expensive and offers more useful tools like safe online gaming and automatic data broker removal services
LifeLock Family Plans Pricing Review
LifeLock’s family plan pricing is worth discussing as a separate entity.
First off, The pricing here is a little odd. There are standard rates, which you’ll see in the table above, and then there are rates for LifeLock’s enhanced plans, which include Norton antivirus software and a VPN.
Regardless of whether you want a standard or enhanced plan, you’ll first notice that LifeLock gives heavy incentives to purchase annually rather than month-to-month. Looking at the top-tier Ultimate Plus plan, you can save close to $100 by paying for a year upfront.
In terms of coverage, family plans offer the same monitoring options. And they come with the same privacy tools, plus a few extra features geared towards kids, like parental controls and child credit file detection.
LifeLock’s family plans also don’t restrict what a household is, so you can cover your whole family – even if they live in multiple locations. Of course, once your child is 18, they’re on their own. If you’re already covering your spouse, you can’t cover your children through college the way you could with Aura (which allows for five adults and unlimited children).
So, is LifeLock a good choice for families?
Given its inclusions for families, it certainly looks great at first glance. Issues with their services aside, $40.99 per month when paid annually for an enhanced top-tier plan isn’t bad – especially when you consider that it includes identity protection, parental controls, theft insurance, a VPN, and antivirus software, among other features.
However, as with all LifeLock plans, the family plan price jumps after the first year. This jump isn’t small, either. If you opt for that Ultimate Plan I’ve been referencing at $40.99 per month, the price will jump to $68.33 per month in year two.
That increase in price upon renewal makes LifeLock one of the most expensive identity theft options for families, even with all of its inclusions. If you’re looking for a comprehensive family plan that doesn’t increase in price, there’s a better choice. Aura is less expensive from the start and includes more features, like safe gaming, automatic data broker removal services, and streamlined child credit freezes.
Is LifeLock Worth it?
No, after spending significant time testing LifeLock’s services, our team found it wasn’t worth it. It’s flaws, including it’s significant renewal price hike, lackluster monitoring capabilities, and a hard-to-reach customer services team, were too big to look past.
However, LifeLock isn’t the worst service available and some people may want it for its additional features. Norton 360 is a reputable product and its user interface is pretty good. If those things matter to you more than everything else, it might be worth it.
LifeLock FAQs
Norton LifeLock Review – Final Score: 5/10
As I said, though, it’s hard to look past LifeLock’s flaws.
Is LifeLock the best for monitoring the dark web?
Absolutely not. The data breach protection in particular is a massive disappointment, as it seems to lack the depth and accuracy of competitors.
The cost if you want decent coverage doesn’t earn it any points either.
The Bottom Line: Is LifeLock the Best Choice?
LifeLock provides wide-ranging credit and identity monitoring and alerts. BUT, we still recommend Aura over LifeLock by far, and we’re not alone. Reviews from customers everywhere from TrustPilot to Reddit agree that LifeLock isn’t the way to go. Aura is cheaper, and the price is locked in for life. It also offers superior monitoring power, better customer service, fantastic reviews across the Internet, and it provides more theft insurance standard, especially if you have a family.
Citations:
1. https://www.cnbc.com/select/what-are-the-three-credit-bureaus/
2. https://blog.avast.com/avast-nortonlifelock-merge
3. https://www.zdnet.com/article/nortonlifelock-sees-second-straight-quarter-of-double-digit-growth/
4. https://www.slu.edu/human-resources/benefits/pdfs/lifelock-fact-sheet.pdf
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