The 10 Best Credit Monitoring Services of 2024

What’s the Best Way To Monitor Your Credit? 

Credit monitoring is a powerful tool to help you stay on top of your personal finances and maintain good credit. Perhaps most important, credit monitoring is also the best weapon in the fight against the ever-growing threat of identity theft and credit fraud. 

In 2023, more than 5.4 million Americans were victims of identity theft and fraud — with losses totaling over $10 billion [*]. 

Americans are entitled to free credit reports from all three major bureaus each week by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com — but it takes significant time and dedication to catch the credit-damaging errors and early warning signs of identity theft. 

This is where credit monitoring companies and identity theft protection services come in. These providers watch your credit profile so you don't have to, sending you notifications if any suspicious or fraudulent activity appears. 

In this guide, we compare the best credit monitoring services in 2024 and give you the information you need to choose between them.

What Is Three-Bureau Credit Monitoring (And Do You Need It?)

Three-bureau credit monitoring services track your credit file with all three major credit bureaus — Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. 

This is important since some lenders only work with one or two of the bureaus — meaning you may not be alerted to instances of suspicious activity and other signs of identity fraud if you’re not monitoring all three bureaus. 

Unfortunately, many free credit monitoring services (and even some paid ones) only provide one-bureau credit monitoring. 

Besides giving you a more complete picture of your credit history and score, there are plenty of other benefits of three-bureau credit monitoring, including: 

• Alerts about errors or potential fraud across all of your credit reports. Credit monitoring services constantly scan your reports for new credit accounts, fluctuations in your credit score, and other signs that someone might be using your identity. The best services alert you in near real-time and help you shut down scammers or fix errors immediately. 
• Updates on your credit score. Many monitoring plans include regular credit score updates and credit score tracking — allowing you to keep an eye on your financial health and help you develop financial awareness and literacy. 
• Access to your credit reports to check for errors. With all three major bureau credit reports, you can find most mistakes in your credit file — such as missing personal information, unfamiliar inquiries, or fraudulent new accounts — which could be bringing down your credit score. 
• Identity theft protection. Many credit protection plan bundles include identity theft protection that covers Dark Web surveillance, social media monitoring, and Social Security number (SSN) monitoring. 
• Fraud resolution support. The top credit monitoring services help you restore your credit by connecting you with fraud resolution specialists. Some protection plans may even include ID theft insurance to cover losses, such as stolen funds and expenses. 

Do you need credit monitoring or identity theft protection? 

It's important to note that credit monitoring only alerts you after you've become a victim. While identity theft protection can’t prevent your identity from being stolen, it can warn you if you’re vulnerable or being targeted by scammers — with features like Dark Web monitoring, public record surveillance, and digital security tools. The best providers typically provide all of these features. 

The 10 Best Credit Monitoring Services in 2024

The top credit monitoring services offer a combination of credit, financial account, and identity monitoring, along with fast and reliable fraud alerts. They also provide proactive tools to prevent identity theft and effective resolution services to help you recover if you do become a victim.

Here’s a high-level overview of our picks for the 10 best credit monitoring services in 2024:

Now, let’s look at each provider more extensively to help you decide which one is best for you.

1. Identity Guard 

As one of the industry's first identity theft protection services, Identity Guard provides some of the most comprehensive credit and identity monitoring on the market today. 

With the Identity Guard Ultra plan, you get three-bureau credit monitoring, 24/7 White Glove Fraud Resolution support, transaction monitoring on your credit, checking, 401(k), and investment accounts, one-click credit lock, and more. 

Here are some of the key pros and cons of using Identity Guard:

How much does Identity Guard cost? 

Identity Guard offers three different plan tiers, each with different identity and credit monitoring features. There's also a family plan that you can add to each tier that covers five adults and an unlimited number of kids. 

While both the Ultra and Total protection plans provide three-bureau credit monitoring, the Ultra plan’s bank account monitoring and credit lock make it the best option for most people. 

Here’s a breakdown of Identity Guard’s pricing and plans as of March 2024 using this discount link:

• Value plan (no credit monitoring): $6.67/month or $10/month for family
• Total plan: $13.33/month or $19.99/month for family
• Ultra plan: $19.99/month or $26.67/month for family

Final verdict: Identity Guard is a powerful credit protection option for individuals and families, offering credit, finance, and identity monitoring — along with 24/7 support if something does go wrong.

2. Aura

Aura is another all-in-one credit and identity protection solution. But what makes Aura stand out from the competition is that, unlike other credit monitoring and identity theft protection services, Aura doesn’t offer plans with limited features. 

Instead, all Aura plans include premium credit protection, including three-bureau credit monitoring with the industry’s fastest fraud alerts [*], one-click Experian CreditLock, bank account monitoring, 24/7 White Glove Fraud Resolution support, and more. 

Aura also provides some of the most comprehensive digital security available, including antivirus software, a virtual private network (VPN), Safe Browsing tools, and other user-friendly yet advanced features.

Here are some of the key pros and cons of using Aura:

How much does Aura cost? 

Aura offers straightforward plans with competitive pricing. All plans include most of the same features, except for the family plans that come with family-specific tools.

Here’s a breakdown of Aura’s pricing and plans as of March 2024:

• Individual Plan: $12/month
• Couple Plan (two members): $22/month
• Family Plan (five adults and unlimited children): $37/month

Final verdict: While it can be more expensive than other options, Aura offers a powerful all-in-one solution for you and your entire family — providing identity, finance, and credit monitoring, along with powerful digital security tools in an easy-to-use app. 

💡 Related: The 7 Best Identity Guard Alternatives in 2024 →

3. Experian IdentityWorks

Run by Experian — one of the three major credit bureaus — IdentityWorks provides extensive credit monitoring, including regular FICO® credit scores and trackers. While most people should consider the more expensive paid plans, Experian IdentityWorks stands out because of its free (but limited) credit monitoring plan. 

Here are some of the key pros and cons of using Experian IdentityWorks:

How much does Experian IdentityWorks cost? 

Experian IdentityWorks has three plan options, making it very simple to find the appropriate package for your needs. 

Here’s a breakdown of Experian’s pricing and plans as of March 2024:

• Basic (no identity monitoring): Free
• Premium: $24.99/month
• Family (two adults and up to 10 children): $34.99/month

Final verdict: Experian IdentityWorks specializes in credit monitoring, but its lack of digital security could leave you vulnerable. You’ll also be paying more for fewer features than you would get with alternatives like Identity Guard. 

4. LifeLock

LifeLock has been one of the most well-known names in identity theft protection for years, but it became an all-in-one provider in 2017 after the company was acquired by Symantec (the makers of Norton antivirus and digital security tools). 

LifeLock’s current plans are somewhat confusing — but for protection comparable to Identity Guard and Aura, you should consider the more expensive Ultra Plus plan with Norton 360. This plan includes three-bureau credit monitoring, TransUnion credit lock, account monitoring, and more.

Here are some of the key pros and cons of using LifeLock:

How much does LifeLock cost? 

LifeLock has too many plan options to list in one place — choices include identity protection, identity and digital security, family plans, antivirus only, etc. The only thing that all LifeLock plans have in common is that they all renew at much higher prices after the first year.

Here’s a breakdown of LifeLock’s basic pricing and plans as of March 2024:

• Standard: $7.50/month (renews at 37% higher)
• Select (with Norton 360): $8.33/month (renews at 44% higher)
• Advantage (with Norton 360): $15.99/month (renews at 23% higher) 
• Ultimate Plus: $19.99/month (renews at 42% higher) or $24.99/month with Norton 360 (renews at 14% higher)
• Family plans: $13.24/month to $34.99/month (renews at 47%-50% higher)

Final verdict: LifeLock provides comprehensive monitoring and powerful digital security, but the confusing plan options and sky-high renewal rates might leave you overwhelmed and overpaying.  

💡Related: Identity Guard vs. LifeLock (2024 Comparison and Review) →

5. IDShield

Owned by LegalShield — which has offered legal assistance to the general public since 1972 — IDShield provides a combination of credit and identity theft monitoring and support. While the company only offers three-bureau credit monitoring for an additional premium, IDShield stands out for its “guaranteed” identity restoration with the help of licensed private investigators. 

Here are some of the key pros and cons of using IDShield:

How much does IDShield cost? 

IDShield offers easy-to-understand pricing plans that only differ by the number of bureaus used in credit monitoring and the number of people protected. 

Here’s a breakdown of IDShield’s pricing and plans as of March 2024:

• Individual plan (one-bureau monitoring): $14.95/month
• Individual plan (three-bureau monitoring): $19.95/month
• Family plan (one-bureau monitoring): $29.95/month
• Family plan (three-bureau monitoring): $34.95/month

Final verdict: Despite some of the best identity restoration support available, IDShield's tiered plans mean you'll have to pay more to get adequate protection. 

6. IdentityForce

Owned by TransUnion — another one of the major credit bureaus — IdentityForce provides three-bureau credit monitoring, plus credit score simulators and updates using the VantageScore model. 

Here are some of the key pros and cons of using IdentityForce:

How much does IdentityForce cost? 

IdentityForce offers only two plan options — one with credit monitoring and one without — which makes it easy to decide between them. 

Here’s a breakdown of identityForce’s pricing and plans as of March 2024:

• UltraSecure: $19.90/month or $199.90/year
• UltraSecure+Credit: $34.90/month or $349.90/year

Final verdict: IdentityForce provides complete credit and identity monitoring services with its top plan, but the no-credit plan offers little protection. 

💡 Related: Identity Guard vs. IdentityForce: Which One Is Best In 2024? →

7. Credit Karma

Thanks to its free services, Credit Karma makes credit monitoring available to everyone. However, customers should be aware that the service comes with ads and provides only limited fraud protection.  

Here are some of the key pros and cons of using Credit Karma:

How much does Credit Karma cost? 

Credit Karma is free, although every time you take a partner recommendation from the company, it earns a commission. 

Final verdict: Credit Karma's free service gives you no-commitment access to credit monitoring; but the lack of digital security and three-bureau monitoring means you're never fully protected.  

8. myFICO

The biggest selling point for myFICO is that the company gives consumers easy access to their FICO® credit scores, which helps users keep watch over their financial health. 

FICO is an alternative credit score model to what most credit monitoring services use (called VantageScore®). However, myFICO claims that 90% of lenders use its score when deciding creditworthiness. 

Here are some of the key pros and cons of using myFICO:

How much does myFICO cost? 

myFICO plans vary in the level of identity and credit monitoring available. 

Here’s a breakdown of myFICO’s pricing and plans as of March 2024:

• Free (no identity monitoring): $0
• Advanced (quarterly reports): $29.95/month
• Premier (monthly reports): $39.95/month

Final verdict: myFICO is an accessible and reliable credit monitoring service with some limited identity monitoring services available on the top plans.

💡 Related: What Is a Fraud Alert and How Does It Work? →

9. Credit Sesame

Credit Sesame offers credit monitoring and tracking tools for people who want free and basic support. The one-bureau credit monitoring plans help customers track their credit scores and plan for the future, while also helping to deter credit fraud.

Here are some of the key pros and cons of using Credit Sesame:

How much does Credit Sesame cost? 

Credit Sesame only has two plans — a free one-bureau monitoring service and its Premium three-bureau monitoring service.

Here’s a breakdown of Credit Sesame’s pricing and plans as of March 2024:

• Free: $0
• Premium: $15.99/month

Final verdict: Credit Sesame offers a straightforward credit monitoring package, but falls short in its security and insurance. 

10. CreditWise

Owned and operated by Capital One, CreditWise monitors your credit and allows you to follow along with daily TransUnion VantageScore® updates. 

Here are some of the key pros and cons of using CreditWise:

How much does CreditWise cost? 

CreditWise has no cost and any citizen with an SSN and credit file can join.

Final verdict: CreditWise makes it easy to follow and manage your credit and financial health, but don't expect identity monitoring or digital security. 

How To Choose a Credit Monitoring Service

On paper, many of the credit monitoring services listed above sound the same. Most offer some level of protection with the promise of regular updates and notifications about changes or potential fraud. 

In practice, however, these services operate very differently — making your choice that much harder and more important. 

When considering your options, make sure to follow these steps: 

• Assess your risk level and habits. The more accounts and assets you have, the larger a target you are for fraudsters and identity thieves. And while you alone may be able to accomplish much of what credit monitoring services offer, ask yourself if you think you will check your credit reports every week or not. 
• Consider your budget vs. features. Many services offer feature-heavy premier plans with high monthly fees and more affordable basic plans with limited features. Figure out your must-have features and maximum budget — and then find a service that meets you in the middle. 
• Make three-bureau credit monitoring a non-negotiable feature. Basic credit monitoring that covers just one or two bureaus can miss identity theft red flags. For example, if a lender reports new (and fraudulent) credit to only TransUnion or Equifax, your Experian credit report won't show anything.
• Research the speed of customer alerts. The faster you receive credit and identity theft alerts, the faster you can freeze your credit and restore your identity. Some services send alerts in near real-time, while others have a considerable delay that could hurt you in the long run. 
• Avoid monitoring services from the credit bureaus. Some credit bureau monitoring packages require you to waive your right to sue or be a part of class action lawsuits if something goes wrong with your information, such as in the $425 million Equifax settlement [*]. 
• Look for generous identity theft insurance. Fighting identity fraud can entail a great deal of time and money. Make sure your plan provides enough coverage for you and members of your family.
• Check third-party user reviews for confirmation. Before committing, read up on how other people feel about the service. Finding user reviews on Google, Trustpilot, the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and Reddit might highlight which services satisfy their customers best and which services do the opposite. 
• Opt for a free trial if possible. Many credit monitoring companies let you “test drive” their services via seven- or 30-day trials or money-back guarantees. These offers allow you to see how the service works before committing. 

💡 Related: Do Credit Repair Companies Work? What You Need To Know →

What Does a Credit Monitoring Service Do? 

With the vast amount of personal information and accounts found online these days, scammers not only have an easier time stealing identities — they can easily access your credit, as well. Credit monitoring services ensure that if someone ever misuses your credit, you'll find out about it before it's too late. 

Yet, while credit monitoring is critically important to fight identity theft, it isn't perfect.

The bottom line: Identity thieves are almost always financially motivated. Credit monitoring provides one of the only ways for you to be quickly alerted if someone is using your stolen identity to take out loans, open accounts, or target your finances.

How To Protect Your Credit Today

Whether you opt for a credit monitoring service or not, there are certain things you can and should do to protect your credit.

1. Freeze your credit with all three bureaus

When you freeze your credit, you block everyone from accessing it — including you. Once frozen with all three bureaus, your credit file will be safe from scams and scammers until you manually lift the freeze. 

How to freeze your credit with all three bureaus:

2. Regularly check your credit reports and scores

If you can, order your credit reports and monitor them for any unauthorized or suspicious activity. If you do it regularly enough, you can catch fraud warning signs as soon as they appear. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com for free weekly online reports from all three bureaus.  

How to review your credit report:

• Verify your personal information. Ensure that your name, address, Social Security number (SSN), and employer details are all correct. 
• Check your credit history. Go over your account numbers, balances, and statuses to make sure they are as expected. 
• Look for unauthorized inquiries. Examine the names and dates of each hard inquiry to ensure that you recognize them all. 

3. Sign up for fraud alerts with your bank

Depending on your bank, you may be able to set up alerts that notify you when certain activities take place within your debit and credit card accounts and lines of credit. These alerts may give you time to shut down scams, reverse transactions, and lock fraudsters out of your accounts.

What type of alerts to set:

• Unusual transaction alerts: Banks flag transactions as unusual for various reasons, including size, location, and frequency. 
• Low balance alerts: To catch thieves trying to drain your bank accounts, set up alerts that notify you when the money in your bank account dips below a certain amount. 
• High risk transaction alerts: High risk transaction alerts let you know when someone uses your cards to deal with sketchy websites, international companies, or high-risk industries. 

4. Scan the Dark Web for your leaked data

When scammers or cybercriminals steal personal information, there's a good chance it lands on the Dark Web. Once your information leaks onto the Dark Web, it’s all but impossible to remove it. So you need to know it's there in order to secure your accounts, change your passwords, and take the necessary steps to protect your data and identity. 

How to scan the Dark Web:

• Use a free Dark Web scanner. With a service like Identity Guard's free Dark Web scanner, you can find out if your email address was involved in a data breach and what other information might be at risk. 
• Sign up for Google's email scanner. Google offers a free one-off Dark Web email scan for people using a Google email account. Google One members can use the service multiple times and scan for personal information, as well. 

5. Set up digital security

Digital security is one of the best defenses against fraud and identity theft because it prevents scammers from infecting your devices with data-stealing and spying malware. 

What types of digital security to use:

• Get antivirus protection. Prioritize software that provides real-time protection against all types of malware, including adware, trojans, spyware, and rootkits. 
• Use a VPN (especially in public places). Avoid connecting to public or unfamiliar Wi-Fi networks without the protection of a VPN, which sends your traffic through an encrypted tunnel to its destination.  
• Set up Safe Browsing tools. Safe Browsing tools can block suspicious and malicious sites, preventing you from accidentally visiting or sharing your information with them.

The Bottom Line: Get Warned Fast of Financial Fraud

It doesn't take long for someone to completely ruin your credit. Thanks to credit monitoring, you can rest easy knowing your credit file is in the reliable hands of professionals. 

By choosing Identity Guard, you receive award-winning identity theft monitoring on top of industry-leading credit monitoring and alerts. Identity Guard offers comprehensive coverage, extensive insurance packages, and round-the-clock U.S-based support with fraud remediation specialists. 

Save on award-winning credit and identity protection. Get 33% off Identity Guard today!