Home Title Lock vs. LifeLock: What's Better In 2024?

Which Offers Better Protection: Home Title Lock or LifeLock? 

Home title monitoring services are among the most effective tools to help American homeowners combat real estate fraud — something that’s become a serious problem in recent years. 

One study published in the Journal of World Economic Research estimates that [*]:

Deed fraud and home title theft will result in close to $1.4 billion in losses for victims in 2023.

If you’re looking for a way to protect your home from scammers, you’ve most likely heard of both Home Title Lock and LifeLock. 

But which one is right for you — and are providers like these even worth the money?

In this guide, we’ll review and compare Home Title Lock and LifeLock (as well as a third option — Identity Guard), and explore their features, prices, pros, and cons. 

🛡 Get award-winning identity theft protection — including home title monitoring. Identity Guard’s all-in-one solution protects your identity, finances, credit, online accounts, and home title from fraudsters. Save 33% when you sign up for Identity Guard today.  

Head-To-Head: Home Title Lock vs. LifeLock

Both Home Title Lock and LifeLock automatically check the status of your property title and notify you whenever changes are made. This way, you can shut down scammers before they can steal your equity or try to sell your home. 

But that’s about where the similarities between these two services end. 

The main difference between Home Title Lock and LifeLock is that Home Title Lock only protects against real estate fraud, whereas LifeLock (and other all-in-one providers like Identity Guard and Aura) offer plans that defend against a wide range of scams — from identity theft to financial fraud and hacking.

Here are some basic details to consider:

• Home Title Lock is dedicated entirely to helping prevent deed fraud. It manages a large national database of property records and constantly scans for title changes — alerting customers when changes happen.
• LifeLock is a digital security provider that focuses on identity theft protection. It includes a wide range of cybersecurity services and tools, including home title monitoring (on some plans). 

This is important because fraudsters may not just target your home. They might try to steal your identity, gain access to your bank account, or take out loans in your name. The best identity theft protection services protect against all of these risks – not just one.

The chart below offers a more comprehensive comparison between Home Title Lock and Norton LifeLock:

The bottom line: Norton LifeLock’s Ultimate Plus Plan with home title monitoring offers more features and better protection than Home Title Lock — but at a steep price. Luckily, these two products aren’t your only options for protecting your home from deed fraud. Learn more about how Identity Guard keeps you safe from scams, fraud, and home title theft →

Is Home Title Lock Worth It? Overview and Pros & Cons

Home Title Lock was founded in 2015 and exclusively sells home title monitoring services to individuals and organizations. Some of its partners include homeowners associations, real estate organizations, and financial institutions – although the company does not publicly disclose any of its partners’ names.

Home Title Lock offers a single plan that costs $199 a year per property.

Here are the main features you get with Home Title Lock:

• 24/7 home title monitoring (for one home only)
• Fraud alerts (home title changes only)
• U.S.-based title restoration specialists

Remember: Home Title Lock (and all home title monitoring services) can’t actually prevent real estate fraud from happening; they can only alert customers when someone tries to register a title change with the county recorder. 

This allows customers to dispute home title fraud attempts early on — such as if a scammer tries to take out your home equity or falsely sell your home. However, the process of contesting public records due to potential fraud is the same either way.

Here are some of the main pros and cons of using Home Title Lock:

🔎 Our take: Home Title Lock provides a valuable service, but at a price that doesn’t match up with the services that are offered. It also fails to address the risks of fraudsters targeting you in other ways.

Is LifeLock Home Title Protect Worth It? Overview and Pros & Cons

LifeLock is an identity theft monitoring provider that sends alerts to customers when it detects unusual activity on their accounts. It monitors bank accounts, credit accounts, and investment accounts while protecting users with sophisticated security tools. 

You can also combine LifeLock with Norton 360 to gain access to digital security tools, such as antivirus software, a virtual private network (VPN), and more. 

LifeLock also includes home title monitoring on two plans: the stand-alone LifeLock Home Title Protect Plan (for $99.99/year) or the LifeLock Ultimate Plus Plan ($239.88/year). 

Here are the main features you get with LifeLock Ultimate Plus Plan:

• Identity monitoring and alerts
• Three-bureau credit monitoring
• Up to $1 million in stolen funds reimbursement
• Home title monitoring for all properties in which you have an ownership stake
• Full suite of digital security tools (antivirus, VPN, privacy monitor)

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

🔎 Our take: LifeLock offers a much more varied suite of security tools than Home Title Lock, but at a significantly higher price. Plus, with misleading pricing plans and recent security issues, it may not be the best all-in-one identity theft protection option for you. 

💡 Related: Is LifeLock Worth the Price? How To Decide →

Why You Should Choose Identity Guard Instead

Identity Guard is an identity theft protection service that monitors your most sensitive personal and financial information, and alerts you to signs of fraud. 

Identity Guard has been around for decades and is trusted by 38 million customers. It provides all-in-one protection against fraud and scams – including home title theft – for a consistent, low rate that stays the same year after year.

Identity Guard’s Ultra Plan (which includes home title monitoring) costs $19.99/month — but, unlike LifeLock, the price will not increase after the first year.

Here are some of the features that Identity Guard offers to customers:

• Award-winning identity theft protection. Identity Guard monitors your most sensitive personal information — which scammers can use to steal your identity — including your Social Security number (SSN), home address, and more. If any unauthorized activity is detected, Identity Guard will notify you in near real-time and provide guidance on what to do next. 
• Home title monitoring. Identity Guard verifies its customers’ home titles, and sends alerts when unexpected title changes occur. This service provides the same level of security as Home Title Lock and other similar platforms.
• Three-bureau credit monitoring. If fraudsters attempt to use your identity to open new lines of credit in your name, Identity Guard will help you freeze your credit and prevent lenders from loaning the money. Importantly, Identity Guard checks your credit score and file with all three major credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion — not just one bureau.
• Online safety and privacy tools. Sophisticated Safe Browsing tools help Identity Guard customers avoid tricks that fraudsters often use to gain access to victims’ data.
• White Glove Fraud Resolution Specialists. If hackers break into one of your accounts, Identity Guard’s highly-trained identity restoration specialists will help you restore your identity and avoid loss.
• $1 million in identity theft insurance. Identity Guard backs its services with a $1 million insurance policy that covers eligible costs associated with identity theft, including lost wages and legal bills.  

Identity Guard vs. Home Title Lock

The main difference between Identity Guard and Home Title Lock is Identity Guard’s focus on preventing all scams and fraud – not just real estate fraud. Identity Guard is a comprehensive, all-in-one solution that protects your family and your home from scammers.

At a high-level:

• Identity Guard offers more protection than Home Title Lock. Home Title Lock only monitors your home title. Identity Guard helps safeguard your identity, financial accounts, home title, devices, and more. 
• Identity Guard provides $1 million in insurance coverage and better support. Recovering from fraud can be incredibly challenging and expensive. Identity Guard’s insurance policy helps you get through the hardest part of the process without having to worry about lost wages and other expenses.
• Home Title Lock costs just as much but provides significantly less. There is no added value to Home Title Lock’s monitoring service. Both Identity Guard and Home Title Lock warn you when your home’s title information changes – but for a different price.

Here’s a more comprehensive comparison between Home Title Lock and Identity Guard:

🔎 The bottom line: Identity Guard provides comprehensive monitoring and protection — not just for your home title, but also for your identity, financial accounts, and more — at a similar monthly price. Save 33% when you sign up for Identity Guard today.

Identity Guard vs. LifeLock 

While Identity Guard and LifeLock offer many of the same tools, the main difference between them is that LifeLock charges much more for its service than Identity Guard; yet LifeLock doesn’t offer better security to its customers.

In fact, in January 2023, LifeLock disclosed that it was the target of a data breach. Hackers compromised sensitive information from thousands of LifeLock customers – including user passwords [*].

At a high-level:

• Identity Guard offers better value than LifeLock. LifeLock charges a premium for all-in-one identity theft protection services, but doesn’t provide additional value.
• Identity Guard is a more trusted brand. Identity Guard is rated higher by real customers and hasn’t dealt with the same public security issues as LifeLock.
• LifeLock tricks customers with high renewal prices. Even if you sign up for LifeLock at a discount, the company will charge you much more to renew your subscription after the first year.

Here’s a more comprehensive comparison between LifeLock and Identity Guard:

🔎 The bottom line: Identity Guard provides almost the same level of protection as LifeLock — but without the added headache of sky-high renewal prices or the risk of data breaches. Save 33% when you sign up for Identity Guard today.

💡 Related: The Top 10 LifeLock Alternatives in 2024 →

Is Home Title Protection Even Worth It?

No service can claim to completely protect you against home title fraud. Home Title Lock, LifeLock, Identity Guard, and all other similar services can only monitor your title, alert you to signs of fraud, and help you recover from fraud if it occurs. 

In many situations, issues with your home title stem from undisclosed property liens, back taxes, foreclosure, and other problems that are covered by home title insurance (a one-time cost when you purchase a home).

That’s why stand-alone home title monitoring services like Home Title Lock are rarely worth it. 

Real estate fraud is just one of many ways that scammers can target you — and it’s not nearly as common as hacking, identity theft, and online scams. Plus, if fraudsters are able to steal your property title, they almost certainly have enough information to use your identity for other forms of fraud that Home Title Lock’s services won’t catch. 

Almost everyone can benefit more from an all-in-one digital security provider that includes home title monitoring, like Identity Guard. 

💡 Related: The 6 Best Home Title Monitoring Services of 2024 →

The Bottom Line: Home Title Lock Isn’t Enough

According to research from the FBI [*]: Americans lost almost $400 million from real estate-related fraud in 2022 — but only a small percentage of that amount can be directly attributed to home title fraud. 

While home title theft is a real danger from which homeowners need to protect themselves, it’s often a symptom of a larger threat: identity theft. 

That’s why Home Title Lock isn’t enough to keep you safe. 

For true peace of mind, choose Identity Guard’s all-in-one solution. With Identity Guard, you and your properties are protected from fraud. And, should the worst happen, you’ll always have the help that you need with U.S.-based White Glove Fraud Resolution support and $1 million in identity theft insurance coverage. 

Get 360° protection against fraud. Save 33% when you sign up for Identity Guard today.