Best Identity Theft Protection Services of 2025
NortonLifeLock is our top pick for the best identity theft protection, followed by Aura and Identity Guard.
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Last Updated on Apr 15, 2025
- Up to $1 million of insurance coverage
- Protect up to seven members of your family with one plan
- Features constant dark web scans
- Includes a VPN for additional identity protection
- Offers credit monitoring from all three major bureaus
- Cyberbullying and online predator protection available
- Near real-time alerts and 24/7 identity monitoring
- Access to dedicated case managers if you fall victim to identity theft
- Provides Facebook timeline analysis for added protection
If you think you live a fairly private life, try Googling yourself and the town where you live. You might be surprised to find that your name, address, phone number, and more is all over so-called data broker databases. When you consider the possibility that your credit card information or Social Security number was stolen in a massive data breach, you start to realize just how exposed you are to identity theft and financial fraud.
Unfortunately, protecting your identity from theft has become a modern necessity, and there are a number of subscription services out there that can protect your identity for you. These services can scrub your information off the Internet and keep an eye out for it reappearing, such as after a big data breach. We regularly test these services, and currently, we think LifeLock is the best identity theft protection service out there. We have also seen great things from Aura, Identity Guard, Surfshark Alert, IdentityIQ, and McAfee. Let’s get into our findings and why we recommend each of these services.
Pro Tip: To really shore up your digital security, be sure to use one of the top VPNs on the market.
The Top 6 Identity Theft Protection Services of 2025
- LifeLock - Best Digital Identity Theft Protection
- Aura - Best for Family Protection
- Identity Guard® - Best Identity Theft Alerting
- Surfshark Alert - Most Affordable Identity Protection
- IdentityIQ - Best Credit Protection and Monitoring
- McAfee Identity Theft Protection - Best User Experience
How to Protect Yourself From Identity Theft
Aside from subscribing to a top-tier identity theft protection service, there are steps you can take to keep your identity safe. Here are the most impactful ways to protect yourself from identity theft:
- Use Strong Passwords: An account breach is one of the most common ways for your identity to get stolen. Using strong passwords and regularly changing your passwords keeps your accounts secure even if your password leaks. Enabling two-factor or multifactor authentication makes your accounts even more secure.
- Monitor Your Credit Score: We know reading through your whole credit report every month or so is a lot of work, but you can at least keep track of your credit score. If you notice a sudden change that’s unrelated to your own activity, take a look through your credit report for suspicious activity.
- Appropriately Dispose of Sensitive Documents: Don’t just throw docuents with your information in the trash. At least shred them. Even if you don’t own a shredder, you can still shred your documents at most office supply stores. A lot of them offer it as a free service to get you in the door.
- Take Immediate Action After Suspicious Activity: If you notice suspicious activity on any of your accounts, in your credit score, or on one of your bank statements, take action immediately. That includes reporting the suspicious activity to the FTC, filing a police report, contacting your banks, and changing your account passwords.
Subscribing to one of our top identity theft protection services takes care of most of these steps for you. There’s value in knowing how to keep your own identity safe, though, so that you can better assess which service can fill the gaps in your identity protection efforts.
How We Chose Our Top Picks
Our top picks offer the must-have features of identity theft protection:
| Identity Protection | They monitor key areas like the internet, dark web, and public records for early signs of identity theft. |
| Credit Protection | They also monitor financial aspects of your life, including your bank and credit card accounts, credit score from the three credit bureaus, and investment accounts. |
| Insurance and Restoration | If your identity is stolen, they reimburse you for out-of-pocket expenses and stolen funds, and a case manager helps you get your life back on track. |
| Digital Protection | As a proactive measure, they offer cybersecurity tools that help keep your online data private and stop data-stealing malware. |
Our top picks have a lot of features in common. So, we focused our tests on the three key areas that make these services effective in preventing the consequences of identity theft:
- Identity Monitoring
- Credit Monitoring
- Cybersecurity
The Best Identity Theft Protection Services
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1. LifeLock - Best Digital Identity Theft Protection
LifeLock customers enjoy ID theft monitoring and device protection with Norton 360 antivirus.
View Plans Links to LifeLockProduct Specs
Dark Web Monitoring Yes Credit Reporting Yes Insurance Coverage Up to $1 million Free Trial 30-day Individual Monthly Plans $7.50 and up Family Monthly Plans $18.49 and up NortonLifeLock Identity Monitoring
NortonLifeLock is one of the most thorough in identity monitoring because it covers different types of identity theft. One example is synthetic identity theft, which is when a thief uses bits of your personal information to create an entirely new (but fake) persona. Most services don’t detect synthetic identity theft, but in our experience, LifeLock flags down records that might not fully match yours but contain key pieces of your information such as your Social Security Number (SSN).
To enjoy full protection, we recommend spending the time to properly set up LifeLock and feeding it all the personal information you want monitored. NortonLifeLock Credit Monitoring
LifeLock monitored our credit files from the three main bureaus. It alerted us when we applied for car financing as well as when we opened a new savings account. Impressively, the alert came in as soon as we left the bank. We were testing IdentityForce at the same time, and its alert didn’t come until later that day. (See our LifeLock vs. IdentityForce comparison for more.)
Aside from credit files and new account applications, LifeLock Ultimate Plus also monitored:
- 401(k) and investment accounts
- Bank and credit card activities (withdrawals, balance transfers, etc.)
- Payday loans with payday loan lock
- Buy now, pay later purchases
Note: Not all plans include three-bureau credit monitoring. In fact, only the Ultimate Plus plan does. So if you want as comprehensive credit monitoring as we got, prepare to pay at least $19.99 per month for individual protection, or go with Aura with options starting from $12 per month.
NortonLifeLock Cybersecurity
Perhaps the best feature of LifeLock is that it’s part of the Norton family. While you can buy a LifeLock subscription on its own, we recommend signing up for a Norton 360 plan. We chose Norton360 with LifeLock Ultimate Plus, which comes with Norton antivirus – one of our favorite antiviruses. Here’s what you get in the plan.
Norton 360 With LifeLock Ultimate Plus Coverage Antivirus software Unlimited devices Norton Secure VPN Unlimited devices Ad and tracker blocker Unlimited devices Privacy monitor (data removal service) Unlimited devices Cloud backup 500 GB Password manager Chrome, FireFox, Safari, and Edge Parental controls Unlimited devices Pro Tip: For an overview of Norton’s VPN, see our Norton Secure VPN review. It’s currently No.5 on our list of the best VPN services; plus, it’s the same VPN included in Norton 360.
What We Like:
- Top-notch identity theft protection and cybersecurity suite in one
- Up to $3 million coverage
- Additional digital security features for children
- Synthetic identity theft protection
What We Don’t Like:
- Family plans for two adults and five kids can cost as much as $79.99
- Prices increase after the first year
- Multiple apps need to be installed
- Limited credit protection features in lower-tier subscriptions (Select, Standard, Advantage)
Our NortonLifeLock Experience
Norton LifeLock has identity theft protection and cyber security features in separate silos. Using both sides of the service requires using two different apps: a LifeLock app and a Norton app. Compared to similar two-in-one services like Aura, this can be a bit of a hassle. On the other hand, it can feel a bit more organized to have separate functions in separate digital safety apps. Whether you think separate apps is a feature or a flaw is up to you.
Norton LifeLock helps remove personal information from data broker sites. As for the LifeLock app and dashboard, they focused on identity and credit protection. We managed our personal information via the web dashboard and PC app; however, when it came to alerts, we relied on the mobile apps. That said, we received a lot of alerts – even small credit card charges from our Uber rides.
FYI: Expect a barrage of alerts in the first weeks, as that’s when LifeLock will continuously search the web and public records for potentially leaked information. Once you’re through that phase, you’ll see a drastic decrease in the number of alerts you receive.
NortonLifeLock Pricing
NortonLifeLock’s plans aren’t exactly straightforward – even taking into account the packages with Norton360. Standard and Select are identical, except Standard is only available as a standalone product, and Select is only available with Norton360. The other thing you’ll notice is that LifeLock is quite expensive. It’s not too expensive – we believe we got our money’s worth considering all the different ways LifeLock provides protection – but it costs more than our next two picks, Aura and Identity Guard. Here’s a quick breakdown of how much each plan costs.
NortonLifeLock Individual Subscriptions Standard Select Advantage Ultimate Plus Monthly price without Norton 360 $11.99 n/a $22.99 $34.99 Monthly price with Norton 360 n/a $14.99 $24.99 $34.99 Annual price without Norton 360 $89.99 n/a $179.88 $239.88 Annual price with Norton 360 n/a $99.48 $199.99 $299.98 -
2. Aura - Best for Family Protection
Aura provides customers with solid identity theft protection, but it goes further, offering credit and fraud protection as well as complete device and network protection.
View Plans Links to AuraProduct Specs
Dark Web Monitoring Yes Credit Reporting Yes Insurance Coverage Up to $1 million Free Trial 14-day Individual Monthly Plans $12 Family Monthly Plans $45 Aura Identity Monitoring
Similar to LifeLock, Aura casts a wide net to monitor personal information, looking through public records, online accounts, and the dark web. It can also detect synthetic identity theft, but what stood out to us is home and auto title monitoring. Most services (including LifeLock) offer home title monitoring, but auto title monitoring was new to us when we tested Aura. It had us add the details of our car-ownership titles, and Aura monitored them in case someone tries to use them fraudulently (e.g., collateral loans). Considering there are services that offer neither home nor auto title monitoring (see our IdentityForce review), we think Aura’s coverage is excellent.
Our identity theft expert had 22 alerts to check after signing up for Aura’s service. Aura Credit Monitoring
We ranked Aura as one of the best credit protection services because every plan includes three-bureau credit monitoring. LifeLock only includes one bureau on its Standard plan, and Identity Guard doesn’t include any credit or debit monitoring on its lowest subscription. Meanwhile, Aura is constantly searching for high-risk transactions and checking if our information is being used for payday loans and other fraudulent activities.
Aura Cybersecurity
Lastly, Aura protected us through cybersecurity tools, including antivirus software, a VPN, a password manager, and Privacy Assistant. That last one searched people search sites and automatically requested the removal of our information. Only 6 percent of Americans use data removal services, but we’re seeing more identity protection services offer a similar feature, including Surfshark Alert (#4 on this list) and McAfee (#6 on this list).
Cybersecurity Features Coverage VPN Up to 10 devices per adult user Antivirus software Up to 10 devices per adult user Safe browsing Up to 10 devices per adult user Password manager Available for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge Email alias Available for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge FYI: Don’t expect top-notch features from Aura’s digital security tools. The VPN, for example, only allowed us to connect to U.S. servers. It still protected our privacy by hiding our IP address and encrypting our traffic, but it didn’t let us do things like safely torrent or get around geo-restriction.
What We Like
- Fast alerts
- All plans offer the same core features
- Includes plenty of cybersecurity features
- Affordable plans starting at $12 per month
What We Don’t Like
- Included VPN connects only to U.S. servers
- Smartphone apps are a little difficult to navigate
- No cheaper subscription options since all plans are all-inclusive
- Offers the necessities but not much else
Our Aura Experience
Aura’s cybersecurity and identity theft protection tools are all accessible in the Aura app. It might be confusing for some people to navigate, but we didn’t have any issues. Norton keeps these two sides of its plan separate, but we’ve found that Norton is more feature-rich, so siloing these functions might make more sense.
We also found that setting up Aura is a heavy lift. Getting up and running requires entering a lot of personal and financial information. Aura also requires you to read a lot of guides on how to use its various tools. It took us around two hours to set up the service. It may not take you that long, but we do recommend setting aside a considerable chunk of time.
FYI: We had to install the password manager and email alias features separately. They were both included in the Aura browser extension, which is available for Chrome, Firefox, and several other major browsers.
Aura’s VPN is effective, but it doesn’t offer many additional features.After that, we didn’t have to do much. We occasionally checked our Experian credit score, viewed alerts, or updated our information using the app – but that’s it. Aura ran completely in the background of our lives.
Aura Pricing
All Aura plans offer the same core features, so you don’t have to pick a tier; you just have to decide how many people to include. It has plans for individuals, couples, and families of up to five adults and any number of children. We appreciate the simplicity and straightforwardness of it all. We found it far less complex to choose an Aura plan than to choose a LifeLock subscription. Here’s the breakdown:
Aura Plans and Pricing Individual Couple Family Kids Monthly billing $15 $29 $50 $13 Annual billing $144 $264 $384 $120 Average monthly cost for annual plans $12 $22 $32 $10 Coverage 1 adult 2 adults 5 adults, unlimited children Unlimited children (can be added to Individual or Couple plans) We like the Family plan in particular and it’s what we recommend if you have a whole family to protect. Unlike LifeLock’s family plans that cover only two adults, you can have up to five people over the age of 18 in your Aura family plan. It’s great for extended family setups or families with grown up children. We also like that there’s a Kids add-on option, which could be a great add-on for single parents. You don’t have to pay $30+ per month to cover everyone – the Individual plan with the Kids add-on is more than enough to cover everyone for a little over $20 per month.
FYI: The features of the Kids plan – parental controls, cyberbully protection, predator alerts – are also available in the Family plans.
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3. Identity Guard® - Best Identity Theft Alerting
Identity Guard leverages IBM artificial intelligence to deliver advanced identity theft protection and credit monitoring.
View Plans Links to Identity Guard®Product Specs
Dark Web Monitoring Yes Credit Reporting Yes Insurance Coverage Up to $1 million Free Trial 30-day Individual Monthly Plans $6.67 and up Family Monthly Plans $10 and up Identity Guard Identity Monitoring
Identity Guard has been using A.I. to power its identity monitoring since 2018, and the results showed. It found our old online accounts that most other identity protection services we tested missed. Identity Guard also monitored our social media accounts for signs of hacking and spam chats – a feature only a few services like McAfee offer.
Our identity theft expert testing out Identity Guard’s Dark Web Monitoring feature. That said, social media monitoring is available only to Ultra users. Lower-tier plans enjoy fewer benefits, which was why LifeLock ranked one spot higher. (See our Identity Guard vs. LifeLock comparison for more.)
Fun Fact: In a study we conducted, we learned that Americans would sell their social media data for just over $2,000 on average. The truth, however, is that social media companies like Facebook and X collect tons of data from users, which may be harmful if shared or sold to others.
Identity Guard Credit Monitoring
As with LifeLock, Identity Guard offers different tiers of protection. The bottom-tier Value plan doesn’t even offer credit protection. We recommend going for at least the mid-tier plan, which monitors all three major credit bureaus. If it’s in your budget, the Ultra plan offers comprehensive protection, including:
- Credit and debit card monitoring
- 401(k) and investment account monitoring
- Experian credit lock
- Free annual three-bureau credit report
Anyone can get a free credit report from the three bureaus every week, but credit card and investment account monitoring are useful.
Identity Guard Cybersecurity
We were a little disappointed with Identity Guard’s cybersecurity tools. It comes from ZoneAlarm, which is not exactly a household name, and it’s only available for Windows devices. At least with Norton360 we could protect our smartphones and Macbook Pro. After all, Macs need antivirus protection too. Fortunately, Identity Guard also gave us a VPN and password monitoring so it wasn’t all bad news. But you may need to spend more money elsewhere for more comprehensive internet protection.
What We Like:
- Affordable entry-level plans starting at $6.67 per month for individuals
- Family plans (as low as $10 per month) cover five adults and unlimited children
- Comprehensive social media monitoring under Ultra plan
What We Don’t Like:
- No “limited power of attorney” for identity recovery service
- Limited credit and personal finances protection in lower-tier subscriptions
- Entry-level Value plan doesn’t include custom fraud resolution services
Our Identity Guard Experience
Using Identity Guard was a bit of a rollercoaster ride – full of ups and downs. We liked the dashboard that categorized alerts into dark web, activity, and threat alerts. It helped us prioritize what notifications to action first. We even got some tips sent to us on how we can enhance our identity protection.
FYI: The reminders are sent via text, app notifications, and emails. But you can adjust the alert settings so you’re not getting spammed all at once.
Our identity theft expert looking through the features of Identity Guard’s extensive dashboard. As for the user experience, it felt a bit dated compared to others on this list. Our version had been recently updated when we tested it, but it felt clunky, sluggish, and glitchy. That isn’t a dealbreaker, but if software feels like a hassle, you’ll be less likely to use it.
FYI: On the bright side, we love Identity Guard’s alerts because they give you a simple and straightforward action plan. If you receive an alert and are not sure how to handle it, Identity Guard will give you useful suggestions.
Identity Guard Pricing
The budget-focused Value plan is one of the most affordable options anywhere, but it lacks credit protection. It kind of reminds us of Zander Insurance’s subscription plans. The Total and Ultra plans are both pricier, but they include credit monitoring and more advanced protections. And note that there are also family plans. Identity Guard is one of the best-value identity protection services for families.
Identity Guard Plans Value Total Ultra Individuals $6.67 per month $11.99 per month $17.99 per month Families $10 per month $17.99 per month $23.99 per month Pro Tip: While Identity Guard doesn’t offer free trials, all annual plans come with a 60-day money-back option.
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4. Surfshark Alert - Most Affordable Identity Protection
With plans starting at $2.49 per month, Surfshark Alert makes identity monitoring affordable and approachable for everyone.
View Packages Links to Surfshark.comProduct Specs
Dark Web Monitoring Yes Credit Reporting No Insurance Coverage No Free Trial 30-day money-back guarantee Individual Monthly Plans $2.49 and up Family Monthly Plans $2.49 and up 
After using Surfshark Alert to scan our SSN for leaks, we opted to have it actively monitored. Instead of an initial setup process where you’re asked for all of your personal details like most identity monitoring services do, Surfshark Alert waits for you to submit a manual scan. We started with our SSN, but you can also add things like your driver’s license and passport numbers. After that initial scan, we can opt in to have Surfshark actively monitor it, which we did. Surfshark supports an unlimited number of actively monitored IDs and it monitors the dark web as well.
Surfshark Alert Credit Monitoring
While Surfshark Alert doesn’t offer credit monitoring, they do offer credit card monitoring. It takes the same approach as their identity monitoring feature where you manually input your credit card numbers for them to scan and then you can choose whether to opt into active monitoring. Sure, it’s not as comprehensive of protection as full three-bureau credit monitoring, or even one-bureau credit monitoring, but you can scan anyone’s credit card with one subscription. That’s great news for families.
FYI: Just because Surfshark Alert doesn’t offer credit monitoring, doesn’t mean you need to forego it entirely. Experian offers free one-bureau credit monitoring you can use to supplement a Surfshark Alert subscription. Learn more in our Experian IdentityWorks review.
Surfshark Alert Cybersecurity
This is where Surfshark shines. They don’t pull any punches when it comes to cybersecurity. With a Surfshark Alert subscription, you get full access to their antivirus software and VPN, both of which are two of our favorite services. Their premium tier also includes Incogni, one of the top data removal services. It works in the same way as Aura’s data removal service except Incogni automates the whole process which we prefer. Check out our Incogni review for a complete breakdown.
>> Learn More: Surfshark VPN Review 2025: A Fast and Versatile Option
What We Like
- Low prices starting at $2.49 per month
- Email, identity and credit card scans for unlimited family members
- Subscription includes high-quality VPN and antivirus software
- Scheduled data breach reports
What We Don’t Like
- No credit reports or credit monitoring
- You need to opt into active identity and credit card monitoring
- Lacks a password manager and vulnerability management
- Surfshark’s free trial does not include Alert
Our Surfshark Alert Experience
Surfshark Alert actively notified us anytime our information was found in a data breach or leak.
Here’s what our first data breach alert looked like from Surfshark Alert. Although Surfshark has a desktop app, their Alert feature is only available through their web interface and mobile app. Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing. We found Surfshark’s web interface to be intuitive and easy to navigate. They clearly lay out all of their features in tabs on the left side of the screen.
All we needed to do was click the “Alert” dropdown menu and then we could scan any of our identity-related numbers, like our SSN, or our credit cards. After scanning it, we opted into active monitoring. The “Email” tab let us add as many email addresses as we wanted for Surfshark to actively monitor as well. In the settings section, we set up monthly data leak reports so we could track our progress as we improve our online security.
Pro Tip: Keep an encrypted document of the information you want to manually scan with Surfshark Alert. Then, all you need to do is copy and paste each piece of information instead of manually typing it. If you do weekly scans like us, it will save you more time than you think.
Surfshark Alert Pricing
You can’t actually buy a Surfshark Alert subscription. Well, at least not a subscription only for Surfshark Alert. It’s included in the Surfshark One bundle which also includes their VPN and antivirus software. Or, you can opt for the Surfshark One+ bundle which also includes Incogni. Surfshark offers the lowest cost subscription on this list as long as you’re ready to subscribe for the long-haul. Here’s how much a Surfshark Alert subscription costs:
Surfshark Plans and Pricing Surfshark One Surfshark One+ Monthly price $17.95 $20.65 Yearly price $50.85 ($3.39 per month) $91.35 ($6.09 per month) Two-year price $72.63 ($2.49 per month) $107.73 ($3.99 per month) >> Read About: Surfshark Antivirus Review & Pricing in 2025
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5. IdentityIQ - Best Credit Protection and Monitoring
IdentityIQ customers enjoy identity theft protection in both credit and non-credit related areas. Among its many other features, IdentityIQ provides dark web monitoring and keeps an eye out for arrest and conviction records in your name.
View Plans Links to IdentityIQProduct Specs
Dark Web Monitoring Yes Credit Reporting Yes Insurance Coverage Up to $1 million Free Trial 7-day Individual Monthly Plans $8.49 and up Family Monthly Plans $25.50 and up 
IdentityIQ Identity Monitoring
IdentityIQ’s dashboard makes it easy to get a handle on your credit. Like Identity Guard, IdentityIQ’s credit monitoring is only available on the mid-tier plans. Secure Basic has some great features like dark web monitoring and SSN alerts. But you’ll want to upgrade to Secure Pro or Secure Max for 3-bureau monitoring. Some of the features you’ll gain are:
- Synthetic ID Theft Protection: Just like LifeLock, IdentityIQ monitored public and digital records for all items that included pieces of our personal information – not just those that perfectly matched our PII.
- Lost Wallet Assistance: If we lost our wallets, IdentityIQ would have helped us cancel our credit and debit cards, replace our IDs, etc.
- Opt-Out IQ: IdentityIQ automatically opted us out of junk mail subscriptions. It also enrolled our phone numbers on the National Do Not Call list.
Pro Tip: Opting out of junk mail subscriptions and enrolling on the DNC list is a good way to protect yourself from scammers, but if you want to improve your identity protection, you should also look into data removal services. Such services will opt you out of data broker sites that contain a scary amount of your data – from your name and contact details to your address and known relatives. See our top-recommended data removal services here.
IdentityIQ Credit Monitoring
The primary distinguishing factor between the IdentityIQ subscription plans is how much they will protect your credit. Our Secure Max (top-tier) plan gave us:
- Credit score change alerts
- Credit score tracker and simulator
- Monthly credit reports
On top of those, we appreciated IdentityIQ’s Utility Payment Reporting. Utility payments aren’t commonly reported to the major credit reporting bureaus, so they don’t often affect credit scores. After IdentityIQ reported our internet and electricity bill payments from the last 24 months, though, we saw our credit score increase. It didn’t protect our credit, but it helped us improve our credit worthiness.
IdentityIQ Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity features were provided by Bitdefender. If you’re not familiar, give our Bitdefender VPN review and Bitdefender antivirus review a read. The VPN was decent, but the antivirus software was top-notch. It was one of the best at detecting malware, and it protected us from phishing. It also had a file shredder feature that completely destroyed deleted files containing sensitive information to the point that they’re unrecoverable. It was almost on par with Norton, making IdentityIQ a good LifeLock alternative.
What We Like:
- Cybersecurity features provided by a top antivirus brand
- Adding cybersecurity features adds only $2 to $3 per month (cheaper than buying antivirus software)
- Features that help improve credit score
- Budget-focused Secure plan
What We Don’t Like:
- Doesn’t offer a lot of credit protection features
- Requires a third-party app for cybersecurity features
- Limited phone support
- Higher-tier plan (Secure Max) is expensive at $31.49 per month
Our IdentityIQ Experience
We recommend IdentityIQ for newcomers, mainly because of the app. It was where we spent most of our time managing alerts as it was so easy to navigate. The only downside is that it’s missing some features we had in the Aura app. We also had to switch apps to use the VPN and antivirus, but we were used to doing this with LifeLock so it wasn’t a dealbreaker.
Testing out IdentityIQ’s credit monitoring features. Most of the time we needed to access our IdentityIQ dashboard, we preferred using the web version. It was more minimalistic than other identity protection dashboards we tried, but at least it let us manage our plan (which the app didn’t). It’s also easier to update personal information on a computer than an app.
FYI: You can also request a copy of your credit report from the three credit bureaus once a month, every six months, or every year, depending on your plan. To do that, just log in to your IdentityIQ dashboard and find the Credit Report section. Keep in mind that the government has provisioned everyone to receive a free copy of their credit reports once a week.1
IdentityIQ Pricing
IdentityIQ’s plans starts from $8.49 per month, but you can save 15-percent by paying annually, bringing the monthly cost down to $7.44. As tempting as it was, we decided on the Secure Max plan, which is $27 per month when paid annually.
We also had the option to add on Bitdefender’s VPN and antivirus. This is available for every plan and is just a few extra dollars per month, which we think is a great deal.
IdentityIQ Subscriptions Secure Secure Plus Secure Pro Secure Max Monthly price $8.49 $11.49 $21.49 $31.49 Monthly price with cybersecurity features $10.49 $13.49 $23.49 $34.99 Annual price $86.61 $117.19 $219.19 $321.21 Annual price with cybersecurity features $106.99 $137.59 $239.00 $351.80 FYI: Antivirus software can cost $30 to $100 per year (around $2.50 to $8.50 per month); this is why paying IdentityIQ an additional $2 to $3 per month to access Bitdefender antivirus and VPN is a good deal.
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6. McAfee Identity Theft Protection - Best User Experience
McAfee combines its decades of experience in malware protection with credit and identity monitoring to protect customers’ identities proactively.
View Packages Links to McAfee Identity Theft ProtectionProduct Specs
Dark Web Monitoring Yes Credit Reporting No Insurance Coverage Up to $1 million Free Trial 30-day Individual Monthly Plans $3.75 and up Family Monthly Plans $5.25 and up 
McAfee Identity Monitoring
McAfee doesn’t have some of the more advanced features like Aura’s home and auto title monitoring or LifeLock’s synthetic ID theft. But it still keeps an eye on around 60 different types of information, including:
- Drivers license numbers
- Insurance ID cards
- Tax IDs
- Usernames of online accounts
- Passport number
McAfee even alerted us to a data breach we didn’t know about. It happened five years ago, so there was a lot of work to do to contain the incident. Thankfully, McAfee could also help us with that.
No data breaches were found with our McAfee dark web scan. McAfee Credit Monitoring
If you sign up for the Ultimate plan, like we did, you can access these features:
- You’ll be able to freeze/unfreeze and lock/unlock your credit on demand. Both can help you stop unauthorized access to your credit accounts.
- McAfee will include your 401(k) and other investment accounts in its monitoring.
- You’ll get three-bureau credit monitoring instead of just one bureau from the mid-tier option.
- You’ll get an alert if someone tries to take over your bank account – a.k.a. account takeover.
McAfee Cybersecurity
Our Ultimate plan gave us full service personal data and online account cleanup. It didn’t just search the web for data broker sites and old accounts; it also helped us clear our data from those. For data broker sites, McAfee sent takedown requests on our behalf. For old accounts, it initiated account deletion.
Those are, of course, on top of McAfee’s impressive antivirus features. We delve deeper into those in our McAfee review, so give that a read if you want to learn more.
What We Like:
- Intuitively designed all-in-one app
- Affordable average monthly rates for the first year
- Data cleanup services
- Protection Score lets you know how safe you are
What We Don’t Like:
- All annual billing; no monthly billing option
- Three-bureau credit monitoring for top-tier plan only
- Some features you can activate only if you sign up for auto-renewal
- Price increases after the first year
Our McAfee Experience
We were impressed that McAfee could package all of its features into one app. NortonLifeLock couldn’t even do that. McAfee was also surprisingly easy to navigate. There are separate tabs for each protection area. We could swap from privacy protection to identity protection with one click. McAfee also gave us a Protection Score based on how safe our identity is, which helped us focus our attention on taking action to improve the result.
Using McAfee’s resources to better understand the service — part of our research process. Pro Tip: The Security.org team built a tool similar to McAfee’s Protection Score, which we named Security Score. Give it a try to see how safe you are both from physical dangers like home invasion, robbery, and theft, as well as cyberthreats like malware, hacking, and phishing.
McAfee Pricing
With McAfee, only annual billing is available; however, there’s a 30-day money-back option in case you change your mind. All plans also include cybersecurity features.
McAfee+ Plans Premium Advanced Ultimate For individuals $44.99 $80.99 $199.99 For families $62.99 $107.99 $249.99
Honorable Mentions
IDShield – Affordable Family Protection
You can cover up to 11 family members for $29.99 per month with IDShield’s family plans. This only gives you 1-credit bureau monitoring. If you want 3-bureau credit monitoring, which we recommend, it will cost you $34.99 per month. Both plans include Minor Child Monitoring, which protects your kids when they’re online and monitors their SSN.
ID Watchdog – Protection With up to $2 Million Coverage
This Equifax-owned brand provides generous insurance coverage up to $2 million. While it doesn’t offer unique identity monitoring features, its credit monitoring stood out for monitoring high-risk transactions; also, it let us set a threshold amount that would trigger those alerts.
Allstate – Identity Theft Insurance and Identity Restoration
Once we saw that Allstate offers white-glove identity restoration service and insurance, we were all in. We were also impressed that it has home title identity theft reimbursement of up to $1,000,000 per 12-month period. It comes out of your expense reimbursement, but we still think it’s generous. Plus it has some additional cybersecurity features courtesy of Webroot.
Summary of the Best Identity Theft Protection Services of 2025
| System |
LifeLock
|
Aura
|
Identity Guard®
|
Surfshark Alert
|
IdentityIQ
|
McAfee Identity Theft Protection
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
| Ratings | 9.7/10 | 9.6/10 | 9.5/10 | 9.5/10 | 9.3/10 | 8.6/10 |
| Read Review | LifeLock Review | Aura Review | Identity Guard® Review | Surfshark Alert Review | IdentityIQ Review | McAfee Identity Theft Protection Review |
Identity Theft Explained
In the eight-minute video above, our Chief Editor explains what identity theft is and what we can do about it.
What Is Identity Theft? Everything You Need To Know
Identity theft is a crime where someone uses the personal information of another person to commit fraud. The consequences vary – from losing money and facing legal problems to having a ruined credit.
In 2023, nearly a million Americans suffered from it and lost nearly $2 billion dollars.2 The most common type was credit card fraud, which affected more than 400,000 individuals. Next to that was loan fraud, with nearly 150,000 victims.
>> Related Reading: Best Identity Theft Protection for Businesses
What Different Types of Identity Theft Are There?
There are different types of identity theft, including credit card fraud and loan fraud. Here are other types to beware of:
- Financial identity theft: This involves stealing money from you, either through your bank accounts, credit cards, or other personal accounts. To do that, thieves steal credit card numbers, hijack bank accounts, cash out investment accounts, etc.
- Medical identity theft: This is when someone uses your medical insurance to pay for their medical bills. It can raise your health insurance rates or might even trigger errors in your medical treatment.
- Senior identity theft: Criminals specifically target older folks, knowing that they’re less likely to monitor accounts for identity fraud and more likely to fall for scams. See the best identity theft protection for seniors.
- Criminal identity theft: You can end up with a criminal record without breaking any laws if an identity thief provides your personal information or stolen ID at a traffic stop or when arrested.
- Child identity theft: Thieves target children’s SSN to stack payday loans and make a quick getaway, get a driver’s license, or abuse credit under a child’s name. This sort of identity theft could go unnoticed for years.
- Tax fraud: The goal is to get your tax refund. You could become a victim of tax fraud even if you’re unemployed or actually owe the government a tax payment. Fraudsters can easily submit a phony income in your name, then change your listed address to receive a refund check.
Understanding Identity Theft Protection Services
Identity theft protection services monitor people’s PII and credit files to catch early signs of identity theft. They also provide safety nets in the form of insurance and identity restoration services.
- Identity theft prevention: Modern identity theft protection services offer cybersecurity features that help you stay on top of your online data and prevent online identity theft. Those features often include antivirus software, VPNs, and password managers.
- Identity theft monitoring: Identity protection also means detecting signs of theft to prevent damage. Services generally monitor credit reports and scores, the dark web, public records, and other areas where stolen identities might appear.
- Identity recovery: If your identity is stolen, an expert case manager can help restore your name. They can arrange for lawyers to contact credit reporting agencies and help get documents notarized.
- Identity theft insurance: Lastly, if you suffer from financial losses, you may be able to receive reimbursements for stolen funds, legal and expert fees, and other out-of-pocket expenses.
The Cost of Identity Theft Protection
When comparing identity theft protection services, the cost always comes up. Pricing varies across the market, depending on what features the service offers exactly. Some offer plans as low as less than $10 per month, while others go up to over $30. The average price is somewhere between $14 to $16 per month for individuals. For family plans, expect to pay between $20 to $30 per month.
Who Needs Identity Theft Protection?
We all have personal data, so we could all fall victim to identity theft. Literally everyone needs identity theft protection. However, some people need it more urgently than others.
Visiting our “What is My Security Score” tool can help you determine how much you need identity theft protection. This tool takes into account your physical and digital security score. By understanding what your security score entails, you can pinpoint areas that need reinforcement and make your identity a little more secure.
Identity Theft Protection Alternatives
Of course, identity theft protection services aren’t the only ways to protect yourself from identity theft. You can supplement them with these other tips from our identity theft, cybersecurity, and home security experts:
- Keep all your important documents, using one of the better home security systems to protect them if necessary.
- Get your mail out of your mailbox as soon as possible so no one can steal it and glean your credentials.
- Shred any papers that have your personal information immediately after you’re done using them.
- Use a long, complicated, and unique password for each of your accounts. Our Random Password Generator can help.
- Use antivirus software to avoid hackers gaining access to your accounts.
- Use a VPN while on public Wi-Fi networks.
- Only give your SSN when it’s completely necessary.
- Regularly check your credit report from the three reporting bureaus, as well as your personal financial accounts.
While nothing can guarantee that your identity won’t be stolen, these simple steps will make it less likely.
Our Methodology: How We Picked the Best Identity Theft Protection of 2025
Note that for every identity theft service we review, we actually test the service for at least two months. While we’re trying them out, here’s what we look for:
- Credit agencies monitored: We want credit monitoring from all three bureaus, plus frequent updates of both credit scores and reports.
- Financial areas monitored: We want subscriptions to keep track of our finances, making sure no one has accessed our payment information, bank accounts, credit cards, etc.
- Identity theft insurance: Services should also include identity theft insurance with a reimbursement of $1 million or more.
- Privacy policy: We read each company’s privacy policy to see how they protect the information we give them. We want to make sure that they won’t sell it to third parties.
- Encryption method: We also look into what encryption they use to protect our information stored on their servers. We generally prefer military-grade 256-bit AES.
- Pricing: We also try to determine if they offer enough features and protections to justify the price.
Recap
There’s no single way to protect yourself from identity theft. It should be a concerted effort between you, your family and the people around you, and your identity theft protection service. So while you continue to improve and adapt your identity theft prevention measures, be sure to supplement them with a good identity protection service.
More Digital Security Guides
Identity theft isn’t the only thing to worry about when it comes to your digital identity. We’ve put together a few guides that should help you stay secure online.
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Federal Trade Commission. (2024). You now have permanent access to free weekly credit reports.
consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2023/10/you-now-have-permanent-access-free-weekly-credit-reports -
Federal Trade Commission. (2024). Identity Theft Reports.
public.tableau.com/app/profile/federal.trade.commission/viz/IdentityTheftReports/TheftTypesOverTime
