Aura Credit Monitoring Review 2026: Identity Protection That Monitors Your Credit, Finances, and More

Aura offers more than just credit monitoring; it's also one of the most complete identity protection suites on the market. Although Aura doesn’t include credit-building tools, it excels at shielding your personal and financial information where others fall short.

With Aura, you'll receive real-time credit alerts, automatic credit lock with Experian, and three-bureau credit reporting, so you can stay a step ahead of fraud. Aura also shines by including extra layers of protection: data removal tools, dark web and data breach monitoring, and instant alerts the moment your credit changes.

Whether you're actively concerned about identity theft or simply want peace of mind, Aura delivers comprehensive protection with the convenience of a single subscription, making it one of the best credit monitoring products we've tested. 

At a glance

Price	$10.00–$39.00/mo
Free plan	No
Financial account monitoring	Yes
FICO® score	No
Credit score	Yes — Equifax, Experian, TransUnion
Credit score update frequency	Monthly
Credit report	Yes — Equifax, Experian, TransUnion
Credit report update frequency	Annually
Credit lock	Yes — Experian
Credit analysis	Yes
Credit building	No
Extras	Included with all Aura plans: Antivirus, password manager, ID theft protection, ID theft insurance, data removal, ad blocker, basic VPN, and more Family plan only: AI spam call protection, parental controls, Safe Gaming features
Learn more	Get Aura Read Our Aura Identity Theft Protection Review

We last tested Aura in Q1 2026.

Our experience

Signing up for Aura was a breeze. We entered our information, connected our PayPal account, and were in our portal in less than three minutes. It took about 15 minutes for Aura to grab our credit information, which we felt was more than reasonable.

We also received an email alert letting us know when our monthly credit score was ready to view. 

We also uploaded our bank account information into the financial monitoring section. One positive aspect is that Aura uses Plaid, a secure service for financial accounts, to connect your bank to its monitoring portal. The extra security made us feel confident in sharing such personal information.

We also liked that we could set alerts for transactions over a certain limit. If any transaction is made over $200, Aura will let us know so we can check it quickly. While $200 is the standard Aura starts you with, you can customize these alerts any way you like to keep an eye on your finances and spending.

Overall, we were pleased with our Aura experience. It’s not wildly different from other credit monitoring services we’ve tried, but it does its job well. We liked the integration with Plaid and the monitoring alerts, as well as extras like antivirus and a password manager. 

We hope Aura adds more credit-specific features in the future, like a credit builder and credit simulation scenarios. 

Aura prices and subscriptions

Aura's pricing runs between $10.00–$39.00/mo depending on your chosen package. The main differences between packages are the number of people and devices covered. 

Family plans offer the most additional features, incorporating parental controls and online gaming safety into the regular offerings.

Features	Individual	Couple	Family
Price	$10.00/mo	$18.00/mo	$29.00/mo
Number of people covered	1 adult	2 adults	5 adults, unlimited children
Financial account monitoring
Credit score	Yes — Equifax, Experian, TransUnion	Yes — Equifax, Experian, TransUnion	Yes — Equifax, Experian, TransUnion
Credit score update frequency	Monthly	Monthly	Monthly
Credit report	Yes — Equifax, Experian, TransUnion	Yes — Equifax, Experian, TransUnion	Yes — Equifax, Experian, TransUnion
Credit report update frequency	Annually	Annually	Annually
Credit lock	Yes — Experian	Yes — Experian	Yes — Experian
Credit analysis
Credit building
Extras	Antivirus, password manager, ID theft protection, up to $1 million identity theft insurance, data removal, ad blocker, basic VPN, and more	Antivirus, password manager, ID theft protection, up to $2 million identity theft insurance, data removal, ad blocker, basic VPN, and more	Antivirus, password manager, ID theft protection, up to $5 million identity theft insurance, data removal, ad blocker, basic VPN, parental controls, Safe Gaming, AI spam call protection, and more
Learn more	View plan	View plan	View plan

Aura’s prices are comparable to competitors that offer similar features and extras, such as antivirus and a VPN. While free credit monitoring services like Credit Karma provide monitoring without a monthly fee, paid services like Aura have perks such as identity theft insurance and fraud remediation assistance.

Aura plans don’t differ too much outside of the number of people and devices covered. The price increases are mostly to cover additional people in the household. 

People with children can get the Family plan to protect them from child identity theft, online cyberbullying in gaming environments, and regulate device use with the included parental controls. Aura Family also offers coverage for an unlimited number of children, unlike some competitors.

Big families may want to consider Aura’s Family plan for their security needs. For anyone else, the Individual or Couple plans will give you all you need.

Aura features

Aura gives access to credit monitoring from the three major reporting bureaus, which isn’t a feature you find everywhere, especially with free credit monitoring. Here’s a list of the rest of the key features.

Credit monitoring

Aura’s credit monitoring feature is front and center. When we log into our portal, we’re greeted with our score in the main dashboard. We were also able to jump into the credit section and get valuable insights into our credit score. Aura reports using the VantageScore 3.0 model. 

Given how much Aura costs annually, FICO monitoring would be a valuable addition. Unfortunately, most credit monitoring services don't monitor FICO, which is actually the scoring model most lenders use. However, you can also sign up for free tools like Experian and myFICO to get insights into your FICO score.

Credit reports and scores

Under the Credit tab, we could view our Equifax score immediately. However, Aura doesn't show credit scores from Experian or TransUnion unless you request them. So although Aura reports changes to Experian and TransUnion reports, it doesn't provide the individual scores from those two bureaus by default.

However, Aura does include the option to request our credit reports from all three major reporting bureaus, and once we signed the required authorization, the scores populated in less than a minute. 

Other credit monitoring services like Experian and TransUnion charge extra for three-bureau reporting, whereas Aura doesn't, which is a major perk.

Credit analysis

Aura offers insights into what may be affecting your credit score. One insight was that we don’t have a mortgage, so Aura suggested that lack of real estate payments could be lowering our credit score. 

Other score breakdown information may include the date that you opened your oldest account, your account balance, and a lack of sufficient credit history. 

Credit builder

Unfortunately, Aura doesn’t have any credit building tools. Competitors like Credit Karma may offer you loans, credit cards, and credit building accounts to help raise your score.

Money management tools

After you connect your bank and other financial accounts, Aura lays out your incoming and outgoing funds. While there weren’t any hard and fast money management tools, we did have the option to set several types of alerts. This can help monitor your money and catch any potential theft.

Bonus features

If you sign up only for Aura's credit monitoring services, you’ll also receive access to Aura's complete digital security and privacy suite. 

Learn more about our experience testing Aura services included with credit monitoring:

• Data broker removal: Aura automatically contacts 140+ data brokers and people search sites to remove your personal information, safeguarding you from bad actors and identity thieves. 
• Antivirus protection: Aura Antivirus offers real-time threat protection against advanced malware, including spyware, Trojans, ransomware, and more.
• Ad block and anti-track: Aura Ad Blocker is a user-friendly widget and extension that automatically blocks ads, third-party trackers, and malicious sites. 
• Password manager: Aura Password Manager seamlessly integrates with your online accounts to offer a secure password vault. 
• Identity theft protection services (which include continuous dark web and data breach monitoring) monitor the web for your exposed data, including SSN, personally identifiable information, fraudulent activity on financial accounts, and more. 

The Family plan includes top-rated parental controls, and you can add-on scam call protection.

Is Aura safe to use?

Yes, Aura is safe to use, and it’s trusted by millions for a reason. It uses bank-level encryption, monitors your sensitive data across multiple platforms, and offers powerful identity and credit protections. 

Like any service that handles personal information, though, there are a few things to be aware of.

Aura does collect and use a fair amount of personally identifiable information (PII), which is necessary for services like credit monitoring, dark web scanning, and data removal. This level of access is expected (and essential) for Aura to do its job well.

That said, Aura’s privacy policy notes that it may share certain data with trusted partners and affiliates, like Plaid, if you opt to link your financial accounts. This type of sharing is fairly common among security tools and is used to enable specific features, but it’s something to keep in mind if you're especially privacy-conscious.

Another small consideration: two-factor authentication (2FA) isn’t turned on by default. It is available, and we highly recommend enabling it for extra security. Here’s how:

1. Log in to your Aura account.
2. Click the gear in the upper right corner of your dashboard.
3. Click Account details.
4. Enable your preferred 2FA option: text message, email, or authenticator app.

Aura is a secure, reliable service that takes your protection seriously. Just make sure to tweak a few settings to maximize your privacy and account security.

Aura customer support

Support type	Aura customer support
Email or live chat	Yes: contact support@aura.com or live chat on the site
Phone	Yes: call (833) 552-2123
Online guides or forums	Yes: Aura Help Center

Aura reached out to us within a few hours of signing up for the service. The representative asked why we joined the service and what our goals were. We also tried out Aura’s online chatbot on the website, which gave us the information we needed quickly.

Overall, Aura’s support was good. We want to mention that other team members have tested Aura's services and had difficulty dealing with support. It seems that your success with Aura’s support team is directly related to how common your issue is, and if Aura has the resources to help you.

Top alternatives

If Aura doesn’t offer the features you’re looking for, don’t despair. We’ve tested Aura, LifeLock, and Omniwatch to give you pros, cons, and our experience so you can make the best choice for yourself and your family.

See how top identity theft protection services compare to Aura.

FAQs

Bottom line: Is Aura credit monitoring good?

Yes, from our experience, Aura credit monitoring is a good service. We liked the dashboard's clear view of our data removal, credit score, and transaction history.

We were also pleased with the ease of use, although we felt Aura’s user interface was a bit dated. As far as the service itself, however, we had no issues using Aura’s credit monitoring.

Security software is subjective, so if Aura doesn’t meet your expectations, try out some of the other best credit monitoring services available. Whether you want a paid service with identity theft protection or a free service to help build your credit, there’s likely one out there that will fit your needs.