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Best for insurance coverage
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Provides up to $3 million in coverage
Multiple monitoring features including dark web, home title, and social media monitoring
Customer support experience is lacking
Best for long-term pricing
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Easy to use
Includes extra features like a password manager
No dedicated identity recovery services
Best for family protection
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Includes a password manager and VPN
Robust tools for children’s security
Pricey monthly cost
The best identity theft protection plans have several key features to consider. The service should monitor your credit, provide ID theft insurance, offer remediation specialists, and check the dark web for your data.
Norton LifeLock, Identity Guard, and Aura do all of that and more. Norton offers more insurance than its competitors. Identity Guard utilizes AI to evolve as your protection needs change. Finally, Aura will keep your entire family safe with unique tools not found in other ID protection services. Which one is right for you hinges on your individual needs and goals.
| Service |  Norton LifeLock |
 Identity Guard |
 Aura |
| Individual plan | Starts at $7.50/mo for first yr | Starts at $6.67/mo | Starts at $12.00/mo |
| Family plan | Starts at $12.49/mo for first yr | Starts at $10.00/mo | Starts at $32.00/mo |
| ID theft insurance | Up to $1.05 million through $3 million, depending on plan | Up to $1 million | Up to $1 million |
| Credit monitoring | |||
| 3-bureau credit reports | |||
| Details | View Plans | View Plans | View Plans |
Provides up to $3 million in coverage
Multiple monitoring features including dark web, home title, and social media monitoring
Customer support experience is lacking
If you’re looking for extensive insurance coverage with your identity theft prevention service, Norton LifeLock has it. While this is not the only feature available to you, LifeLock’s insurance is more generous than other plans.
Most services offer up to $1 million in coverage per adult, but LifeLock starts with over $1 million in coverage, and its Ultimate Plus plan covers up to $3 million for an adult. Those funds cover lawyers, stolen funds, personal expense reimbursement, and any other costs accrued from restoring your identity. This is great news if you ever need Norton’s remediation services.
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LifeLock includes a LOT of features:
If you want to try LifeLock before committing to a subscription, it offers a 60-day money-back guarantee on annual accounts and a 14-day money-back guarantee on monthly accounts.
We tested LifeLock on iOS for an iPhone and found the app easy to install and use. This isn’t the case for all ID protection services, so knowing we could easily access our account in case of emergency impressed us.
Continuing the theme of access, we found the dashboard easy to use as well. It has a clean design that allows you to access all the services quickly. We didn’t need to hunt for features. Overall, this experience was good, and we are comfortable recommending LifeLock.
We didn’t have a great experience with customer service. We used both the live chat feature and called, but we found the reps to be less than knowledgeable. Now, these were not the remediation representatives you would work with in case of identity theft, but they are the support staff for the LifeLock product. We received conflicting information from them and overall didn’t enjoy the experience. Also, new accounts were relatively well priced, but prices after the first year went way up.
| Plan | Individual | Family Plan (2 Adults) | Family Plan (2 Adults + 5 Kids) |
| Paid annually | Starts at $7.50/mo for first yr | Starts at $18.49/mo for first yr | Starts at $12.49/mo for first yr |
| Paid monthly | Starts at $11.99/mo for first yr | Starts at $23.99/mo for first yr | Starts at $35.99/mo for first yr |
| Free trial | Yes — 30 days | Yes — 30 days | Yes — 30 days |
| Number of people covered | 1 adult | 2 adults | 2 adults, 5 children |
| ID theft insurance | Up to $1.05 million | Up to $1.2 million | Up to $3 million |
| 3-bureau monitoring | |||
| Credit reports | |||
| Identity recovery | |||
| Learn more | View Plan | View Plan | View Plan |
Read Our Norton LifeLock Review
Easy to use
Includes extra features like a password manager
No dedicated identity recovery services
While Identity Guard and LifeLock look like they’re similar in pricing, LifeLock jumps up for the second year while Identity Guard doesn’t. If huge price hikes for something you like aren’t your thing, Identity Guard may be the answer.
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We loved the price on the Value plan because it’s one of the lowest we’ve seen. We were also impressed with how easy it is to use Identity Guard. The portal is clean, and you can navigate through it with ease. Its additional features, like the password manager, were a bonus that we appreciated.
Identity Guard is designed with the user in mind. Its intuitive artificial intelligence monitoring, which is powered by IBM Watson, scans the dark web for any mention of you. Identity Guard’s use of AI means that it is learning and evolving to protect you, even as threats become more advanced. We love tools that work smarter, not harder.
Even though Identity Guard is inexpensive, it still offers plenty of features that we loved:
Originally, we weren’t in love with the fact that Identity Guard didn’t offer dedicated identity restoration services, but that is no longer the case. Now there are dedicated remediation specialists to help you. We did have a slight issue when trying to check out with our Identity Guard subscription, but we tried a different payment method and succeeded. Although this is a minor issue, it can still be annoying to try multiple payment methods.
| Plan | Individual | Family |
| Paid annually | Starts at $6.67/mo | Starts at $10.00/mo |
| Paid monthly | Starts at $8.99/mo | Starts at $14.99/mo |
| Free trial | ||
| Number of people covered | 1 adult | 5 adults, unlimited children |
| ID theft insurance | Up to $1 million | Up to $1 million |
| 3-bureau monitoring | ||
| Credit reports | ||
| Identity recovery | ||
| Learn more | View Plan | View Plan |
Read Our Identity Guard Review
Includes a password manager and VPN
Robust tools for children’s security
Pricey monthly cost
If you’ve read recently about data leaks at schools that have exposed children’s Social Security numbers (SSNs), you may be wondering what you can do to protect your kids’ identity. Child identity theft and credit card fraud are real crimes that can be a complete nightmare to address. These are some ways kids’ identities are stolen:
But Aura has your family covered. Not only does the service provide protection for children, but it also provides parental controls, safe gaming features, as well as the ability to freeze your child’s credit. This can assist your children in starting their credit journey with a clean slate when it comes time.
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Aura walks you through the setup process so you have all your settings activated from the beginning. The dashboard is comprehensive, easy to navigate, and user-friendly. The features are robust, including, as previously mentioned, child protection features. We were also impressed with Aura’s additional features that go beyond identity theft protection:
One feature unique to Aura is the ability to monitor your individual transactions, so you can receive a notification if there’s a purchase made over your spending limit. Additionally, Aura can prioritize what’s important to you by allowing you to customize your experience at the very beginning. When you sign up, Aura asks a series of questions about your goals to really hone in on what’s important for you.
All of Aura’s extras and features don’t come cheap. Aura has one of the highest price tags we’ve seen. If you want to cover your family, you’ll be paying about $65 monthly. If you want to pay annually, you’ll save money, but you’ll still be spending over $384 annually.
Aura may not work for you if you have a large family and a tight budget. That’s ok. Other services like LifeLock or Identity Guard are less expensive and still have the core features you need to have identity recovery services for your family.
| Plan | Individual | Couples | Family |
| Paid annually | $12.00/mo | $22.00/mo | $32.00/mo |
| Paid monthly | $20.00/mo | $35.00/mo | $65.00/mo |
| Free trial | Yes — 14 days | Yes — 14 days | Yes — 14 days |
| Number of people covered | 1 adult | 2 adults | 2 adults, unlimited children |
| ID theft insurance | Up to $1 million | Up to $2 million | Up to $5 million |
| 3-bureau monitoring | |||
| Credit reports | |||
| Identity recovery | |||
| Learn more | View Plan | View Plan | View Plan |
While these ID theft protection services didn’t quite make the cut this time, they still have a lot to offer. Protection software is a personal choice, and we want to give you plenty of options to find what works best for you. The three below are worth checking out, but we also have an identity theft protection and credit monitoring guide with even more options.
Restoring your identity after it’s been stolen can be an incredibly frustrating process. If you purchase ID theft protection, make sure you choose one that also helps you restore your identity. That way, you won’t need to worry about calling the right agencies, dealing with the credit bureaus, or juggling lawyers to deal with identity theft losses. An agent will be able to help you deal with all the legal ramifications of identity theft without the headache.
While restoring your identity without a service is possible, you’ll find it much easier if you have a professional on your side. Identity theft protection services are well-equipped to assist you in restoring your good name. Most will even pay for the remediation services when involving outside parties like lawyers. Getting your identity back can get pretty pricey, so these services provide the tools and insurance to help.
To know if you’re a victim of identity theft, look for obvious signs of suspicious activity. Unrecognized purchases on your financial accounts, stolen funds, or unfamiliar line items on your credit report are all indicators. Sometimes, however, you won’t know until it’s too late. If someone is able to steal the deed to your home or change your address to intercept mail, it could be a long time until you realize this is happening.
ID theft protection is definitely worth it, especially if you find yourself affected by identity theft. LifeLock offers high insurance coverage that ensures you won’t pay out-of-pocket for remediation. Identity Guard gives you AI-enabled technology that evolves over time. And Aura will make sure everyone from your grandma to your kids is covered to prevent theft. Even if these three aren’t what you’re looking for, there are other choices listed in this post with features that should work for you.
| Starting price | Best for | Learn more | |
Norton LifeLock |
Starts at $7.50/mo for first yr | Best for insurance coverage | View Plans |
Identity Guard |
Starts at $6.67/mo | Best for long-term pricing | View Plans |
Aura |
Starts at $12.00/mo | Best for family protection | View Plans |
We chose each of these based on their star rating on our site. Once our reviewers went through and tried out each service, it was assigned a rating based on key factors like price, features, accessibility, etc. These were all 5-star or 4.5-star products that excelled above the competition.
If you’re in the market for identity theft protection services, there are questions you should ask when doing research. Whether you’re looking for just yourself or your entire family, some core features are indicative of a good identity theft protection company. Ask yourself these questions when comparing brands:
Provides up to $3 million in coverage
Multiple monitoring features including dark web, home title, and social media monitoring
Customer support experience is lacking
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