How We Test, Rate, and Review Identity Theft Protection Services

Our team has tested nearly 20 identity theft protection services over the last three years. We sign up like any other customer, giving each service several days to do its job before we evaluate it. This lead time allows the dashboard to populate with real-time data and gives us a chance to see how the service handles live alerts.

Once we begin testing, we get deep into the dashboard, monitoring and alerts, extra features, and even contact customer support. Then, we apply our proprietary grading rubric, which scores each service based on six criteria: identity and credit monitoring, basics, value, customer service, extras, and our editor's score.

Here's exactly what we look at to determine the best identity theft protection services and how each factor is weighted.

Identity and credit monitoring features (30%)

Identity monitoring includes anything attached to your personal identity. Identity monitoring covers any feature that tracks unauthorized use of your personal information.

Credit monitoring features are also important to an identity theft protection service. While it's great to have credit monitoring and access to credit scores, we also value how many bureaus are covered and how frequently your credit information is updated. 

Identity and credit monitoring carries the most weight in our scoring because it represents the core promise of these services. 

SSN monitoring

What it is: This monitors everything attached to your Social Security Number (SSN), including but not limited to new financial accounts, loans, criminal records, information from the Social Security Administration, and more.

How we rate it:

• Best: Finds and alerts you to all activity attached to your SSN, explains the alert and why it was flagged
• Worst: Doesn’t offer SSN monitoring

Financial account monitoring

What it is: Monitors all accounts you register with the service, including but not limited to banking, credit cards, investment accounts, and more.

How we rate it:

• Best: Includes monitoring for a variety of accounts including investment or retirement accounts in addition to banking and credit
• Worst: Doesn’t offer financial account monitoring

Home title monitoring

What it is: Alerts homeowners if there’s a home title transfer initiated with their name on it. Home title theft is a real issue and could cost you the house you own. This feature tells you if a transfer request has been made so you can catch this specific type of theft before it’s complete.

How we rate it:

• Best: Alerts you immediately if a transfer request is made on your home title and helps you navigate the next steps
• Worst: Doesn’t offer home title monitoring

Address change alerts

What it is: Monitors for unauthorized address changes filed in your name with the U.S. Postal Service or other agencies. Identity thieves sometimes redirect your mail to intercept financial statements and other sensitive documents.

How we rate it:

• Best: Monitors for USPS and other address change requests in real time and notifies you immediately with context about the change
• Worst: Doesn’t offer address change monitoring

Credit monitoring

What it is: Monitors your credit file across one or more of the three major bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion), and alerts you to any new activity, such as new accounts opened, hard inquiries, or changes to existing accounts. 

How we rate it:

• Best: Monitors all three bureaus at least the highest plan tier 
• Worst: No credit monitoring included

Credit lock

What it is: Allows you to lock your credit so that new accounts can’t be opened in your name.

How we rate it:

• Best: Includes a simple toggle on the dashboard that lets you lock or unlock your credit as necessary
• Worst: Credit lock isn’t offered

Credit score

What it is: Tracks your credit score from one or more bureaus and notifies you when it changes. We evaluate both which bureaus the score comes from and how frequently it's updated.

How we rate it:

• Best: Provides daily score updates from all three bureaus or a daily FICO score
• Worst: Doesn’t provide any credit scores

Credit reports

What it is: Provides your credit report detailing all of the factors that make up your credit score. We evaluate both which bureau(s) the report comes from and how frequently it's updated.

How we rate it:

• Best: Provides credit reports from all three bureaus and at least one report is updated daily 
• Worst: No credit reports included or makes you pay extra for a credit report

Basics (20%)

This section evaluates the foundational coverage elements of an identity theft protection service: how many people are protected, whether children can be added to the plan, and how much insurance coverage is offered if you fall victim to identity theft. 

Maximum identity theft insurance value

What it is: The maximum amount of money your identity theft protection service guarantees to pay to cover lost funds, legal and financial fees, and other costs associated with identity theft.

How we rate it:

• Best: Up to $2 million guaranteed per covered individual 
• Worst: No identity theft insurance coverage

Number of adults covered

What it is: How many adults are protected under a single plan. Some services limit coverage to one individual while others extend to couples or entire households.

How we test it: We review each plan tier to identify the maximum number of adults that can be covered and compare coverage breadth against competitors.

How we rate it:

• Best: Covers five or more adults under a family plan, making it suitable for larger households or families
• Worst: Limits coverage to a single adult with no option to add additional members.

Children’s coverage

What it is: Whether the service allows you to add minors to your plan. Child identity theft is a growing concern because it often goes undetected for years.

How we test it: We check each plan to confirm whether adding children is available, how many can be added, and whether their monitoring features are comparable to adult coverage.

How we rate it:

• Best: Allows you to add multiple children with robust monitoring features specifically designed to protect minors’ identities
• Worst: Doesn’t offer any children’s coverage

Editor's score (20%)

This section captures everything that doesn't fit neatly into our other categories but still meaningfully affects whether a service earns your trust. That includes our overall user experience, the service's security methods, and the company's reputation.

How we test it: We look objectively at the dashboard to see if features are easy to find, execute smoothly, and actually work as advertised. We also audit the service's encryption methods, authentication options, and breach history.

How we rate it:

• Best: Clean, modern, and simple design; well-documented and easy-to-find security measures; no significant breach history
• Worst: Confusing or glitchy interface; no MFA or visible security standards; history of breaches with poor transparency

Value (15%)

This factor looks at both the price and what’s offered to see if the particular service adds more or less value than its competitors. Some services have a high monthly price tag without offering a lot, while others are reasonably priced on their own and offer extras like an antivirus, a VPN, and a password manager.

Lowest monthly price

What it is: The lowest monthly cost of an identity theft protection service.

How we rate it:

• Best: Lowest monthly price is less than $11.00/mo for lowest tier plan
• Worst: Highest monthly price is more than $11.00/mo for lowest tier plan

Highest monthly price

What it is: Some identity theft protection services include multiple plan tiers or plans that can cover more than one individual. We also evaluate the price of the most expensive available plan to determine the service's value. 

How we rate it:

• Best: Highest monthly price is less than $35.00/mo for highest tier plan
• Worst: Highest monthly price is more than $35.00/mo for highest tier plan

Free trial

What it is: Whether the service offers a free trial period that lets you test monitoring features before committing to a paid plan.

How we rate it:

• Best: Offers a free trial of 30 days or longer with access to core monitoring features
• Worst: No free trial is available

Customer service (10%)

What it is: Good customer support is especially important for an identity theft protection service because you may need help during a stressful, time-sensitive situation. We evaluate how easy it is to reach a real person, how responsive they are, and how knowledgeable they are when it counts.

How we test it: We evaluate all the ways to get in touch and how long it takes to get a response. We contact support for more than one issue and see how quickly they respond and how well they are able to help us.

How we rate it:

• Best: Offers multiple types of support including live chat, phone, and email, as well as helpful online guides so we can troubleshoot easy things ourselves.
• Worst: No way to contact human support, only online guidance or troubleshooting guides

Extras (5%)

These additional features aren’t essential to identity protection, but they can meaningfully increase the value of a service. We look out for the following four extras:

• Dark web monitoring: Scans the dark web for your information
• Social media monitoring: Watches your social media accounts for signs of hackers, unauthorized takeover, or other uncommon behavior
• Data breach alerts: Notifies you when your personal information has been exposed in a known data breach at a company or service you use
• Lost wallet protection: Provides help to cancel and replace credit cards, driver’s licenses, insurance cards, and other documents in the event your wallet is lost or stolen

How we rate extras:

• Best: Four points for including dark web monitoring, social media monitoring, data breach alerts, and lost wallet protection
• Worst: No extras included

How we calculate our ratings

We’ve included the percentages of how each aspect is weighted when we evaluate the software. We keep a grading rubric where we enter all the information based on a five-star system. Once the totals are tallied, we input our star rating on our product reviews based on the breakdown you see above.

Decision factor	Weight	Verdict
Editor's score	20%	The ease of use and intuitiveness while testing the product
Value	15%	Lowest plan price, highest plan price, money-back guarantee length
Basics	20%	Max number of adults covered, ability to add kids to plan, max identity theft insurance value
Identity and credit monitoring features	30%	Inclusion of credit monitoring, credit lock, credit scores, credit reports, SSN monitoring, financial account monitoring, address change alerts, and home title monitoring
Extras	5%	Inclusion of dark web monitoring, social media monitoring, data breach alerts, and lost wallet protection
Customer service	10%	Number of methods available for human support

Testing is an ongoing process. We will retest a product at least once a year and give updates on if and how the service has changed. This allows us to recommend the best ID theft services so you can make an informed decision.