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Identity Guard is our choice for best value identity theft protection. It earns a 4.6 rating, starts at $7.50/mo, and includes $1 million in identity theft insurance per adult on every plan.
Upgrade to Total or Ultra for credit monitoring, bank account monitoring, and more account alerts. Although Identity Guard can be expensive for families, it can cover up to 5 and unlimited children.
Our testing shows Identity Guard offers solid protection at a low price. Read on to learn about our experience with Identity Guard.
- User-friendly identity theft protection service
- Affordable Value plan
- Includes extra features like ad blocking and a password manager
- White glove fraud remediation is limited to Ultra plan
- Covering families can get expensive
Methodology
Our experience
Prices and plans
Features
Does Identity Guard keep your data safe?
Compatibility
Customer support
Alternatives
Bottom line
FAQs
At a glance
| Price | Starts at $7.50/mo |
| # of people covered | 1-5 adults, unlimited children |
| Credit monitoring | Yes |
| Credit reports | Yes — Experian, Equifax, TransUnion |
| Credit score | Yes |
| Identity theft insurance | Up to $1 million |
| Identity restoration services | Yes |
| Extras | Password manager, ad blocker, safe browsing tools |
| 24/7 support | Yes |
| Details | Get Identity Guard |
How we test and rate identity theft protection services
Our team has conducted hands-on testing on 18 identity theft protection services using a consistent process. We sign up several days before formal testing begins, giving each service time to populate our dashboard with real monitoring data.
Then, we evaluate each product across six areas:
- Identity and credit monitoring (40%): We assess how comprehensive the service is, specifically checking for SSN monitoring, financial account monitoring, credit monitoring across all three bureaus, and more.
- Editor's score (20%): We evaluate the service's ease of use, security practices, the company's breach history, and anything else that's not addressed in the other categories.
- Value (15%): We compare the lowest and highest monthly plan prices against what's actually included at each tier. We also check if the service offers a free trial.
- Basics (10%): We review how many adults and children can be covered, as well as the maximum identity theft insurance value offered.
- Customer service (10%): We determine if there are several options available for human support.
- Extras (5%): We check whether the service includes additional tools we find valuable: dark web monitoring, social media monitoring, data breach alerts, and lost wallet protection.
We retest all identity theft protection services at least once a year. To learn more about how we test, read our full identity theft protection testing methodology here.
Our experience
Identity Guard was easy to set up and use. We started by setting up an account and filling out forms requesting our personal information. Data like our date of birth and Social Security number (SSN) was required to submit, but more specific details like our middle name were optional.
We liked the clean layout of the dashboard. You can find all the major sections summarizing your identity monitoring alerts, credit scores, and other data directly on the main page and you can click through for further details.
The only part of the dashboard we were confused by was the Benefits section. We were hoping to find more information on white glove fraud remediation, but the page only had tabs for our insurance benefits, lost wallet remediation, and 24/7 customer support. We couldn't find anything else on the service on main site, either.
The safe browsing tools were also nowhere to be found, but we assume it's the ad and tracker blocker extension. The dashboard does display the Identity Guard password manager prominently, so we could import our passwords and use the extension to fill in our credentials.
Although we wish there was more clarity on certain features, Identity Guard is still a good service we trust to protect your identity.
Identity Guard prices and plans
Identity Guard costs between $7.50–$39.99/mo. There are three plan tiers as well as the option to pay annually or monthly. You can also choose between an individual plan or a family plan.
| Plan | 1-month cost | 1-year cost |
| Value Individual | $8.99/mo | $7.50/mo |
| Total Individual | $19.99/mo | $16.67/mo |
| Ultra Individual | $29.99/mo | $7.99/mo |
Identity Guard is priced lower than most competitors thanks to its Value plan. See how it compares to other services:
- Identity Guard: Starts at $7.50/mo
- LifeLock: Starts at $10.42/mo
- Aura: Starts at $9.00/mo
- IdentityForce: Starts at $16.66/mo
Note that its price for the more protective plans is similar to the higher-priced plans of rival companies.
Identity Guard family plans
Identity Guard's family plans cover up to 5 adults and unlimited kids. See how the monthly and annual costs compare in the table below.
| Plan | 1-month cost | 1-year cost |
| Value Family | $14.99/mo | $12.50/mo |
| Total Family | $29.99/mo | $25.00/mo |
| Ultra Family | $39.99/mo | $14.99/mo |
Plan comparison
Identity Guard has three plan tiers: Value, Total, and Ultra. The plans differ based on how many types of identity monitoring are included, what credit features are included, and whether white glove fraud remediation is included.
The Value plan comes with data breach notifications, dark web monitoring, and high-risk transaction monitoring, but no credit features whatsoever. You'll also receive up to $1 million per adut in identity theft insurance, along with extras like a safe browsing tool and a password manager.
The Total plan adds three-bureau credit monitoring and a monthly credit score. It also adds bank account monitoring.
The Ultra plan adds several monitoring options, like monitoring for your social media accounts, credit and debit cards, home titles, and auto titles. You'll also get three-bureau credit reports on an annual basis. Finally, Ultra adds white glove fraud resolution.
| Plan | Value | Total | Ultra |
| SSN monitoring | |||
| Financial account monitoring | |||
| Identity theft insurance | Up to $1 million per adult | Up to $1 million per adult | Up to $1 million per adult |
| Credit monitoring | Yes — Experian, Equifax, TransUnion | Yes — Experian, Equifax, TransUnion | |
| Credit reports | Yes — Experian, Equifax, TransUnion | ||
| Credit score | |||
| Credit lock | |||
| Identity restoration services | |||
| Dark web monitoring | |||
| Social media monitoring | |||
| Home and auto title monitoring | |||
| USPS address change alerts | |||
| Learn more | View plan | View plan | View plan |
Ultra’s annual price is an introductory offer for your first year. Ultra Individual costs $95.88 for the first year and renews at $239.70/year. Ultra Family costs $179.88 for the first year and renews at $449.70/year.
Identity Guard features
We liked the organized view of Identity Guard’s dashboard, which displays all the major features along with the latest alerts for each. We'll detail all the features Identity Guard has to offer below.
What does Identity Guard protect against?
Identity Guard protects against common forms of identity theft and monitors places where your information is posted to make sure your identity and credit aren’t being used fraudulently. It also helps remove identifying information about you from data brokers across the web.
The following are covered and monitored by Identity Guard:
- Identity theft: Identity Guard monitors and sends alerts if your personal data, like your name, SSN, and past addresses, falls into the wrong hands.
- Fraudulent activity: You can monitor bank accounts for any suspicious transactions in the event that your account credentials have been stolen. On Total and Ultra plans, Identity Guard also monitors your credit.
- Home title theft: Identity Guard alerts you if someone tries to transfer your home’s title or deed.
- Social media account takeover: Identity Guard monitors important changes to your social media accounts, content you post or are tagged in, and exposure to malicious content.
Identity monitoring
Identity Guard offers subscribers more than just simple detection and alerts. You’ll receive monitoring for the dark web, social media, criminal and sex offenders, USPS address changes, and more.
Identity Guard’s identity monitoring features include:
- Dark web monitoring: Scans the dark web for mentions of you, your email, or your passwords in data leaks. When it does find a compromised password, it helps you create a new, secure password for the site.
- High-risk transaction monitoring: Once you add your bank accounts, Identity Guard’s built-in AI monitors them for suspicious activity so you can catch a hacker before your account is drained.
- Social media monitoring: Add your social media accounts and receive alerts if someone attempts to steal your identity and impersonate you on social media.
- Credit and debit card monitoring: Similar to bank account monitoring, Identity Guard tracks your purchases on credit and debit cards to ensure that no one else is fraudulently using your cards.
- 401k and investment account monitoring: You worked hard for your money, so keep your savings for yourself. Identity Guard will alert you in case something suspicious, like a withdrawal, happens on one of these accounts.
- Home and auto title monitoring: Identity Guard watches for fraudulent changes to your home or vehicle title. If a change of ownership is initiated, Identity Guard will let you know quickly so you can take action.
- Criminal and sex offense monitoring: Knowing how many offenders live near you can be shocking but necessary information. Identity Guard provides you with that list so you can have more control over your physical safety.
- USPS address change monitoring: You wouldn’t want someone opening a credit card in your name and requesting it to be forwarded elsewhere. Identity Guard will alert you whenever a change of address form is filled out.
Credit monitoring
Credit monitoring comes with the Total and Ultra plans. The Value plan doesn’t include any credit features.
Here's what each plan includes:
Total: Three-bureau credit monitoring and a monthly credit score
Ultra: Everything in Total, plus Experian credit lock and an annual three-bureau credit report
You’ll see credit monitoring on the main dashboard, and you can click into the Credit section for more detail. We tested the Ultra plan, where credit lock was turned on automatically. It limits access to your Experian credit file to help stop someone from opening accounts in your name. We also got a credit score breakdown that shows what you can improve.
Credit reports and credit scores
Keeping an eye on your credit score can help when renting an apartment, getting a new credit card, buying a car or house, or anything else that requires a credit check.
Identity Guard updates your credit scores monthly and shows you a month-to-month view of your credit so you can track how it's moving. You'll also receive a credit report from all three bureaus once a year.
Identity restoration services
All Identity Guard plans provide up to $1 million in identity theft insurance per adult. Family plans cover up to $5 million total.
However, white glove fraud resolution is only included with the Ultra plans. We tested with the Ultra subscription, but couldn't find anything regarding white glove fraud resolution in our dashboard.
We did find a page on lost wallet remediation, along with how Identity Guard would help in the event your wallet is stolen. The support team will work with you on a remediation plan.
Bonus features
Identity Guard includes two online security tools with all plans. You'll get a safe browsing tool and a password manager.
The password manager is on the main dashboard. You'll be prompted to download the Identity Guard extension for Chrome, which allows you to generate strong passwords and autofill your logins.
We couldn't find the safe browsing tools, so we assumed it's the online security functions of the extension, which blocks ads, trackers, and malicious sites.
Does Identity Guard keep your data safe?
We love digging into privacy policies, and this one looks good. Although Identity Guard collects a lot of information about you, its privacy policy also has baseline rules to keep that data safe.
Identity Guard’s privacy policy states that it shares your data with affiliates, partners, and third-party service providers. The company mentions that it evaluates third parties for their data-sharing practices before sharing your data. Overall, it’s not a bad privacy policy.
Providers typically share data like your name, email address, and related contact information with affiliates — in this case, Circle Media Labs, Inc. (“Circle”) or Intersections, LLC dba Pango (“Pango”) — to market products and services to you. But affiliates may be legally required to share your information with third parties due to compliance laws.
Likewise, Identity Guard may share your personal data with partners to verify your eligibility for joint offers. But partners aren't allowed to use your data for any reason not directly connected to the proposed offer. You can also opt out of promotional partner communications.
Identity Guard emphasizes the confidentiality of your data, says it vets all third parties, and limits the information providers may access. So overall, it's not a dealbreaker by any means.
Identity Guard also let us know its SOC 2 Type II certified, meaning that it follows strict security standards and protects your data with military-grade encryption (also known as AES-256).
Identity Guard compatibility
Identity Guard offers a desktop app for Windows and Mac and a browser extension for Chrome, but Identity Guard’s website will work on any browser.
There are also mobile apps available in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. The iOS app and Android app have similar ratings, at 4.5 stars and 4.0 stars, respectively.
There were minimal reviews with issues on the Apple App Store, but several reviews on the Google Play Store mention glitches where the app doesn't work or it needs to be redownloaded every time the app is updated.
If you're an Android user, you may be better off just visiting the website on your phone instead of using the app.
Identity Guard customer support
| Support type | Identity Guard |
| Yes — customercare@identityguard.com | |
| Live chat | |
| Phone | Yes — 1-855-443-7748 |
| Online guides or forums |
We didn’t reach out to support, but if you scroll to the bottom of the page, you’ll see the Contact section where all of the information is located. The Identity Guard phone number for customer support (1-855-443-7748) is clearly listed as well as the support email (customercare@identityguard.com).
Identity Guard is available by phone 24/7, and it says it answers emails within 24-48 hours. We also found the FAQ page to be helpful.
Top alternatives
Identity Guard is just one of our top-rated identity theft protection services. See how it compares to our recommended alternatives:
| Service | ![]() OmniWatch |
![]() Aura |
![]() LifeLock |
| Best for | Best for scam protection | Best overall identity theft protection | Best for online identity monitoring |
| Price | Starts at $7.99/mo | Starts at $9.00/mo | Starts at $10.42/mo |
| # of people covered | 1 - 2 adults | 1 - 5 adults, unlimited children | 1 - 2 adults, up to 10 children |
| Types of identity monitoring | SSN, identity, dark web | Identity and SSN, account breach, home and auto title, criminal and court records | Identity and SSN, dark web, phone takeover, home title, social media |
| ID theft insurance | Up to $2 million through $8 million, depending on plan | Up to $1 million per adult | Up to $1.05 million through $3 million, depending on plan |
| Credit monitoring | |||
| Identity restoration services | Yes, including U.S.-based scam resolution specialists and 24/7 dedicated identity restoration agents | Yes, including white glove fraud resolution, a custom recovery plan, and 24/7 access to U.S.-based fraud resolution specialists | Yes, including access to U.S.-based personal restoration specialists |
| Details | Get OmniWatch | Get Aura | Get LifeLock |
Bottom line: Is Identity Guard good?
After reviewing several identity protection services, we’re confident that Identity Guard is a strong budget pick. The Value plan is inexpensive, and the Family plans can cover more adults than most competitors (like PrivacyGuard).
We also liked the clean design of the dashboard and easy access to settings like canceling your plan.
Overall, we would feel comfortable using Identity Guard ourselves. Even with the issues we experienced, such as trouble finding the fraud remediation and safe browsing tools, we had a pleasant experience with the product.
If you don’t feel like Identity Guard is for you based on price, there are other identity theft protection services with different features and costs. You can also see how Identity Guard compares to the alternatives:
- Identity Guard vs. LifeLock
- Identity Guard vs. Aura
- Identity Guard vs. IDShield
- Identity Guard vs. Allstate Identity Protection
- Identity Guard vs. IdentityForce
Identity Guard FAQs
Can I trust Identity Guard?
Yes, Identity Guard has a plain-language privacy policy that is both honest and transparent. While some information is shared, Identity Guard evaluates third parties’ and affiliates’ privacy policies to ensure your data is protected.
Is Identity Guard better than LifeLock?
We think LifeLock is ahead of Identity Guard due to its more comprehensive monitoring features and additional insurance coverage. Learn more in our LifeLock vs. Identity Guard comparison.
Does Identity Guard monitor bank accounts?
Yes, Identity Guard provides bank account monitoring through Plaid. You can connect your bank account to your Identity Guard dashboard to see real-time alerts.


