Identity Guard Review 2024: Tested Privacy Protection

Identity Guard is a solid option for identity theft protection that we would feel comfortable using ourselves. It touts itself as one of the best identity theft protection services, but what does that look like? All plans includes up to $1 million in identity theft insurance, basic identity protection like data breach notifications and dark web monitoring, and extras like a password manager.

We find that many identity protection products have a high price tag without much additional value, but our testing proves that Identity Guard can protect you without breaking the bank.

Identity Guard review at a glance

Price	$6.67–$29.99/mo
# of people covered	1 - 5 adults, unlimited kids
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, safe browsing tools, data removal services
24/7 support	Yes
Details	Get Identity Guard

Our experience

Identity Guard was easy to set up and easy to 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 was 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 or 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. Although we wish there was more clarity on certain, we think Identity Guard is a good service that we’re comfortable using.

Who is Identity Guard best for?

• Recommended for budget-friendly identity protection 

Identity Guard comes in at $8.99/mo, which isn’t seen often in identity protection services. While this is only going to get you basic features like dark web alerts and safe browsing, it still comes with the $1 million identity theft insurance.

Although no credit features are included, you could always pair Identity Guard Value with a service like Credit Karma to keep an eye on your credit. 

Identity Guard prices and subscriptions

Identity Guard costs between $6.67–$29.99/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. 

Identity Guard is priced lower than most competitors thanks to its Value plan. See how it compares to other services: 

• Identity Guard: Starts at $8.99/mo
• Aura: Starts at $9.00/mo (billed annually)
• LifeLock: Starts at $7.50/mo (billed annually) for first year
• IdentityForce: Starts at $19.90/mo

Note that its price for the more protective plans is similar to the higher-priced plans of rival companies. See how each plan tier costs for its monthly and annual subscriptions before. 

Plan	1-month cost	1-year cost	Learn more
Value Individual	$8.99/mo	$6.67/mo (billed annually)	View plan
Total Individual	$19.99/mo	$11.99/mo (billed annually)	View plan
Ultra Individual	$20.83/mo	$10.99/mo (billed annually)	View plan

Identity Guard's family plans cover up to five adults and unlimited kids. See how the monthly and annual costs compare in the table below. 

Plan	1-month cost	1-year cost	Learn more
Value Family	$14.99/mo	$10.00/mo (billed annually)	View plan
Total Family	$29.99/mo	$25.00/mo (billed annually)	View plan
Ultra Family	$28.75/mo	$33.33/mo (billed annually)	View plan

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 if 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 in identity theft insurance along with extras like a safe browsing tool and a password manager. 

The Total plan adds credit features like three-bureau credit monitoring and a monthly credit score. It also adds bank account monitoring. 

The Ultra plan includes several additiona monitoring options like monitoring for your social media accounts, credit and debit cards, home titles, and more. 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	Up to $1 million	Up to $1 million
Credit monitoring
Credit reports		Yes — Experian, Equifax, TransUnion	Yes — Experian, Equifax, TransUnion
Credit score
Credit lock
Identity restoration services
Dark web monitoring
Social media monitoring
Home title monitoring
USPS address change alerts

Identity Guard features

We liked the organized view of Identity Guard’s dashboard, which had prominent information available at a glance. We were also impressed that we didn’t have to turn on the data broker services. As soon as we activated our account, Identity Guard went to work, opting us out of the data broker sites.

We had trouble finding the white glove fraud remediation and safe browsing tools in our dashboard, but otherwise we had a fine time with the features. 

What does Identity Guard protect against?

Identity Guard protects against common forms of identity theft and monitors any place 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. With email, device, and information monitoring, you'll have full-spectrum coverage, which will make this identity protection worth it in the long run.

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, past addresses, falls into the wrong hands. It also sends removal requests if your information is found on data broker sites.
• Fraudulent activity: You can monitor bank accounts for any suspicious transactions in the event that your account credentials have been stolen. Your credit will also be monitored. 
• Home title theft: You'll be alerted in the event that someone steals the title or deed of your home.
• 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 cutting-edge identity protection services designed to keep you safe in the digital age. Within the range of Identity Guard’s plans, you’ll receive monitoring for the dark web, social media, criminal and sex offenders, USPS address changes, and more. Identity Guard offers subscribers more than just simple detection and alerts.

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 title monitoring: Identity Guard can make sure your home title isn’t fraudulently transferred to someone else. 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

You can find credit monitoring in the main dashboard, but if you want to get more granular, you can click into the section and look around. The credit lock feature is turned on automatically, and it limits access to your Experian credit in an attempt to help thwart identity theft. 

Here is the full list of credit monitoring features:

• Credit reports from all three credit bureaus
• Month-over-month credit score tracker
• A credit score breakdown that tells you what you can improve on
• Credit score checker for Experian and TransUnion

Credit reports and credit scores

Keeping an eye on your credit score will help you when it becomes time to rent an apartment, get a new credit card, buy 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. 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 would work with you on a remediation plan. 

Bonus features

Identity Guard includes a couple of online and device security tools with all plans. You'll get a safe browsing tool and a password manager. 

We looked for the safe browsing tool in our dashboard, but couldn't find it anywhere. However, 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. 

Does Identity Guard keep your data safe?

We love digging into privacy policies, and this one looks good. Although a lot of information is collected on you, Identity Guard’s privacy policy also has baseline rules to keep that data safe. 

Data is shared with affiliates and third parties, but Identity Guard is open and transparent about it. The company even mentions that it evaluates third parties for their data-sharing practices before sharing your data. Overall, it’s not a bad privacy policy.

Identity Guard’s privacy policy states that it shares your data with affiliates, partners, and third-party service providers. 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, has carefully vetted 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 certifified, meaning that it follows strict security standards and protects your data with military-gradep 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 3.9 stars and 3.8 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. 

Identity Guard customer support

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 (1-833-692-2187) is clearly listed as well as the support email customercare@identityguard.com. 

Identity Guard is available by phone 24/7, and emails will be responded to in 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:

Identity Guard FAQs

Bottom line: Is Identity Guard good?

We have looked at a lot of identity protection services, and we’re confident that Identity Guard is one of the good ones. The pricing on the Value product 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, like having a hard time finding features like 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