LifeLock vs. Discover Identity Theft Protection 2024: LifeLock’s Got the Premium Features
Discover ID Protection offers credit monitoring for a low monthly cost, but LifeLock’s plans offer above-average monitoring
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Last updated Feb 26, 2024
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Best above average identity protection
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Editorial Rating
Learn More
On LifeLock's website
LifeLock
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Top-rated identity theft protection service
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Provides up to $3 million in coverage
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Multiple monitoring features including dark web, home title, and social media monitoring
- Customer support experience is lacking
Top-rated identity theft protection service
Best basic identity theft protection
/images/2023/07/20/logo-discover_01.png){kind=logo}
Editorial Rating
Learn More
On Discover Identity Theft Protection's website
Discover Identity Theft Protection
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Identity theft protection service that provides up to $1 million in coverage
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Can protect 1 adult and up to 10 children with its base price
- You must be a Discover customer to enroll
Fraud losses are on the rise, with Americans losing $8.8 billion to fraud in 2022, an increase of 30% from 2021.[1] Additionally, identity theft losses no longer mean one person has your sensitive information. Today’s hackers obtain fraudulent loans, rack up debt, and even sell your information on the dark web.
With so many identity protection plans available, it can be overwhelming to choose which one best suits your needs. This article reviews Lifelock vs. Discover Identity Theft Protection to help you determine which identity protection plan best fits you.
In this article
LifeLock vs. Discover Identity Theft Protection review at a glanceLifeLock vs. Discover Identity Theft Protection prices
LifeLock vs. Discover Identity Theft Protection credit monitoring services
Which is safer, LifeLock vs. Discover ID Protection?
LifeLock vs. Discover ID Protection: compatibility and customer support
LifeLock vs. Discover ID Protection FAQs
LifeLock vs. Discover ID Protection: which is better?
LifeLock vs. Discover Identity Theft Protection review at a glance
LifeLock and Discover Identity Theft Protection plans both offer fraud detection services you’d expect from an identity protection plan, including credit monitoring and fraudulent alerts and notifications. Both plans offer a mobile app and a desktop version. They both also offer credit alerts, so users are notified of activity on credit reports.
- LifeLock: Best above-average identity protection
- Discover Identity Theft Protection: Best basic identity theft protection
LifeLock vs. Discover ID Protection compared
 LifeLock |
 Discover ID Protection |
|
| Price | $8.29–$40.99/mo for first yr | $15.00/mo |
| Identity theft insurance | Up to $3 million | Up to $1 million |
| Credit monitoring | ||
| 3-bureau credit reports | ||
| Credit score | ||
| Identity recovery | ||
| Dark web alerts | ||
| Social media account alerts | ||
| Learn more | Get LifeLock |
Discover ID Protection makes sense if you’re already a Discover card customer looking to fill in gaps in your identity protection. The low, flat monthly rate gets you enough protection to give you and your family peace of mind. Discover covers one adult and up to 10 children, whereas LifeLock family plans allow up to only five children.
Discover ID lacks one major security feature that LifeLock offers: two-factor authentication (2FA). Although at a higher monthly expense, LifeLock also offers monitoring across all three major credit bureaus, as well as social media monitoring, which Discover ID Protection doesn’t. LifeLock also covers up to $3 million in recovery expenses versus Discover ID’s $1 million protection.
LifeLock pros and cons
Pros
- Three-bureau credit monitoring
- Identity and SSN alerts
- Up to $3 million in coverage
Cons
- Costly monthly expense for premium protection
- Poor customer service
Discover ID Protection pros and cons
Pros
- Budget-friendly identity protection
- Coverage for one adult and up to ten children for one fee
- Up to $1 million in coverage
Cons
- Users must be a Discover customer to enroll
- Lacking some security features
LifeLock vs. Discover ID Protection: prices
LifeLock Best Value
|
Discover ID Protection |
|
| Monthly price range | $11.99–$79.99/mo | $15.00/mo |
| Yearly price range | $7.50-$38.99/mo | $15.00/mo |
| Best value plan | LifeLock Ultimate Plus for $24.99/mo for first yr | Discover ID Protection for $15.00/mo |
| Identity theft insurance | Up to $3 million | Up to $1 million |
| Learn more | Get LifeLock |
LifeLock plans
LifeLock offers three subscription plans: Standard, Advantage, and Ultimate Plus. Within those subscriptions, users can choose coverage for themselves only, a family of two adults, or a family of two adults and up to five children. LifeLock’s identity theft insurance provides reimbursement for lawyers and experts, as well as personal expense and stolen funds reimbursement.
You can choose to pay for a LifeLock plan on a monthly or yearly basis. We should point out that, if you believe you need the protection features and insurance coverage it offers, LifeLock’s annual plans are the better value.
While testing for this article, we received an offer for a free trial, but it required credit card information. LifeLock offers a 60-day money-back guarantee for customers to try protection plans.
- LifeLock Standard: LifeLock’s most basic plan offers up to $1.05 million in identity theft coverage, identity and Social Security number alerts, dark web alerts, and Equifax credit monitoring.
- LifeLock Advantage: LifeLock’s best value plan. This plan offers up to $1.2 million in identity theft coverage plus all the features provided in the Standard plan. You’ll also be able to lock and freeze your credit, check your credit score, and receive financial alerts.
- LifeLock Ultimate Plus: LifeLock’s most comprehensive plan offers up to $3 million in identity theft coverage and all the features included in the Standard and Advantage plans. You’ll also get social media alerts, home title monitoring, and credit monitoring from the three major credit bureaus.
You can also bundle LifeLock with Norton 360 antivirus software, one of our top-rated security suites. Antivirus is another great way to prevent identity thieves from stealing your info through phishing emails and malware.
Discover ID Protection plans
Discover ID Protection offers a no-frills protection plan at a single-cost monthly rate. The plan, priced at Discover ID Theft Protection, covers one adult and up to ten children. Another adult can be added for an additional $15 monthly. Discover ID doesn’t offer a free trial or a money-back guarantee, but users can cancel at any time and may receive a prorated refund.
- Discover ID Protection: Discover ID Protection offers up to $1 million in identity theft coverage, credit monitoring, financial account monitoring, as well as dark web, Social Security number, and address change alerts. However, it lacks social media monitoring, the ability to lock and freeze credit, and key security features like 2FA.
Winner: LifeLock.
If you want robust monitoring and can afford a slightly steeper rate, we recommend choosing a LifeLock plan for increased monitoring and security.
If you are a current Discover customer and want to add an identity theft protection plan for your family, Discover ID Protection may make more sense for you.
LifeLock vs. Discover ID Protection: credit monitoring services
| Feature | LifeLock Best Features
|
Discover ID Protection |
| Credit monitoring | ||
| Bank account monitoring | ||
| 3-bureau credit reports | Yes - Experian, Equifax, TransUnion | Experian only |
| Credit score | Yes (Advantage and Ultimate Plus plans) | |
| VantageScore | ||
| FICO score | ||
| Credit lock and freeze | ||
| Identity recovery | ||
| Dark web alerts | ||
| Social media account alerts | ||
| Social Security number monitoring | ||
| Home title monitoring | ||
| Address change alerts | ||
| Learn more | Get LifeLock | Read Discover ID Protection Review |
Both providers have similar monitoring, with LifeLock’s more comprehensive plans offering more substantial monitoring, like social media and home title monitoring. These added features certainly go above and beyond what many identity theft protection plans offer. Home title information is stored online, making it accessible for cybercriminals to hack, enabling them to take out a loan or lien against your home. While some home insurance policies provide coverage, some don’t. LifeLock’s home title monitoring alerts users of any changes in property ownership, new lenders detected, or any updates with loans associated with your name.
While social media connects people worldwide, it introduces new threats to cybersecurity and online protection. LifeLock offers social media monitoring, which alerts you of suspicious activity on your social profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.
It can also alert you to suspicious activity, cyberbullying, and inappropriate content on your children’s accounts. In the changing world of social media and the emergence of social media scams, LifeLock’s premium plans’ social media monitoring has substantial appeal.
Additionally, the premium LifeLock plan offers credit reports from three credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Discover ID and LifeLock Standard offer credit reports from one credit bureau, Experian.
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While one credit bureau monitoring is sufficient, LifeLock’s premium plans’ added features of social media monitoring, home monitoring, three bureau reports and additional insurance are niceties that enhance the protection plan. You can still obtain identity protection without the added amenities.
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Winner: LifeLock. It’s hard to beat the suite of LifeLock protection plans, especially if you opt for a premium plan, which offers more monitoring than any other LifeLock plan or the Discover ID Protection plan.
Which is safer, LifeLock vs. Discover ID Protection?
When considering identity protection plans, security is a primary concern to take into consideration. Plans that offer two-factor or multi-factor authentication are preferable. Discover ID Protection doesn’t offer two-factor authentication on its desktop version, but users can enable facial recognition on the mobile app. LifeLock offers 2FA—users just need to turn it on in the account settings.
These companies monitor your sensitive data, so they store some of your information to facilitate that monitoring. Both Discover and LifeLock gather your information to provide monitoring services.
LifeLock vs. Discover ID Protection data security
LifeLock Best Security
|
Discover ID Protection |
|
| Two-factor authentication | ||
| Multi-factor authentication | ||
| Collects data | ||
| Shares data with third parties | ||
| Learn more | Get LifeLock | Read Discover ID Protection Review |
Winner: LifeLock. Security’s importance cannot be understated, especially when it comes to identity theft monitoring. For the simple fact that LifeLock offers a minimum of two-factor authentication, LifeLock takes the win for data security and protection.
LifeLock vs. Discover ID Protection: compatibility and customer support
| Platform | LifeLock |
Discover ID Protection |
| Windows | ||
| macOS | ||
| Android | ||
| iOS | ||
| 24/7 customer support | ||
| Customer support options | Phone, email, FAQs, member portal with information | Phone |
| Learn more | Get LifeLock | Read Discover ID Protection Review |
The customer service from both companies left a lot to be desired. In our LifeLock chat, a representative responded quickly, but with inaccurate information. Discover ID Protection doesn’t even have a chat option, but it does have a phone number customers can call for support. LifeLock offers 24/7 customer service support, which sounds like a bonus in theory, but the responses from the representative made us question if they were providing accurate information.
Both interfaces were clear, intuitive, and easy to navigate, though we found the Discover ID site a little clunkier. Information is hidden in subcategorical drop-down menus, and we had to make our best guess as to which drop-down menu held the key to our question. It was also challenging to find the Discover ID Contact Us page.
LifeLock monitoring dashboard /images/2023/05/05/lifelock-identity-theft-protection_09.jpg)
Winner: In terms of compatibility, interface, and customer support options, we call this one a tie. Yes, LifeLock offers 24/7 customer support, but our experience yielded incorrect information, which is just as bad as waiting until the next day to answer your question.
LifeLock vs. Discover ID Protection FAQs
+
Is Discover Identity Theft Protection good?
Discover ID Theft Protection is good if you’re a Discover customer and want to implement identity protection in your online security. For a low monthly rate, you can have credit and account monitoring, up to $1 million in identity theft insurance, and access to Fraud Resolution Specialists.
+
Will LifeLock stop identity theft?
While adding credit and account monitoring to your cybersecurity repertoire will certainly mitigate the risks of identity theft, no identity theft protection plan can completely thwart identity theft. But with increased monitoring and credit reports, LifeLock will certainly diminish those risks.
+
Do identity theft companies monitor my credit score?
Credit score monitoring is considered a baseline feature of identity theft protection, and most plans offer to monitor your credit score. Read our guide to identity theft and credit monitoring for more tips on how to keep tabs on your credit score.
LifeLock vs. Discover ID Protection: which is better?
Discover ID is a good solution for an existing Discover card customer or someone looking to add a basic identity theft protection plan to their online security measures. With credit monitoring, fraud alerts, recovery services, and even dark web monitoring, Discover ID Protection more than covers the basics of average identity protection plans.
We recommend a LifeLock identity protection plan for customers seeking a more robust protection plan. The Ultimate Plus plan easily provides the best coverage and the most insurance protection at up to $3 million. In addition to premium features, LifeLock’s added two-factor authentication checks the boxes of identity protection and user security.
LifeLock vs. Discover ID Protection alternatives
Identity protection plans are one of the easiest ways to defend yourself against identity theft and compromised identity. Fortunately, there are multiple plans and options to suit everyone’s needs. If you’re not loving LifeLock or Discover, check out these other best identity theft protection services:
- Identity Guard: This easy-to-use protection plan is best suited for tech-savvy users who appreciate using artificial intelligence to monitor credit and keep hackers at bay.
- Aura: Aura also boasts the use of AI in its credit monitoring. Aura also offers robust tools for children’s security, including Safe Gaming cyberbullying alerts, a VPN, and parental controls.
- IdentityIQ: This protection plan offers detailed credit monitoring, making this a good choice for anyone looking to improve their credit score or maintain good credit status.
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LifeLock
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Top-rated identity theft protection service
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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
Author Details
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Courtney Daybell brings over 15 years of experience in print journalism and holds a B.A. in Communications from Brigham Young University. Her focus has shifted to cyber security, where she specializes in topics such as identity theft protection, password managers, antivirus software, and more.
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