Identity theft protection compared: prices, insurance and family plans (2026)
Edited by Moe Ameen · Published
On November 2, 2026, individual identity theft protection plans ran from $3 to $34.99 a month on the companies' own pages. Most include identity restoration help and $1 million or more in insurance or reimbursement, but only some tiers watch all three credit bureaus. None of them can stop someone opening an account in your name. A free credit freeze generally can, and IdentityTheft.gov gives you a free recovery plan if it happens.
Key takeaways
- Individual plans cost $3 to $34.99 a month; cheap tiers often watch one bureau or none.
- Most plans list $1 million or more in coverage, but stolen-funds limits can be far lower, like $25,000 on LifeLock Core.
- Annual prices are often first-year deals. Identity Guard's annual plans renew at the full yearly rate.
- A credit freeze, a fraud alert and IdentityTheft.gov's recovery plan are all free and cover the core of what you're paying for.
What does an identity theft protection service do?
It monitors your credit and personal data for signs of misuse, sends alerts, and helps you recover if your identity is stolen, usually with insurance.
The CFPB says these services watch your personal information in credit applications, public records and other places for unusual activity, and some help you fix problems after identity theft [10]. It puts the cost at a few dollars to over $15 a month [10], though several plans below cost more. Most plans add extras like dark web scans, and several bundle a VPN or antivirus [1][2][7].
How much does identity theft protection cost?
Individual plans ran $3 to $34.99 a month, and family plans up to $74.99 a month. Paying yearly is cheaper at most companies.
- Allstate Identity Protection: Identity Restoration $3, Essentials $9.99, Premier $17.99 and Blue $19 a month for one person. The three monitoring plans start with a 30-day trial that needs a card at signup [1].
- Aura: Individual $15 a month, or $12 a month billed annually. Aura offers a 14-day free trial on every plan [2].
- Identity Guard: Value $8.99, Total $19.99 and Ultra $29.99 a month. Annual plans are discounted for the first year, then renew at 12 times the monthly price, such as $107.88 a year for Value [5].
- IdentityForce: UltraSecure $19.90 a month or $199.90 a year, after a 30-day trial. UltraSecure+Credit is $34.90 a month or $349.90 a year [6].
- IdentityIQ: Secure Basic $8.49, Plus $11.49, Pro $21.49 and Max $31.49 a month, or $86.61 to $321.21 a year [7].
- LifeLock: Core $12.49, Advanced $19.99 and Total $34.99 a month, or $124.99, $199.99 and $349.99 a year [8].
- Zander: Essential $6.75 a month or $75 a year; Elite $11.99 a month or $130 a year [9].
Do identity theft protection plans monitor all three credit bureaus?
Only some tiers. Entry plans often watch one bureau or none, and three-bureau monitoring usually sits on the middle or top tier.
- Allstate: Essentials and Premier watch one bureau; Blue watches all three; Identity Restoration has no monitoring [1].
- Aura: all three on every identity plan [2].
- IdentityForce: UltraSecure has no credit monitoring; UltraSecure+Credit adds all three [6].
- IdentityIQ: Basic and Plus watch one bureau; Pro and Max watch all three [7].
- LifeLock: Core watches two bureaus; Advanced and Total watch three [8].
- Zander: its page lists no credit bureau monitoring. Elite includes an Experian credit lock [9].
Identity Guard lists three-bureau monitoring among its plan features, but the page we read doesn't make clear which tiers include it [5]. Ask before you buy. More on why one bureau isn't the whole picture is in the three credit bureaus, and the credit-only services are in credit monitoring compared.
How much identity theft insurance do these plans include?
Usually $1 million per person, up to $5 million on family plans. Stolen-funds limits are often lower than the headline number.
LifeLock's headline figure includes a smaller cap for stolen money: Core lists up to $1.05 million total with up to $25,000 for stolen funds, and Total lists $3 million with up to $1 million for stolen funds [8]. Allstate's Essentials covers $1 million in expenses but $50,000 in stolen funds; Blue covers $1 million of each [1]. Allstate's $3 restoration-only plan covers $25,000 [1].
Zander says its coverage isn't an insurance product but an administrative services contract with reimbursement benefits [9]. Aura, Identity Guard and IdentityIQ name the insurers behind their policies and tell you to read the policy for exclusions [2][5][7]. The coverage pays for certain losses and expenses; read the summary of benefits before counting on it.
Which identity theft protection services have family plans?
Every company here except Experian IdentityWorks lists a multi-person plan. They ran $6 to $74.99 a month, and who counts as family varies a lot.
- Allstate: you plus 10 members, $6 to $36 a month [1].
- Aura: Couple (2 adults) $29 a month or $22 billed annually; Family (5 adults, unlimited kids) $50 a month or $32 billed annually [2].
- Experian: Premium offers a family plan for one more adult and up to 10 children; the plans page doesn't list its price [4].
- Identity Guard: 5 adults and unlimited kids, $14.99 to $39.99 a month [5].
- IdentityForce: 2 adults, with child monitoring for up to 10 children, $24.90 or $39.90 a month [6].
- IdentityIQ: family protection with dark web and SSN monitoring for up to 10 dependents and $25,000 of coverage per family member [7].
- LifeLock: 2 adults $22.49 to $62.99 a month; 2 adults and up to 10 kids $34.49 to $74.99 a month [8].
- Zander: any two adults plus up to 10 children under 18, $12.90 or $21.99 a month [9].
Children often get less than adults. Aura and Identity Guard say child members get only online account and SSN monitoring [2][5].
What can I do for free instead of paying for identity theft protection?
Freeze your credit at all three bureaus, add a fraud alert if you're worried, check your reports weekly, and use IdentityTheft.gov if your identity is stolen.
- Freeze your credit The FTC says a freeze costs nothing to place or lift and lasts until you lift it; you contact each of the three bureaus [11]. The CFPB says it generally prevents new credit from being opened in your name [10]. Step-by-step: how to freeze your credit.
- Place a fraud alert An initial fraud alert lasts one year and can be renewed; an extended alert lasts seven years. You only contact one bureau [11]. It makes lenders verify your identity but doesn't block them [10].
- Check your reports yourself All three bureaus let you pull your report free once a week at AnnualCreditReport.com [12]. If something is wrong, dispute it.
- Report theft at IdentityTheft.gov The FTC's site lets you report identity theft and get a personal recovery plan with step-by-step advice [12][13]. That's the job a paid restoration specialist does, minus the hand-holding.
NerdWallet comes down in the same place: freezing your credit is something an identity theft protection company can't do for you, and paid alerts only flag problems after the fact [14]. Before paying, check whether you already get monitoring free as a benefit or after a data breach [14]. Experian's IdentityWorks site, for one, is set up mainly for people redeeming a complimentary membership from a notification letter [3].
Glisten check
Eight identity theft protection services, plan by plan
| Service and plan | Monthly price | Yearly price | Credit bureaus | Coverage | Restoration help | Family plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allstate Identity Restoration / Essentials / Premier / Blue | $3 / $9.99 / $17.99 / $19 [1] | Annual option offered; price not shown [1] | None / 1 / 1 / 3 [1] | $25K / $1M / $1M / $1M expenses [1] | Full-service restoration on all plans [1] | You + 10, $6 to $36/mo [1] |
| Aura Individual | $15 [2] | $12/mo billed annually [2] | 3 [2] | $1M per adult [2] | U.S.-based fraud remediation [2] | Couple $29/mo; Family $50/mo [2] |
| Experian IdentityWorks | No public price [3] | No public price [3] | Not listed | Up to $1M [3] | Identity restoration [3] | Not listed |
| Identity Guard Value / Total / Ultra | $8.99 / $19.99 / $29.99 [5] | First-year discount, then $107.88 / $239.88 / $359.88 [5] | 3 listed; tiers unclear [5] | $1M [5] | White glove remediation on Ultra only [5] | 5 adults, unlimited kids, $14.99 to $39.99/mo [5] |
| IdentityForce UltraSecure / UltraSecure+Credit | $19.90 / $34.90 [6] | $199.90 / $349.90 [6] | None / 3 [6] | $1M / $2M [6] | Dedicated restoration specialist [6] | 2 adults, $24.90 or $39.90/mo [6] |
| IdentityIQ Secure Basic / Plus / Pro / Max | $8.49 / $11.49 / $21.49 / $31.49 [7] | $86.61 / $117.19 / $219.19 / $321.21 [7] | 1 / 1 / 3 / 3 [7] | $1M stolen funds [7] | U.S.-based restoration [7] | Up to 10 dependents, $25K each, on some tiers [7] |
| LifeLock Core / Advanced / Total | $12.49 / $19.99 / $34.99 [8] | $124.99 / $199.99 / $349.99 first year [8] | 2 / 3 / 3 [8] | Up to $1.05M / $1.2M / $3M [8] | Restoration specialists [8] | 2 adults + up to 10 kids, $34.49 to $74.99/mo [8] |
| Zander Essential / Elite | $6.75 / $11.99 [9] | $75 / $130 [9] | None listed [9] | Up to $1M ($2M family) [9] | Unlimited recovery services [9] | 2 adults + up to 10 kids, $12.90 or $21.99/mo [9] |
Gaps we left blank rather than guess: Allstate's plans page offers annual billing but doesn't show the annual prices, Experian IdentityWorks publishes no retail price; its site is set up for complimentary memberships offered by notification letter, and Identity Guard doesn't say clearly which tiers get three-bureau monitoring. LifeLock's page can load different prices by script; ours are the ones printed in the page itself.
Is this right for you?
Best for
- People comparing what a plan costs after the first year, and what its insurance really covers.
- Anyone who wants a restoration team on call and is willing to pay for it.
Not ideal for
- Preventing new-account fraud. A credit freeze does that for free, and no service can place it for you.
- Picking a winner. We list services alphabetically and don't rank them.
Frequently asked questions
Is identity theft protection worth it?
It depends on how much you'd do yourself. The core protections, a freeze, a fraud alert and weekly credit reports, are free [11][12]. A paid plan mostly adds alerts, extra monitoring and help recovering [10].
What's the cheapest identity theft protection?
Allstate's Identity Restoration plan is $3 a month but has no monitoring [1]. Zander Essential is $75 a year [9]. Both are cheaper than plans that watch your credit files.
Does LifeLock monitor all three credit bureaus?
Advanced and Total do. LifeLock Core monitors two bureaus [8].
How we know this
On November 2, 2026 we read each company's own plans or pricing page and recorded the monthly and yearly price for one person, which credit bureaus each tier monitors, the insurance or reimbursement amount, the restoration help it describes, and family plan terms. We list first-year and promo prices alongside the renewal price wherever the page gave one. Services are listed alphabetically. Free alternatives come from the FTC and CFPB, cross-checked against NerdWallet.
- Identity protection plans, Allstate Identity Protection. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Plans and pricing, Aura. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Experian IdentityWorks, Experian. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Experian membership: compare plans and pricing, Experian. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Plans and pricing, Identity Guard. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Identity protection plan pricing, IdentityForce. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Plans, IdentityIQ. Checked November 2, 2026.
- LifeLock protection plans, LifeLock (Norton). Checked November 2, 2026.
- Identity theft protection, Zander Insurance. Checked November 2, 2026.
- What is identity monitoring or identity theft service?, CFPB. Checked November 2, 2026.
- What to know about credit freezes and fraud alerts, FTC. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Free credit reports, FTC. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Stolen identity? Get help at IdentityTheft.gov, FTC. Checked November 2, 2026.
- Identity theft protection services: how they compare, NerdWallet. Checked November 2, 2026.