Best Identity Theft Protection — every ranking, by use case and budget
We paid for every service here with our own card and tested them with the same identity and the same events. Scores are locked before any affiliate link is added.
Norton LifeLock Ultimate Plus
Fair
7.9
Zander Identity Theft Protection
Fair
7.8
By use case indexed
In-depth identity theft protection reviews
Aura
Three-bureau monitoring, $1 million in stolen-funds coverage, data-broker removal, VPN, antivirus and a password manager in one plan — the most complete service we tested
Read Aura ReviewNorton LifeLock Ultimate Plus
The best-known name, with three-bureau monitoring, $1 million stolen-funds coverage on the top plan, and Norton 360 bundled — at the highest renewal price
Read Norton LifeLock Ultimate Plus ReviewZander Identity Theft Protection
Insurance-agency identity protection with unlimited restoration and $1 million in stolen-funds coverage from $75 a year — the cheapest real restoration here
Read Zander Identity Theft Protection ReviewIDShield
Licensed private investigators handle restoration, backed by LegalShield's lawyers, with unlimited consultations — the strongest fix-it team after LifeLock
Read IDShield ReviewIdentity Guard
Aura's sister brand with IBM Watson risk scoring, three-bureau monitoring on Ultra and a cheap monitoring-only Value tier
Read Identity Guard ReviewExperian IdentityWorks
Monitoring straight from a bureau, with three-bureau reports, FICO scores and a genuinely useful free tier
Read Experian IdentityWorks ReviewDeleteMe
Not a monitoring service — a team that removes you from 750+ data-broker sites every quarter and shows you the report
Read DeleteMe ReviewGuides that send readers to these rankings
Freeze Your Credit First: The Free Steps That Do More Than Any Subscription
Freezes at the three bureaus, free monitoring, and the two situations where a paid service earns its money.
What to Do in the First 48 Hours After Identity Theft
The federal reporting steps, the calls to make in order, and how the restoration teams in our ranking take it from there.