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Your credit score plays a crucial role when applying for a credit card, loan and more. As a result, you should keep an eye on your credit report, making sure that it correctly reflects your past and current financial health.
If you don’t want to do-it-yourself, consider signing on with a credit monitoring service. They’ll detect suspicious activity in your credit file and alert you immediately. Some will give you advice on how to improve your credit score, and others will even assist with fraud resolution.
In this guide, we compare credit monitoring companies to find the best ones with the best features. One of our top picks could be the right credit monitoring provider for you.
Click here for the best credit repair services.
How To Compare Credit Monitoring Services
To create our list of the best credit monitoring services, we took a long, hard look at a number of providers and considered the following:
Credit Score Model
Most credit monitoring agencies use the VantageScore 3.0 model to calculate your credit score. However, the model used by most lenders to determine eligibility is FICO.
Credit Report Frequency
The more often your credit report is monitored, the quicker you’ll catch any inaccuracies. The best credit monitoring services will check your report on a daily basis, or even more frequently.
Credit Bureaus Monitored
There are three major credit reporting bureaus – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Many credit monitoring providers only offer access to credit reports of one or two bureaus, but you’ll want to monitor activity in all three reports.
Services Included
With any credit monitoring agency, you can expect access to at least one credit score and report, credit monitoring and account alerts. Paid services will usually include additional perks like dark web and Social Security Number monitoring, credit freezes, score simulator and tracking, fraud assistance, identity theft insurance and much more.
Pricing
We found credit monitoring services that are free, but those usually only include credit monitoring for a single credit bureau. If you want access to all three credit reports, along with identity restoration assistance, you’ll probably have to cough up some dough. Depending on your needs, you should expect to pay between $8.99 and $34.95 per month for a credit monitoring service with extra protection.
Best Free Credit Monitoring Services
| CreditWise | Best overall free |
| Experian | Most reliable credit score |
| Credit Sesame | Best with ID theft insurance |
| Credit Karma | Best mobile app |
CreditWise – Best Overall Free
CreditWise is a free credit monitoring service by Capital One, but you don’t have to be a Capital One customer to take advantage of it. It’s an easy and low-cost way to stay on top of changes to your credit file, with dark web and Social Security Number monitoring and a credit score simulator.
| Pricing | Free, no credit card required |
| Credit Score | VantageScore 3.0 |
| Credit Score Updated | Weekly |
| Credit Bureaus | Experian, TransUnion |
| Monitoring | Credit report, dark web, SSN |
| Credit Score Simulator | Yes |
| Details | Alerts to changes in credit history Personalized suggestions to improve score |
Experian Credit Monitoring – Most Reliable Credit Score
Experian Credit Monitoring provides unlimited access to your Experian credit report with daily alerts for things like changes to your personal information, new inquiries and accounts opened in your name and suspicious activity. You’ll also receive monthly updates of your FICO Score. Should you experience any issues with fraud, you have access to the dedicated Experian support team, and you can submit and track disputes online for free. Other features include personalized advice on how to improve your score, a credit score simulator and an education center.
| Pricing | Free, no credit card required |
| Credit Score | FICO |
| Credit Score Updated | Monthly |
| Credit Bureaus | Experian |
| Monitoring | Credit report |
| Credit Score Simulator | Yes |
| Details | Alerts to changes in credit history Fraud assistance Submit & track disputes online Personalized suggestions to improve score Education center |
Credit Sesame – Best With ID Theft Insurance
Credit Sesame, which was found in 2010 by Adrian Nazari, offers free credit monitoring, credit scores and analysis of loans and credits. Apart from this they also offer free insurance against identity theft and help with ID restoration. They’ll not only help you monitor and manage your credit, but they’ll also help you protect it.
| Pricing | Free, no credit card required |
| Credit Score | VantageScore 3.0 |
| Credit Score Updated | Monthly |
| Credit Bureaus | TransUnion |
| Monitoring | Credit report |
| Credit Score Simulator | No |
| Details | Alerts to changes in credit history Personalized suggestions to improve score Fraud resolution assistance Up to $50K in ID theft insurance ID restoration assistance |
Credit Karma – Best Mobile App
Credit Karma lets you access your VantageScore 3.0 and your Equifax and TransUnion reports for free. They offer insights on how you can improve your credit score, an option to dispute errors directly from the Credit Karma site and free federal and state income tax preparation. But perhaps their best feature is the Credit Karma mobile app, rated 4.9/5 in the App Store and 4.8/5 on Google Play.
| Pricing | Free, no credit card required |
| Credit Score | VantageScore 3.0 |
| Credit Score Updated | Every time you log into your account |
| Credit Bureaus | Equifax, TransUnion |
| Monitoring | Credit report |
| Credit Score Simulator | Yes |
| Details | Alerts to changes in credit history Personalized suggestions to improve score Fraud resolution assistance Free tax preparation |
Best Paid Credit Monitoring Services
| IdentityIQ | Best overall, paid |
| MyFICO | Most reliable credit score |
| TransUnion | Best single-bureau monitoring |
| SuperMoney | Best for comparing |
IdentityIQ – Best Overall Paid
IdentityIQ offers a wide range of services to help protect you and your family from identity theft. They’ll actively check your credit history, along with your Social Security Number, to detect suspicious activity. If IdentityIQ finds any possible abuse, they’ll notify you immediately and initiate the process to prevent, block or fix the issue. Other features include dark web, application and criminal records monitoring, along with identity protection and restoration, and up to $1 million in identity theft insurance. The information below varies by plan.
| Monthly Pricing | $6.99 – $29.99 |
| Credit Score | VantageScore 3.0 |
| Credit Score Updated | Daily/annually/bi-annually/monthly |
| Credit Bureaus | 1 bureau/all 3 bureaus |
| Monitoring | Credit report, dark web, application, criminal records |
| Credit Score Simulator | Yes, highest-tier plan only |
| Details | Alerts to changes in credit history Fraud resolution assistance ID protection & restoration ID theft insurance Family protection |
MyFICO – Most Reliable Score
MyFICO gives you access to your three-bureau credit report and 28 versions of your credit score that are used in mortgage, auto and credit card lending. You’ll get alerts for changes to your credit file, including newly opened accounts, inquiries and public records, changes to address, listed collections and more. All plans include up to $1 million in identity theft insurance. The information below varies by plan.
| Monthly Pricing | $19.95 – $39.95 |
| Credit Score | FICO |
| Credit Score Updated | Monthly/quarterly |
| Credit Bureaus | 1 bureau/all 3 bureaus |
| Monitoring | Credit report, internet, public records, SSN |
| Credit Score Simulator | Yes |
| Details | Alerts to changes in credit history Fraud resolution assistance ID protection & restoration ID theft insurance Education center |
TransUnion – Best Single-Bureau Monitoring
TransUnion is one of three major credit bureaus in the United States. Their credit monitoring service aims to help you manage your credit and minimize risk, giving you unlimited access to your TransUnion credit score and report, along with instant alerts of changes and personalized advice. Other features include financial calculators, a credit score simulator, a view of your score history over time, the ability to freeze your TransUnion report instantly and identity theft insurance and resolution.
| Monthly Pricing | $24.95 |
| Credit Score | VantageScore 3.0 |
| Credit Score Updated | Unlimited |
| Credit Bureaus | TransUnion |
| Monitoring | Credit report |
| Credit Score Simulator | Yes |
| Details | Alerts to changes in credit history Personalized suggestions to improve score Financial calculators Score Trending graphs Credit Lock Plus ID theft insurance & resolution |
SuperMoney Credit Monitoring – Best For Comparing
SuperMoney is an aggregator site that lets you compare multiple financial products and companies – including credit monitoring agencies – in one place. Utilizing a proprietary, weighted, sorting algorithm, the comparison service takes a look at various important details, such as customer reviews, monthly fee and additional details, to rank credit monitoring firms.
Once you get on the SuperMoney Credit Monitoring page, you’ll see an overview of how these companies work and the important features to consider when comparing credit monitoring agencies. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find a table that ranks several credit monitoring providers, which you can filter by Net Recommendation Score or by Product Name.
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Disclaimer: These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, credit card issuer, hotel, airline or other entity. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post. It is not the bank advertiser's or any other entity's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.