Best Free Credit Monitoring
A side-by-side look at 10 credit-monitoring and identity-protection services. Several are free. The details that matter: which credit bureaus each watches, whether it shows a real FICO score or a VantageScore, and whether identity-theft insurance is included.
Prices checked October 19, 2026
Credit monitoring tracks your credit reports and alerts you to changes, new accounts, hard inquiries, or signs of fraud. 6 of the 10 services below have a free tier, so most people never need to pay just to watch their credit. The big catch to understand: many free tools show a VantageScore, which can differ from the FICO score most lenders actually use (though Experian, CreditWise and myFICO's free plan show a free FICO Score 8) (see is Credit Karma accurate?). Prices change; the figures here are dated and re-checked, but confirm current pricing on the provider’s site. Nothing here is financial advice.
Compare credit-monitoring services
| Service | Free tier | Paid price | Bureaus | Score type | ID-theft insurance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Credit KarmaIntuitFree | Yes | Free | TransUnion + Equifax | VantageScore 3.0 (not FICO) | None |
| Capital One CreditWiseCapital OneFreeReal FICO | Yes | Free | TransUnion (score); TransUnion + Experian (alerts) | FICO Score 8 (TransUnion data) | None |
| Credit SesameCredit SesameFree | Yes | Free; Sesame+ $12.99 to $24.99/mo (see review) | TransUnion (free); all 3 (3-bureau Sesame+) | VantageScore 3.0 (not FICO) | $1M (Sesame+) |
| ExperianExperianFreeReal FICO | Yes | Core $4.99/mo ($49.99/yr), Plus $14.99/mo ($149/yr), Premium $24.99/mo ($249.99/yr) | Experian (Free, Core, Plus); all 3 (Premium) | FICO Score 8 (Experian data) | $100K (Core), $500K (Plus), $1M (Premium) |
| myFICOFair Isaac Corporation (FICO)FreeReal FICO | Yes | Basic $19.95/mo, Advanced $29.95/mo, Premier $39.95/mo | Equifax (Free); Experian (Basic); all 3 (Advanced, Premier) | FICO Score 8 plus industry FICO versions (paid) | $1M (paid plans) |
| WalletHubEvolution Finance (WalletHub)Free | Yes | Free; Plus $4.99/mo; Premium $15.99/mo or $95.90/yr; Premium+ $34.99/mo or $190/yr | TransUnion | VantageScore 3.0 (not FICO) | $1M (underwritten via Sontiq, a TransUnion company) |
| AuraAura | No | $12/mo billed yearly or $15 monthly; Couple $22/$29; Family $32/$50 | All 3 | VantageScore (Equifax data, monthly) | $1M individual, $2M couple, $5M family (American Bankers Insurance Co. of Florida) |
| LifeLockGen Digital (Norton) | No | Core $12.49/mo or $124.99/yr; Advanced $19.99 or $199.99; Total $34.99 or $349.99 | 2 bureaus (Core); all 3 (Advanced, Total) | One-bureau score (model not stated) | $1.05M, $1.2M or $3M per adult by tier (United Specialty Insurance Co.) |
| IdentityIQIDIQ | No | Secure Basic $8.49/mo ($86.61/yr) to Secure Max $31.49/mo ($321.21/yr) | 1 bureau (Basic, Plus); all 3 (Pro, Max) | Not stated | $1M stolen funds reimbursement ("underwritten by AIG") |
| Identity GuardAura (Identity Guard) | No | Value $8.99/mo, Total $19.99, Ultra $29.99 (individual); first-year discounts | None (Value); all 3 (Total, Ultra) | Equifax-based score, monthly (model not stated) | $1M (American Bankers Insurance Co. of Florida) |
No services match those filters.
Free protections every service builds on
Before paying for monitoring, know what federal rules already give you at no cost, per the FTC: a credit freeze at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion is free to place and lift and lasts until you lift it; an initial fraud alert is free and lasts one year (seven years for an extended alert if you have an identity theft report); and you can get a free credit report from each bureau every week at AnnualCreditReport.com, the only site authorized for those reports. Paid services add alerts, insurance and recovery help on top; they do not unlock protection you cannot get yourself. Sources: FTC, credit freezes and fraud alerts; FTC, free credit reports.
How to choose a credit-monitoring service
- Free score tracking? Credit Karma shows VantageScore 3.0 from TransUnion and Equifax; WalletHub and Credit Sesame show a free TransUnion VantageScore.
- A free FICO score? Experian (FICO 8, Experian data), Capital One CreditWise (FICO 8, TransUnion data) and myFICO's free plan (FICO 8, Equifax, monthly) cost nothing.
- Before a mortgage or car loan? myFICO paid plans add the mortgage, auto and card versions of FICO; Advanced ($29.95/mo) covers three bureaus but updates every 3 months, Premier ($39.95/mo) monthly.
- Identity protection with insurance? Aura ($12/mo billed yearly), LifeLock (from $124.99/yr), IdentityIQ (from $8.49/mo) and Identity Guard (from $8.99/mo, first-year discounts) differ in which bureaus each tier watches; LifeLock Core watches two, Identity Guard Value none.
Want to improve the score you’re watching? See our guides on building credit and managing credit-card debt.
Popular comparisons
Deciding between two specific services? These head-to-head breakdowns go deeper:
FICO vs VantageScore, and why your score differs
There are two main scoring systems: FICO (used in most lending decisions) and VantageScore (common in free tools). They use different formulas, so the number you see in a free app can be higher or lower than the score a lender pulls, and each of the three bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) can hold slightly different data. That’s why a free VantageScore is best treated as a directional gauge; for the exact scores a lender uses, you need FICO scores (free FICO 8 from Experian, CreditWise or myFICO for one bureau each, or a paid myFICO plan for all three and the industry versions). More in is Credit Karma accurate?
How we compare
We read each service's own pricing, plan, terms, privacy and insurance pages and regulator records (FTC, CFPB), quote every fact from those sources and link them in each review. We did not sign up and test these services hands-on, and we do not score them with stars. We re-check prices about once a month. We earn a commission if you sign up for Credit Karma through the link on its review (Awin network); we earn nothing from the other services, and the commission does not change what we write. Nothing here is financial or legal advice.