Aura Review (2026)

Facts checked October 19, 2026 against Aura's own pricing, help and policy pages (10 sources, listed below). We re-check prices about once a month. We do not earn a commission from Aura.

Aura at a glance

What Aura costs

Our arithmetic from the listed prices, before sales tax, assuming today's prices hold; subscriptions can renew at a different rate. Aura prints per-month rates ($12, $22, $32, $10 billed yearly); the yearly totals are those rates times 12. Its pricing page shows no first-year or renewal wording: the terms say a plan renews at the price shown in your account dashboard, with 30 days' notice of any fee change. Aura's "Save 50%" labels use its own comparison base; against the $15 monthly rate, the yearly Individual rate is 20% less.

How Aura works

Aura is an identity protection service first and a credit tool second. Every main plan watches your credit files at Equifax, TransUnion and Experian and alerts you to new inquiries, and adds dark web and SSN alerts, bank and card transaction alerts, home and auto title monitoring and an Experian credit file lock. The credit score is a monthly VantageScore calculated from your Equifax file; Aura does not state the version, and it is not the FICO score most lenders use. The same plans include antivirus, a VPN and a password manager, and Aura says it sends removal requests to more than 425 data brokers and people-search sites. Aura also claims "650x faster" fraud detection than competitors, but its own footnote says the 2025 study behind that was done by ath Power Consulting, which Aura paid.

Insurance is through American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida, an Assurant company. Aura's $1 million summary sets that as the expense reimbursement limit per membership per 12 months, and stolen-funds recovery is part of that limit, not on top of it, for one occurrence a year. The plan cards show $2M for Couple and $5M for Family; these are policy limits, not payouts. Some of this you can do free: a credit freeze at each bureau costs nothing and lasts until you lift it, a fraud alert is free for a year (seven years for identity theft victims with a report), and AnnualCreditReport.com gives free weekly reports from all three bureaus. See is identity theft protection worth it for how the paid and free routes compare.

A hypothetical two-adult household at the prices on October 19, 2026: one Couple plan billed yearly costs $22 x 12 = $264, while two Individual plans billed yearly cost $144 x 2 = $288, so the Couple plan saves $24. Billed monthly, the Couple plan costs $29 x 12 = $348, which is $84 more than paying yearly. Only the yearly plan carries the 60-day money-back guarantee, and renewals do not qualify for a full refund.

Who Aura fits, and who should skip it

Limitations to know

• The score updates monthly and comes from Equifax data only. Aura calls it an educational score, not the one lenders use. [1]
• The Experian lock is a product feature. A credit freeze placed with each bureau is free under federal rules and lasts until you lift it. [9]
• The 60-day guarantee covers annual plans bought at aura.com or by phone, not through Amazon, app stores or other third parties; monthly plans and annual renewals do not qualify. [3]
• You cancel by phone or in your account; Aura does not accept cancellations by mail, and service runs to the end of the billing cycle. [2]
• Aura shows only an Equifax-based score. You can read your full reports from all three bureaus free every week at AnnualCreditReport.com, the only site authorized for free reports. [10]

Aura compared with alternatives

• Pick LifeLock if you want insurance limits up to $3M per adult and scam reimbursement on higher tiers.
• Pick Identity Guard if you want the same insurer and owner with lower first-year prices.
• Pick IdentityIQ if you want scheduled three-bureau reports for less.
• Pick Credit Karma if you only need free score tracking from two bureaus.

Security and privacy

• Aura says none of its companies "sell" your personal data, but some of its website cookies and pixels may count as a "sale" or "share" under state privacy laws; you can opt out on its Your Privacy Choices page. [6]
• Aura says its app is not ad supported and it does not share personal data from the app with third-party advertising services. [6]
• On July 1, 2015 the CFPB took action against Intersections Inc., the former owner of Identity Guard later bought by Aura's predecessor, for charging consumers for credit card add-on identity protection they did not receive. Intersections reported a $1.2 million civil penalty plus about $63,000 in refunds. The order ended February 4, 2026, and the conduct predates Aura's ownership. [8]
• We found no FTC or CFPB enforcement action against Aura itself.

Recent changes

Aura FAQ

Is Aura free?

No. Aura has no free tier. Every plan has a 14-day free trial, one per customer; the terms say you may be asked for billing information to start it.

How much does Aura cost?

Individual is $12 a month billed yearly ($144) or $15 monthly. Couple is $22 yearly-billed ($264) or $29 monthly. Family is $32 yearly-billed ($384) or $50 monthly. These were Aura's prices on October 19, 2026; Aura does not label $12 as an intro price.

Is Aura's credit score accurate?

It is a VantageScore calculated monthly from your Equifax credit file, and Aura does not state the version. Lenders often use FICO scores and may pull another bureau, so your lender's number can differ. See <a href="/what-is-a-good-credit-score/">what is a good credit score</a>.

Aura vs LifeLock?

Aura bundles three-bureau monitoring with antivirus, VPN and a password manager on every main plan. <a href="/credit-monitoring/lifelock/">LifeLock</a> Core monitors two bureaus, and its standalone plans do not include Norton device security, but its Total plan carries up to $3M in coverage per adult.

Is Aura worth it?

If you want one bill for credit alerts at all three bureaus, identity monitoring and device security for a household, the Family plan at $384 a year covers up to 5 adults. If you mainly want to stop new accounts in your name, a free freeze at each bureau does that at no cost. Read our guide to <a href="/how-monitor-credit-report-errors-fraud/">monitoring your credit reports for errors and fraud</a>.

How we researched this review

We did not get paid or receive a free account for this page. We read Aura's own pricing page, help center, security and privacy pages and app-store listing on October 19, 2026, quoted each fact from those pages, and link every one below. We did not run a long-term hands-on test, so we do not score the app; where a point rests on what the company says rather than something we can check, we attribute it to Aura. Cost figures are our own arithmetic. We re-check prices and plans about once a month and log changes in the table above.

Sources

1. Aura, Pricing (plans, features and footnotes), checked October 19, 2026.
2. Aura, License and Terms of Service (effective October 1, 2026), checked October 19, 2026.
3. Aura, 60-day money-back guarantee policy, checked October 19, 2026.
4. Aura, $1 million identity theft insurance summary of benefits, checked October 19, 2026.
5. Aura, $5 million identity theft insurance summary of benefits, checked October 19, 2026.
6. Aura, Privacy policy (effective October 1, 2026), checked October 19, 2026.
7. Aura, About, checked October 19, 2026.
8. CFPB, Enforcement action: Intersections Inc., checked October 19, 2026.
9. FTC, Credit freezes and fraud alerts, checked October 19, 2026.
10. FTC, Free credit reports, checked October 19, 2026.

Head-to-head comparisons

• Aura vs LifeLock

This review is general information, not financial or legal advice. A credit freeze at each bureau and weekly reports from AnnualCreditReport.com are free under federal rules; a paid service adds alerts, insurance and help, not protection you cannot get yourself.