We’ve compared all of current credit monitoring services on the market and provide you with their product names, websites, type of credit score provided, monthly cost, whether they have a free trial and the conditions of that trial, what credit reports they supply, the amount of identity theft protection insurance they provide and other details about the credit monitoring programs.
Contents
Credit Monitoring Services Table Of Comparison
| Product Name & Website | Score Type | Monthly cost | Free trial | Trial period | Credit Reports | ID Theft Protection | Credit Monitoring Alerts | Other | Our review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FreeCreditScore.com | PLUS score (EX), bi-weekly | 17.99 | Yes | 7 days | Monthly (EX) | 50000 | Daily (EX) | Click | |
| Experian Credit Tracking | PLUS score (EX), monthly | 14.95 | No | First month for $4.95 | Daily (EX) | 50000 | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | ||
| Experian Triple Alert | PLUS score (EX), at sign up | 8.95 | No | None | None | 10000 | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | ||
| TrueCredit / TransUnion Credit Monitoring | VantageScore (TU), monthly | 17.95 | Yes | 7 days | Daily (TU), monthly (EX & EQ) | 1000000 | Daily (TU) | ||
| Zendough | VantageScore (TU), monthly | 29.95 | Yes | 7 days | Monthly (TU) | None | None | ||
| Equifax's Score Watch | FICO score (EQ-04/BEACON 5.0), monthly | 14.95 | No | None | Bi-annually (EQ) | None | Daily (EQ) | ||
| Equifax ID Patrol | No Score | 16.95 | No | None | Unlimited EQ reports, 3-1 as sign up bonus | 1000000 | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | Lock credit report in real time | |
| Equifax's Debt Wise | FAKO Score ("EQ credit score"), 4 per year | 14.95 | No | None | Four yearly (EQ) | 25000 | Daily (EQ) | Rearranges the credit report to help consumers identify their debt | |
| Equifax's Credit Watch Gold | No Score | 12.95 | No | None | Unlimited EQ reports | 25000 | Daily (EQ) | ||
| Equifax Complete | FAKO Score ("EQ credit score"), daily | 19.95 | No | None | Daily EQ reports, 3-1 report yearly (includes scores from all three) | 1000000 | Daily (EQ) | ||
| Equifax 3 In 1 Monitoring w/ 4 FICO scores | FICO Score (EQ-04/BEACON 5.0), 4 per year* | 14.95 | No | None | Unlimited EQ reports, 3-1 as sign up bonus | 1000000 | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | ||
| myFICO's scorewatch | FICO score (EQ-04/BEACON 5.0), monthly | 14.95** | Yes** | 10 days** | Two EQ reports. One at sign up, one at time of choosing | None | Daily (EQ) | ||
| myFICO's Quarterly monitoring | FICO score (TU-98), every three months | $4.95^ | No | None | Report at sign up, new report every three months | None | Weekly (TU) | ||
| CreditKarma.com | FAKO score (TU TransRisk & TU VantageScore), daily | Free | Always free | Forever | Summary of TU report, daily | None | Daily (TU) | Click | |
| IdentityGuard | FAKO score (CreditXpert), monthly | 19 | Yes | Two weeks | Monthly (EX, EQ, TU) | 1000000 | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | ||
| PrivacyGuard | FAKO score (CreditXpert), monthly | 17.99 | No | 14 days for $1 | Monthly (EX, EQ, TU) | 1000000 | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | ||
| Citi IdentityMonitor | FAKO score (CreditXpert), monthly | 12.95 | No | None | Monthly (EX, EQ, TU) | None | Daily (EX, EQ & TU)^^ | Only for existing citi customers | |
| Privacy Matters 1-2-3 | FAKO score (TU, EQ & EX TransRisk) | 14.95 | No | None | Monthly (EX, EQ, TU) | None | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | ||
| Eliminate ID Theft | FAKO Score (TU TransRisk) | 12.95 | No | None | Daily (EX, EQ, TU) | 25000 | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | ||
| CreditReport.com | PLUS score (EX), twice monthly | 19.95 | No | Thirty days for $1 | At sign up (EX) | None | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | ||
| USAA CreditCheck Monitoring | PLUS score (EX), daily | 12.95 | No | None | Monthly (EX, EQ, TU) | 25000 | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | ||
| AMEX CreditSecure | PLUS score (EX, EQ, TU), twice monthly | 14.99 | No | First month for $1 | Twice monthly (EX, EQ, TU) | 1000000 | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | ||
| Quizzle | VantageScore, twice yearly | Free | Yes | Forever | Bi-annually (EQ) | None | Daily (EQ) | Possible to upgrade for $15/mo, allows one CE score and Equifax report per month | Click |
| Credit Check TOTAL | PLUS score (EX, EQ, TU), three times monthly | 29.95 | Yes | Thirty days | Tri-monthly (EX, EQ, TU) | None | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | Some creditors provide major discounts for this product | |
| FreeCreditReport.com | PLUS score (EX) | 19.95 | Yes | two days (only includes report, pay $1 for report + score) | Daily (EX) | None | Bi-monthly (EX) | ||
| ITAC Sentinel | FAKO (CreditXpert), Quarterly | 12.99 | No | None | Quarterly (EX, EQ, TU) | 20000 | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | ||
| Smart Credit | FAKO (ConsumerDirect Credit Score), four monthly | 29.95 | Yes | Seven days | Four monthly (EX, EQ, TU) | None | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | ||
| ScoreSense | FAKO (CreditXpert), monthly | 29.95 | Yes | Seven days | Monthly (EX, EQ, TU) | 1000000 | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | ||
| Credit Sesame | FAKO (Experian's National Equivalency Score), monthly | Free | Yes | Forever | Daily summary of EX | 50000 | Daily (EX) | Click | |
| MyScore | FAKO (TU TransRisk), monthly | 29.95 | Yes | Seven days | Monthly (TU) | None | Daily (TU) | ||
| FreeScore.com | FAKO (TU, EX, & EQ TransRisk), monthly | 14.95 | No | None | Monthly (TU, EX & EQ) | None | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | ||
| iQualifer | FAKO CE Credit Score (TU) | 24 | Yes | Â $5.95 | Monthly (TU) | None | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | ||
| Credit.com | FAKO Score (Experian National Equivalency & Experian VantageScore V3) | Free | No | None | None | None | Daily (EX) | Click |
Key:
TU:Â TransUnion
EX:Â Experian
EQ:Â Equifax
ID Theft Protection: The maximum amount this monitoring service provides in the event of identity theft
Credit Monitoring Alerts: These alerts will only notify consumers of major changes on their credit report, e.g a new account being opened or a credit limit being increased
Score type: The type of credit score offered (if any)
Fine Print:
*At a time of your choosing
**There is a three month requirement if you exceed the trial period
^three month minimum requirement
^^ Business days only
F.A.Q’s
What is the best credit monitoring service?
This will really depend on the features you’re looking for. For example, if you’re planning on applying for credit in the near future it’s beneficial to sign up for a service that gives you access to your FICO score, as this is the score lenders look at.
Whereas if you’re really only after identity theft insurance, then you’ve got to look at a service that has a high ceiling ($1,000,000) on the amount that can be claimed.
Our favorite is Equifax’s 3 in 1 monitoring with 4 FICO scores. This gives you access to your EQ-04 FICO score (sometimes called the Beacon 5.0 score) 4 times each year. It also has $1,000,000 in cover for identity theft and at only $14.95 a month it’s one of the cheaper services on the market.
Sign up for Equifax’s 3 in 1 monitoring program today.
WHICH SERVICES PROVIDE FICO SCORES?
There are four services that provide consumers with FICO scores, two from Equifax and two from myFICO.com, they are as follows: Equifax 3 In 1 Monitoring w/ 4 FICO scores, Equifax’s Score Watch, myFICO’s scorewatch, myFICO’s Quarterly monitoring.
All of these can be reduced in price by using one of the myFICO.com promo codes
Which Credit Monitoring Services Are Free?
There are a number of credit monitoring services which are free. Quizzle, Credit Karma and Credit Sesame are all free forever. Below is a table that only contains programs with a free trial (we haven’t included Quizzle, Credit Karma or Credit Sesame).
| Smart Credit | FAKO (ConsumerDirect Credit Score), four monthly | $29.95 | Yes | Seven days | Four monthly (EX, EQ, TU) | None | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | |
| ScoreSense | FAKO (CreditXpert), monthly | $29.95 | Yes | Seven days | Monthly (EX, EQ, TU) | $1,000,000 | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | |
| MyScore | FAKO (TU TransRisk), monthly | $29.95 | Yes | Seven days | Monthly (TU) | None | Daily (TU) | |
| IdentityGuard | FAKO score (CreditXpert), monthly | $19.00 | Yes | Two weeks | Monthly (EX, EQ, TU) | $1,000,000 | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | |
| FreeCreditReport.com | PLUS score (EX) | $19.95 | Yes | two days (only includes report, pay $1 for report + score) | Daily (EX) | None | Bi-monthly (EX) | |
| FreeCreditScore.com | PLUS score (EX), bi-weekly | $17.99 | Yes | 7 days | Monthly (EX) | $50,000 | Daily (EX) | |
| Credit Check TOTAL | PLUS score (EX, EQ, TU), three times monthly | $29.95 | Yes | Thirty days | Tri-monthly (EX, EQ, TU) | None | Daily (EX, EQ & TU) | Some creditors provide major discounts for this product |
| TrueCredit / TransUnion Credit Monitoring | VantageScore (TU), monthly | $17.95 | Yes | 7 days | Daily (TU), monthly (EX & EQ) | $1,000,000 | Daily (TU) | |
| Zendough | VantageScore (TU), monthly | $29.95 | Yes | 7 days | Monthly (TU) | None | None | |
| myFICO’s scorewatch | FICO score (EQ-04/BEACON 5.0), monthly | 14.95** | Yes** | 10 days** | Two EQ reports. One at sign up, one at time of choosing | None | Daily (EQ) |
Reviews Of Credit Monitoring Services
Below are a list of the in depth reviews we’ve done of the different credit monitoring services. We include information such as how easy it is to cancel and how close the credit scores they provide are to FICO scores.
Which ones will allow me to soft pull daily?
Freecreditscore.com is actually free and not just a free trial. Since it provides an actual Fico Score 8 and from Experian, updated every 30days or less, highly valuable to keep track and check where your score is at .
CreditSesame no longer EX but TU. I don’t know when the switch occurred.
Suggestion for correction. Quizzle is off Equifax not Experian. It changed a couple of months ago
Thanks, updated it on all of the other pages but not on this page for some reason.