Is Credit Monitoring Worth the Cost?
Credit monitoring is a service that can help you keep a close eye on your credit reports and scores so you can quickly respond to any suspicious activity. You can use free credit monitoring services to monitor one or more of your credit reports or pay for services that alert you to all kinds of suspicious activity related to your identity and credit.
However, there are also free tools that anyone can use to monitor their credit information, without signing up for a service or paying a fee.
- Credit monitoring doesn’t prevent fraud, but it can help you respond to it faster.
- Free credit monitoring services usually track one of your credit scores and reports.
- Some paid credit monitoring comes with premium features such as identity restoration.
- Paid credit monitoring typically costs anywhere from $10 to $35 a month.
What is credit monitoring?
Credit monitoring is a service that keeps tabs on your credit reports and scores and alerts you when there are any changes. This service usually monitors one of your credit reports (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion) and can help you quickly address suspicious activity and signs of fraud.
Free credit monitoring typically includes the following features:
- A free credit score. Nearly all credit monitoring services let you view one version of your credit score at no cost. Unexpected drops in your scores could indicate that something has changed on your credit reports.
- Credit monitoring. These services usually monitor one or more of your credit reports. They typically notify you by text, email or phone of any activity on your report, such as a hard inquiry or a newly opened credit card.
- Credit report access. You may receive regular access to one of your credit reports, so you can check it for yourself to see if there are changes, errors or fraudulent activity.
If you’re looking for even more protection, including things like dark web monitoring or identity restoration, you may need to pay for a more premium service.
What credit monitoring can – and can’t – do
Credit monitoring does not prevent credit damage and fraud from taking place. But it can make you aware of suspicious activity and changes to your credit scores. If you pay close attention to alerts and you react quickly, you can potentially contain the event and prevent further fallout.
What credit monitoring can do
- Keep you informed about changes to your credit scores.
- Inform you when suspicious activity appears on your credit reports.
- Give you a chance to quickly respond to signs of fraud or ID theft.
What credit monitoring can’t do
- Prevent changes to your credit scores.
- Prevent identity theft and fraud.
- Remove errors or signs of fraud from your credit reports.
Is credit monitoring worth it?
Credit monitoring is worth your time, but for most people, it’s not worth paying for. Paid services are generally best for those who have experienced identity theft or want stronger security.
Free services work for most people
Credit monitoring is worth it, especially if you use one of the free options, which anyone can do. Despite the name, you can easily monitor your credit by requesting free credit reports on a weekly basis from AnnualCreditReport.com from each of the three major credit bureaus. An added layer of protection that’s also free is to place a credit freeze on your reports.
Credit monitoring can offer convenience
While you can certainly track your credit information on your own, some people find that signing up for a credit monitoring service makes doing so more convenient. Instead of having to pull and read each of your credit reports frequently, you can get alerts when something changes. That might mean catching suspicious activity much faster than you would on your own.
Even free options can come with trade-offs
While it’s important to read the fine print for any paid options, even some free credit monitoring services have requirements or drawbacks that aren’t clear up front. For example, there may be hidden fees or requirements to cancel the service, or you might be hit with ads that encourage you to sign up for new credit cards.
Your bank or credit card company may offer services already
Several banks and financial service companies offer free access to credit monitoring. You may not need to be a customer to take advantage of these free services. For example, even if you don’t have a Chase account, you can sign up for Chase Credit Journey to keep tabs on your Vantage credit score and Experian credit report.
We’ve provided a list of free credit monitoring services below.
Paid options may make sense for stronger security
Paying for credit monitoring may be worth it if you’re seeking premium features like public records monitoring, tech tools to help you browse online more securely, or need help restoring your identity after an identity theft incident.
Check our list of paid services below to learn more about these features and decide whether the cost is worth it to you.
Who should or shouldn’t pay for credit monitoring services
For most people, free credit monitoring services are more than sufficient to help you monitor your credit information. However, there can be specific scenarios where you may benefit from paying for premium coverage. Here’s how to know if paid credit monitoring is what you need.
Credit monitoring services may be worth it if you…
- Don’t want to manually pull and monitor your free credit reports
- Want help recovering from potential ID theft or credit card fraud
- Are a victim of ongoing attempts to steal your financial information or identity
Credit monitoring services may not be worth it if you…
- Would rather save money and monitor your credit reports on your own
- Prefer to pull and review your free credit reports
- Have access to free monitoring through your bank or a financial services company
- Have a free credit freeze in place on your credit reports, or are willing to set up a freeze yourself
- Are an active-duty service member or in the National Guard (you get free credit monitoring directly through all three credit bureaus)
Free credit monitoring services
If you don’t want to pay for credit monitoring, you’re in luck! There are a variety of free credit monitoring services available. Most free services give you access to one version of your FICO Score or your VantageScore. Here’s what’s available:
- LendingTree: The LendingTree app is designed to help you take control of your finances and comes with free credit alerts, credit score updates, financial tips and more. Plus, you can quickly sign up online for free.
- Capital One CreditWise: You don’t need a Capital One account to sign up for CreditWise, which offers free access to your FICO Score 8 and monitors changes to your TransUnion and Experian credit reports. The service also offers dark web monitoring.
- Chase Credit Journey: You don’t have to be a Chase cardholder or banking customer to use Chase Credit Journey. This service gives you dark web alerts, your Experian report, tips on how to improve your credit score and lets you check your VantageScore 3.0 score.
- Experian free credit monitoring: You can sign up for free to monitor your Experian credit report and your FICO Score 8, which is the most commonly used FICO score version.
- FICO Free Plan: FICO’s free plan comes with Equifax credit monitoring, access to your FICO Score 8 and alerts when your credit score changes.
- TransUnion FREE Report & Score: TransUnion offers free access to your TransUnion credit report and score, with information that’s updated daily.
Credit monitoring features at a cost
If you don’t mind paying, some companies offer premium features, like monitoring all three major credit bureaus or help restoring your identity. Here are some of the most common features that come with paid plans.
VPNs, ad blockers and password managers
Some companies offer a suite of tools to help increase your online security and ensure you browse more securely when you’re away from home. For companies like Aura that offer password managers and VPNs (virtual private networks), plans start around $10 a month.
Credit locking and freezing assistance
A credit lock, which is similar to a free credit freeze, lets you quickly lock one or more of your credit reports so it can’t be used to approve new loans or credit card applications. Companies that offer credit locking charge about $10 or more for monthly plans. But it’s important to note that you can put a credit freeze in place on your own, for free.
Identity theft response
Some paid services come with identity theft insurance and/or restoration services to help you recover if you’re targeted by criminals. Plans that include these services, from companies like Identity Shield and LifeLock, cost about $10 to $15 each month.
Three-bureau monitoring
The information in each of your credit reports can vary, so you might miss something if you only monitor one or two of them. You can instead get alerts for all three reports with paid services that generally cost anywhere from $15 to $35 each month.
Public records and identity surveillance
Some companies offer deeper, more comprehensive monitoring. For example, you can get alerts when your Social Security number is used, when your identity pops up in court records, or if someone posts negative information about you on social media. Plans start at about $15 to $25 per month.
Reimbursement for theft
Some premium plans give you reimbursement for theft from certain financial accounts. For example, Experian’s ID Watchdog comes with up to $1 million in insurance coverage for funds you can’t recover from your checking and savings accounts, and up to $2 million for employer-sponsored retirement accounts. These plans range from about $15 to $22 monthly.
How to protect your credit
Fortunately, you don’t need to pay for credit monitoring to protect your credit. Here are some free ways to keep an eye on your credit information and catch — or even prevent — unwanted changes:
- Regularly review your credit reports. Use the federally authorized website AnnualCreditReport.com to pull and review all three of your credit reports as often as once a week.
- Set up account alerts. Enable alerts on your financial accounts, so you know when high-dollar transactions go through or when unusual activity takes place.
- Browse safely. Stay vigilant online so fraudsters can’t access your information. Avoid logging into sensitive accounts, such as your bank or email, while connected to public Wi-Fi networks. Use strong, unique passwords for your accounts, avoid clicking on unsolicited links sent via text or email and verify a website before visiting.
- Use credit freezes. Visit the websites for each of the three credit bureaus to set up free credit freezes. That can make it harder for someone else to use your information to take out a loan or open a credit card.
Frequently asked questions
Paid credit monitoring is not worth it for most people, especially with so many free options available. Even if you pay for the service, credit monitoring can’t prevent identity theft or stop unwanted information from showing up on your credit reports. It can only alert you after a change has taken place or suspicious activity has occurred.
Credit monitoring does not prevent identity theft; it alerts you when changes are made to your credit report, including ones that may indicate fraud. However, the alerts you receive can give you a chance to respond to a security incident quickly and prevent it from turning into a bigger problem.
Credit monitoring does not improve your credit scores. However, credit monitoring services can inform you when your scores have dropped, giving you a chance to address the problem and possibly even prevent further score damage. Many services also offer tips or interactive tools that help you understand how to improve your credit.
The information on your credit reports can change every month, so it doesn’t hurt to check your reports monthly. If you have security measures in place to alert you of credit report changes or a credit freeze to prevent new accounts from being opened, you may only need to check your credit reports every six to 12 months.
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