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Home » Credit » Good Score » Monitoring » Credit Sesame Review: Free Credit Monitoring

Credit Sesame Review: Free Credit Monitoring

Updated: July 6, 2022 By Robert Farrington

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Credit Sesame Review

Credit Sesame, the 100% free credit monitoring service offers an unconventional perk when you create a membership: a free identity theft insurance policy with $50,000 worth of coverage.

They also give you the tools you need to track your credit, analyze your credit score, and help you pay down debt.

Credit Sesame is a great tool, it’s totally free. Here’s what you need to know about the site.


Credit Sesame Logo 2019

Quick Summary

  • Free credit monitoring app
  • $50,000 worth of identity insurance 
  • Can help motivate to pay off debt faster
OPEN AN ACCOUNT

Credit Sesame Review Details

Product Name

Credit Sesame

Price

Free

Offers

Credit Monitoring

Promotions

None

Table of Contents
It’s Really Free
Credit Monitoring
Product Comparisons
Upgrades
Final Verdict

It’s Really Free

Free sounds good, but it’s usually filled with gotchas. When it comes to Credit Sesame, the only gotcha is conspicuous ads for credit cards and other debt products. Even the free insurance that Credit Sesame offers is pretty decent.

Honestly, I use Credit Karma for credit monitoring, but I signed up for a Credit Sesame account just in case I ever become the victim of identity theft.

In minor cases of identity fraud, victims may have to pay for notary expenses, to freeze and thaw their credit, or to replace a visa, passport, or driver’s license. In serious cases, victims may lose wages when they take time off from work to deal with identity theft. Some victims may even have to pay for legal representation.

Credit Sesame’s free insurance policy won’t replace money that has been taken from a bank, but it will cover:

  • Application re-filing fees
  • Courier costs
  • Notary costs
  • Court costs
  • Legal represenation (up to $75 per hour)
  • Lost base wages if you need to take time off from work (self-employed people can't receive any compensation
  • Dependent care coverage
  • Travel costs
  • Postage or other communication costs

To me, the coverage alone makes the membership worthwhile. But is Credit Sesame worth using? These are some of the other services that Credit Sesame offers.

Credit Monitoring

Credit Sesame’s credit score monitoring is their oldest product. They make it easy to keep tabs on your Vantage 3.0 credit score, and to dig into problem areas. Credit Sesame uses data from TransUnion to reproduce your full credit report.

Screen Shot 2017-08-29 at 3.28.56 PM.png

Is this useful? Absolutely.

You need a great credit score if you’re going to apply for new debt or even for a new rewards credit card. Credit Sesame gives you a grade for each part of your credit. This will help you focus on areas that needs the most improvement before you take on new debt.

Screen Shot 2017-01-17 at 3.05.18 PM.png

Credit Sesame also emails alerts regarding changes to your credit score. The alerts can get a little bit annoying- for example, Credit Sesame will alert you when you’ve had a change in credit utilization. But they also alert you when you apply for new credit, or open up a new debt product. A quick login to the Credit Sesame site, and you can figure out the details. If you don’t recognize the credit inquiry, then you know that you need to resolve identity fraud.

Anyone who doesn’t regularly check their credit report through AnnualCreditReport.com or another free credit monitoring service, should consider setting up an account at Credit Sesame. Identity Theft is on the rise, and personal awareness is your best line of defense against fraudsters.

Product Comparisons

Outside of credit scoring, Credit Sesame compares most of the top credit card, personal loan and mortgage options. The offerings on Credit Sesame are fairly robust, but I wouldn’t necessarily take the Credit Sesame recommendations without comparison shopping. CreditCards.com, MagnifyMoney, NerdWallet and many more sites offer better information and calculators to help you make great financial decisions about your debt and credit products.

However, Credit Sesame did impress me on one front. They have a useful mortgage comparison tool that compares costs to monthly payments. You can easily adjust the parameters, and see the true cost over the cost of the loan. It’s a particularly great tool if you are considering a mortgage refinance.

Screen Shot 2017-01-16 at 3.49.08 PM.png

Upgrades


On top of the free services that Credit Sesame provides, you can upgrade. For example, you can pay $9.95 to get a complete copy of your TransUnion credit report. This is not an upgrade that I recommend.

For $14.95 per month you can get daily credit bureau updates and a copy of your credit report from all 3 bureaus. While having access to all three bureaus is tempting, it’s not worth $14.95 per month. You can get a free copy of all three credit reports once per year through AnnualCreditReport.com. Plus, you can hack together a few different free services to find a credit report from all three bureaus.

You can pay $19.95 per month for $1 Million dollars of ID theft insurance plus access to 24/7 resolution specialists, or you could pay $24.95 for Credit Sesame to monitor you and your social security number.

Honestly, none of the upgrades are worth it. $1 million dollars in identity theft insurance is overkill. The insurance will not replace money stolen from your bank account. Likewise, Credit Sesame doesn’t actually clean up your identity theft problem.


If you’re willing to pay for an identity theft insurance product, I recommend either Zander Insurance or Prosper Daily because they both offer identity theft resolution services.

Final Verdict

Credit Sesame is a great source of free identity theft insurance, but it’s not our favorite tool for credit monitoring. Credit Karma offers better usability, more information and fewer conspicuous ads.

At the end of the day, the free tool you use to monitor your credit score doesn’t matter. The key is to pick a tool and stick with it. I recommend checking your credit score at least once a month, and checking your full credit report from all three credit bureaus once per year. This cadence will help your identify and resolve identity theft quickly, and it will help you stay on top of your credit behavior.

Have you tried CreditSesame before? Do you think it's better thank CreditKarma?

Credit Sesame Review
  • Commissions & Fees
  • Customer Service
  • Ease of Use
  • Tools And Services
Overall
3.9

Summary

Credit Sesame offers free credit score monitoring and a variety of upgrades that can help you monitor your credit.

Pros

  • Free credit monitoring
  • See your credit score
  • App-based credit tracking

Cons

  • Only uses a VantageScore, which may not match your FICO score
  • Try Credit Seasame
Robert Farrington
Robert Farrington

Robert Farrington is America’s Millennial Money Expert® and America’s Student Loan Debt Expert™, and the founder of The College Investor, a personal finance site dedicated to helping millennials escape student loan debt to start investing and building wealth for the future. You can learn more about him on the About Page, or on his personal site RobertFarrington.com.

He regularly writes about investing, student loan debt, and general personal finance topics geared towards anyone wanting to earn more, get out of debt, and start building wealth for the future.

He has been quoted in major publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Fox, ABC, NBC, and more. He is also a regular contributor to Forbes.

Credit Sesame Review: Free Credit Monitoring
Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, or other advertiser and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
Comment Policy: We invite readers to respond with questions or comments. Comments may be held for moderation and are subject to approval. Comments are solely the opinions of their authors'. The responses in the comments below are not provided or commissioned by any advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any company. It is not anyone's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
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