• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The College Investor

Student Loans, Investing, Building Wealth

  • About
  • Podcast
  • Research
  • Contact
  • Save For College
      • How To Start

      • How To Save For College
      • How To Pay For College
      • What Is the Average Cost of College?
      • What Is A 529 Plan and Where to Open One in Your State
      • How Much Should You Have In A 529 Plan By Age
      • How To Use A 529 Plan For Private Elementary And High School
      • What Are Qualified Expenses For A 529 Plan (And What Doesn’t Count)?
      • The Best Brokers To Open A 529 Plan
      • Tools + Accounts

      • 529 Plans: The Ultimate College Savings Plan
      • 529 Plan Contribution Limits
      • Prepaid Tuition Plans | What To Know
      • Understanding And Using 529A ABLE Accounts
      • Using A Roth IRA To Save And Pay For College
      • FAFSA Deadlines for Financial Aid
      • CollegeBacker Review
      • Upromise Review
      • UNest Review
      • Other Options

      • Student Loan And Financial Aid Programs By State
      • The Guide To Military And VA Education Benefits
      • How To Fill Out The FAFSA
      • How To Find College Scholarships
      • The Best College Scholarship Search Websites
      • How To Find Grants To Pay For College
      • Pell Grants: What They Are And How To Qualify
      • Understanding Federal Work-Study
      • How To Use A 529 Plan If Your Child Doesn’t Go To College
  • Student Loans
      • Borrowing

        • How Student Loans Work
        • How To Apply For A Student Loan
        • Best Student Loans And Rates In August 2022
        • 10 Best Private Student Loans Of August 2022
        • Best Student Loans To Pay For Graduate School
        • Best Student Loans To Pay For Medical School
        • Parent Loans To Pay For College
        • No-Cosigner Student Loan Options
        • Guide To Income Sharing Agreements (ISAs)
        • Best International Student Loans
      • Get Out Of Debt

        • Best Student Loan Refinance Companies In August 2022
        • Best Student Loan Repayment Plans
        • Best Student Loan Refinancing Bonuses And Promotional Offers Of August 2022
        • Student Loan Forgiveness Programs (The Complete List)
        • The Full List Of Student Loan Forgiveness Programs By State
        • Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
        • Top Student Loan Scams
        • Average Student Loan Monthly Payment
        • Average Student Loan Debt By Year
      • Reviews

        • Credible Review
        • Splash Review
        • Ascent Review
        • Citizens Bank Review
        • Commonbond Review
        • Earnest Review
        • ELFI Review
        • Laurel Road Review
        • LendKey Review
        • SoFi Review
  • Investing
      • How To Start

        • How To Start Investing in High School
        • How To Start Investing In College
        • How To Start Investing In Your Twenties For 22 – 29 Year Olds
        • How To Start Investing In Your 30s For 30 – 39 Year Olds
        • How To Start Investing With $100 Or Less
        • How To Give Kids The Gift Of Stock
        • What Is Dividend Growth Investing
        • IRA Rollover Chart
      • Tools + Accounts

        • Best Online Stock Brokers
        • The Best Traditional And Roth IRA Accounts
        • The Best Robo-Advisors
        • The Best Investing Apps
        • The Best Places to Trade Options
        • The Best Places To Open A Health Savings Account
        • The Best Solo 401k Providers
        • The Best Self-Directed IRA Providers Of 2022
        • Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges
      • Reviews

        • Vanguard Review
        • Fidelity Review 2022: Still One Of The Best Online Brokers
        • M1 Finance Review
        • TD Ameritrade Review 2022
        • Charles Schwab Review
        • Robinhood Review
        • Webull Review
        • Betterment Review
        • Wealthfront Review
  • Earn More Money
      • Extra Income

        • 15 Best Side Hustle Jobs You Can Start Earning With In 2022
        • 53 Side Hustle Ideas To Make Money Fast
        • 100 Ways To Make Money In College
        • 80 Ways To Make Money From Home In 2022
        • 5 Quick Money Making Ideas (That Take Less Than 1 Hour)
        • 10 Interesting Ways You Can Make Money Driving
        • High-Paying Side Gigs That Earn $1,000 or More Per Month
        • The 10 Best Money-Making Apps
        • Paid Surveys: Earn Money For Giving Your Opinion Online
        • 10 Crazy Ways To Make $10,000 You’ve Never Heard Of
      • Build Wealth

        • 35 Passive Income Ideas You Can Use To Build Wealth In 2022
        • 3 Ways To Make $50,000 Per Year Without Working With Passive Income
        • How To Become A Real Estate Investor With Just $500
        • 15 Best Online Business Ideas
        • How to Create Streams of Passive Income on a Limited Budget
        • Residual Income: 7 Super Smart Ways to Build It
        • The Most Common Multiple Income Streams
        • How To Become A Real Estate Mogul With Only $10,000
      • Reviews

        • Fundrise Review
        • RealtyMogul Review
        • FarmTogether Review
        • AcreTrader Review
        • Swagbucks Review
        • Survey Junkie Review
        • TopCashback Review
        • DoorDash Review
  • Personal Finance
      • Banking

        • Best High Yield Savings Accounts Of August 2022
        • 10 Best Money Market Accounts Of August 2022
        • Best Free Checking Accounts In August 2022
        • Best Bank CD Rates Of August 2022
        • 10 Best Business Checking Accounts In August 2022
        • Best Free Online Banks Of August 2022
        • Best Credit Unions Nationwide Of August 2022
        • Best College Student Checking Accounts Of August 2022
      • Insurance

        • Best Life Insurance Companies
        • Renters Insurance
        • Car Insurance
        • Pet Insurance
        • Umbrella Insurance
        • Disability Insurance
        • Tuition Insurance
        • Travel Insurance
      • Credit Tools

        • Best Budgeting Apps
        • Cash Advance Apps
        • How To Get A Free Credit Score Report
        • The Best Credit Monitoring Services
        • Debt Settlement: Inside The Secret World
        • Credit Repair Explained: Should You Pay For Help?
        • Best Personal Loan Companies And Lenders
        • Online Loan Companies To Borrow From Home
      • Tax

        • Best Tax Software
        • Free Tax Software
        • IRS Tax Refund Calendar
        • Common IRS Questions and Errors
        • Federal Tax Brackets
        • Capital Gains Tax Brackets
        • 401k Contribution Limits
        • IRA Contribution Limits
        • HSA Contribution Limits
  • Forum
  • Search
Home » Credit » Good Score » Monitoring » The Best Credit Monitoring Services

The Best Credit Monitoring Services

Updated: December 29, 2021 By Robert Farrington

Tweet
Share5
Share
Pin19
Email

At The College Investor, we want to help you navigate your finances. To do this, many or all of the products featured here may be from our partners. This doesn’t influence our evaluations or reviews. Our opinions are our own. Learn more here.Advertiser Disclosure

There are thousands of financial products and services out there, and we believe in helping you understand which is best for you, how it works, and will it actually help you achieve your financial goals. We're proud of our content and guidance, and the information we provide is objective, independent, and free.

But we do have to make money to pay our team and keep this website running! Our partners compensate us. TheCollegeInvestor.com has an advertising relationship with some or all of the offers included on this page, which may impact how, where, and in what order products and services may appear. The College Investor does not include all companies or offers available in the marketplace. And our partners can never pay us to guarantee favorable reviews (or even pay for a review of their product to begin with).

For more information and a complete list of our advertising partners, please check out our full Advertising Disclosure. TheCollegeInvestor.com strives to keep its information accurate and up to date. The information in our reviews could be different from what you find when visiting a financial institution, service provider or a specific product's website. All products and services are presented without warranty.

best credit monitoring services

By the time you turn 18 in America, you know that a lot can hang on the balance of your credit score from loan eligibility, to insurance rates, to even your ability to open a phone service account. Unfortunately, over 16 million American were victims of identity theft or credit card fraud in 2019, which can wreak havoc on a credit score. 

Keeping a close eye on your credit score and report is not a luxury -- it's a necessity. You need to be watching it closely. Doing so, will help you detect identity theft or misuse of your credit before someone throws your entire financial life into a tailspin.

If you have a goal to buy a house or take out some other type of loan in the near future, monitoring your credit can help you improve your score so you can qualify for better interest rates. And if you'd like to refinance your student loans down the road, strong credit will, again, be important.

Thankfully, there are several strong credit monitoring services that can help you stay on top of your credit. The best credit monitoring services will notify you whenever they notice anything suspicious on your reports and may even offer advice on how to improve your score. Keep reading to see which credit monitoring services we like the most.

Best Credit Monitoring Services
1. Credit Karma
2. Credit Sesame
3. Experian IdentityWorks
4. IdentityForce
5. FICO Ultimate 3B Credit Monitoring
6. Identity Guard

The 6 Best Credit Monitoring Services

There are two key factors to consider when you’re choosing a credit monitoring service. First, you'll want to pay attention to the cost. Some credit monitoring services are free, while others require that you pay a monthly or annual fee.

It’s also important to check to see if the monitoring service covers only one credit reporting bureau, two, or all three. Let’s jump into talking about six of the best credit monitoring services that will help you watch your credit so you don’t become a victim. 

1. Credit Karma

Credit Karma is one the best credit monitoring services on the market today.  And a big reason is that it's one of the only services that's truly FREE.

While many credit monitoring services charge $10+ per month to show your credit report and scores, Credit Karma never even asks for a credit card number. Their free service even includes helpful credit advice and will notify you if it's been discovered that you personal information was exposed in a data breach.

How are they able to do offer all of this for free? Credit Karma's has an advertising business model. When you use their platform, they will recommend credit cards or loans that they think you'd be a good fit for. But by no means are you forced to apply with any of their partners. You can happily use Credit Karma for free forever.

Credit Karma allows you to monitor your TransUnion and Equifax credit reports. Every time you sign into the Credit Karma portal, you'll also see your credit score which is based on the VantageScore 3.0 model. However, if you're wanting to see your Experian report and score, you'll need to use a different service. 

Credit Karma Logo
OPEN AN ACCOUNT

2. Credit Sesame

Next on our list of best credit monitoring services is Credit Sesame. Like Credit Karma, you can use Credit Sesame completely for free -- no credit card required.

In addition to helping you keep tabs on your credit, Credit Sesame offer free identity theft insurance coverage. Here's what the free insurance covers:

  • 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

Credit Sesame's free plan only provides your TransUnion credit report and score. But if you'd like monitoring for all three of the major credit bureaus, you can upgrade to one of their paid plans which start at $9.95 per month.

Credit Sesame Logo
OPEN AN ACCOUNT

3. Experian IdentityWorks

If you are looking for a credit monitoring service that can protect you and your family, Experian IdentityWorks may be worth considering. Their credit monitoring covers all three of the major bureaus in the United States. You can try Experian IdentityWorks free for 30 days and then it starts at $9.99 per month for one adult.

If you have a spouse and kids and would like to monitor your credit as a family (a spouse and up to 10 children), Experian IdentityWorks has a $19.99 per month plan you can sign up for. Or if you’re a single parent, you can monitor your credit and that of up to 10 children for $14.99 per month.

Experian IdentityWorks offers identity theft monitoring with dark web surveillance and alerts. They also offer fraud resolution with up to $1 million of identity theft insurance. This coverage could replace stolen funds linked to unauthorized electronic transactions and lost wages.

Experian Logo
OPEN AN ACCOUNT

4. IdentityForce

IdentityForce takes credit monitoring and brings it to a whole new level. They not only monitor your credit, but your entire identity to make sure you're protected.

IdentityForce will keep an eye on your credit, but also look for fraud, people trying to change your address, bank alerts, dark web monitoring of your information, and more. Of course, you also get the basics like your credit score once a month.

The basic plan starts at $14.99 per month, but if you want the credit monitoring, you need the UltraSecure+Credit Plan, which is $19.99 per month (if you sign up for a year of service – you get two months for free).

IdentityForce Logo
OPEN AN ACCOUNT

5. FICO Ultimate 3B Credit Monitoring

Most of the credit monitoring services we've covered base the credit scores they provide on the VantageScore 3.0 model. But if you'd like to see your actual FICO® score, you can go right to the source. For $29.95 per month, FICO® Ultimate 3B credit monitoring gives you quarterly access to a new credit report from all 3 bureaus.

As a consumer, it’s important for you to know that your credit score is calculated in very different ways depending on the industry that is pulling your credit. For example, the score that FICO® provides to mortgage banks can can be slightly different than the one that auto loan lenders see.

FICO® Ultimate 3B gives you access to 28 of the most commonly used FICO® score versions. This makes it easier for you to monitor your credit and improve on it where necessary depending on the type of loan you plan to apply for.

You can expect to find your most reliable credit score with FICO® Ultimate 3B because of this model. FICO® Ultimate 3B will also provide you with identity theft insurance of up to $1 million.

FICO LOGO
OPEN AN ACCOUNT

6. Identity Guard

Identity Guard credit monitoring starts at $7.50 per month for individuals and $12.50 per month for the entire family. They're the only one of the credit monitoring services that offers identity theft protection powered by IBM Watson Artificial Intelligence.

Identity Guard's plans offer features like 3-bureau monthly credit scores and reports and a personalized risk management score. They also have tools to help you browse the internet safely and anti-phishing software that will pick up on emails trying to steal your information. 

Identity Guard New Logo
OPEN AN ACCOUNT

Final Thoughts

Bonus tip: your bank may offer credit monitoring services too. Several major banks, such as Chase Bank, Capital One, and Wells Fargo offer free credit scores and reporting to their customers.

However, these free products usually lack features like identity theft reporting and insurance. So while it is okay to start with your bank, the credit monitoring services we mentioned in this post offer the best blend of the robust monitoring that you really need at prices you can afford.

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.

The Best Credit Monitoring Services
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.
Subscribe
Connect with
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of

I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Primary Sidebar

Robert Farrington will teach you how to get out of student loan debt and how to start investing.

Hi! My Name is

America's Millennial Money Expert

Welcome to The College Investor. We're here to help you escape student loan debt so you can start investing and building wealth for the future

Our expert guides, reviews, and more are designed to help you achieve your financial goals.

Want to learn more? See what's in my wallet.

As Featured In

Social Media

Popular Posts

Side Hustling

53 Side Hustle Ideas To Make Money Fast

Best Side Hustles

15 Best Side Hustle Jobs You Can Start Earning With In 2022

Make Money From Home

80 Ways To Make Money From Home In 2022

Crazy Ways To Make $10,000

10 Crazy Ways To Make $10,000 You’ve Never Heard Of

Make $50,000 Per Year

3 Ways To Make $50,000 Per Year Without Working With Passive Income

Student Loan Scams

Top Student Loan Scams

Net Worth of Millennials

Average Net Worth Of Millennials By Age

Ways To Get Student Loan Forgiveness

Student Loan Forgiveness Programs (The Complete List)

529 Plan By Age

How Much Should You Have In A 529 Plan By Age

Passive Income Ideas

35 Passive Income Ideas You Can Use To Build Wealth In 2022

Ultimate Guides

529 Plan Guide

529 Plans: The Ultimate Guide To College Savings Plans

Student Loans and Financial Aid By State

Student Loan And Financial Aid Programs By State

Student Loan Advice

The Definitive Guide To Student Loan Debt: Everything To Know About Your Loans

Student Loan Forgiveness By State

The Full List Of Student Loan Forgiveness Programs By State

newretirement

How to Start Saving Now: The College Graduate’s Guide to Saving for Retirement

Latest Research

Institutional Merit Grants

Who Gets Institutional Merit Grants At Private Colleges?

Resume Student Loan Payments

Survey: Even With Higher Expenses, Most Student Loan Borrowers Are Ready To Resume Payments

Support From Parents Survey

64% Of Millennials Receive Support From Their Parents

undermatching at selective colleges

Undermatching: Why Do Smart Low-Income Students Not Enroll In Selective Colleges?

How Much Americans Pay To File Their Taxes

How Much Americans Pay To File Their Taxes

Footer

Who We Are

The College Investor is an independent, advertising-supported publisher of financial content, including news, product reviews, and comparisons.

Connect

  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Press & Media

About

  • About
  • Our Team
  • Podcast
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • How We Make Money
  • Archives

Social

Copyright © 2022 · The College Investor · Privacy Policy ·Terms of Service · DO NOT Sell My Personal Information

wpDiscuz