What is the best identity theft protection?
Aura is the best identity protection service: three-bureau credit monitoring, fast alerts, $1 million insurance, and a full security suite (VPN, antivirus, password manager) in one subscription. LifeLock is the experienced alternative, especially bundled with Norton 360.
Identity protection services compete on three things: how much they watch, how fast they alert, and how well they help you recover. Aura currently leads on all three for the money: credit monitoring at all three bureaus (many cheaper plans watch only one), near-real-time alerts in a clean app, $1 million insurance per adult, and the rare bonus that the subscription includes genuinely good antivirus, VPN, and password tools. The family plan covers children, whose unused Social Security numbers are prime targets.
LifeLock is the veteran with the deepest restoration experience; its case managers have walked thousands of victims through cleanup. As a standalone it is priced against Aura; its sweet spot is the Norton 360 with LifeLock bundles, where device security and identity monitoring merge into one subscription. Watch the renewal pricing on both, which climbs steeply after year one.
And pair any subscription with the free heavy hitter: freezing your credit at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion blocks new-account fraud outright. The paid service then covers what a freeze cannot: existing-account abuse, dark-web exposure, and the recovery work when something does go wrong.