Best Aura Alternatives & Competitors Reviewed (2024)

Last Updated on January 8, 2024

There is absolutely no doubt that Aura outranks every other identity theft protection service currently in the market. And we have our test results to prove it

Not only does Aura offer exceptional value for your money, it returns the highest number of dark web alerts in our testing. 

The superiority of Aura’s dark web alerts, plus the fact that they offer automated data broker opt-outs makes them unique in the industry – NO other service does that!

Why You Should Get Aura:

  • You want the best in threat monitoring and alerts.
  • $5 million theft insurance for your (even extended) family appeals to you. (Get Aura’s family plan.)
  • 24/7/365 US-based customer care is important to you
  • You want to get the most identity theft protection value for what you pay for.

In this article we’ll be looking at the top Aura competitors and helping you to decide which identity theft protection service is the best for you.

Top Alternatives and Competitors to Aura’s Identity Theft Protection

Choose Identity Guard If…

Excellent monitoring and alerts is a priority
You’re happy to get no more than $1 million in theft insurance
A higher price for a good service is fine with you
You want to pay a fairly low price for only basic identity theft protection

Choose IdentityForce If…

Limited customer support isn’t a priority for you
You don’t need home title or 401(k) monitoring
You are satisfied to get only $1 million theft insurance
You want effective threat and credit monitoring and resolution

Choose IDShield If…

$1 million theft insurance is more than enough for you
You’re looking for reputation management more than identity theft protection
Limited monitoring and fewer alerts is all you need
Limited customer support availability is fine with you

Choose Complete ID If…

You’re a Costco member already.
You’re more interested in detailed “Neighborhood watch”, criminal record monitoring.
You don’t think it’s important to have 401(k), investments, or home title monitoring, USPS address change monitoring or social media monitoring of any kind.
You’re only needing to cover 2 adults and 5 children in your family.

Choose LifeLock If…

You want a pretty extensive list of monitoring, but...
You aren’t phaswed aout very slow and minimal alerts.
Customer support from actual human beings is not a priority for you.
You don’t mind a big jump in fees after the first year.

Best Aura Alternatives & Competitors: In-Depth Reviews and Comparisons

Identity Guard is one of the leading lights in identity theft protection. The company is highly trusted among all similar services and has almost 20 years of operation under its belt. 

Identity Guard covers many features, but only if you choose the Ultra plan (this includes the most useful offerings). 

Identity Guard vs. Aura: Head-to-Head Comparison

Identity Guard
Aura
Overall Score
4.5/5
5/5
Monitoring & Alerts
  • Identity Guard found 35 alerts in total and,
  • 15 unique dark web alerts – after minutes
Aura found 35 in total and 15 unique dark web alerts, the maximum in our test
Threat Resolution
Only the most expensive Ultra plan offers White Glove support
White glove support is standard in all plans
Theft Insurance Per Adult
$1 million total theft insurance on all plans
  • $5 million identity theft insurance total with the Family plan (up to 5 adults)
  • $1 million per adult on all plans
Customer Support
  • Great US-based customer support, but doesn’t have 24/7 hours of operation
  • Mon-Fri 8 a.m.- 11 p.m., EST. And, Sat 9 a.m.- 6 p.m., EST
Aura offers US-based 24/7/365 support
Additional Services
  • Password manager
  • Childwatch with a family plan
  • VPN
  • Antivirus
  • Parental Controls
  • Password Manager
Cost
Identity Guard is great if you want the cheapest plan, but the best plan – Ultra, is expensive
Aura offers an incredibly low price and value for your money
Renewal Price Increased After 1st Year?
No. You lock in the price for life
No. You lock in the price for life
Promo Code

Identity Guard Pros

The Ultra plan offers a fantastic breadth of monitoring and it came back with the maximum number of alerts in our tests – 35 in all and 15 unique dark web alerts. So yes, they and Aura are the best options for dark web alerts. Both brands run on the same detection technology, which is why our Aura and Identity Guard dark web alerts were identical in number.

The 2 minutes it took to return the alerts is also faster than average. 

Their agents manning customer support are well-versed and experienced – most have a minimum of 7 years’ experience in identity theft protection and resolution. When we called we got an almost immediate answer (no chatbots, no waiting around!)

Another pro is that whatever you pay now remains the same for life. 

Identity Guard Cons

You need to get the Ultra plan if you want everything mentioned in the table above. At a premium price.

You can, of course, pay less for the Value plan – but that only gives you very basic monitoring. The Value plan starts at $7.50 per month and offers $1 million in insurance, customer care team access, risk management, data breach, dark web, and high risk transaction monitoring, plus the safe browsing tool.) 

The Total plan, which starts at $16.67 per month, isn’t much better either. Bank account monitoring is included, as is a monthly 1-bureau credit score and 3-bureau monitoring. And naturally, it has a stiffer price point. 

The Ultra plan ($25 per month) offers all these and a whole lot more (white glove resolution concierge support, social media insights report, credit and debit card and account monitoring, 401(k) and investment account monitoring, criminal and sex offense registry monitoring, USPS address change monitoring, Experian credit lock, and home title monitoring).

Although customer service is excellent, you can only get ahold of them Mon-Fri from 8 a.m. – 11 p.m. EST and Saturdays from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. EST. Closed on Sundays. Not so great in an emergency outside of these hours.

They have no couples plan, only a family plan, which is very expensive. 

You only get $1 million in theft insurance (albeit across all plans). If you are a couple or have a family, that amount has to cover everyone.

Identity Guard Pricing, Free Trial, and Promo Codes

Plan Type
Annual Billing
Monthly Billing
Individual Value
$86.40 /year
$7.20 /month
Individual Total
$191.88 /year
$15.99 /month
Individual Ultra
$287.88 /year
$23.99 /month
Family Value
$143.88 /year
$11.99 /month
Family Total
$287.88 /year
$23.99 /month
Family Ultra
$383.88 /year
$31.99 /month

You can cover 5 adults and an unlimited number of children on the Family plan. However, this is limited to children living under your roof – if you have a kid away at college or are divorced with the kids at another address, you’re out of luck.

Identity Guard discounts vary through the year (currently it’s 16% off the annual payments across all plans), but our discount link gets you 33% off. Make sure you use it for maximum savings.

If you sign up on any of the annual plans you also get a 60-day, money-back guarantee.

IdentityForce

IdentityForce is supposed to be one of the cheaper options in identity theft protection but quite frankly, that’s not true (Aura offers way more, at a lower price point – see below.)

IdentityForce offers advanced fraud monitoring, change of address monitoring, court records monitoring, dark web monitoring and data analysis, sex offender monitoring, payday loan monitoring, and bank and credit card monitoring

IdentityForce vs. Aura: Head-to-Head Comparison

IdentityForce
Aura
Overall Score
4/5
5/5
Monitoring & Alerts
  • IdentityForce found 19 alerts in all, and
  • 7 dark web alerts
Aura found 35 in total and 15 unique dark web alerts, the maximum in our test
Threat Resolution
Concierge fraud resolution service
White glove support is standard in all plans
Theft Insurance Per Adult
$1 million in coverage for lost funds and expenses, separately
  • $5 million identity theft insurance total with the Family plan (up to 5 adults)
  • $1 million per adult on all plans
Customer Support
  • US-based
  • 8 a.m. – 5.30 p.m. (EST) 7 days a week
Aura offers US-based 24/7/365 support
Additional Services
  • VPN only
  • Childwatch with a family plan
  • VPN
  • Antivirus
  • Parental Controls
  • Password Manager
Cost
Excellent monitoring for a budget-friendly service
Aura offers an incredibly low price and value for your money
Renewal Price Increased After 1st Year?
No. You lock in the price for life
No. You lock in the price for life
Promo Code

IdentityForce Pros

IdentityForce offers a decent range of monitoring tools that cover most of your basic needs.

The scanning was quick – it took 1 minute – and it was pretty spot-on. In our test, IdentityForce came back with 19 dark web alerts and 7 unique dark web alerts. Not bad.

If you have kids, their Childwatch protection service is a great add-on (at $2.75 a month) if you are on the individual plan. This is excellent if you’re a single parent. Childwatch covers child credit monitoring, social media monitoring (cyberbullying and harassment) and full identity monitoring. 

Childwatch is added automatically to the Family plan.

IdentityForce Cons

IdentityForce’s customer support is only available between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. (EST) every day, including weekends. So, it’s not a 24 hour service. This is not ideal – emergencies can happen at any time and identity theft will do tremendous damage if not addressed immediately.

Home title and 401(k) and investment monitoring are also important features for many, but are not included with IdentityForce. 

It also doesn’t offer any extras to speak of, except a VPN and a couple of opt-out forms that you can send to companies Experian if you want to be removed from their mailing lists.

It’s pricey for what it is.  Particularly if you go for 3-bureau credit monitoring (which you should). Just look at what you get for less in an individual membership at Aura, where you’d pay $12 a month and get more features than what IdentityForce offers at $19.95.

If you want to cover your spouse you will need to double an individual membership – there is no couples plan. This makes it even more expensive.

A note on IdentityForce’s pricing: It’s confusing the way they present it on their website and I had to call in and ask them to explain it. The website – also frustratingly – makes price comparison difficult. It is virtually impossible to compare the Ultrasecure (basic) plan to the more expensive tiers. 

The company is also weirdly cagey about its Family plan – you need to call in to get pricing. I’m assuming that’s because it fluctuates.

That said, I managed to work out the full range of prices in the table below.

IdentityForce Pricing, Free Trial, and Promo Codes

Plan Type
Annual Billing
Monthly Billing
Ultra Secure
$179.50 /year
$17.95 /month
UltraSecure
$239.40 /year
$19.95 /month
UltraSecure + Credit Monitoring
$239.50 /year
$23.95 /month
Get 25% NOW

IdentityForce currently offers a 30-day free trial and a (marginal) discount unless you buy through our discount link, which will get you 25 percent off any plan.

IDShield

IDShield plans are priced rather high for what you’d expect. Nevertheless, it’s a decent service with a few unique features that I’ll be explaining below. 

I would describe IDShield as a decent option for identity theft protection – nothing more, nothing less.

IDShield offers: data breach and dark web monitoring, social security number monitoring, social media monitoring, credit monitoring, bank account monitoring, payday loan monitoring, and reputation and privacy management (see below for details).

IDShield vs. Aura: Head-to-Head Comparison

IDShield
Aura
Overall Score
3.5/5
5/5
Monitoring & Alerts
  • IDShield found 24 alerts in total and,
  • 8 unique dark web alerts
Aura found 35 in total and 15 unique dark web alerts, the maximum in our test
Threat Resolution
Excellent customer service
White glove support is standard in all plans
Theft Insurance Per Adult
$1 million total theft insurance on all plans
  • $5 million identity theft insurance total with the Family plan (up to 5 adults)
  • $1 million per adult on all plans
Customer Support
US-based 24/7 support
Aura offers US-based 24/7/365 support
Additional Services
  • VPN
  • Antivirus software (with 15 device licenses)
  • Password manager
  • Reputation management tool
  • VPN
  • Antivirus
  • Parental Controls
  • Password Manager
Cost
More expensive than Aura with less protection
Aura offers an incredibly low price and value for your money
Renewal Price Increased After 1st Year?
No
No. You lock in the price for life
Promo Code

IDShield Pros

When we ran it through our tests, IDShield came back with alerts fairly quickly (faster than a few other services) – within 24 hours… and impressed me with 24 alerts in total, and 8 unique dark web alerts. A happy surprise! 

Their monitoring generally covers the basics – credit monitoring, dark web monitoring, etc. 

IDShield also has in-house private investigators who help you recover your identity. I thought that was awesome.

Now, are IDShield’s private investigators actually more competent than the threat resolution specialists at other companies? I’m not sure, but the title does inspire confidence.

Most readers will find greater value in Aura’s automated data broker opt-out service, but for those looking to monitor their past and present social media posts, IDShield may be of interest.

IDShield Cons

401(k),  investments, and home title monitoring are not monitored by IDShield.

Customer support hours are only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. There is 24/7 emergency support, but this is manned by a skeleton crew who don’t have access to the tools available during normal hours. They therefore won’t be much help if you have something serious to deal with.

IDShield has no tools for parents if you have kids. Also, your children can only be covered on the Family plan up to age 18.

IDShield Pricing, Free Trial, and Promo Codes

Plan Type
1 Credit Bureau Monitoring
3 Credit Bureau Monitoring
Individual
$14.95 /month
$19.95 /month
Family
$29.95 /month
$34.95 /month

There is no promo code and IDShield is not offering a free trial period or discounts at the moment. Unlike Aura that offer the best discounts now.

4. Costco Complete ID

Complete ID, a very basic identity theft protection service, is only available to Costco members. They offer dark web surveillance, Social Security number monitoring, neighborhood watch, criminal record monitoring, alternative loan monitoring, child monitoring,  financial account takeover services, and mail change alerts. 

Costco Complete ID vs. Aura: Head-to-Head Comparison

Complete ID
Aura
Overall Score
3/5
5/5
Monitoring & Alerts
  • After many days CompleteID came back with 27 alerts in total, but
  • No unique dark web alerts
Aura found 35 in total and 15 unique dark web alerts, the maximum in our test
Threat Resolution
Reasonable customer service
White glove support is standard in all plans
Theft Insurance Per Adult
$1 million for expenses and lost funds combined
  • $5 million identity theft insurance total with the Family plan (up to 5 adults)
  • $1 million per adult on all plans
Customer Support
US-based 24/7 support
Aura offers US-based 24/7/365 support
Additional Services
  • VPN
  • ‘Safe Browser’
  • Password manager
  • VPN
  • Antivirus
  • Parental Controls
  • Password Manager
Cost
Expensive if you take into regard you need to buy Costco membership first
Aura offers an incredibly low price and value for your money
Renewal Price Increased After 1st Year?
No, not currently, but you need to watch it
No. You lock in the price for life
Promo Code

Costco Complete ID Pros

Unless you’re already a Costco member, there’s not really much going for Complete ID in terms of pros.

That isn’t to say they’re all bad though – something they do with astounding detail is the neighborhood watch monitoring feature which notifies you of known criminals in your area and their details. 

Their credit monitoring is also good, but again, only if you are already a Costco member.

Costco Complete ID Cons

Complete ID doesn’t offer 401(k) investments, and home title monitoring at all. They also don’t cover USPS address change monitoring or any type of social media monitoring.

It’s expensive and you have to be a Costco member to sign up. In other words, you end up having to pay an extra $60 per year (for a Business/Gold Star membership) or $120 a year (for an Executive membership).

Family plans only cover two adults and five children. That’s less than many other services. 

Aura, for example, covers up to five adults and an unlimited number of children. Other services such as IDForce and IDShield, cover an unlimited number of children, albeit only 2 adults.

Under its insurance policy, reimbursement for legal fees cannot exceed $125 an hour. 

The $1 million for each plan means that on the couple’s or family plan, you actually get only $500,000 for each adult.

Costco Complete ID Pricing, Free Trial, and Promo Codes

Plan Type
Executive Members
Gold Star Members
Individual Value
$8.99 /month
$13.99 /month
One Adult + Children
$11.98 /month
$17.98 /month
Two Adults
$15.99 /month
$25.99 /month
Two Adults + Children
$18.99 /month
$29.99 /month

Complete ID currently has no free trial, no promo code, and no discounts.

Coming from a company that is a giant in the antivirus software industry, you’d think an Identity theft protection product from the would-be pretty hot stuff… but it isn’t, quite frankly. 

While they offer a nice broad range of monitoring, including fraud monitoring, bank account monitoring, dark web monitoring, USPS address change monitoring, credit monitoring, court record monitoring, and home title monitoring, their actual scanning i.e., the alerts they return, leave much to be desired.

LifeLock vs. Aura: Head-to-Head Comparison

LifeLock
Aura
Overall Score
2.5/5
5/5
Monitoring & Alerts
LifeLock only found 1 alert
Aura found 35 in total and 15 unique dark web alerts, the maximum in our test
Threat Resolution
Priority support only on the most expensive plan
White glove support is standard in all plans
Theft Insurance Per Adult
Reimbursement and expense compensation
  • $25,000 on Standard Plan
  • $100,000 on Advantage Plan
All plans: up to $1 million for coverage of lawyers and experts, collectively, if needed
  • $5 million identity theft insurance total with the Family plan (up to 5 adults)
  • $1 million per adult on all plans
Customer Support
LifeLock promises US-based experts but when we tested this, our experience was terrible
Aura offers US-based 24/7/365 support
Additional Services
  • VPN
  • Antivirus
  • Parental Controls
  • Password Manager
  • VPN
  • Antivirus
  • Parental Controls
  • Password Manager
Cost
You pay more for less protection from LifeLock (compared to Aura for example)
Aura offers an incredibly low price and value for your money
Renewal Price Increased After 1st Year?
Renewal price is increased after first year
No. You lock in the price for life
Promo Code

LifeLock Pros

The monitoring covers an extensive range. The extras are very handy and work well (to be expected as this is their core business). They also have a very neat, user-friendly dashboard (better than most services, including Aura!)

Their insurance breakdown isn’t bad at all (most particularly if you take the top tier). Their “Million Dollar Protection Package” for each plan ranges from minimum on the Select plan, to maximum on the Ultimate Plus plan. They offer:

Up to $1 million to cover lawyers and experts, collectively, if needed, for all plans. 

Plus, reimbursement and expense compensation of up to $25,000 for the Standard plan, up to $100,000 for the Advantage plan, and up to $1 million for Ultimate Plus.

LifeLock Cons

Unfortunately, this section is more scathing than the preceding one! 

Not only is Lifelock expensive, but their actual monitoring/scanning is terrible. In our test, it only returned 1 alert. One. After a long wait too. 

Their customer support is, well, unhelpful. You constantly get bumped around various chatbots and have to jump through various hoops before you even get a phone number and then. They claim that it is US-based, but I wonder. 

As for the increase year on year, the difference that jumps after the first year is extraordinary. 

LifeLock Pricing, Free Trial, and Promo Codes

Plan Type
Annual Billing
Monthly Billing
Individual Standard
$89.99 /year
$11.99 /month
Individual Advantage
$179.88 /year
$22.99 /month
Individual Ultimate Plus
$239.88 /year
$19.99 /month
Family (2 adults) Standard
$149.87 /year
$23.99 /month
Family (2 adults) Advantage
$287.88 /year
$45.99 /month
Family (2 adults) Ultimate Plus
$395.88 /year
$69.99 /month
Family (5 adults) Standard
$221.87 /year
$35.99 /month
Family (5 adults) Advantage
$359.88 /year
$57.99 /month
Family (5 adults) Ultimate Plus
$467.88 /year
$79.99 /month

Discounts apply to the first year of subscription only. LifeLock does not offer a free trial or money-back guarantee.

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