Last Updated on March 18, 2023
Identity theft is not a crime that only affects people with a lot of money. It is a crime that can impact anyone, regardless of age, gender, income, or other defining features. This indiscriminate assault on personal information is what makes identity theft such a huge problem.
We really want to like Identity Force. It just leaves us wanting. However, it is a decent product with an affordable price, if you just want to have some basic monitoring of your information.
Aura is our pick between these two products. Not only does it offer monitoring services, but they also have helpful products for protecting your identity as well. This really sets Aura apart from Identity Force. It also has one of the best insurance coverage options in the identity protection market.
Sure, Aura is a bit more expensive than Identity Force, but when it comes to protecting your information and making sure that you are well cared for if your identity is compromised, Aura is a clear winner.
For many people, especially in today’s economy, money is the limiting factor when it comes to purchasing identity theft protection. However, if you are already on a budget, having your identity compromised can be very costly. More costly than purchasing an identity protection program.
We decided to compare Aura with the Identity Force line of products. Both of these identity theft programs sell themselves with their lower cost. Both Aura and Identity Force are great products, they have a bit of variability, but if you are on a budget you really cannot go wrong with either product. The largest difference you will see between the two products is the identity theft insurance. Aura offers greater coverage across the board and also has outstanding customer service.
As we continue with this article, we will take a deeper look at both Aura and Identity Force and show you how each product can benefit you and your family.
Who Should Buy Aura
Aura is a complete software package that provides the consumer with a wide range of identity protection products in a single package. Their packages are designed to protect your personal and financial information from hackers and criminals.
The first thing you will notice with the Aura line of products is that they only have three packages. While many other identity theft products have multiple levels of coverage and complicated pricing structures, Aura keeps their pricing and packages simple and affordable.
Each Aura plan comes with a complete suite of identity and financial protection products. You’ll start with your own VPN and antivirus software. Then Aura adds a password manager, some of the highest identity theft insurance coverage on the market, and industry leading customer service.
Besides these great products, Aura has experts and software programs that work better and faster than other products on the market. Aura’s identity protection products scan the world wide web, the dark web, credit reporting agencies, data broker listings, and criminal court servers for your personal information. They will also track your home title to ensure that your largest investment is jeopardized by criminal activity.
If you should be attacked or your identity stolen, Aura provides up to $1 million in loss and resolution coverage per individual. This amount spans all three of their packages. Their family package covers up to five adults, which means that Aura covers up to $5 million in loss and resolution costs for your family.
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This is just the start of what Aura provides for protecting your identity. One of the three Aura plans might be right for you if:
Who Should Buy Identity Force
Identity Force is another good identity theft protection product for those of us on a budget. Their packages are not as robust as some others, but you can still get good protection from this company.
Identity Force has been developed by TransUnion, one of the three largest credit reporting bureaus. This company has many years of experience in dealing with identity theft issues and has a good reputation for prompt and thoughtful customer service. They offer three levels of coverage, and a package specially designed to protect your children’s personal information.
It is helpful to point out that while Identity Force will monitor your personal information and finances through their product, they do not provide many features to protect you from attacks.
The basic Identity Force package tracks your social security number, monitors social media, and gives access to their VPN product. They will also help you recover your identity if it is hacked in smart phone apps.
The other two packages from Identity Force give you additional features for monitoring your personal and financial information. However, the differences between the three levels are minimal, so paying more for the higher levels of protection may not be worth it for many people.
One of the features that Identity Force offers that we don’t see frequently with other products is their deceased family member monitoring. Many criminals are now targeting the personal information of deceased individuals. This can be a nightmare for people already dealing with the passing of a loved one. This service can be invaluable, and is one that many people don’t think about often.
As Identity Force is a TransUnion product, it is good to know that if your identity is compromised and your credit is impacted, they will work with you to repair your credit at minimal cost to you.
Identity Force is a great product for you if:
Aura vs Identity Force: Most Important Features Compared
Now that we’ve given you a basic overview of Aura and Identity Force, we will dive a little deeper. Below are the features that offer the greatest contrast between the two products. We think that these are the ways that each product stands out from the crowd. They are also the features that we think are most important when it comes to comparing Aura and Identity Force.
Monitoring & Alerts
Identity Force is all about monitoring, so it makes a ton of sense that this product should have a ton of features that work to monitor your identity and alert you to threats. The Identity Force suite of monitoring tools includes:
- TransUnion credit monitoring
- USPS address monitoring
- Court server monitoring
- Advanced fraud monitoring and alerts
- Bank account monitoring (including credit cards)
- Dark web data analysis and monitoring
- Sex offender alerts
- Payday loan monitoring and alerts.
Besides offering the most robust monitoring you can find, the Identity Force product is super fast at providing an accurate list of potential threats to your identity. The amount of information provided for each potential threat is also very robust.
While we really do love the monitoring side of Identity Force, Aura does provide some additional monitoring products that we think are really important. The one that stands out to us is the home title monitoring. Identity Force does not offer this monitoring in any of their packages. The theft of home titles is on the rise, and is a huge threat to your largest investment, so we give Aura the advantage in monitoring, because they watch more than just your personal information.
Threat Resolution Services
The real difference between the resolution services provided by Aura and Identity Force is hours of availability.
When working with the customer service agents for both Identity Force and Aura, we found minimal differences. Both companies had individuals that were exceptionally competent, friendly and helpful. This is very reassuring and comforting, and we would feel very comfortable working with either company if we ever needed their assistance.
The real difference that we noted between the two services was their business hours. If you are in need of assistance, you want to be able to reach someone quickly. Aura has the advantage when it comes to business hours. You can call and work with a identity theft resolution expert no matter the day or time. Their customer service representatives are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This is really one of the features that sets Aura ahead of just about every identity theft protection company out there.
Identity Force does have customer service representatives available every day of the week. However, they are only available between 8 AM and 5:30 PM (EST). This can be frustrating if you discover an attack outside of these hours and have to wait to get in touch with someone.
Theft Insurance
We cannot say anything poor about the theft insurance coverage the Identity Force provides. They follow the industry standard, so you really get the same thing from Identity Force that you would get with most other identity theft protection products.
Identity Force provides you up to $1 million in expenses and lost funds. This is typical, and not unexpected.
Aura does however have one of the better identity theft insurance offerings. While other products have a $1 million coverage for individuals or families, Aura increases their coverage for families. Aura provides $1 million in expense coverage and up to $5 million in lost fund coverage in their family plan. This is truly more than you’ll find with most other products on the market.
Ease of Use
Both Aura and Identity Force have pretty disappointing websites. Actually Aura’s website is not terrible, but the Identity Force dashboard is one of the worst we’ve seen.
Aura should have a better dashboard for their product, given that they are made by IdentityShield, which has an amazing user dashboard. The Aura site is cluttered, and the things you would use the most aren’t located on the front page. For most features, you have to dig through menus to find what you want. Alerts are on the front page, but they are tucked in the corner.
However, compared to the Identity Force dashboard, Aura’s is a dream. We cannot say much positively about the Identity Force dashboard. It is cluttered, busy, and is covered with stuff that we find to be fairly useless.
We can give Aura the advantage for ease of use, but only barely. Both products need to tell their web designers to try again, and use some of the other identity theft products as an example.
Additional Services
We like the additional features and services that Aura provides. It is important to provide some measures of protection against threats when you are trying to keep your personal information safe.
Aura doesn’t have a ton of protection features, but they do provide a decent VPN and antivirus software. Both of these features can be used on your computer, tablet or smartphone. They aren’t the best options out there, but they are included and that is better than nothing. Aura also offers parental controls in their family plan which is a nice added benefit.
Identity Force does give you a VPN, but they don’t offer antivirus protection or parental controls. Their product is designed to monitor your information and help you fix it. It does not provide any features for protecting your information. Identity Force will provide you with forms that you can send to businesses to reduce spam, but that’s as far as their protection products go.
While Aura isn’t the fanciest, we will definitely give them the advantage when it comes to added features and services.
Price
Both Aura and Identity Force are good options if you are on a budget. Both have differing levels of service, and a modest increasing scale of price.
The one place where we just don’t think the added cost is worth it, is the credit monitoring service that Identity Force offers. Sure, it is only an extra $5 per month, but you can get basic credit monitoring products that look at all three credit reporting agencies for free. When it comes to the better value, Aura really does provide you with more features, a better (though only slightly) user interface, and better insurance coverage.
Here is how the Aura plans breakdown:
| Plan Type | Annual Billing | Monthly Billing |
| Individual | $144/year | $15/month |
| Couple (2 adults) | $264/year | $29/month |
| Family (5 adults, unlimited children) | $444/year | $50/month |
Identity Force is a real bummer when it comes to family plans. And their website is just as miserable with providing information as their customer dashboards.
You can easily find the prices for their individual plans, but you’ll need to call and request prices for their family plans. Why? Because their family plan prices change based on the number of children you need to cover.
You can purchase their Childwatch plan, which only covers your children. However this product is only good for kids under 18 years old. If your kids are in college and you want to protect them, you will have to buy individual coverage separate from your family plan.
Identity Force does give you a nice 30 day trial, so if you don’t like their offerings you can cancel for no cost before the 30 days is up.
Here is how the Identity Force plans look:
| 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 |
Final Thoughts on Aura vs Identity Force
We really want to like Identity Force. It just leaves us wanting. However, it is a decent product with an affordable price, if you just want to have some basic monitoring of your information.
Aura is our pick between these two products. Not only does it offer monitoring services, but they also have helpful products for protecting your identity as well. This really sets Aura apart from Identity Force. It also has one of the best insurance coverage options in the identity protection market.
Sure, Aura is a bit more expensive than Identity Force, but when it comes to protecting your information and making sure that you are well cared for if your identity is compromised, Aura is a clear winner.
