In the Identity Guard vs. IdentityForce competition, Identity Guard comes out on top. Weeks of testing revealed it’s the better service for families, especially those on a tight budget. Both of these services are above average but below the best. 

If you want your family’s best identity theft protection, you want Aura. Really, Aura is more than identity theft protection – it’s an all-in-one digital security service that includes everything from comprehensive monitoring to parental controls.

While a comparison can be made with a reasonably effective identity theft protection service, I highly recommend Aura, which provides superior product and coverage. Take advantage of the limited-time offer today and save as much as 50% on Aura.

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

Monitoring: Winner – IdentityForce 

Technically, IdentityForce comes ahead in this category, but it was tough to call. 

When I evaluate a service’s monitoring capabilities, I look for several things: 

1. Comprehensiveness
2. Accuracy
3. Timeliness
4. Actionability

Identity Guard and IdentityForce offer all of the above to some degree, but they fall short of the best identity protection services available. While one is very accurate, the other is more comprehensive, and neither features the breadth of monitoring services I’d really like to see – they miss specialized tools like auto title monitoring. 

For discussion purposes, I’ve broken this category into two parts – identity monitoring and credit and financial monitoring. 

We’ll start with identity monitoring services, which you should focus on when choosing identity protection. 

Credit monitoring, though useful, is secondary. Many free tools help you monitor your credit outside of your chosen ID protection company. Or, if you have the energy and time, you can monitor your credit on your own. 

Related Article: A Detailed Review on Identity Guard

Identity

Both Identity Guard and IdentityForce offer the following identity monitoring services: 

Identity Guard goes a step further by also including home title monitoring. That makes it one of the most comprehensive monitoring options. Still, there are better options – Aura, for example, also includes auto title monitoring, and it does this with its standard plan (you don’t have to pay more for it). 

Meanwhile, Identity Guard only looks comprehensive when you opt for its top-tier plan. 

It’s crucial to note that Identity Guard’s lower-tier options offer a much narrower breadth of monitoring services. Its “Value plan” only includes dark web monitoring and data breach notifications, meaning it’s truly the bare minimum in identity protection. 

Meanwhile, IdentityForce offers all of the above lists with all of its plan options.  

Regarding accuracy, both Identity Guard and IdentityForce are more accurate than most other services I’ve tested. But, perhaps surprisingly, IdentityForce takes the cake here – it found ten unique dark web alerts during testing. Identity Guard only found nine. 

In judging timeliness and actionability, both services get an A+. 

After signing up, alerts started pouring in from both services at a rate far better than other big-name companies I’ve tested. LifeLock, Allstate, and Costco Complete took hours (or days) to find the same vulnerabilities that IdentityForce and IdentityGuard found in minutes. 

And both services offered alerts that were easy to act on. Take a look. 

Here’s one from Identity Guard:

It offers everything I need, including the compromised e-mail, when the leak occurred, and what I can do to prevent potential problems later. 

IdentityForce’s alerts are similar, providing everything I needed to take proactive and protective steps.  

Credit and Financial

Both IdentityForce and Identity Guard allow you to purchase plans without credit and financial monitoring tools. If you opt for those low-level plans, you’ll save money, but you’ll have to monitor your credit score and financial accounts yourself, which takes significant time and effort. 

I prefer to have my identity protection service monitor my credit and financial accounts for me. It just makes it easier to have everything in one place. If you’re like me, you’ll need to opt for at least the mid-tier plan from Identity Guard or IdentityForce’s upper-tier option, “UltraSecure + Credit.” 

Then, you’ll receive: 

IdentityForce also comes with several credit tools, including a credit score tracker and credit score simulator. 

The simulator is sort of handy if you’re trying to make a big purchase or improve your credit score since it lets you play out several scenarios. You can see what might happen if you took out a loan or paid off a credit card, or transferred a credit card balance. 

Identity Guard doesn’t offer tools like this, but it does include an in-portal Experian credit lock with its top-tier plan.

IdentityForce only offers credit freeze assistance, but it does include that as a standard. So, even if you opt for its lower-tier plan, you’ll have expert help freezing your credit at all three bureaus.

Threat Resolution: Winner – IdentityForce  

Whether or not a service is good at threat resolution comes down to a few key questions: 

Identity Guard and IdentityForce both do well in this area, but as you’ll see, Identity Force is a step ahead. 

Customer Service

Identity Guard and IdentityForce offer excellent customer service. I called them back-to-back one Monday afternoon and was impressed. In both cases, I reached a friendly and helpful representative in under two minutes. 

Unfortunately, Identity Guard’s customer service team isn’t 24/7/365. They have limited hours: Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. – 11 p.m. (EST) and Saturdays from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. (EST). 

IdentityForce, meanwhile, offers 24/7 customer service (except on major holidays), putting them out in front of Identity Guard. 

Identity Restoration Services

IdentityForce also looks better when it comes to identity restoration services. While Identity Guard offers top-notch white-glove identity restoration services with their top-tier plan, it’s not available with their mid or low-tier options. 

IdentityForce offers the same level of restoration services with all of its plans. 

IdentityForce also includes several features that other services don’t in this area, including:

Lost Wallet Protection

Though both IdentityForce and Identity Guard offer lost wallet protection policies, Identity Guard is slightly above average.

While both services will help you cancel and replace your wallet’s contents if it’s lost or stolen, only Identity Guard will send emergency funds, up to $2,000, from another one of your accounts. Depending on where and how your wallet ends up stolen or lost, that could be a huge help!

Family Plans: Winner – Identity Guard

When I’m evaluating family plans, I look for family-specific features and flexibility.  

Family-specific features might include parental controls, secure family vaults, or other things that make the Internet a little safer for you and yours. And flexibility is important because families come in all shapes and sizes – not everyone fits the two-parents-plus-kids mold. 

Identity Guard wins this area. 

Even though it doesn’t offer much in the way of family features, it does offer lots of flexibility. With Identity Guard, you can have up to five adults and unlimited children on any plan. That means you can cover your college-aged kids, parents, in-laws, and siblings – whoever you need to protect. 

IdentityForce’s family plans are more rigid. They only allow for two adults. They also make it difficult to sign up – you have to call their sales team. That’s unnecessarily difficult, as it takes additional time that many of us (especially parents of young children) don’t have. 

That said, IdentityForce does include a unique feature. Their ChildWatch suite includes comprehensive social media monitoring that alerts parents to signs of violence, racism, bullying, and harassment on kids’ social media accounts. 

In truth, though, neither of these services offers everything a family needs. If you want full protection from cyberthieves, bullies, online predators, fraudsters, and scammers, I suggest looking at Aura. 

Aura offers two things in particular that Identity Guard and IdentityForce don’t…

Parental Control Features

First, Aura includes parental controls. These allow parents with young children to: 

And, unlike other services (such as LifeLock), Aura’s parental controls work on the devices you need them too, including your children’s Android or iPhone. 

Safe Gaming and Anti-bullying Monitoring

Aura also includes safe gaming controls. 

Online multiplayer games are extremely popular, especially among teens and tweens. Unfortunately, they’re also littered with risks that are difficult for parents to navigate. Many children report experiencing bullying, violence, and predatory behaviors when interacting with other players online.

Aura helps parents monitor this. Their safe gaming controls monitor player voice and text interactions for signs of bullying, harassment, and other targeting behaviors so that parents can step in when needed.

Theft Insurance: Winner – Tie

As far as theft insurance coverage goes, neither IdentityForce nor Identity Guard stands out. Both are right in line with the industry average – $1 million in aggregate theft insurance coverage. 

And, their limits are strikingly similar…

Here’s Identity Guard’s: 

And here’s IdentityForce’s: 

They’re almost exactly the same. 

There’s only one obvious downside here. If you opt for a family plan through Identity Guard and include five adults, that insurance coverage has to go a long way. You better hope multiple people in your family don’t experience a theft event within the same year!

As a side note, Aura avoids that problem by offering increasing insurance coverage with each adult on your plan. Like Identity Guard, they allow you to have up to five adults – unlike Identity Guard, they increase your insurance by $1 million with each addition. That’s up to $5 million total.

Ease of Use: Winner – Identity Guard

I like both Identity Guard and IdentityForce’s user interfaces. They’re organized and easy to understand. They’re also both relatively simple to sign up for and get started with. 

But Identity Guard wins here for two reasons: 

1. Its interface is sleek and modern. It’s aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate. 

IdentityForce, meanwhile, comes off a little dated and cluttered. 

2. Identity Guard streamlines the signup process. Families can sign up online in a matter of minutes. With IdentityForce, you have to call to signup for a family plan which takes extra time and effort. 

Online Privacy Features: Winner – IdentityForce

While I would never pick a service on online privacy features alone, Identity Guard really drops the ball in this area. All that’s included are a password manager and a safe browser. 

With IdentityForce, you at least get a VPN, an online storage vault, and anti-phishing software. 

Just to be clear, though, neither of these services is going to completely protect your family from digital thieves. They’re missing key things like antivirus software, spam call protection, and data broker removal services. 

If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution, Aura includes all of the above and then some – yet another reason I recommend it over Identity Guard or IdentityForce, 

Cost: Winner – Identity Guard  

Identity Guard offers one of the most affordable family plans I’ve ever encountered. It gives families basic protection for under $15 per month. 

But the protection is minimal, really only including dark web monitoring and data breach notifications. There are no credit tools, online security features, or restoration services. Still, it’s better than forgoing protection altogether if you’re on a tight budget.

IdentityForce’s family plans run $35.90 per month. Alternatively, you can add their ChildWatch suite to any regular plan at just under $3 per month per child. If you have more than one or two kids, that add-on price will add up fast!

The Winner Is…Identity Guard

This was a tough race to call. These services are both high quality, but they both have room for improvement, too. I’d give them each a solid B+ rating. 

Ultimately, though, I choose Identity Guard as the winner because it’s slightly more comprehensive when it comes to monitoring and offers a more flexible family plan. It’s also easier to sign up for and use. Plus, if budget is your main concern, Identity Guard gives you a low-cost option. 

All of that said, if you want complete digital security for your family, I wouldn’t recommend IdentityForce or Identity Guard – I’d recommend Aura. 

Aura gives you total peace of mind when your family spends time online because it includes award-winning identity theft and credit monitoring, 24/7/365 access to U.S.-based threat resolution experts, a massive number of digital security tools, and parental controls with safe gaming. 

Plus, when you use our discount code, you can get Aura for less than IdentityForce or Identity Guard’s top-tier plan. And our discount code is compatible with Aura’s 14-day free trial and 60-day money-back guarantee, making it risk-free. 

Ultimately, neither IdentityForce nor Identity Guard is a bad service, but Aura is the better pick for family protection.

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• LifeLock Versus Identity Guard
• LifeLock vs IdentityForce: Which Service is Superior?
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• Complete Guide to Types of Identity Theft
• Comprehensive Comparison of Aura and Identity Guard