Identity Guard® Identity Theft Protection

It’s no secret that Identity Guard is a big name in identity protection, and that makes it a big deal to us. We’ve tested this popular brand, and we’ve learned a lot about their plans and pricing. We’re here to break down all of the important details for you. We’ll explain how Identity Guard works, what features are included, and which subscription options you should consider.

We discuss in our in-depth Identity Guard review why it’s one of our top picks for identity protection out there. But you’re probably wondering if they have options that work for your budget and preferences. So we’re going to unpack everything you need to know about Identity Guard bundles, features, prices, and more. So let’s dive right in.

Key Features

Our favorite features of Identity Guard

Plans and Pricing for Identity Guard

We recommend signing up with an identity protection service that offers monitoring, so that you can spot suspicious activity right away. You’ll also want recovery features and some sort of insurance policy. These are important safety nets to look for in any package you choose, as identity theft can cost you. Even though most victims don’t lose money, the average cost of an identity theft incident is still well over $1,000.1

With Identity Guard, we think you’ll get valuable protection at every price point. First, you’ll get basic monitoring services with all plan tiers. We’re also glad to see that recovery and insurance are standard across all price points, too. This is crucial, as there are tons of chores to think about if you ever fall victim to identity theft (reporting the incident, freezing credit files, and more).2 And for obvious reasons, having insurance included in your package can really pay dividends.

Identity Guard has really strong monitoring, recovery, and insurance, and it’s priced really well. In fact, we’ve ranked Identity Guard at the top of our best identity protection services list.

We think signing up with any of Identity Guard’s services is better than having no protection at all. But that doesn’t mean all plans are created equal. When deciding on a plan tier that makes sense for you, you’ll want to look into the monitoring features offered. We’ll talk more about this in a moment, but let’s have a look at prices first.

Identity Guard Price Snapshot

You can save money by choosing to pay for your service annually. If you go this route, you’ll pay one lump sum for a full year of coverage. The monthly plan costs more, but it’s also more flexible. You can cancel at any time with either option, but note that Identity Guard doesn’t give partial refunds. We always recommend month-to-month pricing, especially if you’re not sure that you’ll stick around for the long haul.

Identity Guard Plan Options

Identity Guard’s three main plans are Value, Total, and Ultra. Each of these come in individual and family versions (they also come in annual or monthly billing options, as mentioned above). As far as selection goes, having three different options to choose from is typical for the industry. So Identity Guard does well here.

Value Plan

The cheapest Identity Guard tier is the company’s Value Plan. For individuals, this one costs less than ten dollars per month. We think there’s a lot to like here, particularly in recovery and insurance coverage. We explained in our review that we were impressed by how the Value plan (and all Identity Guard options) include a “Risk Management Score.” Having our risk assessed helps us know what steps to take to protect ourselves.

Monitoring matters a lot to us. Thankfully, the Value plan has you covered with identity monitoring backed by IBM’s Watson artificial intelligence. But we worry that this option is missing some of the credit-related features that we usually look for.

Who it’s best for: Budget-minded customers who care most about the safety nets provided by recovery and insurance coverage.

Total Plan

Identity Guard’s Total Plan builds on what the Value plan offers, and it also comes with important credit monitoring features. With Total, we enjoyed coverage that flagged and notified us of changes in our credit reports and scores across all three bureaus.

Who it’s best for: Anyone who wants comprehensive identity monitoring and fraud protection.

Ultra Plan

Ultra includes everything that we got with the Value and Total plans. But it also comes with a full three-bureau credit report. We think this is a useful perk for anyone who wants to take a closer look at their credit details. If you’re looking to improve your score or think you might take out a major loan like a mortgage sometime soon, this is a great option.

The Ultra plan also includes a “Social Insight” feature. This helps us monitor our social media presence, as it checks for threats to our reputation. Be careful what you post out there!

We enjoyed other new monitoring features at this tier, too, like home title monitoring and change-of-address monitoring.

Upgrading to Ultra also comes with improved recovery services like a white glove resolution concierge. “White glove” and “concierge” are terms companies use to refer to premium services that cover scheduling and other hassles. We deal with a U.S.-based customer care team no matter which plan we have, but the white glove resolution concierge service gives us a more fully-managed recovery process.

Note that the Ultra plan replaced Identity Guard’s previous top-tier brand called “Premier.”

Who it’s best for: Customers who want personal finance help built into their identity monitoring, as well as those who are concerned about their social media presence.

Value, Total, and Ultra Family Plans

Note that with the individual plans, you’ll get the regular features of each plan for one person. However, with the family plans, you’ll get all of the features included in the package for yourself and for others living at your address.

Our tests showed that family plans are still very private. That is, we weren’t able to see details about our other family members on our plan. We think you’ll be comfortable sharing an account with the people you live with, even if you’re not living with a spouse or long-term partner.

Kids are welcome on the family option, too. One thing we noticed is that Identity Guard doesn’t list any maximum number of children or adults for a family plan. Just remember that you can’t add adults who don’t live with you. For more information, read our in-depth guide to Identity Guard’s Family Protection Plan.

Who it’s best for: This is best for married couples and adults with kids. We think it’s also useful in other situations with adult family members in the house, whether you’re rooming with a sibling or letting grandpa move in.

Identity Guard Deals Available Now

We think that Identity Guard’s pricing offers a lot of value. But unfortunately, the company isn’t offering any deals or discounts at this time. Don’t worry, we’ll keep you in-the-loop as new promotions are announced. Meanwhile, here are the best prices we’ve found for Identity Guard.

Identity Guard’s Overall Value

We found that Identity Guard offered us some great value across their different pricing tiers. For our money (and yours!), we think the best option is the Total plan. While their Value option is cheaper, the coverage offered by Total is much more complete. Whether you think it’s worth it to upgrade to the Ultra plan is entirely up to you.

We think Identity Guard does well compared to the competition, too. Its low-priced option is one of the cheapest out there. Only Zander Insurance is cheaper.

But these cheap plans are often missing something. Zander, for example, doesn’t have credit monitoring. We dinged it for that in our Zander review.

More important, if you ask us, is what it costs to get full coverage (including credit monitoring). Identity Guard’s Total plan does really well here.

All About Identity Guard

We’ve been researching Identity Guard and testing their services for a long time. Identity Guard opened up shop way back in 1996.4 It was one of the first really good options for identity theft protection. Along with brands like LifeLock, Identity Guard is a part of the old guard (no pun intended) of identity monitoring services. We don’t think that Identity Guard’s old-school reputation is holding it back, though. The service has really kept up with the times, and its partnership with IBM Watson is a big deal in our eyes.

Identity Guard FAQs