Best Credit Monitoring Services in 2025
Best credit monitoring services
If you’re rebuilding your credit or rebounding from identity theft, you know how crucial it is to keep tabs on your financial health — that’s where credit monitoring can come in.
There are tons of credit monitoring services out there, each with its own benefits, drawbacks and price tag. How do you know which one to choose? We can help. Our personal finance experts took a deep dive into credit monitoring services so you don’t have to.
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What is credit monitoring?
Credit monitoring is a tool that can help you track your credit history and stay current when something changes on your credit reports. Depending on the service, certain actions (such as credit score changes or a hard inquiry in your name) will trigger a push notification or email alert. To see what’s in your credit report, you’ll need to log into an online account or mobile app (if your service offers this feature).
In addition to monitoring your credit report, most credit monitoring services provide some sort of identity theft protection. For instance, the most exhaustive plans offer “white glove” fraud restoration, identity theft insurance and cybersecurity tools.
What to look for in a credit monitoring service
Three-bureau vs. one-bureau monitoring
To find the best credit monitoring service, you’ll need to understand which credit bureaus the service keeps track of — and that can be tricky. This is because some credit information may make it to only one bureau. For the most comprehensive view, you should look for credit monitoring that offers three-bureau reporting (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). Three-bureau monitoring tends to be the most expensive.
On the flip side, although most free credit monitoring services only offer one-bureau monitoring, they can still be a budget-friendly way to keep your finger on the pulse of your overall credit health and any suspicious activity.
FICO Score vs. VantageScore
There are also two different types of credit scores your monitoring service can show you: your FICO Score or your VantageScore.
Most financial institutions use the FICO model when underwriting loan applications, but generally speaking, most credit monitoring services use VantageScore. When you check your credit score using a credit monitoring service, there’s no guarantee that it’s the one your lender uses. Still, your FICO Score and VantageScore tend to be fairly similar, so knowing either one can give you a good idea of your creditworthiness.
Personalization
The general idea behind credit monitoring is the same, but specific offerings vary from company to company. While you’re shopping, ask yourself what you hope to achieve with credit monitoring. Are you more concerned with your credit score or identity theft — or both? Once you know what you want your credit monitoring service to do for you, you’ll have an easier time choosing a company best suited for your needs.
Our methodology
We reviewed 16 of the most well-known credit monitoring services (both paid and free). All of our picks monitor your credit and send alerts on a regular basis. We focused on metrics we think are most important for a credit monitoring service, including:
Features and benefits (40%): We ranked services higher for having more features like three-bureau monitoring, dark web alerts, credit freeze or lock options and bonus elements like a VPN or password manager.
Value and variety (30%): Services with more plan options were ranked higher. For paid services, we also prioritized annual discounts and money-back guarantees.
Customer service (20%): Higher rankings were reserved for services that offer 24/7 assistance and more avenues for getting help.
Digital experience (10%): We reviewed App Store and Google Play rankings for each service’s app and ranked higher those with scores of at least 4.7.
After choosing the best overall paid and free credit monitoring services, we reviewed the next highest-scoring services and determined their most valuable and unique features.