Regularly monitoring your credit reports is an important part of your financial health. Not only can it let you know where you stand with lenders, but you can be alerted to instances of errors or fraud.
There are three credit-monitoring bureaus used by the vast majority of lenders: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion
To get a comprehensive look at your credit profile, you need to review all three. Without triple-bureau protection, you may find errors from one report but miss ones that appear on the other two.
A potential lender could request a credit check from any bureau, so three-bureau credit monitoring has real benefits.
How to get triple-bureau credit monitoring
Triple-bureau credit monitoring is found with most paid credit monitoring services and some identity theft services.
Free services typically only alert you of credit report changes with one bureau, though CreditWise® from Capital One monitors both TransUnion and Experian.
Here are some of the best credit monitoring services with triple-bureau protection:
IdentityForce®
Cost
UltraSecure Individual: $19.90 per month or $199.90 per year; UltraSecure+Credit Individual: $34.90 per month or $349.90 per year; UltraSecure Family: $24.90 per month or $249.90 per year; UltraSecure+Credit Family: $39.90 per month or $399.90 per year
Credit bureaus monitored
3-bureau credit monitoring, alerts and reports: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion®, with UltraSecure+Credit Individual and UltraSecure+Credit Family plans only
Credit scoring model used
VantageScore® 3.0, with UltraSecure+Credit Individual and UltraSecure+Credit Family plans only
Dark web scan
Yes, with all plans
Identity theft insurance
Yes, at least $1 million with all plans
Terms apply.
PrivacyGuard®
Cost
$9.99 to $24.99 per month
Credit bureaus monitored
Experian, Equifax and TransUnion
Credit scoring model used
VantageScore
Dark web scan
Yes, for Identity and Total Protection plans
Identity insurance
Yes, up to $1 million for Identity and Total Protection plans
Terms apply.
Experian IdentityWorks℠
Cost
Basic: Free; Premium: 7-day trial, after $24.99 per month; Family: 7-day trial, after $34.99 per month
Credit bureaus monitored
1-bureau credit monitoring, alerts and reports: Experian, with Basic plan only and 3-bureau credit monitoring, alerts and reports: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion®, with Premium and Family plans only
Credit scoring model used
FICO® Score 8, with all plans
Dark web scan
Yes, with all plans
Identity theft insurance
Yes, up to $1 million with all plans
Terms apply.
*Identity Theft Insurance underwritten by insurance company subsidiaries or affiliates of American International Group, Inc. (AIG). The description herein is a summary and intended for informational purposes only and does not include all terms, conditions and exclusions of the policies described. Please refer to the actual policies for terms, conditions, and exclusions of coverage. Coverage may not be available in all jurisdictions.
FICO® Basic, Advanced and Premier
Cost
$29.95 to $39.95 per month
Credit bureaus monitored
Experian for Basic plan or Experian, Equifax and TransUnion for Advanced and Premier plans
Credit scoring model used
FICO
Dark web scan
Yes, for Advanced and Premier plans
Identity insurance
Yes, up to $1 million
Terms apply.
You're also entitled to one free credit report from each bureau per year at AnnualCreditReport.com and review it for any discrepancies.
When you're reviewing your credit reports, keep an eye out for these red flags:
- New accounts that you didn't open
- Identity errors, like the wrong name, phone number or address
- Incorrect reporting of account status, including payments marked as late that were on time or closed accounts reported as open
- Balance errors reflect incorrect details on your current balances and credit limits
- Data management errors represent mistakes that were corrected but reinserted later.
Offers in this section are from affiliate partners and selected based on a combination of engagement, product relevance, compensation, and consistent availability.
Plans from $10 to $32 per month, billed annually
Protects against identity theft, fraud, spam calls and websites, viruses and malware. Offers three-credit-bureau monitoring, VPN, dark web monitoring, password manager, email aliases and instant credit lock.
On Aura's site
From $7.50 to $25.00 per month, billed annually on individual plans and $12.50 to $33.33 per month, billed annually on family plans
Up to $1 million in insurance for eligible losses from identity theft
On Identity Guard's site
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At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit monitoring review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit monitoring products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.
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