LifeLock vs. Experian: Which Is Better?

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LifeLock and Experian are big names when it comes to credit monitoring and identity theft protection. At its top tier, Experian—one of the three major credit bureaus—offers comprehensive coverage with unique features like FICO score tracking. But it also has more negative customer reviews than similar services.

LifeLock has decent identity protection* coverage and basic credit monitoring†—and it includes Norton Security protection to protect up to five of your Wi-Fi connected devices. But it uses Equifax for most of its credit monitoring coverage, and we have major concerns about how Equifax has handled its customers’ data in the past.

Both brands are pricier than competitors with similar coverage. If you’d rather stick with the LifeLock or Experian brand name, read on. Otherwise, check out our top picks for credit monitoring and identity theft protection.

Experian vs. LifeLock: Credit monitoring

Both Experian and LifeLock provide credit monitoring services. Experian CreditWorks offers two tiers of service: CreditWorks Basic provides basic credit monitoring at no cost. CreditWorks Premium has more thorough coverage, with daily credit reports from one bureau and monthly credit reports from the big three. That’s useful if you’re just trying to build some credit for an upcoming purchase and want to see how your efforts are paying off.

LifeLock is more focused on protecting you from identity thieves and keeping track of suspicious activity. Its credit monitoring options are limited: With its lower two tiers it offers credit reports and monitoring from only one credit bureau (Equifax), and at its highest tier it gives you an annual report and score from all three bureaus—something you’re entitled to by law anyway.

Experian CreditWorks plans and prices

CreditWorks Basic is Experian’s free credit monitoring service. It doesn’t have a ton of features, but it can help you keep an eye on your credit.

What comes with CreditWorks Basic

• Credit monitoring
• Monthly Experian credit score
• Monthly Experian credit report

At $24.99 per month, CreditWorks Premium is more extensive and a good fit if you’re looking to build credit.

What comes with CreditWorks Premium

• Three-bureau credit monitoring
• Daily Experian credit report
• Monthly three-bureau credit report with FICO scores
• FICO score simulator

LifeLock credit monitoring plans and prices

LifeLock Standard, priced at $9.99 per month for the first year and $12.99 from there on, offers basic credit monitoring from Equifax.

For $19.99 per month for the first year, then $24.99 per month after that, LifeLock Advantage adds an annual credit report and score from Equifax.

Experian vs. LifeLock: Identity theft protection services

Experian and LifeLock have extensive identity theft protection offerings that keep you aware of any fraudulent activity. With IdentityWorks, Experian offers solid identity fraud protection on two levels. IdentityWorks Plus covers all the basics, while IdentityWorks Premium is more comprehensive, with bank account monitoring, identity validation alerts, and extensive credit monitoring.

LifeLock has three membership levels for identity protection. With LifeLock Standard, you get the basics, like Social Security number monitoring, help when you lose your wallet, and credit alerts. LifeLock Advantage adds more coverage, including bank and credit card alerts. And LifeLock Ultimate Plus adds a sex offender registry report, plus some basic credit monitoring.

Compare Experian and LifeLock Identity theft protection services

Experian IdentityWorks plans and prices

IdentityWorks Plus, priced at $9.99 a month, detects identity fraud and provides up to $500,000 in identity theft insurance. It’s a good fit if you want to take preliminary steps to protect your identity online and in real life. It also comes with a 30-day free trial, so you can gauge whether Experian is a good fit for you.

What comes with IdentityWorks Plus

• Dark web monitoring
• Lost wallet assistance
• Social Security number monitoring
• Address change verification
• Daily FICO credit score
• FICO score simulator

At $19.99 per month, IdentityWorks Premium adds more tailored ID theft protection and credit monitoring, plus up to $1,000,000 in identity theft insurance. You likely need these upgrades only if you or a family member is especially vulnerable to identity theft.

What comes with IdentityWorks Premium

• Bank account and credit card monitoring
• Identity validation alerts
• Payday loan monitoring
• Alerts for jail bookings or court records in your name
• File-sharing network monitoring
• Social network monitoring
• Sex offender registry report

Family plan

Experian offers identity protection as well. You can add $5 more a month to either plan to cover one adult and up to 10 children, or $10 more per month to cover two adults and up to 10 children. Experian is a standout in the industry when it comes to child identity theft protection, making it an outstanding value for large families especially.

LifeLock identity monitoring plans and prices

LifeLock Standard, priced at $9.99 per month for the first year and $12.99 onward covers up to $25,000 for any funds stolen if you become a victim of identity theft. That’s significantly less coverage than Experian’s lower-tier plan for a higher monthly price after the first year.

What comes with LifeLock Standard

• Dark web monitoring
• Lost wallet assistance
• Social Security number monitoring
• USPS address change notification
• Credit monitoring from Equifax

LifeLock Advantage, $19.99 per month for the first year, then $24.99 per month after, adds a few more extras to help keep your identity safe, and ups the identity theft insurance amount to $100,000.

What comes with LifeLock Advantage

• Bank and credit card monitoring
• Alerts for any crimes committed in your name
• Fictitious identity monitoring
• Annual Equifax credit score and report

LifeLock Ultimate Plus, starting at $29.99 per month during the first year, and $34.99 per month after, is the only LifeLock package with significant credit score monitoring. But compared to Experian, it’s still lacking.

What comes with LifeLock Ultimate Plus

• Up to $1,000,000 identity theft insurance
• Annual three-bureau credit report and score
• Monthly Equifax credit score
• 401 (k) and investment activity alerts
• File-sharing network searches
• Sex offender registry reports

Family plan

Like Experian, LifeLock will let you add child identity theft protection. Unlike Experian, you need to pay per child—$5.99 per month per child. This is competitive if you have only one child you need to monitor, but if you have multiple children to cover, the extra expense can add up fast.

Standout features

Experian

Experian CreditWorks stands out as one of the few credit monitoring services with FICO score tracking. That’s major: Although FICO is just one type of credit score, it’s also the most commonly used.

Experian IdentityWorks also lets you access your FICO score with a FICO score simulator that can help you catch identity theft and manage your finances.

LifeLock

LifeLock doesn’t have any particularly impressive features when it comes to credit monitoring, but it does include Norton Security with every tier of service to protect your internet-connected devices. So no matter what membership level you choose, you’ll be able to keep up to five devices safe from spyware, malware, and other online attacks.

Customer service

Experian

Overall, Experian offers comprehensive coverage, for both credit monitoring and identity theft protection. But its customer service is less impressive.

Experian customer service is available by telephone Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. PT to 8 p.m. PT and from 8 a.m. PT to 5 p.m. PT on Saturdays and Sundays. But many customers have described a negative experience, with some saying it takes hours to get in touch with an actual person over the phone.

LifeLock

LifeLock has a Member Services department that’s available 24/7 via phone and LifeLock’s mobile app. Still, the company has mixed reviews when it comes to customer satisfaction. Some customers are happy with LifeLock’s services and the fact that support is always available. But others say customer service is poor and that the cancellation process is difficult.

Our recommendation

Both Experian and LifeLock offer solid, comprehensive identity theft protection services. Between the two, we think Experian IdentityWorks Premium is the best choice: It offers reliable identity theft protection with solid credit monitoring. It’s a great choice if you have been a victim of identity theft or want to be proactive about keeping your identity and credit safe. You can read more about Experian in our full review.

>>Secure your credit and identity. View Experian plans.

If customer service is more important to you than coverage, LifeLock will be a better fit. LifeLock has decent credit and identity coverage, but its 24/7 customer support helps it stand out from the competition. Read more about it in our full review.

>>Protect yourself. Get LifeLock today.

†The credit scores provided are VantageScore 3.0 credit scores based on data from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion respectively. Any One-Bureau VantageScore mentioned is based on Equifax data only. Third parties use many different types of credit scores and are likely to use a different type of credit score to assess your creditworthiness. 

*No one can prevent all identity theft.