LifeLock by Norton is CNET's choice for the identity theft protection service with the best monitoring features.
With LifeLock, you'll get access to what we like to call the basics of identity theft protection -- dark web and Social Security number monitoring and identity theft insurance in the event your identity is stolen.
But depending on the subscription tier you choose, you'll get access to an abundance of handy identity and credit monitoring features, such as bank account, social media, 401(k) investment and home title monitoring. Some of LifeLock's features, including buy now pay later plan and utility alerts, aren't yet offered by competitors we've reviewed. You'll also find more hidden monitoring options after creating an account and peeking behind the curtain.
LifeLock by Norton
From $12 per month
Key Features
Payday loan lock
Dark web monitoring
Social Security number alerts
Phone takeover monitoring and credit
Savings and checking account activity alerts
$12-$36
$23-$58
$35-$80
Key Features
Payday loan lock
Dark web monitoring
Social Security number alerts
Phone takeover monitoring and credit
Savings and checking account activity alerts
$12-$36
$23-$58
$35-$80
Who should use LifeLock?
You might consider LifeLock if you're looking for a wide variety of identity theft features in one plan. LifeLock by Norton probably offers the most features we've seen in a single identity theft protection service -- albeit at a steep price.
LifeLock also provides one of the better identity theft protection insurance packages in the industry, ranging from $1,050,000 to $3 million per adult and $1,050,000 per child added to a family plan. The industry standard for identity theft is $1 million per adult.
LifeLock's Standard plan, at $12 per month, will appeal most to individuals on a budget. With it, you get dark web monitoring, Social Security number monitoring and up to $1,050,000 in identity theft insurance payouts. United States Postal Service address change, stolen wallet protection and one credit bureau monitoring from Equifax are also included.
But, LifeLock may not be a good fit for you if you don't find much value in the ancillary services the company provides. And you'll pay extra for some features that competitors include in their base price. For example, you'll pay more to bundle LifeLock's services with Norton antivirus protection, but competitors like Aura include antivirus protection in all tiers.
Despite the impressive compilation of services LifeLock offers, it doesn't offer everything. No identity theft protection service we've reviewed does. Zander Insurance, our choice for the best budget-friendly option, includes a password manager and a VPN in its Elite Plan -- two perks not currently offered by LifeLock. Aura, CNET's pick for best identity theft protection, also includes three credit bureau monitoring with all plans as well as a digital vault to keep your most sensitive information safe. LifeLock doesn't.
What products does LifeLock offer?
LifeLock offers three tiers of coverage: Standard, Advantage and Ultimate Plus. There are three plans available for each, covering individuals, two adults and two adults with up to five children. With each tier, the potential payout in identity theft insurance for expenses, stolen funds and legal fees, per adult, increases. The list of credit and identity theft monitoring services available to you also grows.
All LifeLock members get around-the-clock customer support, a US-based identity restoration specialist and credit monitoring for at least one of the three major credit bureaus. Dark web monitoring and Social Security Number monitoring are also included. But be aware that all pricing is for the first year only and will renew at a higher price, per the company's website.
Standard
LifeLock Standard comes with $1,050,000 in identity theft insurance if your identity is stolen, consisting of $1 million for lawyers and experts and $25,000 each for expenses and stolen funds reimbursement. Additional features include one bureau credit monitoring (Equifax), USPS address change alerts and data breach notifications. If you sign up for a family plan with children, you also get access to credit file detection for each child and guided child freeze.
Under current promotional pricing, Standard annual plans work out to between $8 to $19 per month, depending on if you opt for an individual plan, family plan (two adults) or a family plan with up to five kids. If billed monthly, you'll pay between $12 to 36.
LifeLock by Norton Standard plan pricing:
| Individual | $8 per month (billed annually) | $12 billed monthly |
| Family Plan (two adults) | $12 per month (billed annually) | $24 billed monthly |
| Family Plan (two adults + five kids) | $19 per month (billed annually) | $36 billed monthly |
All Standard plan pricing is available for the first year and renews at a higher dollar amount in year two.
Advantage
LifeLock Advantage comes with everything in Standard, plus a boatload of additional features. Among them are TransUnion credit file lock, which keeps new credit accounts from being opened in your name. It also includes payday loan lock. This prevents identity thieves from taking out a payday loan -- a type of unsecured high-interest debt -- in your name. Additionally, you'll receive alerts if a buy now, pay later plan is opened in your name, notifications for crimes in your name and checking, credit and savings account activity alerts.
With the elevated tier, members also potentially get more identity theft insurance. Advantage offers up to $1.2 million in payouts per adult if your identity is stolen. Each child on a family plan is also covered up to $1,050.000.
If billed monthly, an Advantage account costs between $23 to $58, depending on the number of adults and children on a plan. Annual plans billed in full at the start of the plan year are offered at a discounted price that average out to between $15 to $30 per month.
LifeLock by Norton Advantage plan pricing:
| Individual | $15 per month (billed annually) | $23 billed monthly |
| Family Plan (two adults) | $24 per month (billed annually) | $46 billed monthly |
| Family Plan (two adults + five kids) | $30 per month (billed annually) | $58 billed monthly |
All Advantage plan pricing is available for the first year and renews at a higher dollar amount in year two.
Ultimate Plus
LifeLock Ultimate Plus gives you all the identity theft and credit monitoring features that the company has to offer, including up to $3 million in identity theft insurance per adult and $1,050.000 per child.
In addition to all features included with Advantage and Standard, Ultimate Plus will monitor your home title and 401(k) investing account. It also offers phone and bank account takeover alerts. If your name appears on a sex offender registry, LifeLock will also inform you.
Ultimate Plus costs between $35 to $80 for monthly plans and works out to about $20 to $39 per month if billed in full at the beginning of the plan year.
LifeLock by Norton Ultimate Plus plan pricing:
| Individual | $20 per month (billed annually) | $35 billed monthly |
| Family Plan (two adults) | $33 per month (billed annually) | $70 billed monthly |
| Family Plan (two adults + five kids) | $39 per month (billed annually) | $80 billed monthly |
All Ultimate Plus plan pricing is available for the first year and renews at a higher dollar amount in year two.
LifeLock products, compared
| Standard** | Advantage** | Ultimate Plus** | |
| Individual* | $12 monthly | $23 monthly | $35 monthly |
| Family Plan (2 adults)* | $24 monthly | $46 monthly | $70 monthly |
| Family Plan (2 adults + 5 kids)* | $36 monthly | $58 monthly | $80 monthly |
| Top features | Dark web monitoring, Social Security number alerts, Equifax credit monitoring, utility alerts, data breach notifications, stolen wallet protection, USPS address change verification. | Everything in Standard plus an Equifax monthly credit report, crime alerts, BNPL alerts, TransUnion credit lock, payday loan lock, phone takeover monitoring and credit, savings and checking account activity alerts. | Everything in Standard and Advantage plus 401(k) monitoring, home title monitoring, three credit bureau monitoring with yearly reports, social media monitoring, bank account takeover monitoring and sex offender registry reports. |
| Identity Theft Insurance | Up to $1,050,000 per adult and child | Up to $1.2 million per adult and $1,050,000 per child | Up to $3 million per adult, $1,050,000 per child |
*Pricing is for the first year only and renews at a higher price.
**Prices are for monthly billed plans.
What's it like to use LifeLock by Norton?
LifeLock by Norton offers a 30-day free trial. But you may encounter a small hiccup when you sign up to try out the service like I did. I was asked to pay at the checkout screen twice before a promo code finally populated the next day and allowed me to access LifeLock for free. This was probably a glitch, so keep trying until you get through if it also happens to you.
Upon signing up, I was asked to provide basic info, such as my name, Social Security number and credit card information. You may have some pause about sharing your Social Security number with LifeLock, but it's required by any identity theft service to monitor the dark web for traces of your identity.
I opted to try out LifeLock Ultimate Plus, the company's most expensive plan, so that I could test every tool LifeLock has to offer. Full disclosure, it's a lot. Some features aren't even advertised on its website. But LifeLock does a great job of organizing these features by category, so you're not bombarded by them on one page.
Once in my account, I was brought to my dashboard, which looked pretty empty apart from the services already underway (like dark web and SSN monitoring) thanks to the info I provided when I signed up. You'll need to link every account you want LifeLock to monitor, from credit and bank accounts to any social media profiles you have. (LifeLock does not monitor your direct messages or chats on social media for suspicious activity.)
Lifelock partners with data aggregation company Yodlee to link financial accounts to your profile. Despite having to do so one at a time, I found the process to be very seamless. After you log in to your bank on a pop-up screen, simply choose the accounts you want to connect to your LifeLock account. Anyone who's ever used a budgeting app will find this process familiar. I like that you can easily add more accounts later on, even on LifeLock's mobile app, which is easy to navigate.
To best familiarize yourself with LifeLock and its abundance of features, I suggest you go down the options on the left-side navigation panel at your leisure. If you opt for Ultimate Plus, expect to spend a couple of hours doing this. But here's a glimpse of what you can expect to find.
Under "Credit Services," you can download your annual credit reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You can also view open and closed credit accounts, your current credit card debt and a list of previous addresses.
Under "Lock & Freeze," you can lock your TransUnion credit account and freeze your Experian and Equifax accounts. Both credit locks and credit freezes prevent you or anyone else from opening a new account in your name, while existing accounts remain unaffected. The difference is credit locks help you achieve this faster. Credit locks are typically offered by credit bureaus as part of a credit monitoring package or standalone subscription service, whereas credit freezes are free. But they both work the same way.
