LifeLock Identity Theft Protection Review 2025

LifeLock’s Plans

LifeLock is packed with services and features. We go into more detail in our LifeLock subscriptions guide, but here’s a taste of what’s available. Each plan is priced for individuals, couples, and families. The family option covers two adults and up to five kids. Here’s what the plans include.

These are the core features you’ll find in each plan, but there’s more under the hood. Each tier includes extra tools like a password manager and data breach notifications. Keep in mind these prices cover just one person. If you’re looking to protect your partner or entire household, you’ll need to budget accordingly. Here’s how much it costs for couples:

And here’s a breakdown of those costs for families:

How do Norton’s prices stack up against the competition? If we compare LifeLock to Aura, LifeLock costs more for comparable coverage. Aura’s individual plan that’s most comparable to Ultimate Plus costs about half the price at $12 per month. However, it only comes with $1 million insurance and not quite as comprehensive of monitoring. We also like that LifeLock offers budget-friendly plans with scaling capabilities.

LifeLock’s Features

During our testing, we noticed each feature is categorized into alerts, identity monitoring, credit monitoring, financial monitoring, and digital protections. This made it easy to navigate through the menus to find the service we were looking for.

Even LifeLock’s entry-level plans deliver substantial value. Let’s break down each category to see what level of protection you need.

Monitoring and Alerts

All identity theft protection services monitor your personally identifiable information and alert you when something suspicious occurs. The best services send instant notifications so you can act quickly and avoid any potential damage.

While testing LifeLock, it sent us alerts within 60 seconds of an event. For instance, after submitting a change of address form with USPS during a recent move, LifeLock notified us in 53 seconds. This is a useful feature, as scammers will change addresses via the USPS to redirect mail to them. They’ll use the information to take out loans or steal your identity.

The extent of credit monitoring depends on your subscription. With our Ultimate Plus plan, we had monitoring at all three major credit bureaus. However, the Standard plan only has one bureau monitoring. While some experts argue single-bureau monitoring suffices, we believe three-bureau coverage eliminates any potential blind spots in credit fraud detection.

>> Compare: A Comprehensive Comparison of Identity Guard and LifeLock

Identity Monitoring

All LifeLock plans have the standard identity monitoring features we expect, like dark web monitoring, ID verification, and data breach notifications. LifeLock has also added utility account creation monitoring, which requires a credit check but doesn’t impact your score. Some of the identity monitoring features are:

• USPS address changes
• Crimes registries
• Court records
• Sex offender registries
• Dark web content
• Data breach notifications

If any changes occur or if your personal information appears in places like data breach lists, LifeLock will let you know. That is vital, because if any of those identity theft signs appear, someone likely got ahold of your personal information. With LifeLock keeping watch, you stand a fighting chance to prevent identity theft, or at least minimize the damages of an identity theft.

Our testing period was relatively quiet alert-wise, which is a good thing. We do our best to remain anonymous online, so that lack of alerts suggests LifeLock minimizes false positives. That doesn’t mean it’s not thorough. LifeLock flagged several dormant accounts, prompting us to delete those forgotten profiles. This helped reduce our attack surface, so we appreciated the reminder.

In addition to monitoring, LifeLock takes a proactive approach with their Privacy Monitor feature that acts as a data removal service. It helps you scrub personal information off people-search sites that cobble together public information to create profiles that list your name, age, address, phone number, and more. During our tests, Privacy Monitor found a website with our personal information so we could have it taken down.

We advise everyone to keep track of those data broker sites. Many keep your data archived even after removing it from their site. That means it could resurface later and require another opt-out request. Our favorite data removal services, like Incogni, automate this process, so you don’t have to think about it.

Credit Monitoring

With our Ultimate Plus subscription, LifeLock provided us with comprehensive triple-bureau credit monitoring complete with credit reports and score updates from all three bureaus. Credit reports arrived monthly, while the credit score on the app updated daily.

Triple-bureau credit monitoring is the gold standard in credit protection. It’s a key reason LifeLock ranks among the best identity protection services with credit monitoring and reporting.

Not all LifeLock plans include three-bureau credit monitoring. Only the Ultimate Plus plan offers it. The lower-tier plans will only monitor one credit bureau, and with the most basic subscriptions, free credit reports are not included.

LifeLock also offers a proactive approach to protecting your credit by helping you file a TransUnion credit lock. This prevents anyone, including yourself, from opening new credit lines without filing a request to unlock your credit. While this extra step might seem inconvenient, it’s an effective firewall against credit fraud.

We discovered this feature’s effectiveness firsthand. When setting up a joint savings account, the bank couldn’t access our credit file. A quick login to LifeLock, a toggle of the credit lock, and we were back in business. That reassured us that this security measure works as advertised.

Of course, for complete protection, you’ll also need to freeze or lock your accounts with the other two major credit reporting bureaus: Experian and Equifax. You can’t do that with the help of LifeLock, unlike with TransUnion, but you can contact Experian and Equifax directly to freeze your credit for free.

Financial Monitoring

With an Ultimate Plus subscription, LifeLock monitored our credit, checking, and savings accounts. We could get alerts when our money moved in those accounts, or someone requested information changes. LifeLock also monitored for new accounts with our name and changes to our 401(k) investment accounts.

Our testing period remained fairly quiet on the financial alert front, exactly what you want to see. Still, we recommend activating all available alerts. Any unexpected activity in these areas could signal identity theft in progress.

LifeLock also offers reimbursement in the event that we experienced losses due to identity theft. Our Ultimate Plus subscription covers up to $1 million in losses, which is standard across the identity monitoring industry. However, LifeLock goes above and beyond by offering an additional $1 million coverage for personal expenses and $1 million coverage for legal fees. That’s $3 million in total protection.

The $1 million legal fee coverage is included in every LifeLock plan, but the compensations for personal and legal expenses scale with the plan you have. It starts at $25,000 for each if you have the lowest-tier plan and increases to $100,000 each for the mid-tier Advantage plan. The $1 million coverage we mentioned applies only to the Ultimate Plus plans.

Digital Protections

Although we’re talking about identity theft protection services, Norton is best known for its Norton antivirus software. You can bundle in the Norton 360 software with LifeLock’s Select and Ultimate Plus plans.

LifeLock’s monitoring features help you respond to identity theft red flags. Norton 360 aims to prevent those red flags from appearing in the first place. The antivirus software shields you from devastating viruses and malware designed to harvest your personal data.

Norton 360 also includes a VPN, which is the same as the Norton Secure VPN we reviewed. While it lacks the advanced features of the best VPN services, it effectively masks your IP address and encrypts your connection. There’s also a password manager that helps you manage a secure vault of robust passwords.

Remember, these digital protection tools require active participation. Schedule regular virus scans, activate your VPN before browsing, and use the password manager consistently to maximize your security.

Now that you have a good idea of the features included with LifeLock, let’s change gears and talk about what it’s like to use this service on a daily basis.

Setting Up and Using LifeLock

As with other identity theft services we’ve tested, we lived with LifeLock for several months to get a sense of the daily experience. This started with the setup process and continued as we attempted to get the most value out of our sizable investment.

To set up LifeLock, we created a password and entered our basic information. Then, we entered our billing information and paid for the year. Once we made the purchase, the LifeLock dashboard appeared on our screen.

Once at the dashboard, we were asked if we wanted to add more personal information including:

• Insurance information.
• Bank account numbers.
• Driver’s license number.
• Credit card numbers.

We strongly advise providing as much information as possible. The more data LifeLock has, the better it can detect potential identity theft. LifeLock and similar services can only monitor the information you share with them.

Adding all of our information took about 45 minutes. Following that, we appreciated the desktop app’s refreshingly intuitive interface. Many competitors have cluttered, confusing apps that actually make protection harder. Norton 360’s streamlined approach made it easy to use all of its protection features.

That said, let’s take a minute to discuss some of the potential drawbacks of using LifeLock.

>> Further comparison: Lookout Identity Protection Review

LifeLock Drawbacks

One significant challenge with LifeLock is its complexity. The purchasing process requires careful attention. There are multiple plan tiers and add-on options to choose from. It’s easy to miss features you need or buy ones you don’t.

The two-app situation adds another layer of confusion. Since Norton and LifeLock operate as separate entities, mobile users must download both apps to access all features. It also means switching back and forth depending on the feature you’re looking for. We got used to it within a few days, but the learning curve can get frustrating.

Price is another consideration. LifeLock isn’t the most expensive option out there, but its premium plans are far from budget-friendly. Their renewal rates nearly double after the first year, too. That’s fairly standard for the industry, but it can still catch you off guard.

Identity theft protection is typically a long-term commitment. Before choosing LifeLock, ensure the renewal rates fit your budget, not just the promotional pricing.

With those two drawbacks in mind, let’s move on to the final word. Do we recommend LifeLock or not?

Is LifeLock Worth It?

Whether or not LifeLock is worth it comes down to your individual needs and budget, but here are a few key factors to consider when deciding if it’s right for you.