Best for Full Protection

4.9

Learn More

On LifeLock's website

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LifeLock

• Top-rated identity theft protection service
• Provides up to $3 million in coverage
• Multiple monitoring features including dark web, home title, and social media monitoring
• Customer support experience is lacking

Best for Credit Score Insights

3.0

Learn More

On Credit Karma's website

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Credit Karma

• Free access to credit scores and credit reports
• Financial education and tools are available through the Help and Resource Center
• Does not offer all three credit bureaus, only TransUnion and Equifax

LifeLock and Credit Karma both give their users identity theft and credit score alerts. Credit Karma’s free service and monitoring may be sufficient to give most people peace of mind.

But if you’re looking for extra protection and reassurance that you won’t suffer any financial losses if your identity is stolen, investing in a LifeLock plan may be worth the cost. With identity theft reported every 22 seconds, we believe LifeLock’s extra protections are well worth the cost.[1] Better to have protection and not need it, as they say.

Let’s compare these two services to find out which one offers the level of protection you need.

LifeLock vs. Credit Karma review at a glance

LifeLock and Credit Karma mainly differ on the pricing and insurance offers. While LifeLock may be expensive, it offers much more comprehensive coverage while the free Credit Karma offers valuable insights into your credit score. If you’re unsure whether to take the extra step or are unclear on why you would need this, check out our complete identity theft protection and credit monitoring guide.

• LifeLock: Best for full protection
• Credit Karma: Best for credit score insights

LifeLock vs. Credit Karma review at a glance

	LifeLock	Credit Karma
Price	$7.50–$38.99/mo for first yr	Free
Identity theft insurance	Up to $3 million
Credit monitoring
3-bureau credit reports		No, only TransUnion and Equifax
Credit score
Dark web alerts
Identity recovery
Social media account alerts
	Get LifeLock Read LifeLock Review	Get Credit Karma Read Credit Karma Review

There are many differences between LifeLock and Credit Karma; the most obvious being the price. LifeLock has several plans that vary by the number of people protected, the amount of protection, and whether you want to pay monthly or annually. Credit Karma is free.

Credit Karma does not offer bundles to review multiple people’s credit scores and information at once like LifeLock does. Each individual will have to register for their own account. In LifeLock, you can sign up for a plan that includes up to two adults and five kids.

LifeLock provides much more in terms of identity protection. Though they both offer identity monitoring, LifeLock takes it a step further by offering several levels of insurance and more monitoring than Credit Karma does. Credit Karma provides your credit score, free credit monitoring services, and customized financial suggestions like different credit cards and loan options.

LifeLock pros and cons

Credit Karma pros and cons

LifeLock vs. Credit Karma: prices

	LifeLock	Credit Karma
Monthly price range	$7.50–$38.99/mo for first yr	Free
Best value plan	Advantage Plan for $7.50/mo for first yr when paid annually	Basic plan
Identity theft insurance	Up to $3 million
	Get LifeLock Read LifeLock Review	Get Credit Karma Read Credit Karma Review

Norton LifeLock plans

Lifelock offers three different plans with three tiers: individual, family (for two adults), and family (for two adults and five kids). In each tier, there are three levels of plans: standard, advantage, and ultimate plus. There is an option to pay monthly or annually for each. LifeLock offers a 30-day free trial, which does require a credit card, and a 60-day money-back guarantee.

Let’s take a closer look at what each plan offers.

Standard plan

Advantage plan

• $1 million lawyer and expert coverage
• $100,000 in stolen funds reimbursement
• $100,000 personal expense compensation
• Identity lock for TransUnion and payday loans
• Phone takeover monitoring
• Alerts on crimes in your name
• Buy Now Pay Later alerts
• All features from the Standard plan

Ultimate Plus plan

• $1 million lawyer and expert coverage
• $1 million in stolen funds reimbursement
• $1 million personal expense compensation
• Three-bureau credit monitoring
• Credit reports and scores from one bureau (three bureaus available for annual payment plans)
• Home title monitoring
• Social media monitoring
• All features from the Standard and Advantage plans

Credit Karma plans

Credit Karma is free and has no plan tiers like LifeLock has. Once you make an account, you can gain all sorts of insight into your credit score, including:

• Credit Score: Credit Karma lets you see your TransUnion and Equifax credit scores, along with history on how your credit score has changed, what factors affected changes in the score, and tips on how to help your credit score go up.
• Credit Karma Money Spend: An online checking account offered by Credit Karma, it is free to open and has no penalties or minimum balance requirements. It also can deliver paychecks up to two days early with direct deposit, give cashback rewards, offer free withdrawals at more than 50,000 ATMs across the country, and is FDIC insured.
• Credit Karma Money Save: Credit Karma’s savings account that offers automatic saving, no fees, a 4.10% APY (as of 8/25/2023), and is FDIC insured.
• Recommendations: Using your credit score and income data, Credit Karma offers suggestions and calculators to help you figure out your loan borrowing power, your vehicle or home buying power, and more.

LifeLock vs. Credit Karma: protection features

Feature	LifeLock	Credit Karma
Credit monitoring
Financial activity alerts
3-bureau credit reports		No – Equifax and TransUnion only
Credit score
FICO score
Credit lock and freeze
Identity recovery
Dark web alerts
Social media account alerts
Social Security number monitoring
Home title monitoring
Address change alerts
	Get LifeLock Read LifeLock Review	Get Credit Karma Read Credit Karma Review

LifeLock and Credit Karma are very different in terms of what identity theft protection services they offer. While both are credit monitoring services that watch for and alert you of suspicious activity and a VantageScore credit score, LifeLock offers identity theft insurance and other protections that Credit Karma does not.

LifeLock provides information from all three credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, with a subscription to the Ultimate Plus plan, but for the other two lower-tier plans there is only one-bureau monitoring. With Credit Karma, which is free and does not have different plans, you get two-bureau monitoring. So, you’ll only get more information if you use LifeLock’s most expensive and most comprehensive plan.

LifeLock also offers identity locking, which is important if you suspect you’re a victim of identity theft. Credit locks differ from credit freezes. Both services prevent new lenders from accessing your credit report, at your request. But a credit lock is a paid service offered by credit bureaus and companies like LifeLock. Credit locks are convenient and can be lifted instantly. A credit freeze is a free service governed by federal law. You’ll have more legal protections, but lifting a freeze takes more time.

LifeLock also offers several other ways to monitor your identity online, such as Buy Now, Pay Later alerts, 401(K) and investment account activity, home title monitoring, social media monitoring, and phone takeover monitoring. These go beyond what Credit Karma offers, which is just your credit score and links so you can freeze and lock your credit yourself.

One other feature of LifeLock that we found valuable was its identity restoration services. If you just found out you've been scammed, chances are you're in a panic and aren't sure what to do next. LifeLock offers restoration services with all of its plans, which means you'll have someone in your corner right away to help you combat identity fraud and remove fraudulent activity from your credit report. 

Credit Karma offers suggestions based on your credit score and income, like offering information on credit cards, a calculator to estimate buying power, loans, and taxes, and a checking and savings account option. These tools, like its credit simulator, can help you decide whether you should open a new credit card or not.

Which is safer, LifeLock vs. Credit Karma?

If you’re trusting a company to help protect and monitor your identity, that company's security determines whether you’re choosing the best place for ID theft protection. We look for specific features while evaluating a company's safety, such as two-factor and multi-factor authentication, data collection, and data sharing policies. There is some data collection and sharing needed for account administration purposes, payment, and monitoring. But we’re skeptical of anything beyond required use, such as sharing data with third parties.

LifeLock vs. Credit Karma data security

	LifeLock	Credit Karma
Two-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication
Collects data	Minimal	Minimal
Shares data with third parties
	Get LifeLock Read LifeLock Review	Get Credit Karma Read Credit Karma Review

Credit Karma collects data, but says in its private policy statement that it does not sell its data to third parties for marketing or advertising. However, it does state that it shares data with third-party partners. You can read more in our Credit Karma review.

LifeLock states in its private policy it doesn’t sell your data, though it will share data with its partners for certain features to work. You can read more about this in our LifeLock review.

LifeLock vs. Credit Karma: compatibility and ease of use

Platform	LifeLock	Credit Karma
Windows
macOS
Android
iOS

Both LifeLock and Credit Karma work on different browsers. Each also has its own mobile app available for both iOS and Android.

LifeLock vs. Credit Karma: customer service

	LifeLock	Credit Karma
24/7 live chat
Phone
Email
Support forums
Online guides

Though many of us prefer to help ourselves with online guides or live chat, some problems are best resolved by picking up the phone and speaking to an agent directly. LifeLock offers phone support all day, every day. Credit Karma, on the other hand, doesn’t even have a phone number.

Both providers have help centers with extensive FAQ and informative guides.

LifeLock vs. Credit Karma FAQs

LifeLock vs. Credit Karma: which is better?

Well, that depends. If you just want to monitor your credit score, get insights into how to improve it, and basic monitoring for identity theft, Credit Karma may be enough.

But if you're at higher risk for identity theft or want extra insurance and peace of mind, LifeLock clearly comes out on top. There are a ton of different ways in which LifeLock monitors your identity online that Credit Karma lacks, like dark web alerts, social media monitoring, and more. For a bit of extra money every month, this could be worth it to you.

LifeLock vs. Credit Karma alternatives

If neither of these identity theft protection services offer what you need, here are a few more of the best identity theft protection services we recommend.

• McAfee: You may know McAfee from its antivirus software, and its identity protection services are just as reputable. You'll get help monitoring your bank accounts and credit records so fraud can be spotted and stopped quickly. Plus, you can bundle its ID theft protection with antivirus for double coverage.
  
  Get McAfee
• Aura: Looking for a full identity and digital security suite? Aura delivers. It uses AI to block spam calls and texts while monitoring your financial accounts for anything out of sorts. Parents also get a helping hand with the Safe Gaming feature, which helps keep kiddos safe online.
  
  Get Aura
• Identity Guard: Another option for mid-level identity protection, Identity Guard is a budget-friendly service that also uses AI to monitor your accounts and alert you if it spots suspicious activities. As a bonus, Identity Guard also includes extra security features like a password manager.
  
  Get Identity Guard

If you're looking for basic credit monitoring services similar to Credit Karma, be sure to check out our Credit Sesame and myFICO reviews as well.

4.9

Up to 30% off first year when paid annually

Learn More

On LifeLock's website

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LifeLock

• Top-rated identity theft protection service
• Provides up to $3 million in coverage
• Multiple monitoring features including dark web, home title, and social media monitoring
• Customer support experience is lacking

Author Details

Waverly Colville

About the Author

Waverly Colville is a Brooklyn-based journalist and producer. She's a graduate of the University of Missouri with degrees in investigative journalism and international relations. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, HBO, Reuters, and The New Yorker.