How To Get Three-Bureau Credit Monitoring: 5 Best Options

Why Is Three-Bureau Credit Monitoring Important?

Three bureau credit monitoring is a financial security service that alerts you to changes, inaccuracies, or signs of potential fraud on your credit reports from the three major credit reporting agencies — Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. 

Three-bureau monitoring is important because some lenders only report changes to one or two of the major credit bureaus. 

Without three-bureau monitoring, you might miss important changes to your credit information that could damage your credit score — or signs that you’ve become the victim of identity theft.

While all Americans are entitled to free credit reports each week from the three bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com, monitoring tools do the work for you, and are often bundled with features that help shield against identity fraud, hacking, and scams. 

But while three-bureau credit monitoring is a powerful tool for managing your financial health, not all service providers offer the same level of protection. 

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What To Look For in a 3-Bureau Credit Monitoring Provider

• Fast and reliable alerts. Speed is critical when discovering identity theft. While most credit monitoring services claim to send out fast alerts, few publish actual speed results — other than Aura.
• Notifications of all changes. Many services only alert you to “major” changes to your credit report, such as new credit accounts. But this means you could miss some suspicious activity, early warning signs of fraud, or mistakes in your file.
• Credit scoring model used. While FICO® scores are the more established model used by many lenders, VantageScore® is a consumer credit scoring model that provides consistent scoring across all three bureaus. 
• Additional financial account protection. Comprehensive protection services go beyond credit monitoring — they also offer 24/7 bank account and investment activity monitoring, along with identity theft insurance.
• Monthly fee. While there are tools that provide free credit scores and one-bureau monitoring, you typically need to pay for three-bureau monitoring. 

📚 Related: Identity Theft Victim Assistance: How To Get Help →

The Top 5 Three-Bureau Credit Monitoring Apps

The best credit monitoring services provide three-bureau coverage, proven fast alerts, and additional protective features — such as 3-bureau credit reports, Dark Web and public record monitoring, online privacy protection, 24/7 support, and identity theft insurance. 

Here are our top choices for the best identity theft protection and 3-bureau credit monitoring services:

1. Aura

Why we picked it: Aura is an all-in-one solution that combines three-bureau credit monitoring, identity theft protection, online privacy and digital security tools, and identity theft insurance. A recent mystery shopper survey found that Aura provided the most reliable and fastest credit fraud alerts when compared to competitors³.

While Aura is a relatively new company, its all-in-one digital security solution has already won awards from Money.com, Security.org, Identity Theft Protection Review, and others. 

When it comes to protecting your credit profile, Aura provides free monthly credit scores and trends via the VantageScore model, plus one-click Experian CreditLock, bank and financial account monitoring, and more. 

Aura alerts you to all changes reported by the credit bureaus, and includes details of the creditor, which bureau received the change, advice on how to resolve it, and how to contact the creditor or Aura for help.

Best plan & average cost: Aura individual, starting at $9.99/month (when paid annually).

Unlike most competitors, Aura doesn’t restrict features across plans. Instead, all plans include three-bureau credit monitoring and other critical safety features. 

For individuals, Aura’s main plan provides powerful credit monitoring and protection along with award-winning identity theft and insurance at an affordable monthly price. 

Aura also makes it easy to protect multiple people — including plans for couples ($17.99/month) and families of five adults and unlimited children ($24.99/month). Aura’s family plans are extremely flexible and can cover family members living in different households, such as vulnerable grandparents or college kids navigating their finances on their own for the first time. 

Our verdict: Aura is one of the most affordable and feature-packed platforms for three-bureau credit monitoring. It’s hard to find another service that offers the same level of protection at anywhere near Aura’s monthly cost — especially when it comes to combating identity theft and online threats like hacking and scams.

2. Identity Guard

Why we picked it: Over the past 20 years, Identity Guard has been a leading identity theft protection provider and has helped 47 million customers stay safe while resolving over 140,000 fraud cases [*]. 

Identity Guard offers three-bureau credit monitoring on two of its three plans (just not on the most affordable Value plan). If you upgrade to the Ultra plan, you’ll also get access to monthly VantageScore® credit scores, an Experian CreditLock, credit card and debit card monitoring, plus high-risk transaction monitoring across bank and investment accounts.

Best plan & average cost: Identity Guard Ultra at $25/month (when paid annually).

Identity Guard offers a similar all-in-one approach to credit and identity protection as Aura. However, only the Total and Ultra plans come with three-bureau credit monitoring. For the extra cost, Identity Guard’s Ultra plan is definitely a better option for credit protection — with premium features such as credit lock, annual credit reports, and bank, credit card, and investment account monitoring. 

Our verdict: Identity Guard offers reliable identity and credit monitoring, with some extra online security features. However, its higher price point might not be worth the cost for some people. 

📚 Related: The 6 Best Identity Guard Alternatives (Rated and Reviewed) →

3. IdentityForce

Why we picked it: IdentityForce is the identity theft protection service from TransUnion (one of the three major credit reporting agencies). The platform includes investment account alerts, bank and credit card activity alerts, and Social Security number (SSN) tracking. 

IdentityForce splits its plan offerings into two options: with or without credit monitoring. The highest-priced UltraSecure+Credit plans are the only ones that include three-bureau credit monitoring — along with quarterly three-bureau credit reports, Dark Web scanning, and up to $2 million in identity theft insurance.

Best plan & average cost: IdentityForce UltraSecure+Credit at $34.90/month.

Unfortunately, 3-bureau credit monitoring is only offered on IdentityForce’s highest tier. In spite of the added expense, IdentityForce doesn’t offer some critical credit protection tools, including a credit lock or bank account monitoring. 

The one standout feature is its Advanced Fraud Monitoring, which sends virtual real-time alerts when lenders post a copy of your credit report. 

Our verdict: Considering IdentityForce’s connection to TransUnion, this would seem like an ideal option for financial fraud monitoring. But its lack of certain features and high cost means you can get better value elsewhere. 

📚 Related: Aura vs. IdentityForce: How Are They Different? →

4. MyFICO®

Why we picked it: myFICO is the credit score monitoring app from the company that invented FICO® credit scores. Users can easily track their FICO® credit scores and monitor their financial health with three-bureau credit monitoring. 

Additional features on myFICO’s paid plans include Dark Web surveillance, identity monitoring, mortgage and auto loan interest rate updates, and up to $1 million in identity theft insurance.

Best plan & average cost: MyFICO Premier for $39.95/month.

As myFICO’s Basic plan only provides one-bureau credit monitoring, it’s best to pay for full coverage on the Premier plan. This option gives you three-bureau credit monitoring, monthly FICO score® updates, and limited identity monitoring — albeit at a higher price than most competing services.

Our verdict: As the FICO credit score is the most widely used credit scoring model, there are clear benefits to getting credit monitoring from MyFICO. However, this is a costly option, which may not make sense when you can get your FICO® scores for free from over 200 lenders [*]. Your money would be better spent on a full-service identity theft protection provider.

5. LifeLock

Why we picked it: LifeLock has been an industry leader in identity theft protection and credit monitoring for over 20 years. Symantec acquired the company in 2017, adding Norton’s digital security tools to bolster its platform’s features and packages. 

LifeLock's Ultimate plan is the only one to offer three-bureau credit monitoring — alongside unlimited VantageScore® updates, a TransUnion credit file lock, and up to $3 million in identity theft insurance. 

LifeLock also provides Vantage 3.0 credit scores with daily updates based on data from Equifax. 

Buyer beware: LifeLock’s advertised discounts only apply to annual plans, and are only for your first year as a customer. When your plan renews, you’ll be charged upwards of 50+% more for the same plan.

Best plan & average cost: LifeLock Ultimate Plus for $19.99/month (when paid annually).

LifeLock’s Ultimate Plus plan is one of the few plans to rival Aura’s combination of identity, fraud, and hacking protection — but at approximately twice the price for individuals. LifeLock also charges more for the Norton 360 add-on, which includes digital security features such as a VPN, antivirus, and Safe Browsing tools. 

Our verdict: LifeLock is a trusted stalwart in identity theft protection. However, its confusing plan structure and significant price hikes make the value questionable when compared to all-in-one platforms like Aura that protect entire families for less money.

📚 Related: How Much Does LifeLock Really Cost? Read Before You Buy →

What Are the Three Credit Bureaus? 

When most people talk about three-bureau credit monitoring, they’re referring to Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion as the major credit reporting agencies. 

While these agencies don’t directly make lending decisions, their standing in the industry means their reports heavily influence decision-making by prospective lenders, including banks, payday loan companies, and credit card issuers. 

However, these three aren’t the only credit bureaus. Many other services collect and organize data about your credit history — and could potentially warn you of fraud or errors that impact your credit score. 

Other reporting services include:

• ChexSystems is a consumer credit reporting agency that tracks activity related to closed checking, savings, and other deposit accounts at financial institutions. You can get one free report from ChexSystems every 12 months upon request. 
• LexisNexis helps lenders assess your eligibility for loans or other credit services. You can request a freeze online or on the phone by calling 1-800-456-1244.
• Subprime credit reporting agencies, such as Teletrack, Factor Trust, and DataX.

How To Monitor Your Credit Reports on Your Own (and For Free)

If you don’t want to pay for three-bureau credit monitoring services, you can conduct your own analysis by using free methods, such as:

• Order your free credit reports. Americans have the right to access their reports every week. You can order a report from each of the three major bureaus by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com. You can check these reports for errors, new accounts, or other suspicious activity. 
• Check your bank or credit card benefits. Many financial institutions offer credit monitoring services. However, these free services typically only monitor one credit bureau rather than all three, so you won’t get a full view of your financial health. 
• Companies that have been part of a data breach. In the wake of a cyberattack, many companies offer their customers free credit monitoring services. The caveat is that signing up for these services often prohibits you from pursuing legal action later — so make sure you read the fine print.

3-Bureau Credit Monitoring Can Save You From Fraud — Aura Can Help

While there are many options for credit monitoring, they aren’t all equal. Some services only offer one- or two-bureau coverage. Others only include three-bureau credit monitoring as part of their most expensive plans.

With Aura, you get three-bureau credit monitoring with the industry’s fastest and most reliable fraud alerts included on all plans. Plus, every account offers award-winning identity theft protection, powerful digital security tools, 24/7 White Glove Fraud Resolution specialists, and up to $5 million in insurance coverage for eligible losses resulting from identity theft.