Review · Money
PrivacyGuard review
A monthly identity and credit monitoring service with separate identity, credit and combined plans.
By the HearSmart research desk · Updated November 9, 2026
- Performance (40%)
- 7.2
- Ease of use (25%)
- 7.0
- Value (35%)
- 7.0
PrivacyGuard keeps things simple with three monthly plans. Identity Protection, at $9.99 a month, scans public and dark web sites and monitors your Social Security number, driver's license, passport, bank accounts and cards, with a dedicated ID fraud resolution agent and $1 million ID theft insurance. Credit Protection, at $19.99, focuses on credit with monthly triple-bureau reports and scores and daily monitoring across all three bureaus. Total Protection, at $24.99, combines both and adds monitoring of children's Social Security numbers, which is the only household feature it offers. Monthly three-bureau reports are more generous than the annual reports many rivals include. Against that, there is no plan for a second adult, the service is not offered in Iowa, Rhode Island or Vermont, and the site's press quotes date from 2021, so it does not appear to be updated as often as the leaders. Plans renew monthly, which keeps the commitment short.
Who it is for
People who want monthly three-bureau reports and child SSN monitoring without an annual commitment.
Price
Identity Protection $9.99 per month; Credit Protection $19.99; Total Protection $24.99 per month.
Plans auto-renew monthly unless cancelled. Plans start at $9.99 per month.
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 9, 2026.
Key features
- 24/7 triple-bureau daily credit monitoring on Credit and Total plans
- Monthly triple-bureau credit reports and scores
- $1 million ID theft insurance on Identity and Total plans
- Public and dark web scanning plus SSN, driver's license and passport monitoring
- Children's Social Security number monitoring on Total Protection
Strengths and weaknesses
- Strength: Monthly three-bureau reports, not just alerts
- Strength: Month-to-month billing
- Strength: Dedicated ID fraud resolution agent
- Weakness: No family plan for a second adult
- Weakness: Not available in Iowa, Rhode Island or Vermont
- Weakness: Website content looks dated next to rivals
Key facts
- Total Protection: $24.99 per month
- Insurance: $1 million
- Child monitoring: Children's SSN on Total Protection
- Billing: Monthly auto-renewal
- Not available in: Iowa, Rhode Island and Vermont
Where it ranks
PrivacyGuard is No. 8 in our Best Identity Theft Protection verdict.
Alternatives we scored
Visit privacyguard.com · Questions or corrections: editorial@hearsmart.org