If you are in the process of repairing your credit, it is very important to use some type of credit report monitoring program. This way you can see if items are coming off of your report or if there are new negative items being added. There are a lot of credit monitoring offers out there and choosing the right one can be difficult. So, we have done all the homework for you and put together this comparison guide to help you make sense of the most popular offers available.
Free Credit Monitoring Sites
Reviewing your credit reports once a year is helpful, but it is really the bare minimum you should be doing on a regular basis. That’s why it’s a good idea to supplement getting your yearly credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com with one or more subscriptions to free credit monitoring sites. Here’s a list of the top sites for monitoring your credit reports, as well as your credit scores (VantageScores, not FICO).
- Experian credit report and Vantage Score based on Experian credit report.
- Updated every 14 days
- TransUnion and Equifax credit reports and VantageScore 3.0 from both
- Updated every 7 days
- Credit Report Card* (limited info from TransUnion credit report)
- VantageScore 3.0 based on TransUnion credit report (not a FICO Score)
- Updated monthly
*For a fee, you can see your full Experian credit report through Credit Sesame. (See details in “For a Fee” section below.)
Bankrate (recently merged with Quizzle)
- TransUnion credit report
- VantageScore 3.0 based on TransUnion credit report (not a FICO Score)
- Updated monthly
- TransUnion credit report
- VantageScore 3.0 based on TransUnion credit report (not a FICO Score)
- TransUnion credit report
- VantageScore 3.0 based on TransUnion credit report (not a FICO Score)
- Updated daily
NOTE: If you’re only going to subscribe to one of these sites, make it Credit Karma, as they show you credit reports from both TransUnion and Equifax. But it’s worth signing up for Credit.com, too. Even though the free option only includes a “Credit Report Card,” you at least get insight into your third credit report (and score) — from Experian.
Credit Monitoring for a Fee
The following sites offer free services (as listed above), but if you want to see your entire credit report through Credit.com, it’s going to cost you. The same is true if you want to see your credit reports more frequently through Quizzle.
Credit.com — ExtraCredit – 24.99/month*
- All three credit reports, Experian, TransUnion and Equifax
- 28 FICO Scores
- Credit Monitoring
*Start 30-day trial membership for $0. If you don’t cancel before the 7 days is over, the subscription kicks in for $24.99 a month.
NOTE: We do not recommend this paid service. You can see your full Experian credit report for free through Experian CreditWorks Basic. You can see your full TransUnion credit report for free every 7 days through Credit Karma (as well as Equifax). WalletHub updates TransUnion credit reports daily. And as for your FICO Score, you can see that for free through Discover Credit Scorecard.
Credit Bureaus Offering Credit Monitoring for a Fee
The following list may be a bit overwhelming and if so, you can skip it. We don’t really recommend any of these paid services but if you feel so inclined to use them, feel free to review these offers.
Experian
It bears repeating that there is a free option: You can see your FICO 8 credit score and Experian credit report for free. Just give some personal identification and boom, access to your report and your score. However, if you want to see all three credit report plus get credit monitoring, there is a paid option,
Experian CreditWorks Premium — $24.99/month*
- Monthly 3-Bureau FICO® Scores*
- 3-Bureau Credit Monitoring and Alerts
- Daily FICO® Scores Based on Experian Data
- Experian CreditLock with Alerts
- FICO® Score Tracker
- Identity Protection and Alerts
- Up to $1 Million Identity Theft Insurance※
- Dedicated Fraud Resolution Support
- Lost Wallet Assistance
*7 days free, then $24.99/month
Equifax
Equifax Complete Premiere Plan — $19.95/month
- Regular access to Equifax Credit Score, which is based on their own unique algorithm (not FICO or VantageScore)
- Annual access to 3-bureau Equifax Credit Scores and credit profiles
Equifax Complete Family Plan — $19.95/month
- Regular access to Equifax Credit Score (not FICO or VantageScore) based on Equifax credit report
- Annual access to 3-bureau Equifax Credit Scores and credit profiles
- Covers two adults
Score Watch 1-Bureau Credit Monitoring — $14.95/month
- Access to Equifax credit reports twice a year
- Access to FICO Score 5 (based on Equifax credit report) twice a year
TransUnion
1-Bureau Credit Monitoring — $24.95/month
- Unlimited access to TransUnion credit report
- Unlimited access to VantageScore 3.0 based on TransUnion credit report
NOTE: Since we have already outlined in previous sections how to see your credit reports for free, there is no reason to pay for them through the credit bureaus. Yes, these paid services give you access to FICO Scores. But you can see your FICO Score for free through Discover Credit Scorecard. And if it’s industry-specific FICO Scores you need, pay for them through myFICO.com (details below).
Credit Monitoring Offered by myFICO.com
Though it’s never necessary to pay to see your credit reports, it might be worth paying to see your industry-specific credit scores when you’re looking for auto or home financing. In that case, myFICO.com is the way to go.
Basic — $19.95/month
- Experian credit report
- FICO Scores 8 and 9, and industry-specific scores
- Updates every month
Advanced — $29.95/month
- Credit reports from all three bureaus
- FICO Scores 8 and 9, and industry-specific scores
- Updates every three months
- Credit monitoring with all the perks.
Premier – $39.95/month
- Complete 3 bureau coverage
- FICO Scores from all three bureaus
- Updates every month
- Credit monitoring with all the perks.
NOTE: Of the three options above, we recommend myFIco Advanced, unless you are actively repairing your credit, then you probably want to see your scores and credit reports more often, then go with Premiere.
