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IdentityForce Review: Best Value ID Theft Protection Service

TransUnion-owned IdentityForce is the best of both worlds if you’re trying to decide between LifeLock and Aura.

Identityforce logo displayed on a phone

IdentityForce is an identity theft protection service offered by TransUnion, one of the three major credit bureaus. This subscription service offers great value for both individuals and families who want to have their financial accounts and credit monitored on their behalf.

Most of IdentityForce's services are comparable to industry leaders Aura and LifeLock by Norton. It notably lacks credit bureau monitoring in its base plan, a big reason why it didn't rank higher on CNET's best list.  

Both of IdentityForce's plans, UltraSecure or UltraSecure+Credit, include features like a VPN for mobile, a password manager and social media identity monitoring to keep your identity safe. 

For well-rounded identity theft protection, you'll want to splurge for Identity Force's top tier, UltraSecure+Credit, which includes three-credit credit monitoring and up to $2 million in identity theft insurance. IdentityForce's base plan offers the industry standard of $1 million in coverage.

IdentityForce

Keep your identity and sensitive data safe
Best plan
UltraSecure+Credit
Pricing from

As low as $20 per month

Best for
Individuals

Key Features

  • VPN for mobile

  • Dark web monitoring

  • Three bureau credit monitoring

  • Phishing and botnet monitoring

  • Social Security number monitoring

UltraSecure Billed Monthly

$20 for Individuals

$25 for Families

UltraSecure+Credit Billed Monthly

$35 for Individuals

$40 for Families

Key Features

  • VPN for mobile

  • Dark web monitoring

  • Three bureau credit monitoring

  • Phishing and botnet monitoring

  • Social Security number monitoring

UltraSecure Billed Monthly

$20 for Individuals

$25 for Families

UltraSecure+Credit Billed Monthly

$35 for Individuals

$40 for Families

Who should use IdentityForce?

If you want higher identity theft insurance coverage or want a comprehensive family plan, you might consider Identity Force over other identity theft plans. 

IdentityForce's top UltraSecure+Credit tier offers up to $2 million in protection if you endure financial losses after having your identity stolen. LifeLock, in comparison, offers up to $3 million in insurance per adult adult with its Ultra Plan at the same price. 

IdentityForce has the edge if you're looking to add more than one person to your plan. Not only does IdentityForce let you add unlimited children to your plan, but you'll also pay less.

If you have more than two adults you want to cover in your family plan, you might consider Aura, although this service will cost you more and does not extend insurance protections to minors.

Who shouldn't sign up for IdentityForce? Anyone looking for a flexible basic plan with credit monitoring should look elsewhere (try Aura instead). If you're looking for more features or services like credit locks, another identity theft service might serve you better. 

You get a lot of coverage with IdentityForce, but you'll pay more for it, especially for individual plans. If you need a more budget-friendly plan, look at Zander or IdentityIQ. 

What plans does IdentityForce offer?

IdentityForce offers two plans: UltraSecure and UltraSecure+Credit. Within each plan, you can choose coverage for an individual or family. 

Both plans provide the basics of identity theft protection, including dark web and Social Security number monitoring, plus identity theft insurance. Each also includes bank and credit card activity alerts as well as a VPN and password manager, among other features. 

UltraSecure plans don't offer any credit monitoring services. This means you'll want to go with IdentityForce's UltraSecure+Credit plan if you want to have your credit reports monitored for new accounts. The number of children whose identities can be monitored on this plan is unlimited, child credit activity monitoring is limited to 10 kids.

IdentityForce doesn't offer a free trial of its top plan. A 30-day trial is available for UltraSecure individual and family plans.

UltraSecure 

UltraSecure is IdentityForce's base plan, offered to both individuals for $20 or families for $25 per month. The family plan covers two adults and unlimited children. This plan comes with dark web monitoring, bank and credit card activity alerts, Social Security number tracking and up to $1 million in identity theft insurance.

UltraSecure+Credit

The UltraSecure+Credit plan comes with all the benefits of the base plan, plus oversight of your credit score and three bureau reports. Additional benefits include quarterly credit reports and scores from Experian and Equifax (daily scores and reports from TransUnion), a credit score tracker and a credit score simulator. This higher tier of coverage comes with up to $2 million in identity theft insurance. This plan costs $35 for individuals and $40 for families. 

IdentityForce products, compared

UltraSecure UltraSecure+Credit
Individual$20 monthly$35 monthly
Family Plan (2 Adults and Unlimited Children)$25 monthly$40 monthly
Top featuresDark web monitoring; Social Security number monitoring; bank and credit card activity alerts; advanced fraud monitoring; dedicated restoration specialist; VPN for mobile; online PC protectionEverything in UltraSecure plus: risk scores for dark web hits; phishing and botnet monitoring; three bureau credit monitoring; quarterly credit reports and scores from all three credit bureaus; credit score tracker; credit score simulator
Identity Theft Insurance$1 million in identity theft insurance$2 million in identity theft insurance

What’s it like to use IdentityForce?

I tested IdentityForce's UltraSecure+Credit plan. Creating an IdentityForce account is easy, and will take you only a few minutes. You do have to fork over your sensitive data so the company can get to work. This includes your name, full address, phone number and Social Security number.

Once your account is created, you'll have access to a user dashboard. On the left-hand side of the dashboard, you'll find options providing easy access to the different features of your account, including an identity vault that works as online encrypted storage where you can store all your sensitive financial and personal information. 

The "Breach IQ" option found on the dashboard assigns a score that estimates how susceptible you are to ID fraud based on the data breaches your personal information has been leaked as a result of. This feature is unique among identity theft providers, although I'm not really sure what to do with the score assigned to me. My personal account said I was slightly protected, but the company doesn't really unpack what this score actually means.

IdentityForce dashboard shows ID safety score
Screenshot by Holly Johnson/CNET

Under "alerts," you'll find all the alerts set up for your identity all in one place. In my case, I have alerts that my data has been shared on the dark web because of multiple data breaches and that several individuals on the sex offender registry live in my town (although not directly nearby).

IdentityForce shows alerts I have on dark web
Screenshot by Holly Johnson/CNET

The "credit" page lists a range of important information about your credit reports and scores if you have the UltraSecure+Credit plan. This includes a credit score that's updated quarterly from all three credit bureaus (and a daily credit score from TransUnion), a summary of your credit reports and a credit score simulator. You can also view a credit score tracker that shows your credit score history

I find the three bureau credit report summary incredibly useful, mostly because it gives you a snapshot of your credit report details without the need to read over your reports from start to finish.

The credit bureau summary from IdentityForce puts all your information in one place so you can see if you have delinquent accounts, how many hard inquiries you have had in the last two years and the total balances you owe on your mortgage, credit card debts, personal loans, auto loans and more. 

Three bureau credit report summary on IdentityForce
Screenshot by Holly Johnson/CNET

You can even click directly from this page to dispute incorrect data you find with any (or all) of the credit bureaus. IdentityForce also allows you to read over each of your credit reports in full if you prefer.

Other notable features

A useful benefit of IdentityForce is the customized action plan it creates for you. You can find this through the BreachIQ option on the dashboard. The action plan tells you all the steps you can take to protect your identity further. 

IdentityForce suggested I set up two-factor authentication on select accounts, request an IRS pin and set up alerts for all my credit cards, among other options.

IdentityForce BreachIQ Action Plan
Screenshot by Holly Johnson/CNET

In addition to the action plan, you can view your breach exposures. My personal and financial information has been shared on the dark web multiple times due to my data being compromised in data breaches. I was already aware of this before I signed up for IdentityForce, but It's still jarring to see all of these alerts. 

I have frozen all my credit reports as a result of this, which means nobody can open new accounts in my name. It's still important to me to know when my information has been shared and to take steps I can take to prevent all types of fraud.

How do IdentityForce’s identity restoration services work?   

A major benefit of IdentityForce is that no matter your plan, the company offers you identity restoration services through a dedicated resolution specialist. If you believe your information has been compromised or you have proof that identity theft has occurred, you have a specific department and specialist to reach out to for help online and over the phone.

You can reach IdentityForce at 877-694-3367 if somebody has stolen your personal information or identification documents. You can also contact your dedicated resolution specialist directly through the IdentityForce dashboard.

IdentityForce resolution specialist option on member dashboard
Screenshot by Holly Johnson/CNET

IdentityForce members get up to $2 million in identity theft insurance, depending on their plan. But, in addition, IdentityForce's resolution specialists take steps to prevent further fraud and restore your identity. The company's identity restoration team won't close your case until all parties agree that any issues involving fraud have been resolved. They'll even reopen a case and reactivate your restoration services if fraudulent activity reappears on a closed case. 

Is IdentityForce UltraSecure+Credit worth the price?

I recommend the higher UltraSecure+Credit tier if you sign up with IdentityForce, since it's the only option that offers credit monitoring. This is an important aspect of ID theft protection since your credit reports are one of the first places you can spot initial signs of fraud. Without credit monitoring, you wouldn't know if someone opened an account in your name unless you checked yourself.

Pricing for this plan is similar to other top-tier ID theft protection plans from competitors like Identity Guard and LifeLock by Norton -- especially when you compare family plans. Identity Guard's top Ultra family plan costs $40 per month, the same as IdentityForce. IdentityForce's UltraSecure+Credit family plan is also far cheaper than LifeLock's Advantage and Ultimate Plus family options. 

There are slight differences with all identity theft plans, so it is best to compare IdentityForce's UltraSecure+Credit tier with the top tiers of other companies. To use the same example, IdentityForce's top tier offers more identity theft insurance than Identity Guard, but less than LifeLock. The latter is also the industry leader in terms of features offered to subscribers.

Ultimately, the UltraSecure+Credit plan from IdentityForce is a great deal. This is especially true if you pay for a year of coverage upfront to secure a discount, and if you have more than five children you want to protect with a family plan.

Is IdentityForce right for me?

I can’t strongly recommend IdentityForce’s lower tier plan, since it doesn’t come with credit monitoring, but the higher tier UltraSecure+ Credit plan is worth considering.

IdentityForce has a wide breadth of features, but fewer than industry leaders, Aura and LifeLock. You may wind up paying less for IdentityForce and could receive a higher amount of identity theft insurance in the process.

At the end of the day, you’ll still want to compare IdentityForce’s plans to similar coverage options from the best identity theft and monitoring companies today. Doing so can help you figure out if IdentityForce is best for your needs and offers the protection features you want the most.

Holly Johnson is a credit card expert and writer who covers rewards and loyalty programs, budgeting, and all things personal finance. In addition to writing for publications like Bankrate, CreditCards.com, Forbes Advisor and Investopedia, Johnson owns Club Thrifty and is the co-author of "Zero Down Your Debt: Reclaim Your Income and Build a Life You'll Love."
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