7 Best Dark Web Monitoring Services Reviews (2023)

You want the best dark web monitoring possible with your identity protection service. Sacrificing in this area is like wearing a blindfold while crossing a street. Instead of looking for dangerous traffic, you’re just praying vehicles won’t hit you. 

If you don’t have accurate, timely, and actionable dark web alerts with your identity protection service, you’re asking for a criminal to cause real harm rather than taking simple proactive steps (sort of like looking both ways before crossing a street). 

So, when choosing an identity protection service, it’s a good idea to place a significant value on their dark web monitoring capabilities. After testing many identity protection tools, I found that a surprising amount of them can’t accurately monitor the dark web – but the ones on this list can. 

And Aura, my top choice, does a whole lot more than that. With Aura, you’ll never have to worry about the dark web again.

Plus, if you get our exclusive OFF offer today, you lock in that price for life.

Before we get too far, though, let’s ensure we’re all on the same page by answering the most basic question…

Home Security Heroes independently tests and reviews every product. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. Read more here.

What Is The Dark Web? 

The dark web(darknet) refers to the portion of the Internet that search engines don’t index. On it, private computer networks can anonymously conduct business. And because everything there is anonymous, it’s filled with crime. 

If there’s a data breach or your information is stolen, it will likely end up on the dark web. It’s not rare for criminals here to sell stolen information like:

• Account logins
• Driver license information
• Medical ID information
• Bank and credit card information
• Certification numbers (allowing people to create fake diplomas and other certs)

Top Dark Web Monitoring Services Reviews of 2023

You need accurate and timely dark web monitoring to protect your identity fully. And you need a service that provides actionable alerts to prevent future issues. 

After testing several services, I found the following seven picks to be the best at finding my information on the dark web.

1. Aura – Best Overall

Initial Scan Results: Two Dark Web Alerts

Why I Picked It

Out of all the services I’ve tested, Aura is my number one choice for dark web monitoring because it’s:

• Accurate 
• Fast (the initial scan took under five minutes)
• Actionable (alerts give you all the information you need to take proactive and protective steps)

But excellent dark web monitoring isn’t the only thing Aura brings to the table. It’s a fantastic identity protection service in almost every way. 

First, Aura monitors more than just the dark web. Their award-winning identity theft and credit monitoring also keeps track of public records, including your home and auto title, criminal records, and the sex offender registry. And Aura monitors financial accounts, including investment accounts like your 401(k). 

On top of that, Aura comes with three-bureau credit monitoring and a whole host of digital security tools like a VPN, password manager, antivirus software, and more. 

Aura also offers white-glove identity restoration and expert threat resolution through their 24/7/365 U.S.-based customer service team. So if you do become a theft victim, you know you’re in good hands. 

Plus, Aura comes with $1 million in theft insurance per adult on your plan. And, unlike other plans that restrict you to two adults, Aura allows you to include up to five adults (and unlimited children) on any family plan. 

Finally, Aura comes with many useful tools that help parents protect their kids online. This includes parental controls and a safe gaming function that monitors interactions between players on over 200 games. It alerts parents to signs of bullying, harassment, and grooming. 

Aura does all of this at an exceptionally affordable rate. When you use our discount code, you can save even more, and the price doesn’t increase upon renewal.

The only downside to Aura is in its interface – it could be better. But it’s also easy to use, so this is a very minor issue

Aura Plans & Pricing

2. Identity Guard – Runner Up

Initial Scan Results: Two Dark Web Alerts

Why I Picked It: 

Identity Guard is Aura’s predecessor. So, it’s no surprise that it’s just as accurate and fast when it comes to monitoring the dark web. 

If dark web monitoring is the only thing you’re interested in, you might opt for Identity Guard’s Value plan, which offers complete dark web monitoring at a very low rate. 

Unfortunately, the Value plan isn’t very comprehensive. It doesn’t include specialized services like home title or investment account monitoring or white-glove restoration services. 

Higher plan tiers offer all of Aura’s monitoring services, but they’re also much more expensive.

I do like Identity Guard’s interface, though. It’s very easy to navigate. So, it’s not a bad option if you want dark web monitoring alone.

Identity Guard Plans & Pricing

3. IdentityForce – Best Family Inclusions

Initial Scan Results: Two Dark Web Alerts

Why I Picked It: 

IdentityForce offers extremely accurate dark web monitoring, just like Aura and Identity Guard, and its additional monitoring services are fairly comprehensive. 

Though it doesn’t include home title monitoring, it does monitor other public records. And it comes with investment account monitoring. 

On top of that, IdentityForce offers white-glove restoration services with all plans and deceased member fraud remediation. So, your family doesn’t have to worry about identity theft after you pass away (and unfortunately, all-too-common occurrence).

IdentityForce also offers several digital privacy tools, including a VPN, identity vault, and password manager.   

Where IdentityForce really stands out, though, is in its family offerings. See, IdentityForce offers white-glove identity restoration for immediate family members without a family plan.

 You have to purchase a family plan to include family monitoring, but the fact that they offer identity restoration that’s essentially complimentary is a huge plus! 

My only real gripe with IdentityForce is in their price structure. They charge significantly more to include basic three-bureau credit monitoring. With this, IdentityForce includes a few tools, like a credit simulator, that are sort of nice to have.

But, the price jump doesn’t really seem warranted – not when there are many less expensive and a few completely free credit monitoring options.

IdentityForce Plans & Pricing

4. Zander – Best Budget Pick

Initial Scan Results: Two Dark Web Alerts

Why I Picked It

Zander is a very inexpensive option for no-frills dark web monitoring services. 

For under $7 per month, you can get accurate dark web monitoring. It’s not nearly as comprehensive as other services (you’re not going to get much in the way of other monitoring services – as in, no investment account or criminal records monitoring), but the low price makes it stand out. 

Zander also comes with 24/7 customer service, a $1 million theft insurance policy, and home title fraud reimbursement (a feature few other services include). 

Notably, Zander also increases its insurance coverage when you add your spouse to your plan. So, family plans come with $2 million in coverage, which is a nice feature. 

Unfortunately, Zander’s low-price coverage has a few flaws. The biggest is with their alerts. Some of them simply aren’t actionable.

While one of the alerts I received gave me all the details I needed to do something about it, including the name of the compromised website, which email had been exposed, and whether or not the password was encrypted, the other alert looked like this: 

Notice it doesn’t provide the website that was breached! It only gave me the compromised email and date, which isn’t all that helpful.

Zander Plans & Pricing

5. IDX – Most Detailed Alerts

Initial Scan Results: Two Dark Web Alerts

Why I Picked It

IDX isn’t the most well-known identity protection service, probably because of its price. It’s one of the more expensive options, especially if you want to include both identity monitoring and IDX’s suite of privacy tools.

But, with IDX, you do seem to get what you pay for. The interface is fantastic, its monitoring is pretty comprehensive (it’s missing the home title and investment account monitoring but includes everything else), and it comes with an identity recovery guarantee. 

What I really love about IDX, though, is its alert details. This service gives an absurd amount of detail with each alert, allowing you to fully understand what was compromised and how at risk your identity is. 

Take a look at what I mean: 

It gives me the backstory behind the breach, tells me exactly what was exposed, and tells me what I should do about it. The service is also accurate, finding just as many dark web alerts as my top pick.

IDX Plans & Pricing

6. Costco Complete ID – Best For Costco Executive Members

Initial Scan Results: Two Dark Web Alerts

Why I Picked It

If you’re a Costco Executive member, Costco CompleteID might be worth looking at. It’s a very accurate service at a very affordable price. But only if you’re a Costco Executive member. 

I wouldn’t join Costco just to have this service, nor would I recommend it to regular members. For them, the price of the service is still too high, given what it includes. 

See, Costco Complete ID’s monitoring isn’t very comprehensive. You get dark web monitoring (obviously), payday loan monitoring, and criminal record monitoring, but there’s no home title, investment account, or transaction monitoring. 

That said, it does come with some good features, like an in-portal Experian credit lock, a password manager, and a VPN.

Costco Complete ID’s neighborhood watch is also uniquely detailed, providing everything you could possibly want to know about registered sex offenders in your neighborhood, in some cases even including details of their conviction. 

If you have young children and are worried about potential predators moving nearby, it might be a useful feature. 
My real gripe with Costco Complete ID is the same as my issue with Zander – its alerts aren’t always actionable and are sometimes missing key details. So, while it’s accurate, you might not be able to do very much with the alerts it gives.

Costco Complete ID Plans & Pricing

7. LifeLock – Best User Interface 

Initial Scan Results: One Dark Web Alert

Why I Picked It

LifeLock makes this list for two reasons: 

1. It’s the most well-known identity protection service, and you’re probably already considering it
2. The user interface is impressive

Unfortunately, it’s also the only service on this list to miss a dark web alert. So, while it’s effective at dark web monitoring, it’s not as good as the other services I’ve tested. 

If you want a seamless user interface and the comfort of using a big-name brand, LifeLock could be a decent pick. Its monitoring is certainly comprehensive, including everything from criminal records and payday loans to your investment accounts. 

And LifeLock comes with all sorts of additional features like Norton antivirus software and a good VPN. Family plans offer parental controls, and if you’re willing to pay for the top-level plan, you get fantastic insurance coverage ($3 million per adult and over $1 million per child). 

But there are major flaws to LifeLock’s services as well. 

First, its customer service team isn’t U.S.-based, and they’re difficult to reach, despite having 24/7 hours. Getting their support phone number takes clicking through multiple “contact us” pages from your dashboard. 

LifeLock also increases its price upon renewal, and if you opt for anything but the top-tier plan, your theft insurance coverage ends up well below average. The low-tier plan only offers $25,000 in stolen funds and expenses. 

So, I can’t recommend LifeLock. It’s not the worst service for dark web monitoring, but it’s also not the best option.

LifeLock Plans & Pricing

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it really possible to monitor the dark web? 

Yes, it’s possible to monitor the dark web. Though the dark web is a big and rather scary place, monitoring services are able to successfully comb through it because they know what they’re looking for. 

When you give a dark web monitoring service your name, address, email, and other personal information, it begins scanning dark web sites for those items. 

Of course, some services are better at this than others. The services on this list are remarkably good. I’ve tested many other identity protection services, and many of them came back with no dark web hits at all, showing the huge disparity in accuracy within dark web monitoring.  

Is dark web monitoring a good idea? 

Yes, dark web monitoring is a good idea. If you know what personal information is available on the dark web, you can take steps to protect yourself before a criminal does any harm. 

You can change your passwords or freeze your credit, both of which take little time or effort when you have the right tools within your identity protection service (like in-portal credit locks and password managers). 

Is everyone’s info on the dark web? 

I can’t say that everyone’s information is on the dark web, but the vast majority of us have something out there. 

At some point, a service you use has probably had a data breach – whether that be Twitter or your bank. And when that happens, hundreds of thousands of emails, passwords, and other details leak onto the dark web. 

Why is the dark web allowed to exist? 

The dark web is allowed to exist because nothing about it is inherently illegal. Believe it or not, some reputable companies have a dark web presence. But, by its nature, everyone is anonymous, and that anonymity gives criminals a chance to thrive. 

Choosing The Best Dark Web Monitoring For You and Yours 

Monitoring the dark web for your information is a great step to take if you want to protect your identity (and your family’s). 

Unfortunately, while every identity protection service offers dark web monitoring, only some are actually good at it. 

The vast majority of services I’ve tested fail to find threats – the ones on this list are the ones that do. 

Aura is my top pick because it includes accurate and fast dark web monitoring alongside a treasure trove of other features. From expert threat resolution and identity restoration to a VPN and antivirus software, Aura is the best identity protection service available.

And it’s also affordable. With our discount code, you can lock in a low rate for life.