Complete ID vs LifeLock: Which One is Worth the Investment?
We spent twenty-one days testing LifeLock vs. CompleteID.
Spoiler – LifeLock wins.
LifeLock helps you stay safe online with included features like a VPN and Norton antivirus software. CompleteID’s security features are minimal in comparison.
LifeLock also helps parents protect their kids with parental controls and theft insurance coverage for children – neither of which CompleteID includes.
And you don’t need a Costco membership to access great pricing on LifeLock. With our discount code, you can get off a LifeLock subscription.
- You want more than basic identity protection. LifeLock goes beyond the minimum by including extra safety features like antivirus software.
- You want to protect your family online. LifeLock offers parental controls and insurance coverage for minors.
- You want flexibility in your identity protection coverage. LifeLock offers several tiers, so you only pay for what you need.
- You’re a Costco member who likes to shop at the warehouse store exclusively. If Costco sells it, you have to have it.
- You aren’t worried about protecting your kids. CompleteID doesn’t offer much to keep minors safe from identity theft.
- You’re okay with a subpar user interface. If LifeLock is Mac OS, CompleteID is Windows 93.
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The persistent identity theft threat makes it vital to track your financial transactions to spot any bank account or personal information misuse. Clues that someone may be misusing your financial information include unexplained bank account withdrawals or an inexplicable poor credit score. Without trusted identity protection services, you can easily miss such clues and suffer devastating damage.
In this Complete ID vs. LifeLock review, we’ll assess the most important features these tools offer to protect your personal information from fraudulent use. It’s a lot easier to pick the better product after evaluating its strengths in core areas like cybersecurity, credit monitoring, and ID theft protection.
But First, Why Should You Trust Us?
You can learn more about our testing process here.
Complete ID vs. LifeLock: Head-to-Head Comparison
Our Video Comparison
Differences
- Anyone can buy a LifeLock ID security plan
- Only Costco members are Eligible for Complete ID subscriptions
- Integrates Cybersecurity with Identity Theft Protection
- Has No Cybersecurity
- Offers Security for multiple devices(PCs, tablets, and smartphones), to minimize the risk of identity theft through malware infestation
- Does not have this Feature
- Protects your Personal Information on Public Wi-Fi
- lets you browse Anonymously
- Has a File-sharing Network Scanner
- Does not Have any of these Features
- Bases your monthly VantageScore credit rating on Equifax data
- Includes monthly Experian VantageScore updates
- Parental Control to protect your child from the dangers of the web
- Sends Text Notifications
- Doesn’t offer Web Access Restrictions
- Doesn’t Send Text Notifications
- offers up to 4 price plans, giving you
- More Options to protect your identity against fraudulent use
- Only has 2 price plans
- Minimizes Exposure to Sensitive Data Theft
- Does not have this Feature
Similarities
- Both of the products offer court records monitoring to alert you when somebody commits a crime in your name
- Provision of annual credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion Annual VantageScore updates to alert you to any suspicious credit score patterns
- SSN monitoring just in case somebody associates your SSN with their name or address
- Financial account/activity monitoring to spot any suspicious transactions by Fraudsters
- Financial account takeover warnings if somebody attempts to steal your credit, savings, or checking account
- State sex offender registry scans to keep you informed on individuals in your neighborhood that could hurt your family
- Stolen wallet recovery in case you lost critical documents, including your driving license or passport
- Up to $1 million in ID fraud insurance to compensate you for stolen funds, personal expenses, or legal fees
- Integrates Cybersecurity with Identity Theft Protection
- Identity recovery support, including help disputing credit card charges, filing charges in court, and reclaiming your financial status
- Dark Web scanning to alert you to any fraudulent sharing or exchange of your personal data over the internet
- USPS address change tracking to let you know if a fraudster tries to reroute your mail to a different address to access personal information like your credit card number or SSN
- Integrates Cybersecurity with Identity Theft Protection
Complete ID Features and Services
Identity Theft Protection
Complete ID identity theft protection lets you quickly notice when somebody uses your personal information to commit fraud. The platform notifies you when a fraudster opens a new credit line or bank account using your name to prevent or minimize financial loss. It includes SSN, dark web, and court records monitoring to protect you from the hefty price of identity fraud.
Credit Monitoring
Complete ID credit monitoring is an effective way to detect any fraudulent use of your credit lines, including credit cards. The service informs you when your credit score is suspiciously declining based on your monthly Experian VantageScore, enabling you to initiate investigations and pursue legal/financial redress right away. You receive real-time fraud alerts via email or push notifications to stay ahead of identity fraudsters.
Identity Restoration
Complete ID provides experts to advise you on the necessary identity restoration processes if you’re an ID fraud victim. A U.S.-based specialist works closely with you and relevant authorities, including the police and banks, toward resolving your ID fraud dispute.
When you need to report and stop further SSN misuse, these experts handle the necessary paperwork and phone calls. They also help with the reversal of fraudulent financial account takeovers and insurance compensation for all your ID theft damages and losses.
Pros and Cons
- Free annual credit reports from the 3 credit bureaus, namely Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax and up to $1M in fraud insurance compensation for lost earnings, lawsuit costs, and credit expenses
- Extensive range of personal information tracking features, including court records and financial accounts tracking
- US-based, 24/7 identity restoration support and legal counsel
- Instant fraud alerts via email and mobile push notifications
- Complete ID mobile app for Android and iOS with secure logon, including fingerprint authentication option Ability to track your personal information changes on the go via your smartphone
- They don’t have an out-of-the-box Complete ID family plan
- Child protection requires an extra subscription, which costs more per month
- Only Costco members may join Complete ID, and that adds considerably to overall subscription costs
- Lacks cybersecurity features like antivirus protection
- No web browser privacy or file-sharing protection
- You can’t receive fraud alerts via SMS on the ID theft protection platform
- The identity protection approach is more reactive than preventive
- The Complete ID app experience is somewhat subpar
- No VPN protection when connecting to public Wi-Fi
- In our testing Complete ID took days to come up with far fewer alerts, which is not what you want as speed is imperative in addressing a breach.
What is LifeLock?
LifeLock is thought to be a fairly inexpensive identity protection tool that spots any fraudulent activity affecting your credit score and financial health. It includes identity restoration assistance to help you reclaim your stolen ID and recover any lost cash.
Identity Protection
LifeLock identity protection is pretty extensive, tracking items like criminal records, home titles, SSNs, and address changes. They also monitor the dark web and 401(k) and investment accounts to flag any fraudulent use of your personal information. The service protects your children by tracking your state sex offender registry and warning you of imminent danger.
Credit Monitoring
LifeLock credit monitoring covers reports and scores from the three credit bureaus to highlight any suspicious variances. You’ll receive alerts if somebody uses your personal information to open a credit, savings, or checking account.
Identity Restoration
LifeLock identity protection is one of the most extensive on the market, tracking items like criminal records, home titles, SSNs, and address changes. They also monitor the dark web and 401(k) and investment accounts to flag any fraudulent use of your personal information. The service protects your children by tracking your state sex offender registry and warning you of imminent danger.
Cybersecurity
LifeLock employs cybersecurity as a data theft prevention and privacy component of overall ID protection. Three of its plans include Norton antivirus device protection to safeguard your personal information from malware or spyware attacks. The product offers file-sharing site scans, VPN protection, and anonymous browsing to thwart prying eyes. You’ll get LifeLock app notifications in case of a data breach.
Pros and Cons
- Fairly comprehensive ID protection service that tracks up to 1 trillion data points daily
- Includes ID theft prevention with Norton security services
- Enforces internet/ browsing privacy with VPN services, ad-tracker blocking, and file-sharing site scans
- ID fraud insurance worth up to $1M (but only on the Ultimate Plus plan)
- ID restoration services with 24/7 US-based customer service
- Flexible pricing structure with four plans, each with monthly and annually payment options
- Customizable instant fraud alert system with phone, SMS, email, or push notification options
- On-the-go access via Android or iOS LifeLock applications with user-friendly dashboards
- Annual credit reports and VantageScore tracking to flag suspicious financial transactions in your name
- The service is comparatively expensive, costing between $10 and $30 per month
- The Standard plan offers only a handful of ID theft protection features without Norton security
- Despite sex offender registry tracking, there’s no LifeLock family plan
- Child identity protection requires a LifeLock Junior subscription at an extra $5.99/month
- LifeLock plan renewals cost a lot more than first-year subscriptions
- Second-, third-, and fourth-tier plans lock you into Norton even if you’d prefer another antivirus service
- The first, second, and third-tier plans offer one-bureau credit monitoring
- Only the fourth-tier plan includes home title monitoring and 401(k) and investment account activity notifications
- In our testing, LifeLock only found 1 alert – and it took quite a while to show up.
- LifeLock promises US based experts but when we tested this, our experience was terrible.
Price Comparison
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Final Verdict – LifeLock Wins
Complete ID does a fairly good job in a few (but not really enough) key identity protection areas, including monitoring criminal records, sex offender registries, the dark web, and your financial accounts. Its actual performance where it counts in monitoring alerts is lackluster, to put it mildly. Its three-bureau credit reporting and score-tracking services meet industry standards. Just like its rivals, Complete ID offers ID restoration support and insurance protection to cushion ID fraud victims from financial loss. But when taking into regard the cost of a Costco membership in addition to Complete ID it isn’t cheap (unless you’re already a member).
LifeLock does fairly well in those areas, and it stands out in critical aspects, including the extensive coverage of personal data points. The product’s cybersecurity services minimize your exposure to ID theft, which can save you time and money.
LifeLock may be the more expensive product here, but its more comprehensive suite of identity protection features is better worth the investment, by comparison.
Again, in our testing it came up lacking, especially when it came to monitoring and alerts and its support was poor.
All that said, neither rate really highly in our regard when it comes to a good identity theft protection service, and as you will have seen, Aura is a much better choice all around.
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* The score you receive with Identity Guard is provided for educational purposes to help you understand your credit. It is calculated using the information contained in your TransUnion credit file. Lenders use many different credit scoring systems, and the score you receive with Identity Guard is not the same score used by lenders to evaluate your credit.
** Identity Theft Insurance underwritten by insurance company subsidiaries or affiliates of American International Group‚ Inc. The description herein is a summary and intended for informational purposes only and does not include all terms‚ conditions, and exclusions of the policies described. Please refer to the actual policies for terms‚ conditions‚ and exclusions of coverage. Coverage may not be available in all jurisdictions.
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