Free credit monitoring that actually covers all three bureaus
You don't need to pay for credit monitoring. By combining a few free services, you can monitor all three bureaus without spending a dime.
Remember: Monitoring is supplementary
Credit monitoring tells you when something happens—it doesn't prevent it. Make sure you've frozen your credit first. Monitoring is your backup alert system.
The free monitoring stack
Use these free services together to cover all three credit bureaus:
Credit Karma
TransUnion + Equifax
The most popular free option. Monitors two of the three bureaus, provides credit scores, and sends alerts for new accounts, inquiries, and changes.
Experian Free Account
Experian
Experian offers free monitoring of your Experian credit report. This completes your coverage when combined with Credit Karma.
Combined coverage = All three bureaus
Other free options
Bank and credit card providers
Many banks and credit card companies offer free credit score tracking:
- Chase Credit Journey (Experian)
- Discover Credit Scorecard (Experian) — available to non-customers
- Capital One CreditWise (TransUnion)
- American Express MyCredit Guide (TransUnion)
- Bank of America (TransUnion)
AnnualCreditReport.com
The official source for your free annual credit reports. Not real-time monitoring, but you're entitled to a free report from each bureau every year. Good for a periodic deep review.
Should you ever pay for monitoring?
In almost all cases, no.
Paid monitoring services ($10-30/month) offer some extra features, but they're rarely worth it if you have credit freezes in place:
Paid services typically add:
- • "Dark web" monitoring
- • Social Security number monitoring
- • Identity theft insurance
- • Recovery assistance
Reality check:
- • Dark web scanning has limited value
- • Your SSN is already frozen (right?)
- • Insurance has many exclusions
- • FTC offers free recovery help
Save your money
Instead of paying for monitoring, keep your credit frozen, enable 2FA everywhere, use a password manager, and set up free monitoring. That's more protection than any paid service provides.