Discover Identity Theft Protection Review and Pricing Plans

What Is Discover Identity Theft Protection?

For just $15 a month, Discover card holders can get identity theft protection that rivals some of the big names in the industry, and far more than what other credit card companies offer.

For its part, MasterCard offers complimentary identity theft protection that includes monitoring at the Equifax credit bureau, credit alerts, and that’s about it. But at least MasterCard offers something. On its website, Visa barely pays lip service to the idea of identity theft protection.

Of course, it’s not just about whether or not a payment network offers identity protection to its cardholders. There are so many good services out there from companies that specialize in identity theft protection, so Discover’s identity protection service needs to be able to rival those. Let’s take a close look at what Discover’s identity theft protection service looks like.

Free Protections for All Discover Cardholders

Before we get into what the Discover theft protection plan covers, we have to note that the credit card company already provides some protections for free. As with most credit card companies, Discover provides automatic fraud protection. If unusual purchases that you didn’t make show up on your account, Discover will reach out to you and ask if you’ve made those purchases. You can also contact customer service if you see fraudulent activity on your account.

On top of that, every cardholder can receive alerts for their Social Security number. The service includes monitoring the dark web to see if your information shows up. That also includes monitoring the Experian credit bureau for credit inquiries and new accounts or lines of credit. Since Discover already needs your Social Security number, it’s nice to have these alerts without turning over your number to a separate identity theft protection company.

Those are great protections to have, but they don’t go much beyond what most other credit cards offer. If you want true identity production, you should sign up for it, whether that’s through Discover or another provider.

What Does Discover’s Identity Theft Protection Plan Include?

Signing up for Discover identity theft protection is easy if you’re a Discover cardholder.

Identity theft protection from Discover costs $15 per month, which isn’t necessarily a bargain compared to some other services. Aura, currently our top-ranked identity protection service, starts at $12 per month. We also reviewed Zander’s identity protection which starts at $6.75 per month. There are certainly more affordable options, but we signed up for Discover’s service anyway so we can test it. From what we saw, the service can be broken down into four key areas.

Detect

In addition to the free monitoring services it already provides to cardholders, Discover will monitor all three credit bureaus (not just Experian) for any changes to your credit file. Discover also uses its connections with thousands of financial institutions to alert you if a bank account is opened in your name. What if someone tries to get a payday loan in your name from a non-traditional lender? Discover monitors for those too even though they aren’t often reported to credit bureaus.

We also noticed that Discover’s protection plan includes alerts for non-financial issues, which are typically covered by other identity theft services as well. If your name appears in the National Change of Address database, it will inform you in case you haven’t moved or purchased a new property. You’ll also receive an alert if your name appears in municipal, state, or federal court filings or arrest records.

Notify

Discover’s identity theft protection program also includes keeping you informed beyond sending alerts whenever something suspicious happens. We received a monthly credit activity summary that included information from all three credit bureaus. We also gained access to a digital dashboard that laid out all of the various features included in our identity theft protection plan.

Resolve

Being the victim of identity theft can be costly. The Discover plan includes identity theft insurance up to $1 million that is meant to cover legal expenses, stolen funds, lost wages, and more. The credit card company also resolves any fraud-related issues through its team of specialists that are entirely based in the United States.

Those are things that most identity theft protection services we’ve tested offer, so we’re not really surprised to see them from Discover. However, we would say that there are services that provide better safety nets, including LifeLock that can insure users for up to $3 million total.

Child Identity Protection

Last but not the least, we found that a Discover identity protection plan includes protection for up to 10 dependents (children). That’s something we haven’t seen from other providers before – at least not at that price point. The best identity theft protection for families typically cost $20 to $40 per month. However, we should note that the identity theft protection for children included in the plan isn’t the same as adult members. Discover’s child identity theft protection coverage includes only scanning the dark web for a child’s Social Security number and monitoring their Experian credit file.

Alternatives to Discover Identity Theft Protection

Discover makes the most of its connections with credit bureaus and financial institutions to provide a unique approach to identity theft protection. However, it isn’t perfect. There are plenty of great alternatives that you should consider based on your particular situation. Here are our top recommendations.

Aura

As our best identity theft protection service of 2025, Aura is the top alternative to the Discover identity theft protection plan. Our extensive testing of Aura revealed how it provides all-around protection that’s customizable and backed up by great customer support. We were a bit disappointed by the lack of plan options and found the user interface a bit challenging to navigate. But overall, we found Aura provides top-notch protection in many key areas.

While testing Aura, it gave us a nice overview of our credit and identity protection.

Before we get into all the bells and whistles, let’s talk about Aura’s pricing and plans. Unfortunately, there’s only one packaged tier. The only decision you have to make is the size of coverage, from an individual plan to a plan for your entire family. There’s also a package for people who only want to protect their children. These different package sizes are priced accordingly.

With its $12 price tag, the individual plan compares very favorably to the plan from Discover. In addition to monitoring your credit at all three bureaus, Aura also monitors your transactions for suspicious activity. Other protections include removal requests sent to data broker sites, home and auto title monitoring, criminal court monitoring, a credit lock with the Experian Bureau, and $1 million in identity theft insurance.

Aura goes even further by throwing in a password manager, antivirus software, and a VPN. That’s just scratching the surface because each one of these programs has cool features meant to keep your information private and secure. For example, the password manager has an ‘email alias’ function that allows you to sign up for services without handing over your actual email address.

Basically, Aura covers all the bases when it comes to identity theft and digital security.

LifeLock

You probably recognize LifeLock from all their TV commercials and emails. They’ve been around for a long time and offer some fantastic identity theft protection services. LifeLock and Norton are now one. So when you sign up for the LifeLock service, you can also get the Norton internet security protection as well.

As soon as we signed up, LifeLock found potentially leaked information about us on the dark web.

When you include the option to add Norton 360 software, LifeLock has over a dozen service packages from which you can choose. But since we’re focusing on identity theft protection, let’s focus on the Standard, Advantage, and Ultimate Plus tiers — each of which is available for individuals, couples, or families.

The Standard plan is half the cost of the identity theft protection plan from Discover. But the coverage is far less comprehensive, including only identity theft insurance, identity monitoring, and monitoring at one credit bureau. The only way to get credit monitoring at all three bureaus is with the Ultimate Plus plan. That plan is a lot more expensive but it does include more features than the Discover plan, such as monitoring services for social media, home titles, and phone number takeovers.

Incidentally, you can bundle LifeLock with Norton 360, and this is probably where you get both strong protection and a good deal:

*The Select Plan is the Standard Plan with dark web monitoring and data breach alerts

Our testing of LifeLock revealed that the upper-tier plans are worth their higher price tags, especially when you bundle in the Norton 360 software. However, we weren’t impressed with the Standard plan, and it really doesn’t stand up to the plan offered by Discover.

Identity Guard^®

In our Identity Guard review, we found it provided a lot of value in return. We liked that the company offers many different tiers of plans, and different packages for individuals, couples, and families. With that said, it’s hard to find a specific package that directly compares to the one from Discover.

Our Identity Guard dashboard shows us anytime a potential sign of identity theft pops up.

Currently priced at $25 per month with an annual subscription, the Ultra plan from Identity Guard is probably most similar to the one from Discover, which costs just $15 per month. It’s important to note that there are lower-tier plans available from Identity Guard. The Value plan is $7.50 per month and the Total plan is $16.67 per month. However, these plans don’t include credit card monitoring, so they’re not comparable plans.

For that extra $10 per month, you get more comprehensive coverage with Identity Guard’s Ultra plan. In addition to what you get from Discover, you also get monitoring of social media, 401K accounts, investment accounts, and home titles. It also includes a credit lock with Experian, a monthly credit score report, and annual three-bureau credit reports.

Identity Guard also throws in a VPN and password manager to sweeten the deal. To be clear, these two services alone are worth the extra $10 per month. So, if you’re looking for security that goes beyond identity theft and credit protection, rolling with Identity Guard is the better option compared to going with Discover and other services.

Identity Guard also gives you the option to sign up for three different tiers of family plans. While Discover does offer protections for children, the Identity Guard plans offer more comprehensive coverage, albeit at higher price points, ranging from $12.50 a month to $33.33 a month. These plans provide the same level of protection as the individual plans, but they cover unlimited kids and up to five adults. So if you have enough family, it might make sense for the adults to chip in on a family plan.

The Verdict

Discover is uniquely positioned to offer an identity theft protection plan, as it has strong relationships with both credit bureaus and financial institutions. If you are already a Discover customer, you should strongly consider adding on this service for $15 per month.

However, Aura provides a compelling case. In addition to most of the same features as the Discover plan, it also throws in a password manager, VPN, and antivirus software. The only reason you may want to opt for a different service is if you’re looking for more comprehensive security and online privacy. For example, if you want top-tier antivirus software, you may want to go for the LifeLock-Norton bundle because it kills two birds with one stone for a relatively cheap price. Or, if you want a VPN and a password manager, you may want to go with the identity theft protection plan from Identity Guard.

Ultimately, your choice should come down to what you’re looking for in a security solution and what you’re willing to pay.

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Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the companies referenced in this article. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the companies mentioned. We may be compensated through advertiser affiliate programs.