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It's no secret: Your credit score influences nearly every financial decision you'll ever make. This three-digit number helps to determine which credit cards you'll qualify for, whether you'll be approved for a new apartment rental and the interest rates on your auto loan or mortgage — just to name a few.
Credit scores range from 300 to 850, and though some people strive for a perfect 850, most financial experts argue that 760 is the credit score you need in order to get approved for the best financial products. Below, you can check which rating you fall into, using estimates from Experian.
| Rating | Credit Score |
|---|---|
| Very poor | 300-579 |
| Fair | 580-669 |
| Good | 670-739 |
| Very good | 740-799 |
| Exceptional | 800-850 |
If your score is below 760, there are easy steps you can take to improve it. Perhaps one of the easiest is to sign up for a credit monitoring service. By signing up for one of these programs, your personal information will be constantly tracked, and you'll be alerted of any changes to your credit report right away. The best services notify you via email, text or phone when a hard inquiry (new credit account) gets added to your credit report so you can immediately spot potential fraud and take action.
Plus, credit monitoring services provide give you access to much of your financial data in one place so you can easily check your credit score or pull your credit report. Use this info to spot any errors and take steps to clean up your credit report, which will in turn help you improve your credit score.
There are a variety of credit monitoring services that provide different levels of protection, and there are quite a few good quality free services if you're not ready to commit to a monthly fee. Premium services can cost anywhere from $8.99 to $39.95 per month, but paying for a program gives you more extensive protection than you would get with a free service.
Many of the paid services offer three-bureau credit monitoring, which review your Experian, Equifax and TransUnion credit reports to provide you the most thorough review of your credit. Free services usually only monitor one or two credit bureaus. The paid service may also come with identity theft insurance, dark web scanning and social security number tracking.
After analyzing and comparing 12 different credit monitoring services, Select picked the top six from both free and paid options. Here are our top-rated choices that could be helpful to anyone looking to improve their credit score.
Best overall free credit monitoring service
CreditWise® from Capital One
Information about CreditWise has been collected independently by CNBC and has not been reviewed or provided by the company prior to publication.
-
Cost
-
Credit bureaus monitored
TransUnion and Experian
-
Credit scoring model used
VantageScore
-
Dark web scan
-
Identity insurance
Terms apply.
Best runner-up free credit monitoring service
Experian Dark Web Scan + Credit Monitoring
On Experian's secure site
-
Cost
-
Credit bureaus monitored
-
Credit scoring model used
-
Dark web scan
Yes, one-time only
-
Identity insurance
Terms apply.
Best overall paid credit monitoring service
IdentityForce® UltraSecure and UltraSecure+Credit
On Identity Force's secure site
-
Cost
For a limited time, get 3 months free on all annual plans - that's $17.99/mo or $160.99/yr for UltraSecure+Credit and $9.99/mo or $88.99/yr for UltraSecure - offer ends 04/09/2021
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Credit bureaus monitored
Experian, Equifax and TransUnion
-
Credit scoring model used
VantageScore 3.0
-
Dark web scan
-
Identity insurance
Yes, up to $1 million
Terms apply. To learn more about IdentityForce®, visit their website or call 855-979-1118.
Best runner-up paid credit monitoring service
PrivacyGuard
Information about the PrivacyGuard® plans have been collected independently by CNBC and has not been reviewed or provided by the company prior to publication.
-
Cost
$9.99 to $24.99 per month
-
Credit bureaus monitored
Experian, Equifax and TransUnion
-
Credit scoring model used
VantageScore
-
Dark web scan
Yes, for Identity and Total Protection plans
-
Identity insurance
Yes, up to $1 million for Identity and Total Protection plans
Terms apply.
Best paid credit monitoring service for families
Experian IdentityWorks℠
On Experian's secure site
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Cost
$9.99 to $29.99 per month
-
Credit bureaus monitored
Experian for Plus plan or Experian, Equifax and TransUnion for Premium plan
-
Credit scoring model used
-
Dark web scan
-
Identity insurance
Yes, up to $500,000 for Plus plan and up to $1 million for Premium plan*
Terms apply.
*Identity Theft Insurance underwritten by insurance company subsidiaries or affiliates of American International Group, Inc. (AIG). 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.
Best paid credit monitoring service for most accurate credit score
FICO® Basic, Advanced and Premier
Information about FICO® Basic, Advanced and Premier plans have been collected independently by CNBC and has not been reviewed or provided by the company prior to publication.
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Cost
$19.95 to $39.95 per month
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Credit bureaus monitored
Experian for Basic plan or Experian, Equifax and TransUnion for Advanced and Premier plans
-
Credit scoring model used
-
Dark web scan
Yes, for Advanced and Premier plans
-
Identity insurance
Yes, up to $1 million
Terms apply.
Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
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Looking for an easy way to improve your credit score? Sign up for credit monitoring - CNBC
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