Aura vs IdentityForce (2026): Here's What Most Reviews Won't Tell You

Last Updated: September 17, 2026
Brandon King
Tested & Reviewed
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Lauren Sakiyama
Writer
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TL;DR

IdentityForce is a solid identity theft protection service — professional support, reliable monitoring, respectable consumer ratings. But Aura outperforms it in almost every category that matters. After twelve weeks of testing both with the same personal data, Aura found nearly twice as many dark web threats (35 vs 19), includes three-bureau credit monitoring on every plan (IdentityForce locks it behind a $23.95/month tier), and offers data broker removal, VPN, antivirus, and parental controls that IdentityForce does not include at any price.

Choose Aura if you want: Everything — dark web monitoring, three-bureau credit monitoring, data broker removal, VPN, antivirus, parental controls, and up to $5M insurance — on every plan, starting at $12/month.

Choose IdentityForce if you want: A focused identity protection product with strong customer support and you do not need digital security tools or data broker removal.

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Did You Know: To get three-bureau credit monitoring from IdentityForce, you need the UltraSecure+Credit plan at $23.95/month. Aura includes it on every plan starting at $12/month — and adds VPN, antivirus, data broker removal, and parental controls on top. (Source: Security Hero testing data)
12
Weeks of Testing
35
Dark Web Alerts (Aura)
19
Dark Web Alerts (IdentityForce)

Every service tested with real personal data by the Security Hero research team. No AI-generated reviews. Read our methodology →


Head-to-Head Comparison

FEATURE AURA IDENTITYFORCE WINNER
3-Bureau Credit Monitoring ✅ Every plan ❌ Top tier only ($23.95/mo) 🏆 Aura
Dark Web Alerts (Testing) 35 total, 15 unique 19 total, 7 unique 🏆 Aura
Data Broker Removal ✅ Automated, all plans ❌ Not available 🏆 Aura
Identity Theft Insurance Up to $5M (family) $1M flat 🏆 Aura
Threat Resolution ✅ 24/7 US-based ✅ 24/7 US-based Tie
VPN + Antivirus ✅ Included ❌ Not included 🏆 Aura
Parental Controls ✅ Circle + Safe Gaming ❌ Not included 🏆 Aura
Starting Price (3-bureau) $12/month $23.95/month 🏆 Aura
Get Started SAVE 68% OFF on AURA → Get IdentityForce

Credit Monitoring

Winner: Aura — same data, half the price

Both Aura and IdentityForce do a solid job of credit monitoring. Both provide a comprehensive view of your credit history — two-year payment history, all open and closed accounts, previous addresses, current balances. One note on scores: both provide your VantageScore, not your FICO score. For monitoring purposes, VantageScore gives you the same real-time visibility you need.

Where the two services diverge sharply is in what you have to pay to get full coverage.

Aura includes full three-bureau monitoring — Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian — on every plan. No upgrades required. No tiers to navigate.

IdentityForce requires you to upgrade to their UltraSecure+Credit plan to access three-bureau monitoring. That plan runs $23.95/month — nearly double Aura’s starting price.

Three-bureau monitoring is not a luxury feature. It is the baseline for meaningful credit protection. Lenders can pull from any of the three bureaus when a credit application is submitted. If you are only watching one or two, fraud can happen through the unmonitored bureau without triggering a single alert.

During our testing, a credit inquiry hit one team member’s TransUnion file. Aura flagged it within minutes. If that team member had been on IdentityForce’s base plan — which does not include TransUnion monitoring — the inquiry would have gone undetected.

Dark Web Monitoring

Winner: Aura — nearly 2x more threats detected

When your personal information gets exposed in a data breach, it eventually surfaces on the dark web for sale. The faster you know about it, the faster you can act.

To test this fairly, we input the same set of email addresses into both services, then counted the total alerts and unique alerts each one produced:

  • Aura: 35 total alerts, 15 unique
  • IdentityForce: 19 total alerts, 7 unique

IdentityForce’s numbers are not bad — they are in the middle of the pack. Aura’s numbers are the best of any service we have tested.

One alert stood out: Aura flagged a set of credentials for an old email account that was actively listed for sale on a dark web marketplace. IdentityForce did not surface that same exposure during the entire twelve-week window. That single missed alert could have led to a compromised account chain if we had not caught it through Aura first. If you receive a dark web alert, knowing what to do when your data appears makes the difference between a scare and actual damage.

Aura Dark Web Alerts Dashboard

Data Broker Removal

Winner: Aura — IdentityForce does not compete here

This section is short because the answer is simple: IdentityForce does not offer data broker opt-outs. At all.

Aura automates the process of requesting removal of your personal information from data broker sites — the websites that legally collect and sell your name, address, relatives’ information, and more. When you sign up with Aura, it begins sending opt-out requests on your behalf and follows up to ensure compliance. You can check your current exposure to see what these sites already have on you.

Identity Theft Insurance

Winner: Aura — 5x more coverage for families

Both services include identity theft insurance. The difference is in how the coverage scales.

AuraIdentityForce
Individual$1M per adult$1M total
Couple$2M ($1M per adult)$1M total
FamilyUp to $5M (scales per adult)$1M total
Lost wagesUp to $2,000/week for 5 weeksIncluded
Travel expenses$1,000Included
Childcare assistance$2,000Not specified

For individuals, both services offer equivalent insurance. For families, Aura’s coverage is five times higher — $1 million per adult, up to five adults on the family plan. IdentityForce caps at $1 million regardless of household size.

Customer Support

Winner: Tie — both are genuinely excellent

We have called both Aura and IdentityForce repeatedly to test their threat resolution teams. In both cases, the people who answered were professionals — friendly, knowledgeable, US-based, and available around the clock. If your identity were genuinely compromised, you would feel well-supported calling either service.

This is the one category where we genuinely cannot pick a winner. Both deliver.

AuraIdentityForce
Hours24/7/36524/7/365
US-based✅✅
White-glove resolution✅ All plans✅ All plans
Quality in testingExcellentExcellent

Digital Security Tools

Winner: Aura — IdentityForce offers none of these

This is where the gap is widest. Aura bundles a full digital security suite into every plan:

  • VPN with unlimited bandwidth
  • Antivirus software for all devices
  • Password manager with breach monitoring
  • Parental controls including Circle and safe gaming
  • Spam call and junk mail removal

IdentityForce is a focused identity theft protection product — it does not include a VPN, antivirus, or parental controls. Purchasing these tools separately would cost $100+ per year on top of IdentityForce’s subscription.

Aura VPN Service

Identity theft rarely starts with identity theft. A phishing email compromises a password. A keylogger captures banking credentials. A data broker profile gives a scammer enough information to impersonate your bank. Protecting against the entry points — not just monitoring the outcome — is what separates a comprehensive service from a reactive one.

Pricing

Winner: Aura — less money, more protection

Promo Code

Save up to 68% on Aura, today!

Individual Plan Cost

$12/month
3-bureau monitoring included

Family Plan Cost

$25/month
Covers 5 adults & unlimited kids

Includes

VPN ✅ Antivirus ✅ Parental Controls ✅
Data Broker Removal ✅ Password Manager ✅

IdentityForce

UltraSecure Plan

$17.99/month
1-bureau monitoring only

UltraSecure+Credit Plan

$23.95/month
3-bureau monitoring

Includes

VPN ❌ Antivirus ❌ Parental Controls ❌
Data Broker Removal ❌ Password Manager ❌

To get equivalent credit monitoring from IdentityForce, you are paying roughly double — and still not getting data broker removal, a VPN, antivirus, or parental controls.

Check out available Aura promo codes and discounts.

The math: IdentityForce's UltraSecure+Credit at $23.95/month gives you three-bureau monitoring and $1M insurance. Aura at $12/month gives you three-bureau monitoring, $1M insurance, VPN, antivirus, parental controls, data broker removal, and a password manager. That is a $143/year difference — and Aura provides more features for the lower price.

Who Should Get Aura or IdentityForce

Get Aura if your situation looks like any of these:

  • You want three-bureau credit monitoring without paying for the most expensive plan
  • You want dark web monitoring that found 35 total alerts in our testing — the highest of any service tested
  • You want automated data broker opt-outs included in your subscription, not as an extra
  • You have a family and need scaled insurance (up to $5M), parental controls, and child credit protection
  • You want VPN, antivirus, and a password manager bundled alongside identity protection
  • You want the best value — all of the above starting at $12/month

Get IdentityForce if your situation looks like this:

  • You specifically want IdentityForce’s credit monitoring interface and reporting style
  • You do not need data broker removal, VPN, antivirus, or parental controls
  • You want a focused identity protection product with strong US-based threat resolution — IdentityForce’s support team is genuinely excellent

How We Tested

We subscribed to both Aura and IdentityForce using the same set of personal information — same email addresses, same phone numbers, same Social Security numbers — and ran them side by side for twelve weeks. Every alert from both services was logged, timestamped, and cross-referenced against HaveIBeenPwned to verify accuracy.

  • Dark web monitoring: Counted total alerts and unique alerts separately. A “unique” alert means the exposure was found by one service but not the other.
  • Credit monitoring: Tracked which bureaus each service reported on and how quickly changes appeared.
  • Customer support: Called both services multiple times with identical questions and timed the response.
  • Feature audit: Cataloged every included feature at each price tier.

The results reflect what we actually observed — not marketing claims, not feature lists pulled from product pages.


Final Verdict

IdentityForce is a good product. Its credit monitoring is solid, its threat resolution team is professional, and its consumer ratings reflect genuine satisfaction from real users. If Aura did not exist, IdentityForce would be a defensible recommendation.

But Aura does exist — and it delivers more, at every level, for less money. Better dark web monitoring. Included data broker removal. Higher insurance coverage for families. VPN, antivirus, and parental controls bundled in. Three-bureau monitoring without forcing you onto the most expensive plan.

If you are choosing between the two, choose Aura. The pricing gap alone makes the argument.

Get Aura — up to 68% OFF →

60-day money-back · Cancel anytime


FAQ

Is Aura better than IdentityForce?

Yes, across nearly every meaningful category. Aura finds more dark web alerts in testing (35 vs 19), includes three-bureau credit monitoring on every plan (IdentityForce requires the most expensive tier), offers automated data broker removal (IdentityForce does not), and includes VPN, antivirus, and parental controls — all at roughly half the price for equivalent coverage.

Does IdentityForce offer three-bureau credit monitoring?

Only on the UltraSecure+Credit plan — the highest and most expensive tier at $23.95/month. Lower-tier IdentityForce plans offer limited credit bureau coverage. Aura includes three-bureau monitoring on every plan starting at $12/month.

Does IdentityForce include data broker removal?

No. IdentityForce does not offer automated data broker opt-outs. Aura automates this process as part of every subscription.

Which has better identity theft insurance — Aura or IdentityForce?

For individuals, both cap at $1 million. For families, Aura scales to $5 million total — $1 million per adult on a family plan covering up to five adults. IdentityForce caps at $1 million regardless of plan or household size.

Are Aura and IdentityForce’s customer support teams good?

Yes — both have impressed in our testing. Threat resolution specialists at both services are US-based, available 24/7, professional, and knowledgeable. Customer support is the one category where both services genuinely perform at the same level.

Is IdentityForce worth it in 2026?

IdentityForce is a solid identity theft protection service with professional threat resolution and reliable credit monitoring. However, its best features — including three-bureau monitoring — require the most expensive plan at $23.95/month. Aura includes three-bureau monitoring, data broker removal, VPN, antivirus, and parental controls on every plan starting at $12/month. For most people, Aura delivers more protection at a lower price.

Does IdentityForce have a VPN or antivirus?

No. IdentityForce is a focused identity theft protection product. It does not include a VPN, antivirus software, or parental controls. Aura bundles all three into every subscription alongside identity theft protection.

How much does IdentityForce cost per month?

IdentityForce starts at $17.99/month for the UltraSecure plan, which includes single-bureau credit monitoring. The UltraSecure+Credit plan with three-bureau monitoring costs $23.95/month. Aura includes three-bureau monitoring on every plan starting at $12/month.

Related: Best Identity Theft Protection Services | Aura Review | Aura vs Cloaked | IdentityForce Review | Identity Guard vs IdentityForce | Best ID Theft Protection for Seniors

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