Aura review: Protect your identity, finances and family across multiple devices

In 2023, U.S. consumers lost more than $10 billion to fraud, according to the Federal Trade Commission, the highest amount ever recorded by the agency. That same year, the FTC logged more than a million cases of identity theft.

Billing itself as an all-in-one digital safety solution, Aura offers identity theft protection, spam blocking, antivirus software, parental controls and more. But the Aura app also includes benefits associated with personal finance apps, including credit score and credit monitoring reports.

Below, CNBC Select reviews Aura’s features, benefits and pricing and looks at how it stacks up to the competition.

Aura offers identity theft and credit protection, along with features to keep your online activity secure. There are plans for individuals, couples and families that provide mostly the same benefits but for a different number of users and devices.

Individual plan: One person and up to 10 devices
Couple plan: Two people and up to 20 devices
Family plan: Five adults, unlimited children and up to 50 devices

Aura’s top features include:

• Identity theft and fraud protection
• Credit monitoring and credit score
• Antivirus software
• VPN
• Spam blocking
• Password manager and vault
• Dark web monitoring

Aura’s family plan adds parental controls like content filters, screen-time limits and alerts about in-game threats, as well as the ability to track how long your kids have been online.

Aura goes beyond securing your identity, offering robust protections for your credit report and online activity. Here’s a breakdown of Aura’s services:

Identity theft protection

• Identity monitoring: Aura will notify users if their Social Security number, driver’s license, passport, email or other accounts have been breached or found on the dark web.
• Identity theft insurance: Aura’s $1 million identity theft insurance policy doesn’t just cover financial losses and legal fees, it includes lost wages and child care while you resolve the issue.
• Home and auto title monitoring: If a scammer gets access to your title, they can use it as collateral for a loan or illegally sell your car or house. Aura monitors public records for any unauthorized changes or suspicious activity relating to your deed and title.
• Fraud resolution team: If you’ve been the victim of ID theft, Aura’s staff is on hand 24/7 to help initiate credit freezes, work with credit bureaus and notify creditors and law enforcement.

Credit protection

• Credit monitoring: Aura reviews all three main credit bureaus to alert you if someone tried to open a credit card or bank account in your name.
• Monthly credit score: Aura sends users their updated VantageScore each month. While lenders more often check FICO scores, your VantageScore can still give insight into whether good financial habits are paying off.
• Account monitoring: Aura notifies you about unusual activity in your bank and investment accounts.
• Lost wallet service: If your wallet is lost or stolen, Aura helps cancel credit cards and other sensitive items and order replacements.

Online protection

• Password manager: Aura can generate strong passwords for you and securely store them using encryption.
• Smart vault: Each plan member is given up to 1GB of encrypted cloud to store important or sensitive files.
• VPN: Aura’s VPN uses military-grade encryption to protect your online activity when using public WiFi. If you’re traveling, it can also connect you to a U.S. virtual location.
• Safe browsing: Aura’s AI-powered safe browsing feature prevents users from entering questionable websites, including scams or phishing sites.
• Privacy assistant: Aura will contact data brokers to remove your information so you’re not flooded with telemarketing calls and spam emails.

All of Aura’s plans come with a 14-day free trial. There is a discount for signing up for an annual subscription, which also comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee.

Individual plan: $12 per month (or $9 per month, if billed annually)
Couple plan: $20 per month (or $17 per month, if billed annually)
Family plan: $32 per month (or $20 per month, if billed annually)

There are a lot of offerings in the identity theft protection market. Here’s how Aura stands up against two other services.

Aura vs. IdentityForce

Aura and the IdentityForce®+Credit plan offer comparable protection against identity theft and financial fraud, though IdentityForce’s plans provide $2 million in identity theft insurance, twice what Aura does.

When it comes to cost, however, Aura comes out on top: Its individual plan starts at $12 a month (or $9 per month if you sign up for an annual plan) while IdentityForce+Credit is $35 a month (or about $29 a month for an annual plan).

Aura’s family plan is $32 monthly (or $20 a month billed annually), compared to about $40 per month for the IdentityForce+Credit family plan (or about $33 a month billed annually).

In addition, IdentityForce only allows two adults and 10 kids on its family plan, but that’s a moot point except for the largest of families.

Aura vs. Experian IdentityWorks

Experian IdentityWorks℠ is one of the few ID protection services with a free tier: Its basic plan gives users monthly access to their FICO score, plus credit report monitoring and dark web surveillance.

But to get more of the services that Aura offers — credit reports from all three bureaus, alerts about your bank accounts and Social Security number, $1 million in identity theft insurance and identity monitoring for up to 10 children — an IdentityWorks family plan costs $35 a month with no discount for an annual plan.

Aura stands out as a versatile digital security app with extensive identity theft features and optional parental controls. If you’re just looking for protection against financial fraud, however, you may be better off with a credit monitoring service.

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At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every identity theft protection service review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of personal finance and credit monitoring products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

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