Credit monitoring is key to staying on top of you credit score. With the recent Target breach, identity fraud is more common than ever, and a compromised account can lead to many credit problems in the future. Luckily, there are many services out there, including these 10 best credit monitoring sites, that track your credit activity and alert you if you account has been hacked, and most provide a free month trial.

Your credit card should already provide a monitoring service where you get alerted for fraudulent charges, but using a credit monitoring service is a step above what you credit card offers. Credit monitoring sites check to make sure your identity hasn’t been compromised, fake accounts haven’t been opened in your name, and malicious activity isn’t tied to your account.

When choosing which credit monitoring site to go with, keep in mind:

– Does the service check all 3 credit bureau scores?
– Do you have unlimited access to the scores?
– What kind of alerts do you receive? Email/text/phone?
– Is insurance/coverage provided?
– What kind of customer service is there?
– And of course, what is the cost? Is there a yearly commitment?

Credit Monitoring Services

Depending on which features and price points you are looking for, compare and choose from these top 10 best credit monitoring sites:

1) Identity Guard

2) Life Lock

3) Identity Force

4) Credit Report 123

6) TrustedID

7) MyFico.com

8) FreeCreditScore.com

9) Privacyguard.com

10) Creditreport.com

And, of course, the 3 credit bureaus themselves are credit monitoring‎ sites, as well:

1) Experian
– ProtectMyId.com

2) Transunion
– Transunion.com

3) Equifax
– Equifax.com