EverSafe identity theft protection
Our series on identity theft protection apps will evaluate the features, pricing options, competition, and also the overall value of using each app. However, these are not full hands-on reviews since evaluating identity theft protection apps is almost impossible. It would require several months of testing, purposefully hacking accounts to see if the protection app works, handing over personally identifiable information, performing multiple credit checks, and risking exposure of the reviewer’s personally identifiable information.
EverSafe has a name that doesn’t exactly spark immediate excitement. If you don’t look into the product or explore the company website, you might not even know it is intended for identity theft protection as opposed to an app for your kids or storing files safely. Yet, under further investigation, EverSafe does provide a solid feature set and fair pricing. The website is more extensive than some, offering a blog (although it is outdated), a scam watch section (which is up-to-date), and information about the identity theft field.
Plans and pricing
For pricing, EverSafe isn’t the lowest priced option available - ADT Identity Protection and Complete ID are both cheaper - but it’s far from the most expensive. For $7.49 per month, you can see basic alerts and track your identity without having access to credit bureau information and without any identity theft protection insurance. That’s the Essentials plan.
Moving up from there is the Plus plan for $14.99 per month which includes $1 million in theft protection insurance and one credit reporting service. With the Gold membership plan for $24.99, you’ll see results from three credit reporting agencies; this plan also adds protection for your investments and access to a support team to resolve fraud issues. The Gold plan is similar to the premium plans from other companies like Norton LifeLock and about the same price.
One additional pricing option has to do with real estate holdings. Sometimes hackers and criminals can do damage in terms of a lien you have on a property or make changes to your property listings. With all three pricing plans, you can add real estate monitoring for $4.99 per month per property, which is a unique feature we have not found elsewhere.
Interface
Let’s be clear about what EverSafe provides. It’s a solid app with somewhat predictable features, and the pricing is fair. The interface is also a bit generic. While the app doesn’t quite look like a tax program or your online bank account, relying a bit more on a clean white and light blue look and feel, it’s also not that remarkable. Norton LifeLock is much better in terms of showing the status of your theft protection efforts and what you can accomplish. The wizards and status indicators help you see the overall picture and action steps to take, but that’s missing in EverSafe, which tends to split everything into buckets on a dashboard.
Features
To say EverSafe is an average identity theft protection app is selling it a bit short. When you analyze the pricing, features, website, and protection as a whole it’s compelling enough to warrant serious consideration. All of the basics are here. You can see credit reporting problems, bank account fraud notifications, and for an extra fee monitor real estate holdings.
The one main call-out here, though, is that the EverSafe website, which is always an important factor with theft protection apps, is more extensive. You’ll find a blog with quite a few explanatory articles, although the last post was in 2018. A scam watch section includes information about how hackers and criminals are trying to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic and related fears to prey on unsuspecting website travelers.
In general, the website is more extensive and detailed, including a pricing section that lists all features for every pricing plan, such as the types of bank fraud protection available in EverSafe.
The competition
In terms of overall value, EverSafe is a good option because it costs a bit less than competing products like Norton LifeLock. The problem is that the features on offer are a bit unremarkable - there isn’t a killer feature where you could justify registering for the app right away.
There are also several cheaper options, including Complete ID (which is cheaper if you have a Costco membership) and ADT Identity Protection (which may be a lead generator for other ADT security products). There are more expensive options as well, although the basic plan is quite affordable if all you are interested in is monitoring your online identity.
The exception here is the real estate monitoring add-on, which costs $4.99 per month per property. That is unusual and makes EverSafe more compelling, although it also makes the product cost more especially if you add several properties to your main pricing plan.
Final verdict
At its core, EverSafe is a solid identity theft protection app that is somewhere in the middle of the pack. It costs less than Norton LifeLock but is more expensive than ADT Identity Protection and Complete ID. Because EverSafe is not tied to credit monitoring agencies like Equifax or Experian, there are not as many concerns about trusting the main brand. (Both Equifax and Experian have experienced massive data breaches in recent years.)
The final analysis is that this is a fairly average product that does add real estate monitoring for those that really need that level of protection and are willing to pay a bit extra for the privilege.
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