Zander Identity Theft Protection Review 2024: Does This Budget Service Deliver? [Tested]

Zander Identity Theft Protection offers extensive identity monitoring and restoration services at a surprisingly fair cost. While many of the best identity theft protection services charge upwards of $25.00/mo for premium services, each of Zander’s plans comes in below that. Its most premium plan even offers antivirus and a virtual private network (VPN).

While there are some issues, like cookies and trackers on its website and data sharing with third parties, Zander also offers solutions on how to block or opt out of those. 

We tested Zander’s available offerings and how easy the service is to use. Depending on what you’re comfortable with, this could be an option for you.

Zander Identity Protection review at a glance

Price	$6.25-$21.99/mo
# of people covered	1 - 2 adults, 10 children
Types of identity monitoring	SSN, dark web, change of address, bank account, and more
Credit monitoring	No
Credit reports	No
Credit score	No
Identity theft insurance	Up to $1 million
Identity restoration services	Yes
Extras	Antivirus, VPN, password manager
24/7 customer support	Yes
Details	Get Zander Identity Theft Protection

Our experience

We had a solid experience testing Zander's identity theft protection. The signup process was simple, we just had to provide our basic personal information to create an account as well as a payment method. Unfortunately, Zander doesn''t offer a trial period or a money-back guarantee. 

After our account was created, we were immediately prompted to set up two-factor authentication (2FA). This was a nice change of pace from other services, since you'll usually need to hunt for this in your security settings. 

We could allow the site to remember our device for 60 days so we wouldn’t require 2FA again. If you’d prefer to keep the 2FA on, you can do that.

The main dashboard is clear and easy to interpret. There's a welcome right at the top of the page bringing our attention to new alerts.

The dashboard also has sections for Identity Monitoring and Financial Transaction Monitoring. Under Identity Monitoring is the personally identifiable information being monitored by the service and the Financial Transaction Monitoring section lists financial accounts and cards being monitored by the service. 

Overall, services like this are pretty low maintenance, as they’re meant to run in the background and monitor things. Having a user-friendly dashboard like Zander Identity Theft Protection's helps keep you updated on potential threats and provides peace of mind.

Who is Zander Identity Theft Protection best for?

• Recommended for budget-friendly identity protection

Zander Identity Theft Protection is just that, identity theft protection. While it provides access to Experian CreditLock, there isn’t any other feature within the service dealing with credit or the other credit bureaus. 

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. There are services like MoneyLion and Credit Karma that will monitor your credit on Experian, Equifax, and/or TransUnion for free. 

When you take that route, Zander actually becomes one of the most affordable identity monitoring and restoration services that we’ve seen. The Essential Individual plan is affordable, starting at $6.25/mo (billed annually). If you decide on the Family plan, the starting price jumps up to $12.08/mo (billed annually).

If you have a tight budget but still need these services, Zander is likely a good option. Just be aware that the company allows third-party cookies and trackers on its website. This is likely how the price is kept low, but it can be circumvented with a good ad and tracker blocker. 

What you might be unable to circumvent is the company sharing your data with “subsidiaries and affiliates.” But you do have the option to opt out of data sharing.

Zander Identity Theft Protection prices and subscriptions

Zander's pricing ranges from $6.25-$21.99/mo. There are two plan option, Essential and Elite, and you can decide you need individual or family coverage. 

If you choose a family plan, you can add another adult and up to 10 minor children living within the household. You’d also have some protection for non-minor residents of your home.

Zander is among the most affordable identity theft protection services we've reviewed. Here's how it's starting price ranks among its competitors:

• Zander: $6.75/mo
• Identity Guard: $8.99/mo
• LifeLock: $7.50/mo (billed annually) for first year
• Aura: $9.00/mo (billed annually)

Note that Zander is the only service here without any credit monitoring or credit reports. If you don't need these features, then it's more than worth the price. 

For the best possible price, you can pay for an annual subscription. The table below shows you how much you'll saving paying annually versus monthly. 

Plan	1-month cost	1-year cost
Essential	$6.75/mo	$6.25/mo (billed annually)
Elite	$11.99/mo	11.00/mo (billed annually)

Plan comparison

Zander has two plan options, Essential and Elite. The Essential plans will cover all the basic monitoring like your SSN, dark web monitoring, and data breach updates. You'll also receive unlimited recovery services, lost wallet service, and up to $1 million for stolen funds and expenses.

In our opinion, the Elite plans offers more value. Since it comes with a VPN service and an antivirus, both offered by UltraVPN, there’s a potential financial savings if you’re currently paying for those services separately. 

See how these two plan types compare in the table below.

Plan	Essential	Elite
SSN monitoring
Financial account monitoring
Identity theft insurance	Up to $1 million	Up to $2 million
Credit monitoring
Credit reports
Credit score
Credit lock
Identity restoration services
Dark web monitoring
Social media monitoring
Home title monitoring
USPS address change alerts

Zander Identity Theft Protection features

Zander Identity Theft Protection doesn’t have the most features out of all the ID theft protection services we’ve seen but it does have a good selection, especially for the price. Elite plan members also receive a password manager, antivirus protection, and a VPN.

While there’s no credit monitoring, you can use another free service like MoneyLion or Credit Karma to monitor your credit. Zander’s ID monitoring and ID restoration features will keep an eye on your personal information. 

What does Zander Identity Theft Protection protect against?

Identity theft protection monitors your personal information to catch fraudulent use before it becomes a major problem for you. Most people think it’s just your SSN but it can be so much more than that. 

Zander Identity Theft Protection "covers all types of ID theft" according its site. This includes the following:

• Financial, tax, and Social Security fraud
• Medical ID theft
• Benefits and employment fraud
• Criminal activity
• Home title fraud
• Child identity theft (on family plans) 

Identity monitoring

Zander includes the following monitoring services:

• SSN monitoring: Notifies you of any new or suspicious acivity and detects any information associated with your SSN
• Change of address monitoring: Sends alerts if your mail has been redirected through the U.S. Postal Service
• Personal information dark web monitoring: Performs daily scans of dark web pages and provides steps to reduce your isk
• Children’s ID monitoring and protection: Family plans covers up to 10 minor children
  
• Home title monitoring: Monitors the title of up to five property addresses and sends alerts if there are any changes 
• Account takeover monitoring: Sends alerts if changes are made to an existing bank account 
• New account monitoring: Sends alerts if your personal information has been used to apply for or opena new financial account

Alerts for all protections are easily viewable on the home screen of the dashboard. The Alerts Summary window will tell you what the alert is about and take you to the reporting page for the alert. It provides instructions on what action you can take and explains why you’ve been alerted. 

Some of the alerts you’ll see aren’t actually of any concern, but Zander is just letting you know that it is attached to your name. For example, it might show you all the addresses ever associated with your name and SSN. If there are 10 but you only recognize nine, Zander can help you with the one you don’t recognize.

Credit monitoring

Zander doesn’t come with any credit monitoring. There is a credit lock feature with Experian that alerts you when someone tries to access your credit history or applies for a new credit account in your name.

Identity restoration services

Zander provides a team of certified recovery specialists to help you restore your identity in the event of identity theft. There are no monetary or time limits and its available 24/7, 365 days a year. 

You'll also get assistance in the event your wallet is lost or stolen. The Zander team can assist you in terminating and reordering any cards and identification. 

Finally, all plans include identity theft insurance. Individual plans provide up to $1 million, while family plans provide up to $2 million for the two covered adults. 

Bonus features

The Zander Elite plans contain all the extra features. You'll get a password manager, VPN, and antivirus software provided by PassWatch, UltraVPN, and UltraAntivirus.  

Does Zander Identity Theft Protection keep your data safe?

Zander was just a little too good to be true. It comes at a great price, offers a lot of services, and reimburses up to $1 million in insurance to cover identity theft losses, so we obviously went straight to the privacy policy. It’s not the worst we’ve seen, but there are cookies and trackers on the website from third parties and affiliates.

Additionally, Zander will share your information with third parties. There is a statement in the privacy policy where you can opt out. There wasn’t any clear way to do that, so we navigated to the Support page to ask. We’re still waiting on a reply.

Overall we do get annoyed when identity protection services sell or share our information, but at least this one gives you options. Most of the information shared is going to be for marketing purposes. If that’s something that’s a deal breaker for you, then you might want to steer clear of Zander.

Zander Identity Theft Protection compatibility

Zander’s dashboard is a web-based portal, so you won’t need to worry about compatibility issues as long as the page loads in your browser. 

We did find Zander mobile apps in both the Apple Store and the Google Play Store but neither is highly rated. The iOS app is designed for the iPhone and has a 2.4-star rating (out of five possible stars), with negative reviews claiming it’s clumsy or unusable. The Android app has a slightly better 2.9-star rating (out of five possible stars), and negative reviews say it’s either buggy or clunky.

Zander Identity Theft Protection customer support

Finding Zander’s support center isn’t the easiest. It’s definitely not front and center on the website. Scrolling to the bottom and clicking the Contact Us link takes you to a page with the number, email address, and a form to submit to support. 

The Contact Us page also includes a list of frequently asked questions for its Identity Theft Solutions.

We reached out to support in an effort to opt out of sharing our data. We filled out the form in the morning but didn’t receive a confirmation email or a response by the late afternoon. After 24 hours, we still hadn’t received a response.

Top alternatives

Zander Identity Theft Protection is affordable, but it doesn't provide credit services. So, we've gathered the following alternatives if Zander doesn't cover all your basics:

Zander Identity Theft Protection FAQs

Bottom line: Is Zander Identity Theft Protection good?

Yes, Zander is a good product. If you put in the extra work to block the cookies and trackers as well as opt out of the data sharing, you can have identity monitoring services for an extremely reasonable price. If you opt for the Elite package, you’ll get an antivirus and VPN at no additional cost. 

Just remember that Zander has no credit features, but you could always bundle it with Credit Karma or MoneyLion. 

All of this together sounds like a great deal, but if you’re not convinced, you can review our list of the best identity theft protection or see how Zander compares to our top alternatives: 

• Zander vs. LifeLock
• Zander vs. Aura