Credit Freeze vs Credit Lock: Which One and When
A freeze is free. It’s statutory and offers the strongest protection against new-account fraud. Locks are app features—they carry marketing budgets. Know the difference.
Freeze: the legal sledgehammer
A freeze blocks all new credit access at each bureau until you lift it—with a PIN or online, in minutes, also free. Fraudsters can’t open accounts in your name at a frozen bureau because lenders can’t pull the file.
Freeze all three bureaus—Equifax, Experian, TransUnion. It costs nothing, doesn’t affect your score, and unfreezing for a car loan takes five minutes.
Locks, monitoring, and what's actually worth it
Locks are the same idea inside each bureau’s app, governed by their terms instead of federal law. Fine to use; legally weaker.
Monitoring indicates that following a fraud attempt, a freeze prevents it. Taking one action from this site—freezing all three—then stops worrying.
Common questions
Does a credit freeze hurt my score?
Not at all. It only restricts access to the file; everything inside it scores exactly as before.
Do I still need monitoring with a freeze?
Freezes halt new accounts. Not misuse of existing ones triggers them. Review statements. Skip most paid monitoring.