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Our verdict: Paying for a MyFICO subscription is worth it if you’re about to buy a house or make another large purchase. If you’re just curious about your credit, a free credit score from a credit monitoring service is enough.
What is MyFICO?
MyFICO is a credit score reporting subscription plan offered by the creators of the FICO® Score. FICO (the Fair Isaac Corporation) has a monopoly on credit scores in the United States, with 90% of top lenders using their credit score.
MyFICO offers three different plans for viewing and managing your credit scores.
All of their subscription packages offer some basic features, including $1 million in identity theft insurance, identity restoration, alternative FICO scores (auto loans, mortgages, etc.), and access to educational resources including articles, calculators, and an online community.
But there are a few key differences in the number of reports/scores and frequency of updates that each subscription provides.
MyFICO Review: Subscription Package Differences
| Features | Basic | Advanced | Premier |
| # of Credit Bureaus | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Frequency of updating | Once a month | Once every 3 months | Once a month |
| Identity Monitoring | No | Yes | Yes |
| Price | $19.95/ month | $29.95/ month | $39.95/ month |
Source: MyFICO
Additionally, MyFICO offers one-time report options that you can purchase if you don’t want to commit to their subscription service.
Whether you go with a subscription plan or pay for a one-time report, you will get access to your actual FICO credit scores, which are used by 90% of top lenders, according to MyFICO.
MyFICO Pros
Let’s take a look at the biggest benefits the MyFICO subscription service offers.
Real FICO Scores
The biggest benefit of the MyFICO service is the access they provide to your real credit scores, your FICO scores.
Did you know that you have 20+ FICO credit scores?
With any MyFICO purchase, you’ll get access to 28 of your FICO scores. This includes the most widely used credit scoring model, the FICO Score 8.
You’ll also receive your credit scores that are used for auto-lending, credit card applications, and mortgages. You’ll even gain access to some of the newer scoring models that haven’t been fully adopted yet.
These industry-specific scores can help you get a feel for your approval odds for various types of financing and credit products.
Many credit card companies, banks, and the credit bureau Experian will give you one FICO score for free. (Experian gives you one FICO score 8 – the one based on your Experian credit report.)
However,