How to Cancel Equifax Credit Monitoring in 2026 (You Don't Need It)

Updated February 2026 · 5 min read

Equifax charges $19.95/month ($239.40/year) for credit monitoring that you can get for free from multiple sources. Even worse — Equifax was responsible for the 2017 data breach that exposed 147 million Americans' personal data. Paying them to "protect" your credit is ironic at best.

Cancel by Phone (Most Reliable)

Call 1-888-548-7878 (Mon-Fri 8am-3am EST, Sat-Sun 9am-9pm)
Navigate: say "Cancel my membership" or press 3 for billing
Verify your identity (last 4 SSN, date of birth)
Say: "I want to cancel my credit monitoring subscription immediately."
Get a confirmation number and ask for email confirmation

Cancel Online

Log in at my.equifax.com/memberships
Go to Manage Membership
Click Cancel Membership
Follow the prompts — they'll show retention offers
Confirm cancellation

⚠️ Online cancellation sometimes fails. Multiple users report the website showing errors or looping during cancellation. If this happens, call the phone number above. It's faster anyway.

Why You Don't Need Paid Credit Monitoring

Everything Equifax charges $19.95/month for is available free:

Credit Karma (free): Monitors TransUnion + Equifax, real-time alerts, credit score updates weekly
Your bank/card issuer (free): Chase, Capital One, Discover, Amex, and most banks provide free FICO scores and monitoring
AnnualCreditReport.com (free): Free weekly credit reports from all three bureaus — this is the official government-mandated site
Experian (free tier): Free credit monitoring with real-time alerts
Credit freeze (free): Freeze your credit at all three bureaus for free — this is the #1 identity theft protection, period

🔒 The best protection is free: Freeze your credit at all three bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion). This prevents anyone from opening new accounts in your name. It's free, takes 10 minutes, and is more effective than any paid monitoring service.

The Equifax Irony

In 2017, Equifax suffered one of the largest data breaches in history, exposing Social Security numbers, birth dates, and addresses of 147 million people. They were fined $575 million. Then they started selling credit monitoring subscriptions to the same people whose data they lost. Many consumers were auto-enrolled in "free" monitoring that converted to a paid $19.95/month subscription after the trial period.

After Cancelling: Protect Yourself for Free

Freeze your credit at Equifax (1-800-685-1111), Experian (1-888-397-3742), and TransUnion (1-888-909-8872)
Sign up for Credit Karma — free monitoring with instant alerts
Check AnnualCreditReport.com every 4 months (rotate between bureaus)
Set up bank alerts for any transactions above your threshold
Use unique passwords and enable 2FA on financial accounts

💡 Pro tip: Upload your bank statement to JustCancel to find all your credit monitoring and identity theft subscriptions. Many people pay for Equifax, LifeLock, andExperian simultaneously without realizing it.

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Quick Cancel Guide: Equifax Credit Monitoring

Direct cancel link + step-by-step instructions