10 Best Life Insurance Companies in 2026

Life insurance provides financial protection for your loved ones after you're gone, covering expenses like funeral costs, outstanding debts and ongoing living expenses. Choosing the right policy ensures your family gets adequate coverage at a price that fits your budget without leaving gaps in protection or paying for unnecessary features. We analyzed rates, coverage options and customer satisfaction scores from major insurers to help you find the best life insurance company for your needs.

The best life insurance companies are:

• Protective Insurance: Best Overall
• Nationwide: Best Coverage Options
• Ethos: Best No-Exam Life Insurance
• Guardian Life: Best Customer Experience
• Gerber Life: Best Life Insurance for Children
• North American: Best Whole and Universal Life Insurance
• SBLI: Cheapest Life Insurance
• Cincinnati Life: Best Rider Options
• Transamerica: Best Age Range
• Legal & General: Best Term Life Insurance

Protective Insurance and Nationwide are the best life insurance companies available today, with Protective standing out for overall value and Nationwide for coverage variety. SBLI offers the most affordable rates for budget-conscious buyers, while Ethos leads in no-exam policies with a fast, streamlined application process. Guardian Life ranks highest for customer experience, and Transamerica covers the widest age range, accepting applicants up to age 85. Below, we break down the top life insurance providers by category to help you find the best fit.

* Rates shown are estimates based on a 40-year old with average weight and height, non-smoker, average health, 20-year term, and $500,000 coverage. Actual rates may vary by state, health profile, and insurer underwriting. Contact insurers directly for personalized quotes.

Term life insurance provides coverage for a specific period, usually 10 to 30 years, and pays a death benefit to your beneficiaries if you die during that term. It's the most affordable type of life insurance, because it doesn't build cash value and coverage ends when the term expires.

Whole life insurance provides lifelong coverage with premiums that never change and a death benefit guaranteed to your beneficiaries whenever you die. It also builds cash value you can borrow against or withdraw, making it more expensive than term life insurance.

Universal life insurance provides permanent coverage with flexible premiums and death benefits you can adjust as your needs change. It builds cash value that earns interest based on current rates, giving you more control than whole life but with less predictability.

Explore the best life insurance companies by category:

Understanding how life insurance works helps you choose a policy that suits your needs. You pay premiums monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or yearly to keep your coverage active. In return, the insurer pays your beneficiaries a death benefit if you pass away while the policy is in effect.

Most policies include a two-year contestability period when the insurer may review claims more closely. After that, your coverage stays valid as long as you continue paying your premiums.

Your life insurance choice affects your family's financial future.

• Term Life Insurance: Term policies last 10 to 30 years and cost less than permanent coverage. They work well for temporary needs like paying off a mortgage or covering children until they're independent. Term policies build no cash value and coverage ends when the term expires. You receive no payout if you outlive the policy.
• Whole Life Insurance: This option covers you for life and builds cash value over time. This permanent coverage combines death benefit protection with a savings component you can borrow against or withdraw from.
• Universal Life Insurance: Choose this one if you want the ability to adjust your premiums and death benefits as your finances change. The policy builds cash value that you can use to pay premiums or borrow against. This type of coverage is ideal for people who want flexibility to modify their policy over time.
• No-Exam Life Insurance: No-exam policies provide immediate coverage without medical testing. You'll pay higher premiums due to the increased risk to insurers, but you can get coverage quickly.

Compare quotes from multiple insurers to find coverage that fits your budget and needs.

Choosing a life insurance policy requires weighing your coverage needs against your budget. Our buying guide helps you find the right policy for your situation.

• Determine how much coverage you need. Calculate how much your family would need to cover debts, replace lost income and maintain their standard of living after your death.
• Compare quotes from multiple insurers. Compare life insurance quotes from at least three to five companies to find competitive rates for your coverage needs and budget.
• Choose between term and permanent life insurance. Term life costs less and covers you for a specific period, while permanent life builds cash value and protects you for your whole life but costs more.
• Check financial strength ratings. Review life insurance company financial strength ratings from AM Best, Moody's or Standard & Poor's to ensure the company can pay claims decades from now when your beneficiaries need the money.
• Understand the underwriting process. Most life insurance providers require a medical exam, health questionnaire and review of your medical records, though some offer simplified or no-exam policies at higher premiums.
• Explore rider options. Your basic life insurance policy will cover the death benefit, but you can add on extras, called riders, that protect you in specific situations. Some common riders include accelerated death benefits for terminal illness, waiver of premium for disability, accidental death benefits, and child coverage riders.

Life insurance costs vary greatly by plan type, age, coverage level and other factors like smoking and your health profile. For a $500,000 policy on a 20-year term, 40-year-olds pay an average of $46 per month for women and $55 for men. 25-year-olds seeking the same coverage and term length pay an average of $28 per month for women and $34 for men, while 60-year-olds pay an average of $250 for women and $254 for men.

*The rates above are based on 20-year term quotes for 40-year-olds with an average health rating. The base coverage amount is $500,000.

We answer frequently asked questions to help you find the company offering the best life insurance and learn how to ensure you get the right coverage for your needs.

Shopping for life insurance can feel overwhelming, because companies market similar products with confusing terminology and wildly different prices. You need clarity on which insurers deliver value, not just flashy marketing promises. That's why we built a scoring system that cuts through the noise to identify companies that balance affordability with reliability.

Why Trust MoneyGeek?

We reviewed 1,488 life insurance quotes and combined them with customer reviews, financial ratings and coverage details to find the best companies for different types of buyers.

How We Score Life Insurance Companies

MoneyGeek rates life insurance providers based on three important factors. Each company receives a score out of 100 points:

• Affordability (50%): How each insurer’s premium rates compare to others in the market.
• Customer Experience (30%): The quality of service, claims handling and overall satisfaction drawn from customer feedback and industry research.
• Coverage Options (20%): The variety and flexibility of available policies, including riders and customization features to suit different needs.

Our Sample Customer Profile

We used the following standard profile to collect quotes:

• 40-year-old male
• Nonsmoker
• 5 feet, 9 inches tall, 160 pounds
• Average health rating

We used this profile for all premium comparisons unless noted otherwise. We also collected quotes for different ages, genders, health ratings and locations to see how rates vary. This revealed pricing trends across term lengths and coverage amounts and showed which companies offer the best value for each customer type.