| Have I Been Pwned | Harbor Breach Monitor | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Free for Harbor Privacy customers |
| Ongoing monitoring | Optional email notification signup | Built in, daily, no separate signup |
| Account required | Only for notifications | Uses your existing Harbor account |
| Emails tracked | 1 per notification signup | Up to 3, free |
| Storage of monitored emails | Not publicly documented | AES-256-GCM encrypted at rest |
| Breach database | Manually curated, very large, well-established | Powered by XposedOrNot's public breach index |
| Alert behavior | Per-breach email if subscribed | One alert per breach, checked daily |
The honest take
Have I Been Pwned has one of the largest and most trusted breach databases on the internet, run by a well-known security researcher, and it's been the default place to check for over a decade. If you want the single most authoritative one-off answer to "was I in a breach," check it directly.
Harbor Breach Monitor exists for a narrower reason: if you're already a Harbor Privacy customer, you get a standing check with zero extra setup, and your monitored emails sit encrypted in the same way the rest of Harbor's products handle personal data. It's a convenience layered on an account you already have, not a replacement for HIBP's depth.