MetLife vs Prudential

Verdict

The biggest difference between MetLife and Prudential is whether you can buy an individual policy at all. Both are publicly traded stock companies that demutualized (MetLife in 2000, Prudential in 2001), but MetLife's U.S. life insurance is sold to employers and associations. It still services older individual policies such as whole life, universal life, variable life and term, yet no longer sells those products in the U.S. Prudential sells individual term, universal life, indexed universal life and variable universal life through advisors, brokers and, for its SimplyTerm product, online.

So the comparison is really two questions. If you want to buy an individual policy, MetLife is not an option and Prudential is one of several to quote. If you already hold a policy or workplace coverage, MetLife is the company you will deal with for group basic, supplemental and dependent life, group universal life and AD&D, and for claims on many older policies. Owners of policies from the companies that became Brighthouse Financial are serviced by Brighthouse, not MetLife, since the 2017 spin-off.

Financial strength is similar: both profiles list AM Best A+ (Superior), S&P AA-, and Moody's Aa3, with Fitch AA- for both, though Fitch has had Prudential's ratings on Rating Watch Negative since May 2026 over misconduct at its Japanese unit. MetLife's AM Best date is February 2026 and Prudential's August 2026. On service, Prudential ranked 5th of 23 in the J.D. Power 2026 individual life study with 672 points, above the 649 average; MetLife was not in the 2026 ranking (in 2025 it scored 654 but was not rank-eligible).

Choose MetLife if

• Your employer offers MetLife group life, and you want to understand basic, supplemental or dependent coverage and how to port or convert it.
• You own an older individual MetLife policy and need service or a claim filed.
• You are comparing employer plans, including group universal life with a cash value.
• You want to confirm whether an older policy belongs to MetLife or to Brighthouse.

Choose Prudential if

• You want to buy an individual policy for yourself, which MetLife does not offer in the U.S.
• You want term for 10, 15, 20 or 30 years, or up to $65 million of EssentialTerm coverage.
• You want a no-exam term policy bought online (SimplyTerm, $25,000 to $1 million over 5 to 20 years).
• You want indexed or variable universal life from an advisor-sold carrier.

Key differences

Before you decide

Group coverage is usually tied to your job and may be lost or cost more when you leave, so compare it with an individual policy. Ask Prudential for a quote on the same amount and term as your workplace coverage. The guides is life insurance through work enough?, keeping group life insurance when you leave a job and AM Best, S&P, Moody's and Fitch ratings explained explain what to check.