Incogni vs DeleteMe: Who Wins the Data Removal Race?

Scrubbing data brokers is no longer a niche privacy chore. Hundreds of brokers trade in personal profiles, complete with people-search listings and marketing dossiers; services that automate deletions have gone mainstream. Two names are coming up over and over: DeleteMe and Incogni. Both claim to decrease your exposure across broker networks, but they go about it in different ways. Here’s a look at how they compare on coverage, speed, value, and who should choose which.

How Each Service Handles Opt-Outs, Automation, and Follow-Ups

Incogni relies on automation and regulatory pressure. It sends out formal data rights requests to brokers and logs responses, checking up when your data resurfaces. It also employs suppression lists to stop brokers who comply with your deletion request from re-ingesting your data.

DeleteMe is a combination of software and human review. The company conducts regular scrubs, files opt-outs, and provides manual oversight where automated forms fall short. It will also consider user-generated targets, and it’s committed to hunting down removals at unlisted sites, too.

Coverage and automation differences across broker networks

The metric most shoppers inquire about is coverage — and it’s easy to misinterpret. DeleteMe touts over 800 brokers in its universe, but only a portion is automated for common plans. Most of the listings we receive are serviced as custom removals, which require a specific request posted by you.

Incogni reveals a smaller total universe, but a larger automation footprint — 400+ brokers can be managed without any user intervention. In practice, that translates to more removals that start and run on a schedule, which can be preferable if you need some set-and-forget.

Context matters: data broker registries on offer in California have hundreds of companies listed, and state privacy laws typically provide brokers at least 30 to 45 days to act on requests. Incogni’s form also closely follows those legal timelines, while the mix of automation and humans behind DeleteMe can assist with stubborn people-search sites that refuse to play nice with forms.

Pricing and plans for individuals, couples, and families

DeleteMe has also tried to keep its pricing simple for individuals — around $129 a year. Couples and families can graduate to multi-person plans for a higher annual cost.

Incogni features two tiers: a Standard plan starting at about $99.48 per year, and an Unlimited level for around $179.88 per year that adds human-powered removals and custom targets.

You can also opt for monthly subscription options if all you want is a short, sharp clean.

If price is your decider, however, Incogni gets you in on a cheaper entry price, and the month-by-month billing plan at least lets you try at that low cost. If you’re expecting plenty of tailor-made takedowns, that DIY removal process from either DeleteMe or a step up to Incogni’s premium tier might be your best bet.

Family protection, multi-user options, and custom removals

Your privacy can be undone by relatives’ postings. Both services offer family plans to cover spouses and kids. Incogni has designed its family pricing to be competitive for the larger household, and DeleteMe offers multi-user plans that are not only transparent but predictable.

For custom removals, DeleteMe allows you to submit off-roster sites and will follow up on them for a yearly maximum, often with an additional charge. Custom work is held back in Incogni for its Unlimited tier users. Either way, neither service can delete government records, court filings, or your public social media — those are outside the purview of data broker laws.

Speed, reporting, and real-world removal results

Anticipate receiving results over weeks, not days. Under laws like CCPA or GDPR, brokers generally have a month (it typically works out to 45 days in the U.S.) to comply with requests. People-search sites can be fast, but may repopulate with new public records — say property deeds or professional licenses.

Incogni’s dashboards focus on requests sent, responses received, and follow-ups in progress — good for when you want to see the machine moving. The reports from DeleteMe note individual listings that the service finds and confirms as removed, which can feel more concrete when you want evidence a dangerous profile disappeared.

Security safeguards and extra privacy tools to consider

Both let you use multi-factor authentication, which is important because you need to hand over specific identifiers to execute removals. Look for robust account protection and transparency about what personal information each service retains, as well as for how long.

Incogni engages in developing protocols such as the Data Rights Protocol that will simplify data-rights requests across sites. DeleteMe also provides privacy extras such as masked email addresses and temporary phone numbers, cutting off the fresh data trails that feed new broker profiles.

Which service to choose based on needs and risk level

Choose Incogni if you care about broad automation, simple regulatory workflows, and lower upfront prices. “Strong fit for the user who desires persistence at scale, little to no micromanagement,” said Bowman.

Opt for DeleteMe if you anticipate edge cases and would like human guidance on chasing the most stubborn listings, along with privacy tools that can slash future exposure. It is a good option for high-risk users — journalists, executives, anyone who has been recently doxxed — and includes manual attention as well as tool masking.

No service can erase all mention of you from the internet, and your information may reappear as new sources emerge. The optimal strategy is a removal service combined with hygiene: credit stays frozen, email and phone numbers are cloaked with the tools recommended above, social media privacy settings are secure, and you run regular rescan cycles. That combination, more than any one subscription, is what prevents your digital footprint from becoming large.