When researching the best data removal services, Incogni and Aura are two popular options you’ll come across. With these platforms, you can scan numerous data-broker and people-finder sites for your personal information, then send deletion requests to any site where the information is found.
Incogni was launched in 2021 under Surfshark, a popular virtual private network (VPN) app. In 2022, Incogni left beta and was formally launched for mass usage. It has amassed a sizable user base and now operates separately from Surfshark.
Aura is more than just a data removal service. It’s an all-in-one cybersecurity platform that offers data removal and features such as a VPN, credit monitoring, antivirus, and parental controls.
After testing both platforms, I’ve written this review to compare Incogni and Aura in key areas like features, user-friendliness, customer support, pricing, and reporting. Read on to learn how they fare against each other and which one will be your best option.
Broker coverage
Incogni officially covers 420+ data broker sites. For these sites, Incogni can easily send automated requests and ensure they’re followed through.
Additionally, Incogni supports custom removal requests across an unlimited number of sites. If your data is exposed on a website, you can submit the URL to Incogni. This is a key difference that sets Incogni apart from other data removal sites. Custom requests put Incogni's security agents to work drafting a unique legal request based on your personal data. Incogni then wait for the site’s administrators to respond before then following up to ensure the request is finally processed. This usually takes around 7 days. A drawback of Incogni’s broker coverage is that manual requests are reserved for users on the higher-priced Unlimited plan.
Aura covers 140+ data brokers, much less than Incogni’s coverage. During testing, Aura excelled at sending and processing removal requests on my behalf. I sent both automated and manual requests and had them successfully processed, though the latter took longer.
Incogni is the clear winner in this criterion, given its support for 420+ data brokers compared to Aura’s 140+. Incogni focuses solely on data removal and thus provides broader broker coverage, unlike Aura, where data removal is more of an extra offered to customers than its main focus.
Data insights
Incogni provides detailed insights into your data requests. On your dashboard, you’ll get a detailed summary of all requested, pending, and successful requests, and you can sort the requests by date. The Incogni dashboard also provides insight into recently submitted requests, and cases where your input is required to narrow down a request to your specific user profile.
The process begins by providing your personal information, which Incogni uses to conduct a thorough scan of its 420+ data broker sites. Once the scan completes, you’ll be notified by email and asked to authorize Incogni to send data removal requests on your behalf. Authorize the requests, and you’re good to go.
Post-authorization, you’ll be notified via email about any deletion requests that get processed. You can also monitor all request insights from your dashboard. Notably, Incogni sends detailed quarterly reports outlining the timeline for each request, from the day it was sent through to when it was processed (or whether it’s pending).
On your Aura homepage, you can view a summary of all deletion requests and their status (pending, in progress, or completed). Aura presents these insights in an intuitive, easy-to-follow way. That said, I found Aura’s insights to be less detailed than Incogni’s– the app provides a good summary but doesn’t offer in-depth analytics like Incogni.
Extra features
Aura has the clear upper hand when it comes to extra features. Apart from data removal, its feature set includes a VPN app to encrypt your browsing activity, an antivirus tool to protect your PC from malware, a password manager, and a parental control tool to set time limits and block inappropriate websites.
A single Aura subscription includes data removal and the additional features mentioned above. Although costly, the extra features make the subscription worthwhile if you need a one-stop platform for your cybersecurity needs.
On the other hand, Incogni has expanded its remit to cover data removal even further, adding an Exposure Scanner to higher plans that actively searches for your data across websites outside of data brokers (such as blogs and ecommerce). The Protect level plan also acts a full identity theft protection suites. Incogni excels at discovering and removing personal data from various sites with additional features depending on your needs.
As an added bonus, Incogni also bundles into other privacy protection tools, such as Surfshark One+ and NordVPN Ultra (in select markets).
Ease of use
Incogni sports a modern, user-friendly interface that makes navigation easy. With features neatly arranged in the top menu, a minimalist white background that makes visual elements easy to view, and colored buttons highlighting various functions, navigating Incogni was a cakewalk during my test.
The main Incogni dashboard displays all your requests and their status (Sent, In progress, or completed), along with a “Time Saved” metric estimating how much time you would have lost pursuing the data removal requests yourself. You can monitor all requests or requests made at specific intervals, e.g., the past two months. The intuitive dashboard is one of Incogni’s main strengths.
Aura also provides a user-friendly interface that’s easy to use on both the desktop and the mobile app. Features are neatly placed across your dashboard, with a light-colored background and boldly highlighted icons. You can switch between light and dark mode if you prefer the latter.
With Aura, you can continuously monitor all pending and successful data removal requests right from your dashboard. Each request has its timeline, indicating when it was sent and its current status (in progress or completed). You can also view broader statistics like the number of data broker sites that have your info.
In this criterion, I wouldn’t choose Incogni or Aura over the other. They both have intuitive interfaces that anyone can navigate stress-free.
Customer support
On Incogni, expect access to abundant self-help and direct support resources. Its official support page includes detailed feature guides and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs). These self-help resources, particularly the FAQs, will prove valuable when navigating Incogni as a new user.
If you need direct help, you can contact Incogni’s support team via email, live chat, or telephone. During testing, I got swift responses with all three. The slight drawback is that telephone support is restricted to Unlimited users, not Standard subscribers.
Aura’s Help Center contains detailed user guides, FAQs, and manuals, even more detailed than Incogni’s. I found Aura’s guides more informative when navigating the platform for the first time. Paid subscribers can contact Aura’s support team via email and telephone.
Plans and pricing
Incogni users can select from five pricing plans: Standard, Unlimited, Family, Family Unlimited, and Protect. Each plan can be paid monthly or annually, with annual payments providing a 50% discount compared to monthly payments.
The Standard plan costs $16 per month, and the annual option costs $96. It allows users to scan for their personal data and to send automated data-deletion requests. The Unlimited plan costs $30 per month, and the annual package costs $180. With this plan, users can send both automated and manual removal requests. These cover most websites that include your personal data, with the Exposure Scanner actively searching for your data across the web. If you find a website that includes your data you can also submit it manually for Incogni's experts to request a takedown.
The Family plan costs $32 per month and is discounted to $182 annually. It provides the same features as the Standard plan for up to 5 users. The Family Unlimited plan offers the same features of the Unlimited plan for 5 users: it costs $46 per month or $276 annually.
Aura offers data removal services under three plans: Individual, Couple, and Family. The Individual plan costs $15 per month but is discounted to $12 per month when paid annually. It covers 1 account and 10 devices. The Couple plan costs $29 per month and covers 2 adults and 20 devices. The Family plan costs $50 per month (discounted to $32 per month for annual subscriptions) and covers 5 accounts with unlimited devices.
Comparing Aura’s pricing to Incogni’s feels like an apples-to-oranges comparison, as Incogni provides only data removal services while an Aura subscription offers data removal plus many other security features.
Incogni is more cost-effective if you’re considering only data removal. But if you need additional features (such as identity theft protection, custom removals, or extra privacy and security tools), there are a range of available plans and bundles to suit your needs.
Which is best?
Incogni and Aura are both reliable data removal services, and the best choice depends on your specific needs. Incogni has broader data coverage and insights, while Aura provides more complementary features. Incogni is more affordable, but Aura is also competitively priced given its extra features.
If you’re seeking an affordable, reliable data removal platform with the option to pick and choose your level of protection and coverage, Incogni is your best option. However, if you want an all-in-one platform that offers data removal and other cybersecurity services, Aura is your best bet. Both platforms offer group plans, so you can use them to protect yourself and friends, family, and colleagues.
