Incogni and DeleteMe are two of the best-known data removal services. Incogni was launched in 2021 by Surfshark, the company best known for its eponymous virtual private network (VPN) app. Incogni's success in helping users maximize their online privacy resulted in Incogni becoming a successful standalone product.
With a monthly or annual subscription, Incogni automatically scans the web for personal data and sends automated or custom removal requests (using the Exposure Scanner or user submitted URLS) to data brokers and other websites. After the initial scan, Incogni frequently rescans for the same personal data and sends fresh removal requests, particularly to new data brokers that seemingly don’t cease to emerge.
Founded in 2010, DeleteMe offers a similar data removal service. Users can submit their personal information and run a deep scan to find this information wherever it appears across the web. Then, DeleteMe will send removal requests to data brokers to scrub this information. It’ll also run frequent re-scans and send new data removal requests to ensure your personal information stays off the web.
We’ve covered the surface of these two data removal services, but there’s much more beneath. This guide compares Incogni and DeleteMe across key areas — broker coverage, pricing, features, ease of use, and customer support — to help you choose the best option for your needs.
Broker coverage
Incogni covers roughly 420 data brokers with automated removals on the Standard plan, and an unlimited number of sites using custom data removals on the Unlimited Plan. While DeleteMe claims to cover 750+ data brokers, only around 100 are included in the Standard plan. Furthermore, the full 750+ includes custom data removals, with users needing to subscribe to the VIP plan to gain access to the full range. Additionally, DeleteMe users can only submit 40 custom data removals per year on the Standard plan and 60 on the Premium plan, whereas Incogni Unlimited users can submit an unlimited amount.
Based on the number of brokers to which you can send automated and manual removal requests, Incogni is a better option than DeleteMe.
Data insights
Both Incogni and DeleteMe provide intuitive dashboards to track your data removal requests and their status.
In my experience, there are differences between the levels of detail in the reports offered by DeleteMe and Incogni. DeleteMe provides a generalized report sample showing how many times your data has been exposed, the number of sites that contain your information, and from how many sites your data has been removed. There is also site specific data available contained within your report.
On the other hand, Incogni's dashboard provides instant updates on your processed data removal, plus a detailed progress report sent to you every four weeks, and a Risk Assessment showing where your data has been exposed and the current risks associated with your data every 30 days.
On Incogni, I received regular email updates on data removal requests, including when they were formally submitted and when the request was successful. I could also track the progress of my removal requests on the Incogni dashboard, including the estimated timeline for each pending request.
On DeleteMe, I also got frequent email updates about removal requests from start to finish. Likewise, I could always track the progress of each request from my DeleteMe dashboard.
Extra features
Along with their core features, data removal services often provide some extra functionalities to help users boost their online privacy. From my experience testing Incogni and DeleteMe, the latter is the clear winner in this criterion.
DeleteMe offers a complementary Cyber platform with valuable features. For one, you can search the dark web to see if your email address was compromised in any data leak. If you detect your email credentials on any website leak, it’s a signal to change passwords for the affected website immediately.
For website owners, DeleteMe also offers a service to scan your domain name and detect whether sensitive data linked to it is present on the dark web. Several other complementary features exist, but these are the most notable I can point out.
On the other hand, Incogni goes somewhat beyond DeleteMe's additional tools. At the base level, it focuses solely on data removal and excels at that, but also adds additional security tooling (such as custom removals, data exposure, identity theft protection on the Protect plan, and other security bundling with other privacy tools) at affordable price points depending on your personal requirements.
Ease of use
Incogni and DeleteMe are generally easy to use, but with key differences. Incogni takes a more automated, hands-off approach, while DeleteMe relies more on manual input.
When testing both, I appreciated Incogni’s “set and forget” approach, where I uploaded my data, initiated a scan, and let Incogni send automated removal requests on my behalf. On the other hand, DeleteMe required me to upload more personal information and relied more on me manually selecting sites to send removal requests to.
That’s not to say Incogni or DeleteMe is wholly better than the other when it comes to user-friendliness. Rather, it depends on your preferred usage mode. If you want a hassle-free user experience with the option to have granular control over your data and the choice to include extra privacy controls, Incogni is a better fit. If you are looking for a set-and-forget experience specifically targeting the most prolific data brokers, DeleteMe is the choice for you.
DeleteMe felt slower to use, as manual removal requests take longer to process—it relies on DeleteMe’s staff crafting specific requests for each site. Incogni offered a faster, smoother experience during my test because submits automated requests to data brokers, which are naturally faster to process. As for Incogni's custom removals, the turnaround time is about 7 days as they are processed by Incogni security agents.
Customer support
Incogni offers abundant support resources, beginning with its self-help FAQs, manuals and user guides. I found these self-help resources valuable when navigating Incogni for the first time.
When Incogni’s self-help resources weren’t suitable, I quickly submitted a support request and got connected to a support staff member via 24/7 live chat. There is also email based support, which came within 24 hours. Telephone support is available, but only for users subscribed to the Unlimited or Family Unlimited plan.
DeleteMe also offers ample support resources to help users resolve problems. These include self-help resources that provided great help when I needed to resolve mundane problems. When self-help resources weren’t enough, I could contact DeleteMe’s support team via email, live chat, and telephone.
Though they offer similar support resources, I consider Incogni better for consistent availability. It offers 24/7 live support, whereas DeleteMe’s is restricted to business hours. I noticeably waited less for email responses from Incogni than from DeleteMe.
Plans and pricing
Incogni offers five pricing plans: Standard, Unlimited, Family, Family Unlimited, and Protect. For $16 per month, the Standard plan supports automated data removal requests from over 420 data broker sites. The Unlimited plan costs $30 per month and supports manual data removal requests from 420+ data brokers and an unlimited number of other sites, plus any sites you submit manually for a removal request.
The Incogni Family plan, which costs $32 per month, offers the same features as the Standard plan, but covers up to 5 users under a single subscription. The Family Unlimited plan costs $46 per month and offers the same functionality as the Unlimited plan, notably manual data removal requests from an unlimited number of sites, with 5 members covered.
Incogni offers a steep 50% discount if you pay annually rather than month-to-month– for example, you’ll pay $96 annually for the Standard plan, which breaks down to $8 monthly instead of the usual $16. Incogni doesn’t offer a free trial, but it does offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.
DeleteMe has simple subscription-based pricing plans, albeit more expensive per user. An individual subscription costs $129 for one year, while a two-person plan costs $229 annually. The Family plan costs $329 annually for 4 people. If you’re subscribing on behalf of a business with many employees, you can contact DeleteMe’s sales team to negotiate a custom deal.
When considering available pricing discounts, Incogni offers a significantly lower price entry point than DeleteMe and more bang for your buck.
Which is best?
Incogni and DeleteMe have their respective strengths. Incogni is the best choice if you want a more affordable, easy-to-use data removal service that handles most of the work on your behalf, and covers a greater depth and breadth of data brokers and custom removals. It’s a set-and-forget service that helps keep your information out of data broker sites. But if you want to upgrade your protection and coverage, there are a range of plans at affordable price points that enhance coverage and privacy (especially if bundled with Surfshark One+ and NordVPN Ultimate).
DeleteMe might be preferable if you want to cover a certain level of data brokers specifically. DeleteMe's manual removal doesn't quite compare to Incogni's personalized Exposure Scanner, which actively searches for your data across the web for you to pick and choose which other sites you want your personal data removed from.
