Unknown And Delete me two most famous data deletion services. Incogni was launched in 2022 by Surfsharka company best known for its virtual private network (VPN) application of the same name. It makes sense that as a VPN provider, Surfshark is interested in helping users maximize their privacy online, and Incogni represents another step towards that goal.
With a monthly or annual subscription, Incogni users can crawl the Internet for their personal data and send automatic deletion requests to data brokers. After the initial scan, Incogni often rescans the same personal data and sends new deletion requests, especially to new data brokers that don't seem to stop popping up.
DeleteMe, founded in 2010, offers a similar data deletion service. Users can submit their personal information and perform deep scans to find that information wherever it appears on the Internet. DeleteMe will then send delete requests to data brokers to clean up this information. It will also frequently rescan and issue new data removal requests to ensure that your personal information doesn't end up on the Internet.
We've covered the surface of these two data removal services, but there's a lot more to it. This guide compares Incogni and DeleteMe in key areas—broker coverage, pricing, features, ease of use, and customer support—to help you choose the best option for your needs.
Brokerage coverage
Incogni covers approximately 420 data brokers, while DeleteMe covers over 750 data brokers. However, these numbers do not reflect the full picture. These numbers represent the number of brokers to which both platforms can send automatic deletion requests. However, users can submit their own takedown requests to other sites. A special request involves Incogni or DeleteMe contacting the site on your behalf to request that your personal information be deleted.
Incogni allows you to send custom takedown requests to up to 1000 sites. Notably, custom queries are not available in the Standard plan but require subscribing to the Unlimited plan at a higher cost. DeleteMe also supports custom requests, but only 40 per year on the Standard plan and 60 on the Premium plan.
Considering the number of brokers you can send delete requests to automatically or manually, Incogni is a better option than DeleteMe.
Data Analysis
Both Incogni and DeleteMe provide intuitive dashboards to track your data deletion requests and their status. However, in my experience, DeleteMe offers more detailed, labeled reports, while Incogni offers summary reports tailored to the risks associated with my data.
At Incogni, I received regular email updates about data deletion requests, including when they were formally submitted and when the request was successful. I was also able to track the progress of my deletion requests in the Incogni dashboard, including estimated completion times for each pending request.
On DeleteMe, I also received frequent email updates about delete requests from start to finish. Plus, I could always track the progress of each request in the DeleteMe dashboard.
However, DeleteMe stands out for its PDF reports, which list all the sites where my personal information was found, when deletion requests were sent to each site, and the progress of each request. Its reports were more personalized than Incogni's.
DeleteMe sends users their first detailed report in PDF format a week after registration. Detailed data deletion reports are then sent to Standard plan users every three months or Premium plan users every two months.
DeleteMe offers the most comprehensive statistical reports, while Incogni offers simpler, more aggregated information. It's understandable that not everyone is interested in the nitty-gritty details that DeleteMe provides, but it's the best option if you want to understand every nook and cranny of deleting your personal data.
Additional features
Apart from their core features, data erasure services often provide some additional features that help users improve their online privacy. Based on my experience testing Incogni and DeleteMe, the latter is the clear winner in this criterion.
DeleteMe offers an additional cyber platform with valuable features. First, you can search the dark web to see if your email address has been compromised in any data breach. If you find your email credentials on any website, this is your signal to immediately change your passwords for the affected website.
For website owners, DeleteMe also offers a service to scan your domain name and determine if there is sensitive data associated with it on the dark web. There are a few more additional features, but these are the most notable ones I can mention.
On the other hand, Incogni does not offer additional features such as DeleteMe. It's focused solely on data deletion and does an excellent job of it, but don't expect the extra security features you'll find in DeleteMe. The lack of additional features makes DeleteMe a clear winner in this category.
Ease of use
Incogni and DeleteMe are generally easy to use, but have key differences. Incogni uses a more automated approach, while DeleteMe relies more on manual input.
When testing both, I appreciated Incogni's “set it and forget it” approach, where I uploaded my data, initiated a scan, and let Incogni submit 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 submit deletion requests from.
This doesn't mean Incogni or DeleteMe are completely superior when it comes to usability. Rather, it depends on your preferred mode of use. If you want a more automated and user-friendly user experience, Incogni is a better choice. However, if you want more control over data deletion requests and more detailed reporting, DeleteMe is your best bet.
DeleteMe has become slower to use because manual deletion requests take longer to process – it relies on DeleteMe staff creating specific requests for each site. During my test, Incogni performed faster and smoother because it relies on automated requests, which are naturally processed faster.
Customer support
Incogni offers extensive support resources, ranging from FAQs, tutorials, and user guides. I found these self-help resources valuable when using Incogni for the first time.
When Incogni's self-help resources weren't adequate, I quickly submitted a support ticket and connected with a support person via chat. However, sometimes the chat was unavailable, so I had to wait for an email response, which came within 24 hours. Phone support is available, but only for users subscribed to the Unlimited or Family Unlimited plan.
DeleteMe also offers extensive support resources to help users resolve issues. These include self-help resources that have been of great help to me when I need to solve everyday problems. When self-help resources were insufficient, I was able to contact DeleteMe support via email, chat, and phone.
Although they offer similar support resources, I believe Incogni is better in terms of ongoing availability. It offers 24/7 live support, whereas DeleteMe's service is limited to business hours. I was noticeably less likely to wait for email responses from Incogni than I was from DeleteMe.
Plans and prices
Incogni offers four tariff plans: Standard, Unlimited, FamilyAnd Family unlimited. The $16/month Standard plan supports automatic data deletion requests from over 420 data broker sites. The Unlimited plan costs $30 per month and supports manual data deletion requests from over 1,000 data broker sites in addition to the automatic deletion requests provided by the Standard plan.
Incogni's Family Plan, which costs $32 per month, offers the same features as the Standard plan but covers up to 5 users per subscription. The Family Unlimited plan costs $46 per month and offers the same functionality as the Unlimited plan, such as manual data removal requests from over 1,000 sites covered by 5 members.
Incogni offers a huge 50% discount if you pay annually instead of monthly—for example, you'll pay $96 per year for the Standard plan, which is $8 per month instead of the usual $16. Incogni does not offer a free trial, but does offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.
DeleteMe has simple subscription-based plans. An individual subscription costs $129 per year, and a two-person plan costs $229 per year. The family plan costs $329 per year for 4 people. If you are signing on behalf of a company with a large number of employees, you can contact DeleteMe's sales team to arrange a custom deal.
When considering the available price discounts, Incogni offers a lower price than DeleteMe and more bang for your buck. However, DeleteMe plans are also available at a reasonable price, especially for family and business users.
Which is better?
Incogni and DeleteMe have their own strengths. Incogni is your best choice if you want a more affordable and easy-to-use data removal service that will do most of the work on your behalf. This is a “set it and forget it” service that helps protect your information from data broker sites.
DeleteMe is the best choice if you want a hands-on approach where you decide which sites to delete your data from. This is ideal if you already know the sites where your data is present and want to submit manual removal requests, whereas Incogni is more of a paid companion that finds and removes personal information from the Internet on your behalf.
