Data Broker Removal Services Compared: DeleteMe, Optery, Kanary, Incogni, and Manual Opt Outs

#The honest answer

Most people want a clean winner. No single service wins.

DeleteMe, Optery, Kanary, and Incogni all solve part of the problem. None of them deletes you from the data broker industry. They send opt out requests, monitor covered sites, and repeat the work on a schedule.

That is useful. It is not magic.

#Manual opt outs

Manual removal costs time instead of money.

Best for:

• immediate exposure
• tight budgets
• one time cleanup
• people who want receipts
• high risk profiles where you need to verify each removal

Bad for:

• recurring monitoring
• hundreds of brokers
• people who will not repeat the process
• households with multiple adults

Manual is the right first move when your address is live today. Paid services are better for the boring repeat cycle.

#DeleteMe

DeleteMe is the familiar option. It has been around for years, covers many common people search sites, and gives reports that normal people can understand.

Good:

• easy onboarding
• readable reports
• solid coverage for common US people search sites
• useful for families

Weak spots:

• coverage is not every broker
• removals can lag
• some difficult sites need manual work anyway
• not the cheapest option

Use it if you want the least confusing mainstream choice.

#Optery

Optery is stronger for visibility. Its scans often show screenshots or proof of exposed records, which makes it easier to see what is actually out there.

Good:

• strong exposure discovery
• proof based reporting
• useful free tier for visibility
• better for people who want to inspect the evidence

Weak spots:

• can feel more technical
• full removal coverage costs more
• still misses sources outside its broker list

Use it if you want to see the records, not just trust a report.

#Kanary

Kanary focuses on privacy cleanup with a more guided feel. It can be a good fit for people who want removal without wrestling with broker forms.

Good:

• simple workflow
• decent broker coverage
• useful for personal safety use cases

Weak spots:

• less transparent than doing it yourself
• coverage varies by plan and region
• you still need separate account hardening

Use it if you want a managed cleanup experience.

#Incogni

Incogni is aggressive on automated opt out requests and often priced well. It is good for broad coverage, especially if you want a service to keep pushing requests in the background.

Good:

• broad automated request model
• straightforward pricing
• low effort after setup

Weak spots:

• reports can be less satisfying if you want proof per profile
• some visible people search sites still need manual handling
• automation does not solve every edge case

Use it if you want broad recurring pressure at a reasonable cost.

#The decision

Choose based on your problem.

If your address is exposed right now:

• Do manual removals first.
• Use Google outdated content removal after pages go down.
• Add a paid service after the emergency pass.

If you want recurring cleanup:

• Use DeleteMe for simple mainstream coverage.
• Use Optery if you want better discovery proof.
• Use Incogni if price and automation matter most.
• Use Kanary if you want a guided privacy cleanup flow.

If you are a founder, executive, journalist, creator, or anyone getting targeted attention:

• Do manual removal for the worst records.
• Pay for monitoring.
• Recheck quarterly yourself.
• Lock down phone number exposure.
• Review company filings and registered agent records.

#What services do not fix

They do not fix:

• court records
• property records at the source
• business filings
• screenshots already taken
• breach data in criminal markets
• old PDFs with your phone number
• social posts by friends and family
• public WHOIS history that has already been copied

Do not outsource your whole threat model to a subscription.

#Best setup for most people

The practical setup:

1. Manual removal for top people search sites.
2. Optery free scan or equivalent to find obvious exposure.
3. Paid recurring service if the scan shows broad exposure.
4. Google result cleanup after removals.
5. Quarterly self check.

That gets you most of the value without pretending a subscription can erase public records.