Opt-Out Ledger

Data Removal Services, Compared Honestly

Quick answer: Doing it yourself is free and, in independent testing, worked at least as well as any paid service. Paying makes sense mainly to save time and keep removals monitored — and among paid options, the best-tested service is not the most advertised one, and the cheapest one performed surprisingly well.

Last checked: October 25, 2026

Disclosure: If you subscribe through a link on this page, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Rankings follow the independent test data cited here, not commission rates. Full details: how we check.

The Baseline: Doing It Yourself Is Free, and It Tested Best

Any honest comparison has to start here. In Consumer Reports' 2024 Data Defense study, volunteers removed themselves from people search sites manually — and 70% of their listings were gone within a week, the strongest result in the test.

For comparison, the same study followed paid services over four months. The best paid result was 68%. In other words, the free method matched or beat every service tested, on the metric that matters most: is the listing actually gone?

Manual removal has real costs, but they are time and attention, not money. Removing yourself from the top 20–30 sites takes roughly 4–8 hours the first time, plus a short recheck every three months because listings return. If you are willing to do that work, our start-here checklist walks through it in the right order, and you may never need anything on this page.

What a subscription buys is not a better outcome. It buys the hours back, plus ongoing monitoring you might otherwise skip.

The Services, One by One

Optery — the best-tested paid service

Optery's plans run from Core at $39/year to Ultimate at $249/year, with tiers between them. In the Consumer Reports test, Optery's Ultimate plan was the best paid performer, removing 68% of listings after four months.

Its distinguishing practice is evidence: for removals on its higher tiers, Optery provides screenshot proof showing the listing before and after. In a category where most companies ask you to trust a dashboard number, verifiable proof is a genuine difference.

Optery is the pick for someone who has decided to pay, wants the strongest tested performance, and may use the higher tiers for the proof and broader coverage. The honest caveat is price: Ultimate costs more than six times the Core plan, and even the best paid result did not beat doing it yourself. Link: https://www.optery.com/

Incogni — broad coverage at a mid-range price

Incogni costs $7.99/month billed annually ($95.88/year) for its standard plan and covers 420+ brokers, backed by a large volume of removal requests. Its appeal is breadth and simplicity: one subscription, a wide broker list, and little for you to manage.

Incogni was not included in the Consumer Reports 2024 test, so there is no equivalent independent removal percentage to set beside Optery's 68% or DeleteMe's 27%. Its coverage figure is the company's own. That does not make it a poor choice — it is a reasonable mid-priced option from a large provider — but the claim you are buying is coverage, not a tested result. Link: https://incogni.com/

DeleteMe — the biggest name, the weakest test result

DeleteMe costs $129/year and advertises coverage of 750+ sites, the largest figure in the category. It is also the longest-established brand, which is why many people assume it is the default choice.

The test data points the other way. In the Consumer Reports study, DeleteMe removed only 27% of listings — by far the weakest result among the services tested, and less than half of what the manual group achieved in a week. A claimed site count is not the same as confirmed removals, and on the evidence available, DeleteMe's reputation is ahead of its measured performance. It is listed here because readers will encounter it everywhere; on the data, it is hard to recommend at the highest price in this comparison. Link: https://joindeleteme.com/

EasyOptOuts — the budget pick the big names rarely mention

EasyOptOuts costs $19.99/year — less than a single month of some competitors — and in the Consumer Reports test it removed 65% of listings, close behind Optery's 68% and far ahead of DeleteMe.

It gets little attention, plausibly because a $19.99 product generates little marketing and little in commissions for the sites that rank these services. On test performance per dollar, it is the strongest value in the category by a wide margin. If you want the monitoring-and-maintenance benefit of a service without the $100+ price, this is the option the louder rankings tend to skip. Link: https://www.easyoptouts.com/

Side by Side

Option Price Coverage claim Consumer Reports 2024 result
Do it yourself Free (4–8 hours) Top 20–30 sites, your choice 70% removed within 1 week
Optery $39–$249/year Varies by tier; screenshot proof on higher tiers 68% after 4 months (Ultimate)
Incogni $95.88/year 420+ brokers Not tested
DeleteMe $129/year 750+ sites claimed 27% after 4 months
EasyOptOuts $19.99/year People search sites 65% after 4 months

Coverage claims are company-reported and count different kinds of sites, so they are not directly comparable. The test column is the closest thing to an apples-to-apples measure that exists.

How to Choose

Californians should also use the free California DROP system first regardless of which option they pick — it covers registered brokers in one submission, and no subscription replaces it. And whoever you are, turn on Google's free Results About You monitoring; it complements any of the above.

When Paying Is Not Worth It

Be skeptical of any service, including the ones above, in these situations:

Sources