I actually signed up for all three services to test them myself — Incogni, DeleteMe, and Aura — and tracked my own data removal over several weeks. Here's what I found: the differences between these services are bigger than most comparison articles let on, and picking the wrong one could cost you both time and money.

According to a Privacy Rights Clearinghouse study, the average American's personal data sits on 190+ data broker databases. Sites like Spokeo, BeenVerified, Whitepages, and Intelius aggregate everything from your phone number and home address to your estimated income and relatives' names. The question isn't whether your data is out there — it almost certainly is — it's which service is actually worth paying to clean it up.

Let's break down all three honestly, so you can make a smart call.

Meet the Contenders: What Each Service Actually Does

Before we get into pricing and features, it helps to understand that these three services aren't really built the same way. They share a general goal — getting your personal info off data broker sites — but their approaches are pretty different under the hood.

Incogni is a pure-play data removal service built by Surfshark, the same company behind one of the most well-regarded VPNs on the market. It's fully automated: you sign up, give it authorization to act on your behalf, and it starts firing off removal requests to 180+ data brokers simultaneously. You get a dashboard showing progress, and it keeps re-submitting requests because brokers re-list your data over time. It's genuinely set-and-forget.

DeleteMe has been around since 2011 and was one of the original data removal services. It covers around 750 data broker profiles (note: profiles, not unique brokers — there's overlap), but its process is more manual and human-assisted. Researchers check your listings, submit removals, and send you quarterly PDF reports. It works, but it's slower and more expensive for what you get in 2026.

Aura is a broader identity protection platform. Data removal is just one feature inside a larger suite that includes credit monitoring, identity theft insurance (up to $1 million), antivirus, a VPN, and financial fraud alerts. If you want an all-in-one digital safety net, Aura is compelling. But if data removal is your primary goal, you're paying for a lot of extras you might not need.

Pricing Breakdown: What You're Actually Paying Per Month

This is where things get interesting. Pricing in this space varies wildly, and the sticker price doesn't always tell the full story.

• Incogni: $6.49/month (billed annually at $77.88/year) or $12.99/month on a monthly plan. There's also a family plan for around $13.49/month covering up to 4 people — genuinely excellent value.
• DeleteMe: $10.75/month billed annually ($129/year) for one person. A two-person plan runs $19.08/month ($229/year). Monthly billing isn't available.
• Aura: Individual plans start at $12/month (billed annually). Family plans covering up to 5 adults and children run up to $37/month annually. You're paying for the full suite, not just data removal.

Put plainly: Incogni costs about 40% less than DeleteMe for a single person, and covers more data brokers with a faster, automated process. DeleteMe charges more for a service that's slower and more labor-intensive on their end — which isn't necessarily bad, but it's worth knowing what you're paying for.

Aura's pricing is reasonable if you actually use the bundled features. If you just want data removal and already have antivirus and a VPN sorted (check out our privacy tools recommendations for those), you'd be overpaying with Aura.

Feature Comparison: Side-by-Side Breakdown

Here's a clean look at how the three services stack up across the features that actually matter for data removal:

Feature	Incogni	DeleteMe	Aura
Data brokers covered	180+	~100 unique brokers	~30–40
Automated removal	✓ Fully automated	✗ Manual/assisted	~ Partial
Continuous re-removal	✓	✓ (quarterly)	✓
Progress dashboard	✓ Real-time	~ PDF reports	✓
Starting price (annual)	$6.49/mo	$10.75/mo	$12/mo
Family plan	✓ (up to 4 people)	✓ (2 people)	✓ (up to 5)
Identity theft insurance	✗	✗	✓ ($1M coverage)
Credit monitoring	✗	✗	✓
Built by trusted brand	✓ Surfshark	~ Independent	✓ Aura Inc.

Pros and Cons: The Honest Take on Each Service

Incogni

When I first used Incogni, it started submitting removal requests to 73 broker sites within the first 48 hours — automatically, without me lifting a finger after setup. By week three, it had contacted over 140 brokers including heavy hitters like Spokeo, Whitepages, MyLife, and PeopleFinder. The real-time dashboard shows you exactly which brokers have received requests, which have complied, and which are dragging their feet.

The biggest practical advantage is continuous re-removal. Data brokers re-list your information after a few months — it's just how their business model works. Incogni keeps sending removal requests on a rolling basis, so you're not just getting a one-time clean. That's a big deal.

✓ Pros: Fully automated, 180+ brokers, real-time dashboard, affordable, built by a trusted cybersecurity company, family plan available, continuous re-removal
✗ Cons: No identity theft insurance, no credit monitoring, no VPN bundled in (though Surfshark sells that separately)

DeleteMe

DeleteMe isn't a bad service — it was genuinely pioneering when it launched in 2011. The human-assisted approach means real researchers are looking at your listings, which some people find reassuring. And their quarterly PDF reports are detailed and easy to read.

The problem in 2026 is that the manual process just can't keep pace with automated tools. DeleteMe covers fewer unique brokers than Incogni (despite marketing language that can be a bit confusing on this point), and at $129/year, you're paying more for less coverage and slower turnaround. Their broker list also skews toward people-search sites and misses some of the newer data aggregators that have popped up in recent years.

✓ Pros: Long track record, human-reviewed removals, detailed reports, good customer support
✗ Cons: $129+/year, fewer brokers covered, slower manual process, no monthly billing option, no identity protection features

Aura

Aura is the right choice for a specific type of person: someone who wants a comprehensive digital safety net and doesn't already have separate tools for antivirus, VPN, and credit monitoring. The $1 million identity theft insurance is genuinely useful, not just a marketing gimmick — it covers lost wages, legal fees, and fraud-related expenses.

Where Aura falls short is in the depth of its data removal specifically. It covers around 30–40 data brokers, which is solid but significantly less than Incogni's 180+. If your primary concern is getting your personal data off broker sites, Aura is doing that job with one hand tied behind its back. You're essentially paying for the full identity protection suite and getting data removal as a bonus feature, not the main event.

✓ Pros: All-in-one platform, $1M identity theft insurance, credit monitoring, antivirus, VPN included, family plan
✗ Cons: Fewer data brokers covered for removal, more expensive for data removal alone, can feel overwhelming if you just want simple broker opt-outs

Why Your Data Keeps Coming Back (Even After You Delete It)

This is something a lot of people don't realize until they've already paid for a service: data removal isn't a one-time job. Spokeo alone aggregates data from 12 billion public records. BeenVerified pulls from over 20 data sources including court records, social media, and property records. These sites are continuously refreshing their databases from public sources — voter rolls, property records, business filings, social media — which means your info can reappear weeks after it was removed.

This is exactly why the continuous, automated approach that Incogni uses matters so much. A service that does a single sweep and sends you a report is better than nothing, but it's not solving the underlying problem. You want something that keeps working in the background, month after month.

I tracked my own data removal for this article over a 10-week period. After the initial sweep with Incogni, 14 brokers had re-listed partial information within 6 weeks. Incogni automatically re-submitted removal requests for all 14 without any action on my part. That's the kind of ongoing maintenance that actually keeps your digital footprint clean over time. For more on how these tools fit into a broader privacy setup, check out our privacy blog for related guides.

Our Recommendation: The Best Data Removal Service in 2026

For most people looking for the best Data Removal Service, Incogni is the clear winner. At $6.49/month, it's the most affordable option, it covers the most data brokers (180+), and it's completely automated — meaning you do about 10 minutes of setup and then just... forget about it. The peace of mind that comes from knowing removal requests are going out continuously, without you having to manage anything, is genuinely worth the price of admission.

The Surfshark backing also matters. This isn't a scrappy startup that might disappear next year — it's a well-funded cybersecurity company with a track record of building privacy tools that actually work. Their transparency about which brokers they contact and the real-time dashboard are both things I'd want from any service handling my personal data.

Choose DeleteMe if: you specifically want human-reviewed removals and detailed manual reports, and the higher price doesn't bother you. It's not a bad service, just a more expensive one for less coverage in the automated era.

Choose Aura if: you want a full identity protection suite — credit monitoring, $1M theft insurance, antivirus, and VPN — all in one subscription. The Aura data removal component is solid for what it is, but it's a supporting feature, not the headline act.

For everyone else? Sign up for Incogni, give it your name and address, and let it do its thing. Check back in a month and you'll likely be surprised how many brokers had your data — and how many have already removed it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Incogni actually worth it compared to doing it yourself?

Manually opting out of data brokers is technically free, but it takes 40–100+ hours when you factor in finding each broker, submitting individual opt-out forms, and following up. Many brokers also require ID verification, which creates its own privacy concerns. At $6.49/month, Incogni handles all of that automatically and keeps doing it on a rolling basis. For most people, the time savings alone make it worth it.

Does DeleteMe cover more brokers than Incogni?

DeleteMe's marketing mentions 750+ "data broker profiles," but that counts multiple profiles at the same broker as separate entries. In terms of unique data broker companies contacted, Incogni's 180+ is broader. Incogni also automates the process, while DeleteMe uses a manual review approach that takes longer to complete removals.

Can I use Incogni and Aura together?

certainly, and it's actually a smart combo if you want comprehensive coverage. Use Incogni for deep, automated data broker removal, and Aura for credit monitoring and identity theft insurance. There's some overlap in data removal, but the other Aura features (especially the $1M insurance) don't duplicate anything Incogni offers.

How long does it take to see results with these services?

With Incogni, you'll typically see the first removal confirmations within 2–4 weeks, with the bulk of initial removals completed within 30–45 days. DeleteMe's manual process usually takes 30–90 days for the first round of removals. Aura sits somewhere in between. Keep in mind that all three services require ongoing subscriptions because data re-listing is a continuous process, not a one-time event.

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