Incogni vs Optery: Which Data Removal Service Actually Works Better

Short answer: Optery is the stronger remover. In independent testing, Optery pulled down about 68% of listings, the best score we have seen, and it sends you before-and-after screenshots as proof. Incogni removed around 38%, which is mid-pack, but it costs less and quietly covers a wide broker network. Pick Optery if you want maximum removal and visible evidence. Pick Incogni if you want solid coverage at the lowest annual price and you do not need screenshots. Both are real services we paid for and tracked.

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The bottom line up front

We have run both services on real broker profiles and measured what actually came down. The gap is not subtle. Optery is the most effective remover we have tested, and Incogni is a competent value play that wins on price and breadth rather than raw removal power.

This matches the 2024 Consumer Reports study, which found that paid data-removal services removed only about 35% of listings on average within four months, and that careful DIY beat several of them. The top performers in that study were Optery at roughly 68% and EasyOptOuts at about 65%. Incogni and DeleteMe landed in the middle of the pack. Our own tracking lines up with those numbers, which is part of why we trust them.

So this is not a coin flip. One service removes nearly twice the proportion of listings the other does. The reason Incogni is still worth a look comes down to money and the size of its broker list, which we get into below.

Incogni vs Optery at a glance

Here is the head-to-head on the things that decide the purchase. Prices are the current annual list rates we paid; both run frequent discounts, so check the live price before you buy.

Read the long-form breakdowns in our Optery review and Incogni review, and see how we arrive at these numbers in how we test.

Price: Incogni is cheaper, Optery has more tiers

Incogni keeps it simple. One individual plan at roughly $8.29 a month billed annually, which works out to about $99 a year. There is a pricier Unlimited tier that adds custom removal requests, and Family plans that cover up to four or five people for a modest jump. There is no free option, so you commit up front.

Optery is tiered. The free plan gives you a real exposure scan and a DIY report, which is genuinely useful even if you never pay. Core runs around $3.99 a month annually and covers a smaller broker set. Extended and Ultimate climb up to roughly $24.99 a month for the widest coverage and the full screenshot proof. So Optery can be cheaper than Incogni or considerably more expensive, depending on which tier you need.

The honest read: if you only compare entry prices, Incogni undercuts Optery's mid and top tiers. But Optery's free scan and cheap Core plan mean you can start at almost nothing and step up only if the results justify it. If you are purely chasing the lowest fixed annual cost with full coverage, see our cheapest data removal roundup.

Method and transparency: screenshots are the difference

Both services work the same way at a high level. They scan people-search and data-broker sites for your name, addresses, relatives, and contact details, then file opt-out requests on your behalf and re-scan on a recurring schedule because brokers re-list you.

Where they split is proof. Optery's paid tiers send before-and-after screenshots of each removal. You can actually see your profile on a broker site, then see it gone. That sounds like a gimmick until you have used a service that gives you nothing but a green checkmark and you start to wonder whether anything happened at all. The screenshots are why Optery scores so high on transparency in our testing, and they are a big reason its removal numbers are credible.

Incogni gives you a clean dashboard showing requests sent, in progress, and completed, plus how many brokers it covers. It is informative, but it asks you to trust the status labels rather than showing you the evidence. For most people that is fine. For anyone with a real safety or harassment concern, seeing the actual removal matters, and that tilts toward Optery.

Coverage and removal rate: where Incogni earns its place

This is the part that keeps Incogni in the conversation. Optery wins on the percentage of listings it actually removes, the 68% figure. Incogni's 38% is lower, but Incogni casts a wider net across broker types, including marketing aggregators and risk-data brokers that some rivals skip. So Incogni may file requests at brokers Optery does not touch on its lower tiers.

Put plainly: Optery removes a higher share of what it targets, with proof. Incogni targets a broad list but completes a smaller share. If your goal is the cleanest possible result on the major people-search sites, Optery's higher completion rate wins. If you want broad sweeps across a large broker network at a low flat price and you accept a lower hit rate, Incogni is reasonable.

One thing both share with every paid service: neither gets you to 100%, and brokers re-list, so this is a subscription you keep, not a one-time fix. If you are weighing whether any of this is worth paying for, read are data removal services worth it and free vs paid data removal first. For many people, a weekend of free DIY opt-outs handles the biggest sites at no cost.

Our verdict: who should pick which

Choose Optery if you want the highest tested removal rate, screenshot proof of every takedown, and a free tier to test before you commit. It is our top pick overall and the right call for anyone serious about getting their information down or dealing with a real privacy or safety concern. Check Optery's current plans.

Choose Incogni if your priority is a low, predictable annual price with broad broker coverage, and you are comfortable trusting a status dashboard instead of screenshots. It is the better value-and-coverage pick for budget-minded users. Check Incogni's current price.

Both links above are affiliate links; we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Our ranking is based on tested removal effectiveness, not commission.

One more honest note. EasyOptOuts removed about 65% in the same Consumer Reports test and costs only around $20 a year. It has no affiliate program, so we earn nothing from it, and we still rank it near the top. If price is your main constraint, compare Optery vs EasyOptOuts before deciding. You can also see how both of today's contenders stack up against the full field in our 2026 ranked guide and our Incogni vs DeleteMe comparison.