Updated October 15, 2026. Paying a company to remove your home address, phone number and family associations from people-search sites is not the same as deleting every copy of your information on the internet. These services submit opt-out requests to data brokers and revisit listings that reappear. The difficult questions are which sites a plan actually handles, whether it proves a listing was removed, how frequently it checks again, and how much identifying information you must give the removal company.
Our eight selections are Optery Extended, EasyOptOuts Personal, Incogni Standard, DeleteMe Individual, Privacy Bee Pro, Kanary Core, Onerep Individual and MyPrivacyAgent Patrol. They are all marketed as available services, but they do not provide identical workflows: some target public people-search profiles, others also send requests to non-public brokers, and some offer human escalation or evidence logs. This is a document-based editorial comparison, not a fresh signup test, a mystery-shopper audit or a claim that we successfully removed anyone’s records.
We deliberately excluded VPNs and password managers from the product list. A VPN can help protect network activity, but it cannot remove an old address from a broker’s database; see our published VPN comparison for that separate task. Changing tracking settings is another useful but different layer of privacy: our guide to managing Google Location History explains one example. For context on why controlling personal information remains difficult, see our report on Americans’ struggles with online data.
Our quick picks and prices
| Service and exact plan | Published US reference price | Best-fit use | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Optery Extended | $149/year or $14.99 monthly | Screenshot evidence and human-assisted exceptions | Expanded Reach changes coverage count |
| EasyOptOuts Personal | $19.99/year | Low-cost recurring public-listing opt-outs | Three scans per year, no family plan |
| Incogni Standard | $95.88/year or $15.98 monthly | Automated requests, including eligible non-US markets | Custom removals require Unlimited |
| DeleteMe Individual | Approximately $129/year; recheck checkout | Human-led removal and quarterly reports | Headline site counts differ from standard-plan scope |
| Privacy Bee Pro | About $16/month equivalent billed annually | Broad broker categories and human escalation | Vendor site-count taxonomy is not a success rate |
| Kanary Core | $250/year or $25 monthly | Risk-oriented monitoring and managed removals | Advanced tier offers additional coverage and frequency |
| Onerep Individual | $8.33/month equivalent annually | Automated public people-search opt-outs | Founder data-broker conflict deserves scrutiny |
| MyPrivacyAgent Patrol | $19.99/month | Month-to-month, listing-level status tracking | Newer product; no independent effectiveness audit found |
Price methodology: US-facing public plan pages and named billing terms checked October 15, 2026; local tax, offers, currency and renewal checkout may differ. Annual equivalents are not month-to-month subscriptions. No plan’s advertised number of brokers is a verified count of removals for a particular person.
How we compared services: a transparent research-only rubric
Our editorial weights are 30% evidence and removal-verification quality; 20% relevance of the actual covered broker sites; 15% recurrence and follow-up; 15% privacy, governance and data minimization; 10% total price and renewal clarity; 10% user control and support. We consider publicly documented mechanisms and independent studies, not an invented proprietary removal-rate benchmark. We do not assign numerical efficacy percentages to services that have not been measured under comparable conditions.
The strongest independent comparative evidence remains Consumer Reports’ August 2024 study: 32 volunteers, 13 people-search sites, and follow-up at one week, one month and four months. Across paid services, 117 of 332 discovered exposures were removed after four months (35%). Optery Ultimate reached 68% and EasyOptOuts 65% in that specific study; expert-assisted manual opt-outs reached 70%. These are historical, limited-sample outcomes, not October 2026 measurements and not predictions for every subscriber. Optery has publicly disputed aspects of the study design, which readers should weigh alongside the original report.
We treat automated broker count, custom-request eligibility, search-index takedowns and all sites in a company’s directory as different quantities. An email sent to a non-public broker is not proof the broker possessed your record or deleted it. We also distinguish a completed opt-out submission from a rechecked missing listing. Below, each P001–P008 section states the actual named plan, the meaningful limitations and who should consider it.
1. Optery Extended (P001)
Best for: readers who want exposure screenshots, recurring scans and a human route for difficult cases without paying for the highest tier. Optery’s October 2026 pricing page lists Extended at $149 billed yearly (about $12.42/month) or $14.99 paid monthly. Its Core plan is cheaper at $39/year; Ultimate is $249/year. These are separate plans with separate limits, so a comparison that credits Extended with all Ultimate features would mislead buyers.
Extended advertises automated removal from 560+ sites with Expanded Reach enabled, compared with a lower count when that setting is off. It allows name variations and past cities and states, assigns a human privacy agent for unusual cases, and supplies before/after screenshots approximately every 90 days. The service also supports blurring a home on major mapping products. Monthly automated scans matter because an old address can return after a broker refreshes its data feed. The feature list is vendor documentation; we did not independently check 560 live broker endpoints.
Evidence and limitations: Consumer Reports measured 68% after four months for Optery Ultimate in 2024, not Extended in 2026. We therefore do not transfer that percentage to this plan. Ultimate adds broader automated coverage and unlimited custom requests after a waiting period. Some removals may require a limited power of attorney or extra identity details; assess that authorization before supplying it. Optery lists country selectors for the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, but supported sites and request rights differ by country.
Decision: Extended is a defensible middle tier when you value visible before/after evidence and human help. Choose Core if your risk is mainly a few mainstream US people-search listings; choose Ultimate only if the extra broker inventory and custom-request workflow justify the cost. A free exposure scan is a useful starting point, but it is not the same as paid removal. Review the current plan comparison before checkout.
2. EasyOptOuts Personal (P002)
Best for: someone seeking a narrow, inexpensive recurring opt-out service rather than a broad privacy suite. EasyOptOuts’ official pricing is $19.99 per person per year, with a stated 150-day satisfaction guarantee. The vendor says its automated workflow covers 200+ high-visibility data brokers and people-search sites and performs three scans per year, approximately every four months. It does not advertise a bundled household subscription; business arrangements are separate.
The design is deliberately focused on public exposure. Rather than emailing every obscure company in a large broker directory, EasyOptOuts says it looks for relevant listings and shares only information necessary for targeted opt-outs. That approach may reduce unnecessary dissemination of a customer’s name and address. The trade-off is limited customization, a relatively slow repeat-scan cadence compared with monthly services, and no named human concierge for stubborn, bespoke removals.
Independent evidence: In Consumer Reports’ 2024 experiment, EasyOptOuts removed 65% of identified exposures at the 13 tested sites after four months. That was strong within that narrow experiment and does not establish 65% across all 200+ supported sites, all states or every current user. The study also found that none of the services achieved complete removal. EasyOptOuts’ own supported-site list is useful for checking whether the people-search pages exposing you are in scope.
Decision: The $19.99 annual commitment makes this the budget-first choice for US public-listing cleanup, especially when you are willing to handle occasional special cases manually. It is less suitable for people requiring urgent takedowns, frequent weekly rechecks or a dedicated case manager. Ask whether a particular non-public broker is in the automated set before assuming that a large directory means universal coverage.
3. Incogni Standard (P003)
Best for: users wanting routine broker requests with a clearer route beyond the US. Incogni’s official plan FAQ lists Standard at $95.88 annually ($7.99/month equivalent) or $15.98 month-to-month. Unlimited costs $179.88 annually and adds custom removals; Family Standard is $191.88/year for eligible members. Those upgrades should not be silently attributed to Standard. The company states Standard supports automated requests to 420+ data brokers.
Unlike services concentrating only on public people-search pages, Incogni also targets brokers that do not provide easily searchable public profiles. It submits deletion requests and follows up, but an outgoing request is not the same as a independently observed disappearance. Incogni says Deloitte assessed parts of its process and coverage claims; that is useful governance evidence, not an independent test showing every one of 420 brokers removed a given person’s record. Its reports and support features vary by tier.
Regions: The March 17, 2026 eligibility page lists the US, Canada, UK, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and EU member states, with local legal scope varying. A separate September help article distinguishes US state eligibility for an identity-insurance bundle; do not confuse that add-on with ordinary data-removal eligibility. Buyers in unsupported countries should not assume the company can submit enforceable requests there.
Decision: Standard is attractive when you want low-touch recurring requests and are satisfied with an automated scope rather than bespoke one-off websites. Check whether your principal concern is an indexed people-search profile: a service showing before/after screenshots may offer more observable proof. The 30-day refund policy and automatic renewal should be reviewed with the final currency and tax shown at checkout.
4. DeleteMe Individual (P004)
Best for: consumers who prefer human-assisted removals and periodic readable reports. The US Individual reference price is about $129 per year (or $209 for two years), supported by published 2026 competitor comparisons; DeleteMe’s own current help article directs shoppers to its live checkout rather than displaying a fixed rate, so reconfirm the actual renewal quote. Multi-person and family plans are sold separately. Its help documentation describes four privacy reports per year and ongoing re-removals.
DeleteMe uses privacy specialists to submit opt-outs, monitor for republished profiles and handle some cases that automation cannot resolve. However, large marketing claims about a company’s entire broker directory should not be mistaken for the exact number handled under the standard subscription. The vendor’s help documentation historically described 50+ standard sites, while broader directory and premium-tier figures can be much higher. Ask for the current standard-plan coverage list, and whether a site you care about requires an upgrade.
Independent evidence: Consumer Reports’ 2024 small study measured a 27% four-month removal rate for the tested DeleteMe plan and 13 sites. This is not proof that a current subscriber will experience that percentage, nor is it fair to ignore that the study used limited profile details and a narrow set of sites. Still, it argues against equating higher prices or human labor with automatically better measured outcomes. The vendor states that refunds can be full before the first privacy report and prorated afterward.
Regions and choice: A September 2026 support update lists additional markets including Canada, Australia, the UK, Singapore and several European countries; pricing and coverage may differ. DeleteMe fits buyers who value an established specialist workflow and report cadence, provided the exact broker list covers their exposures. It cannot erase public court records or remove material outside an operator’s legal control.
5. Privacy Bee Pro (P005)
Best for: a subscriber who wants broader broker categories and human escalation rather than only common people-finder listings. Privacy Bee’s official pricing page displays Pro at approximately $16/month when billed annually; Essentials is about $8/month equivalent and Signature about $67/month equivalent. Annualized estimates are not a promise of monthly billing. The Pro page claims coverage across 1,229 entries split into people-search, affiliate, list, marketing, enrichment, healthcare, geolocation and other categories.
Those category counts need careful interpretation. A directory entry, a non-public broker, a custom-request destination and a verified removed personal profile are not equivalent. Pro advertises automated workflows plus human analysts and support for custom sites. It also describes search-result monitoring, spam suppression and various privacy controls. Some features in the premium Signature tier, including urgent or unusually complex escalations, are not included in Pro. The site’s large counts are vendor claims, not independent success percentages.
Privacy and proof: Sending enough identifying information to match a broker record is necessary for many requests, but it creates a second sensitive-data relationship. Review Privacy Bee’s current privacy policy, data retention terms, analyst access and authorization process before submitting aliases or historical addresses. A company-reported SOC 2 status concerns controls in a defined audit scope; it is not proof that a particular people-search profile disappeared. The vendor offers a 30-day refund for Essentials and Pro, with exclusions for Signature.
Decision: Pro can make sense for people with diverse exposures outside classic search sites and who value manual escalation. It is a higher-priced choice than EasyOptOuts or Incogni Standard. Before paying, ask for a plan-specific list of relevant brokers and a sample of how removals are verified. The distinction between ongoing scans, custom requests and completed takedowns matters more than the headline four-digit site total.
6. Kanary Core (P006)
Best for: professionals or families who want privacy exposure monitoring tied to risk priorities and human-managed mitigation. Kanary’s 2026 product brief and live pricing show Core at $250/year or $25 monthly, and Advanced at $500/year or $50 monthly. Family members receive a published 50% price reduction. The current pricing structure is materially different from older Kanary Copilot/Cloud prices repeated in some comparison articles, so do not rely on a January 2026 third-party price table without checking the new tiers.
Core is presented as monitoring and managed removal across high-traffic sources, with monthly scans and recurring mitigation requests. Advanced adds higher-frequency monitoring and a wider risk response that may cover social media and AI exposure. Kanary provides listing links or screenshots for user inspection, and describes incident response and security-setting advice as part of its broader approach. Those additional services should not be mistaken for guaranteed erasure from social networks, model training corpora or public records.
Evidence and limitations: Consumer Reports included an older Kanary configuration in its 2024 13-site test, measuring 34% after four months. That result predates the 2026 Core/Advanced positioning and cannot be assigned as Core’s measured effectiveness. Kanary’s 2026 brief says a name, location and age can begin the search, but some cases may still require identity verification or additional information. Ask how long the service keeps supporting evidence and who can access it.
Decision: Kanary is a more expensive risk-management option for targeted people who value case context and reporting. For a person merely removing a few routine US broker pages, a $20 annual service may be enough. Check current coverage by region, scan interval, number of allowed mitigation requests and whether your situation needs Advanced before committing to a yearly Core plan.
7. Onerep Individual (P007)
Best for: readers considering an automated, public people-search opt-out subscription but willing to scrutinize provider governance. The current plan page displays Individual at $8.33/month equivalent on an annual term (about $99.96/year) and offers a five-day trial. The page claims automated removal from 314 public people-search sites, monthly scans and email reporting; Individual Pro costs more and adds non-public brokers and unlimited custom requests. Its headline 873-broker Pro figure should not be credited to Individual.
Onerep says its automation supports aliases, phone numbers and historical addresses and checks for returning listings. For a buyer, the central questions are whether a listing was actually located, whether an opt-out was submitted, and whether a later scan verified the public result disappeared. A dashboard status is useful, but it should not be treated as independently verified removal without a link, screenshot or recheck. Family plans can cover up to six people, subject to the selected tier and billing term.
Important trust disclosure: KrebsOnSecurity reported in March 2024 that Onerep’s founder acknowledged an ownership interest in the people-search business Nuwber; Mozilla said it was winding down a partnership over that conflict. The founder stated there was no operational information-sharing between Nuwber and Onerep. This is a documented governance concern, not evidence that Onerep has mishandled a specific customer’s data. Prospective users should evaluate the company’s current policies and disclosures.
Decision: Onerep’s public-listing automation and household pricing are straightforward, but the history makes it harder to recommend without qualification. Compare a small sample of your actual exposure sites with competitors, request clarity on data retention and opt-out authorization, and verify what happens when the five-day trial ends. No independently controlled October 2026 removal-rate test was located for this exact plan.
8. MyPrivacyAgent Patrol (P008)
Best for: someone who prefers month-to-month billing and wants a listing-level evidence trail rather than committing to an annual subscription. The official pricing page advertises Patrol at $19.99 per month for one adult, plus a free exposure report and DIY instructions. The free tier checks 200+ people-search sources and offers self-removal guides; it does not include a paid concierge workflow. Patrol says it files opt-outs for identified listings, records statuses, rechecks removals and accepts custom listing requests.
This is a newer entrant, so the distinction between live features and roadmap items is especially important. The vendor explicitly labels automatic monthly rescans and family-member profiles as coming soon on its current plan page. We do not count those as released Patrol features. The company also describes screenshots of every listing as forthcoming for the free tier; avoid claiming a universal screenshot archive already exists. Custom-request handling and evidence logs are vendor claims requiring an independent evaluation.
Evidence and privacy: Unlike Optery and EasyOptOuts, MyPrivacyAgent was not one of the services measured in Consumer Reports’ 2024 study. We did not find a controlled independent effectiveness study or third-party audit for its current Patrol plan. The company acknowledges that brokers decide whether and when to comply, and that profiles can reappear. A month of subscription may be useful for assessing its workflow, but completed requests in the dashboard should be independently checked against the actual people-search URLs.
Decision: Patrol is an option for buyers who value short commitment, custom requests and visible per-listing workflow more than a long public testing record. At $19.99 every month, it becomes materially more expensive than several annual plans if kept active all year. Before entering sensitive historical addresses, inspect the provider’s privacy and deletion policies, confirm cancellation and ask what proof is available today—not what is promised on the roadmap.
How to choose the right data-removal plan
Start with the exposures you can actually see
Search your name, current and former cities, phone number and public profile variants in a private browser session. Record the exact URLs, not just the names of brokers. Then compare those sites against a vendor’s plan-specific supported list. A service claiming a thousand broker relationships may still miss the three pages that matter to you. For higher-risk cases such as stalking or doxxing, prioritize providers that can escalate urgent listings and explain realistic legal limitations.
Separate a removal request from proof of disappearance
Good reporting identifies the exposed URL, date found, request date, broker response and date a later check confirmed the listing no longer appeared. Some brokers only process requests after identity verification. Others re-import information from public records or data suppliers. Even when a result disappears from a people-search site, search engines can temporarily retain snippets and copies; an outdated-content request may be needed. A service should explain which steps it performs and which you must do yourself.
Understand why coverage totals disagree
Vendors count public people-search pages, affiliates, marketing databases, private data brokers, and custom-request destinations differently. The number of brokers contacted can exceed the number that actually held your information. A successful opt-out from one data supplier can affect several mirror sites, while another site may be unaffected. Demand a site list and avoid comparing two large headline counts as if they measure identical work.
Review the information you hand over
Removal companies may request legal names, aliases, former addresses, phone numbers, birth year and sometimes identity documents or a limited power of attorney. Give only the details necessary for the requested coverage; ask how data is encrypted, retained, shared with human contractors, and deleted after cancellation. If a provider proposes to send personal data to brokers where it has not established an existing record, consider whether that creates a new exposure. For children, family members and employees, verify legal authority and plan eligibility before submitting their details.
Check geography, refunds and recurring cost
US state consumer privacy rights, the EU GDPR, UK GDPR and Canadian rules differ in enforcement and scope. A plan sold internationally may not cover the same sites everywhere. Check residency support and whether you can opt out of non-public brokers in your country. Annual equivalent prices should be compared on total prepaid cost; introductory discounts may disappear on renewal. For a month-to-month service, calculate a full-year cost before assuming it is cheaper.
Frequently asked questions
Can these services delete public records, criminal filings or news articles?
Generally not. They can request suppression by participating brokers, but official public records, lawful reporting and independent copies may remain. Some providers help remove search snippets or escalate specific privacy violations, which is different from deleting the underlying source.
Do I need a data removal service if I already use a VPN?
Possibly. A VPN masks network traffic from some observers; it does not retract a phone number or address already published by a broker. Password managers protect credentials, while broker opt-outs address discoverability. These tools solve different problems.
How long until results appear?
There is no universal deadline. Brokers have different verification requirements and response times, and providers scan at different intervals. Compare the date a request was submitted with a later independent check of the actual listing. Do not assume an initial request confirmation means removal.
Are manual opt-outs free?
Many people-search sites provide free opt-out routes. Consumer Reports’ historical test found that expert-managed manual requests performed well on its limited set of sites, but that does not mean an ordinary consumer will reproduce the same result or avoid repeated work. Paying is chiefly a time-saving and monitoring decision.
Editorial disclosures and source notes
All selections reflect documented product capabilities, public pricing and third-party reporting available as of October 15, 2026. We did not subscribe, supply real personal information, measure fresh deletion rates, or inspect internal vendor systems. The weighted rubric is our editorial framework, not a laboratory score. Independent sources include Consumer Reports’ controlled 2024 comparison, Security.org’s 2026 practical review and KrebsOnSecurity’s Onerep investigation. Individual vendor pricing and coverage pages are linked inside the relevant sections. This guide is informational and not legal advice or a promise of removal.