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Quick answer: Is Incogni worth it? Yes, if you want your details off people-search sites and don’t have hours to spend on opt-out forms. Incogni sends removal requests to 420+ data brokers for you and repeats them every few months, and Deloitte has checked that those requests really go out. But don’t expect a clean slate. In a Consumer Reports study, removal services cleared only about a third of people’s profiles in four months, while doing it yourself cleared 70%. And Incogni can’t touch court records, government sites or social media.
Search for “is Incogni worth it” and most of what you’ll find is Reddit threads and reviews written by sites paid for every sign-up. So we did the homework: we read Incogni’s own help pages, the Deloitte report behind its claims, and the largest independent test of data removal services we could find. We don’t run a lab, and we didn’t buy a subscription to test it ourselves. Here’s what the evidence shows.
Table of Contents
What Is Incogni and How Does It Work?
Incogni is a paid data removal service. Data brokers and people-search sites collect your name, address, phone number, relatives and more, then sell it or show it to anyone who searches. Incogni contacts them for you and asks them to delete your information. It’s owned by Surfshark, the VPN company, which describes it as another Surfshark product.
According to Surfshark and Incogni, the process works like this:
- You give it your details. Your name, emails, home addresses and phone numbers, so it knows what to look for.
- It sends opt-out requests to the 420+ data brokers on its list.
- It repeats them. Brokers often add people back after a few months, so Incogni re-sends requests. Deloitte’s review says it does this within 60 days for public people-search sites and within 90 days for private databases.
- It reports back. Your dashboard shows which brokers have confirmed removal and which are still pending.
Incogni sells a Standard plan (the automated removals above) and an Unlimited plan. Unlimited adds “custom removals”: you send links to sites that aren’t on its list, and its staff try to remove you by hand. There are also family plans for up to five people. Every plan has a 30-day money-back guarantee, according to Incogni’s pricing page.
Is Incogni Legit?
Yes, Incogni is a real service from a known company, and it’s the only data removal service we found that has paid an outside auditor to check its claims. In August 2025, Deloitte issued a limited assurance report on Incogni’s processes. As of July 18, 2025, Deloitte confirmed that Incogni:
- covered at least 420 data broker websites and private databases,
- re-sent removal requests within 60 days for public brokers and 90 days for private ones,
- had processed more than 245 million removal requests since January 2022.
What the report doesn’t show: how much of your data actually disappears. Deloitte checked that Incogni sends the requests it says it sends. It didn’t measure how many brokers obey them, or how fast. That’s the part that matters to you, so we looked for independent results.
Does Incogni Actually Work? What the Research Shows
The biggest independent test of data removal services is a Consumer Reports study published in August 2024. Between May and September 2023, CR and the security firm Tall Poppy signed volunteers up for seven removal services and then checked 13 people-search sites, including Whitepages, Spokeo, BeenVerified and Intelius, to see if their profiles were gone. A small control group opted out by hand instead.
Incogni wasn’t one of the seven services tested. But the results tell you what to expect from any service in this category:
| Method | Profiles removed after 4 months |
|---|---|
| Manual opt-out (doing it yourself) | 70% |
| Optery | 68% |
| EasyOptOuts | 65% |
| IDX (Privacy tier) | 40% |
| Kanary | 34% |
| DeleteMe | 27% |
| ReputationDefender | 6% |
| Confidently | 4% |
| All 7 services combined | 35% (117 of 332 profiles) |
Figures from the full Consumer Reports report. Percentages are rounded.
- No method removed everything. Every volunteer still had profiles on some sites at every check, even after opting out by hand.
- Doing it yourself worked best and fastest. 70% of manual opt-outs were gone within a week. The services removed between 0% and 59% in the first week.
- Services still save time. CR noted that profiles did shrink with every service, and they did the work so volunteers didn’t have to.
- Results vary a lot by company. The best service removed 17 times more than the worst. So it matters which one you pick.
Our take: Incogni’s automated, repeating requests are the right approach, and Deloitte’s check is more proof than most competitors offer. But until an independent test like CR’s includes Incogni, nobody can tell you exactly how much it removes. Treat any review that promises it’ll “erase you from the internet” with suspicion.
What Incogni Can’t Remove
Incogni’s own help center says that, because of technical or legal limits, it can’t remove your information from these, even with custom removals:
- Court records
- Records on government websites
- News and other publications about criminal cases and convictions
- Social media accounts, blogs and forums
Google search results are a gray area. The Standard plan works on its list of data brokers. If a different page about you shows up on Google, you’d need the Unlimited plan’s custom removals, or you can ask Google directly using its “Results about you” tool. Old posts on your own social accounts are yours to delete.
Common Complaints About Incogni, Checked
The same five complaints come up again and again in reviews, forums and AI answers. Here’s what the evidence says about each one.
| Complaint | What we found | Fair? |
|---|---|---|
| “Removals are slow” | Incogni’s help center says some brokers respond within a day and others take longer. Under California’s privacy law (CCPA), brokers generally have 45 days; under Europe’s GDPR, 30 days. Some brokers miss those deadlines, and Incogni says its follow-ups “can extend the overall removal process.” | Partly. The delay is mostly the brokers’, but expect weeks, not days. |
| “It doesn’t cover every site” | The Standard plan only works on Incogni’s list of 420+ brokers. Other sites need the Unlimited plan’s custom removals, and nothing on any plan can remove court records, government records, criminal news or social media. | Yes. Check the broker list for the sites you care about before you pay. |
| “My information came back” | Brokers often re-list people after removal. That’s why Incogni re-sends requests within 60 days for public sites and 90 days for private databases, according to Deloitte’s review. | Expected with any service. It’s the reason removal is a subscription. |
| “I still get spam calls” | We found no independent study that measured spam calls before and after Incogni. A four-month Gizmodo review (October 2026) counted 107 requests to 44 brokers, 102 of them completed, but didn’t measure spam. | Unproven either way. Don’t buy it only to stop robocalls. |
| “How do I know it worked?” | Your dashboard shows each request’s status and each broker’s average resolution time, and you get monthly email updates. But “completed” can mean the broker removed your data or said it had none (Gizmodo), and Deloitte checked that requests are sent, not that brokers delete. | Fair point. You’re partly relying on the brokers’ word. |
Our tip: about two months after you sign up, search your name on the biggest people-search sites yourself. If a profile is still there, opt out by hand with our free data broker removal guide, or send the link to Incogni support.
Incogni vs DeleteMe vs Optery
These are the three names that come up most. Here’s how they compare on the evidence we could check:
| Incogni | DeleteMe | Optery | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it works | Automated requests to 420+ brokers; staff handle custom removals on Unlimited | Removal service that sends opt-outs for you | Removal service that sends opt-outs for you |
| Consumer Reports test (2024) | Not tested | 27% removed after 4 months | 68% removed after 4 months (best of 7) |
| Outside audit of its claims | Yes, Deloitte limited assurance (2025) | None we found | None we found |
| Comes in a bundle | Yes, Surfshark One+ | No | No |
- Pick Optery if you want the service with the best independent test result so far.
- Pick Incogni if you want a service whose claims have been audited, or if you’d also pay for a VPN anyway (see below).
- DeleteMe is the best-known name, but it removed 27% of profiles in CR’s test, well behind Optery.
One caution from Consumer Reports: some removal services advertise on, or even partner with, people-search sites. That’s worth keeping in mind with any company in this business.
Deciding between just these two? Our full Incogni vs DeleteMe comparison covers broker lists, custom removals, which countries each one serves and which to pick.
The Bundle Option: Incogni With Surfshark One+
You can buy Incogni on its own, or get it inside Surfshark One+. One+ includes everything in Surfshark’s VPN and One plans, plus Incogni:
- Surfshark VPN for public Wi-Fi and hiding your browsing from your internet provider
- Surfshark Antivirus, including webcam protection
- Surfshark Alert, which warns you when your email, cards or ID show up in a data leak
- Incogni data removal
This makes the most sense if you were going to pay for a VPN anyway. If you only want data removal, Incogni on its own is the simpler buy. One thing Surfshark’s pages don’t say is which Incogni tier One+ includes, so check whether custom removals are part of it on the checkout page before you buy. Prices change often, so check the current price there too.
Just want to know when your data leaks? See Surfshark Alert. For a VPN comparison, read our NordVPN vs ExpressVPN breakdown.
Is Incogni Worth It for You?
It’s worth paying for if:
- you’re getting a lot of spam calls, texts or junk mail and want to cut the supply at the source,
- you don’t have time to fill in dozens of opt-out forms and repeat them every few months,
- you want ongoing protection, since brokers often re-add people after they’ve been removed.
Save your money if:
- you can spend a few hours on it. Doing it yourself removed the most data in CR’s test, and our free step-by-step data broker removal guide walks you through the biggest sites,
- what bothers you is a court record, news article or social media post. Incogni can’t remove those,
- you’re worried about your safety, for example because of a stalker or an abusive ex. In that case, don’t rely on any one service. Opt out by hand from the biggest sites as well, and check them again yourself.
Consumer Reports also has two free tools worth trying first: Permission Slip, which sends data deletion requests to companies for you, and Security Planner, which links to opt-out pages for people-search sites.
The PrimeDigger Verdict
Incogni is legit, and it’s the only removal service we found that had an outside firm check its claims. Its automated, repeating requests to 420+ brokers are the right approach for people who won’t do it themselves. But no service, Incogni included, can wipe you off the internet, and Incogni hasn’t been through an independent removal test yet. Expect fewer people-search profiles and less spam, not zero. If you’ll also use a VPN, Surfshark One+ is the better-value way to get it. If you have a free afternoon, start with our manual removal guide and see how far you get. For more ways to protect yourself, see our privacy gadgets guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Incogni worth it?
For most people who want their details off people-search sites and do not have time to opt out by hand, yes. Incogni sends and repeats removal requests to 420+ data brokers. But no removal service removes everything. In a 2024 Consumer Reports study, services cleared about 35% of profiles in four months, while manual opt-outs cleared 70%.
Is Incogni legit?
Yes. Incogni is owned by Surfshark, and in August 2025 Deloitte issued a limited assurance report confirming that Incogni covered at least 420 data brokers, re-sent requests within 60 to 90 days, and had processed more than 245 million removal requests since 2022.
Is Incogni safe to use?
Incogni needs your name, addresses, emails and phone numbers to find and remove your profiles, so you are trusting it with that data. It is owned by Surfshark and its request process has been checked by Deloitte. As with any service, share only what it needs.
Who owns Incogni?
Incogni is owned by Surfshark, the company behind Surfshark VPN. Incogni is also included in the Surfshark One+ bundle.
Can Incogni remove me from Google?
Not directly on the Standard plan, which works on its list of data brokers. The Unlimited plan adds custom removals for other sites. Incogni cannot remove court records, government records, news about criminal cases, or social media posts. You can also ask Google directly with its Results about you tool.
How long does Incogni take?
There is no fixed timeline, because each broker handles requests differently. Incogni re-sends requests within 60 days for public people-search sites and 90 days for private databases. In the Consumer Reports study, most removals that happened came within the first week.
Is Incogni better than DeleteMe?
Incogni has an outside audit of its claims, which DeleteMe does not. DeleteMe removed 27% of profiles after four months in the 2024 Consumer Reports test, but Incogni was not part of that test, so there is no direct head-to-head result. Optery scored best in that test at 68%.
Sources
- Incogni: Plans and features
- Incogni Help Center: Can you remove me from sites not covered by regular services?
- GlobeNewswire: Incogni’s data removal process, limited assurance provided by Deloitte (August 2025)
- Consumer Reports: Services that delete your data from people-search sites don’t work very well (August 2024)
- Consumer Reports and Tall Poppy: Data Defense, Evaluating People-Search Site Removal Services (full report)
- Surfshark: Surfshark plans explained, Starter vs One vs One+
- Surfshark: Incogni data removal service
