DeleteMe vs. Optery 2024

Both DeleteMe and Optery offer robust data removal services, but DeleteMe does the work for you, while Optery offers a free self-service removal option.
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Best for Comprehensive Data Removal

4.3
Editorial Rating
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On DeleteMe's website

Privacy Protection
DeleteMe
Use code PARTNER20 for 20% off
  • Removes your data from the web to avoid scams, spam and stalkers
  • 100+ million successful opt-out removals
  • Provides continued removals every three months

Best for Budget-Friendly DIY Data Removal

4.0
Editorial Rating
Learn More
On Optery's website

Privacy Protection
Optery
  • Has a free plan that finds your data on broker sites
  • Removals Report comes with screenshots to prove progress
  • AES-256 encryption isn't always used

If you’re concerned about your personal information showing up all over the internet, you’re not alone. A data removal service can work on your behalf to search the web and ask data broker sites to remove your information.

DeleteMe provides ongoing removals every three months and has some additional privacy tools starting at $10.75/mo (billed annually) for one person. Optery has a free version and includes removal reports to illustrate the software’s progress, but it has some customer service and encryption issues.

In our expert guide, we examine the pros and cons of both products to help you choose the best data removal service.

In this article
DeleteMe vs. Optery review at a glance
DeleteMe vs. Optery: Prices
DeleteMe vs. Optery: Monitoring and alerts
Which is safer, DeleteMe or Optery?
DeleteMe vs. Optery: Compatibility and customer support
FAQs
DeleteMe vs. Optery: Which is better?

DeleteMe vs. Optery review at a glance

One difference between DeleteMe and Optery is that DeleteMe doesn’t offer a free plan or even a free trial for the product. Optery has a free version for basic protection but also includes paid plans.

Optery's approach to data removal is more user-centered, so you’ll have some DIY projects. DeleteMe provides a more comprehensive service with extra privacy tools and over 750 data brokers contacted.

  • DeleteMe: Best for comprehensive data removal
  • Optery: Best for budget-friendly DIY data removal

DeleteMe vs. Optery compared

Price $8.71–$27.42/mo $3.99–$24.99/mo (for paid plans)
Free trial Yes, free self-service
Data broker opt-out
Number of data brokers covered 750+ Up to 325+
Marketing list removal
Privacy reports Yes — every three months Yes — monthly for paid plans
Learn more Get DeleteMe

Read DeleteMe Review

Get Optery

Read Optery Review

DeleteMe pros and cons

Pros
  • Scans over 750 data broker sites to find and remove your information
  • Includes extra privacy tools like phone and email masking
Cons
  • Doesn’t include a marketing list opt-out feature
  • No 24/7 customer service

Optery pros and cons

Pros
  • Has a free version available
  • Includes removal reports with screenshots for progress
  • Easy to use
Cons
  • Slow response from customer service
  • AES-256 encryption is not used when data is in transit

DeleteMe vs. Optery: Prices

Our Pick
Number of people covered 1-2 1
Paid monthly N/A $3.99–$24.99/mo (for paid plans)
Paid annually $19.08/mo (billed annually) $39-$249/annually
Paid every two years $19.08/mo (billed annually) N/A
Money-back guarantee No Yes — 30 days
Best value plan 2 years, 2 people for $19.08/mo (billed annually) Extended annual plan for $12.42/mo
Learn more Get DeleteMe

Read DeleteMe Review

Get Optery

Read Optery Review

DeleteMe plans

DeleteMe doesn’t offer a free trial for services, but you can conduct a free scan. There’s also no money-back guarantee, but you can get a full refund before your first privacy report arrives. Your first report should come within seven days, so you won’t have long to test the product. After that, you may receive a prorated refund if you’re unhappy with the services.

DeleteMe’s plans include all the same features. The difference is whether you want to cover one or two people for an annual or biennial subscription.

  • 1 Person, 1 Year: Covers one user and includes quarterly privacy reports, email masking, and broker opt-out. It removes your data from over 750 top data broker sites.
  • 1 Person, 2 Years: DeleteMe’s most popular plan covers an individual for two years. It includes the same features as the standard one-year plan.
  • 2 People, 2 Years: This is the best value, according to the DeleteMe website. It covers two people and removes unlimited aliases and data from all major broker sites.

Optery plans

Optery starts with a free basic plan. From there, you have three paid options with some different features and broker site number changes. You’ll get more with the higher-priced plans, and your data will be removed from more websites.

With Optery, there are no family plans. Your family members must create their own accounts, but you can link individual accounts together for a discount.

  • Free Basic: Identifies personal information on data broker sites and provides opt-out guides. There is no automated removal, and only Exposure Reports are provided every 90 days (compared to 30 for paid plans).
  • Core plan: This plan removes your data across 95+ sites with a maximum of one name, city, and state per user. You’ll get monthly automated scans and a “bot-only” approach to removing data.
  • Extended plan: This plan includes removals from over 200 sites and unlimited name variations for the same person. It takes a “humans and machines” approach and includes a human privacy agent for quality assurance and any special circumstances.
  • Ultimate plan: Here, you get everything in the Extended plan plus data removal from over 325 sites. You also get unlimited custom removal requests plus priority email support.

Winner: Optery offers the best value for your money if you consider the free plan and money-back guarantee. DeleteMe doesn’t have a guarantee, and you’ll have to be quick if you want a refund.

DeleteMe vs. Optery: Monitoring and alerts

Free scan
Data broker opt-out Yes, with paid plans
Data broker site scans
Number of data brokers covered 750+ Up to 325+
How often is data rechecked? Quarterly Monthly/Quarterly
Monthly report Yes, with paid plans
Marketing list removal
Email privacy
Privacy reports Yes — Quarterly Yes — Monthly/Quarterly
Real-time alerts
Social media account monitoring
Dark web monitoring
Credit monitoring
Fraud monitoring
Learn more Get DeleteMe

Read DeleteMe Review

Get Optery

Read Optery Review

Optery has a free version if you’re on a budget or just looking to save some cash, but DeleteMe doesn’t. Also, Optery has a monthly report for paid plans and includes screenshots to let you know it’s been working on your behalf and to update you on the progress.

DeleteMe covers more than double the number of data brokers that Optery covers. Essentially, that means it searches for your data in more places. One item Optery outshines DeleteMe on is removing data from marketing lists. DeleteMe surprisingly doesn’t cover that. Removal from marketing lists can be a big help when you want to stop getting information on products you care nothing about.

Additional features

Both of these products have good features you’d want for getting your private information off the internet. One thing you may not think about is the time a data removal service can save you. Imagine if you had to contact all the data brokers and websites where you found your name.

You might also want something to keep your credit safe, your phone from being bombarded with calls, and an option to check for your information before you make a purchase. Below are some features you may desire with a data removal service.

  • Email masking: Email privacy is mentioned above, but email masking is helpful, too. It creates another address, so you don’t share your private email with everyone. Both DeleteMe and Optery have this feature.
  • Credit card masking: This is an invaluable tool for protecting your credit card numbers. It creates a different number every time you use your card online.
  • Phone masking: Phone masking is crucial when you want to call without businesses and other people having your number to send marketing calls nonstop. DeleteMe includes this feature, but Optery doesn’t offer it.
  • Free scan: This is not a must-have, but some products, like DeleteMe, offer a free scan option to search the web for your information. Once you see what shows online, you can sign up to have your data removed. Optery has a free plan that runs scans every three months to check for data exposure.

DeleteMe's data masking options: email masking, phone masking, and card masking.
DeleteMe includes email, phone, and card masking privacy tools

Optery's main dashboard, which displays your exposure report and screenshots of data broker sites with your personal information.
Optery offers a Free Basic plan

Winner: This one is a tie. Optery offers marketing list removal and monthly reports, but DeleteMe scours 750+ data broker sites.

Which is safer, DeleteMe or Optery?

You never want to share your data with any software company before you verify the privacy policy. You need to understand how or if your data will be shared or, in some cases, sold. Some data collection is reasonable, as you must enter information about yourself to allow the product to work.

Optery doesn’t sell your data to third-party vendors, and it includes security measures to keep your data safe. Optery has access control features in place so that employees only receive pertinent information. It also includes multi-factor authentication.

DeleteMe doesn’t sell your information either, and it has regular internal audits to check for security issues. Like Optery, it uses AES-256 and TLS encryption. You can set up two-factor authentication to make it even more secure.

DeleteMe vs. Optery data security

Encryption AES 256-bit and TLS 1.2 AES 256-bit and TLS 1.2
Two-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication
Collects data Minimal Minimal
Shares data with third parties Minimal Minimal
Learn more Get DeleteMe

Read DeleteMe Review

Get Optery

Ready Optery Review

As you can see, DeleteMe and Optery both have the same security features and privacy standards regarding sharing and collecting data. We aren’t alarmed by the minimal collection of data as it can be necessary for data removal software to work.

Winner: This is a tie. Both products use the same encryption methods, and both allow authentication methods to make your data more secure.

DeleteMe vs. Optery: Compatibility and customer support

Our Pick
Windows
macOS
Android
iOS
24/7 customer support
Customer support options Email, phone, live chat Email, live chat, online guides
Learn more Get DeleteMe

Read DeleteMe Review

Get Optery

Read Optery Review

DeleteMe was easy to use, and once you set up an account, it’s mostly a hands-off experience. It does the job for you by checking for your data and then requesting its removal. Once you fill out the data sheet with your information, it's an automated process. If this is concerning, you can choose which parts you feel comfortable providing.

DeleteMe's privacy dashboard with report info, subscription info, and data broker statistics.
DeleteMe privacy dashboard

Optery was likewise easy to use, and the sign-up process was seamless. The dashboard gives you an illustration of what’s taking place. You can also skip a few sections or not include your actual date of birth. There is an Exposure Report displayed on the dashboard with different sites your data has been removed from, and it includes screenshots to prove the work.

Optery's exposure report summary.

We did notice DeleteMe doesn’t list an app for iOS, but there is one for Android devices. That may not be a concern since this program is to remove your data, so it is still working on your behalf, whether there is an app or not. Neither product offers 24/7 customer support, but there are options if you need assistance.

Winner: DeleteMe wins, but not by much. Optery customer support wasn’t the best we’ve seen, and the slow response time could make some users dissatisfied with the product.

FAQs


+

Which is better, DeleteMe or Optery?

Overall, DeleteMe is the better data removal service. Optery is good if you want a free version that allows you to upgrade to a paid plan later, but DeleteMe scans 750+ data broker sites, which is twice as much as Optery's premium plan. Plus, DeleteMe includes data privacy tools like phone, email, and card masking. 


+

Does DeleteMe work?

During our testing, DeleteMe sent us a privacy report less than a week after we submitted our information. It showed how many brokers had our information and the number of times our data was found. It also let us know how many brokers removed our information, so all of this affirmed that the product does work.


+

Is Optery Ultimate worth it?

If you like Optery and want to take advantage of getting your data removed from 325+ data broker sites, Optery Ultimate could be worth the extra cash.

DeleteMe vs. Optery: Which is better?

DeleteMe is better if you want one of the best data removal services on the market today. If having your information on the internet is concerning, DeleteMe accesses over 750 data brokers to limit what people can see. It also comes with other sought-after features like phone, email, and card masking for extra security.

Optery is good if you want a free version with the ease and option of upgrading later. The customer support experience was less than stellar, but this product may be perfect for those who want to find out how much of their data is easily accessible and decide what to do from there.

4.3
Editorial Rating
Learn More
On DeleteMe's website
Privacy Protection
DeleteMe
Use code PARTNER20 for 20% off
  • Removes your data from the web to avoid scams, spam and stalkers
  • 100+ million successful opt-out removals
  • Provides continued removals every three months

DeleteMe and Optery alternatives

DeleteMe and Optery aren’t the only data removal services available. Some other DeleteMe alternatives we’ve tested may have extra features or different pricing plans that are better for you.

  • Incogni: Incogni is designed by the Surfshark VPN makers, so you can bundle it with other top-notch cybersecurity products. Incogni can access over 180 major data brokers and is a low-maintenance privacy tool.

    Get Incogni | Read Our Incogni Review

  • Aura: Aura offers a 14-day free trial and other features to keep your identity safe. It offers credit reports, credit monitoring, and dark web alerts on top of robust identity theft protection features.

    Get Aura | Read Our Aura Review

4.3
Editorial Rating
Learn More
On DeleteMe's website
Privacy Protection
DeleteMe
Use code PARTNER20 for 20% off
  • Removes your data from the web to avoid scams, spam and stalkers
  • 100+ million successful opt-out removals
  • Provides continued removals every three months

Author Details
Patti Croft is a seasoned writer specializing in technology, with three years of experience. With a B.S. in Computer Science and a background as a technical analyst and security specialist, she covers a range of topics like data security and parental control software.