Reviewed by the VPNStreamer Team · Last updated: August 2026
DeleteMe is a data removal service from Abine, Inc. that submits opt-out requests to data broker and people-search sites on your behalf, aiming to reduce how much of your personal information (name, address, phone number, relatives) is publicly searchable online. See our Incogni review for how it compares to the main budget alternative.
Quick Guide
- DeleteMe scans roughly 950 data broker sites, with active automated removal on the Standard plan’s ~86 sites and Premium’s ~101 sites — the rest need your annual allotment of custom removal requests.
- Research and initial removal requests are done by human agents, not pure algorithms — the actual differentiator from automated-only competitors like Incogni.
- Individual plans start at $129/year (no monthly option); family plans covering four people run $329-499 depending on term length.
- A 2026 Consumer Reports study measured a 27% removal rate for DeleteMe after four months — the lowest of seven services tested. Worth knowing before you commit.
- Cannot remove data from government databases, court records, social media, search engines, or news articles.
How DeleteMe Works
Sign-up involves a detailed form covering your name, past addresses, phone numbers, emails, and employer details, plus an authorization form. From there, DeleteMe’s human researchers scan data broker databases and manually submit opt-out requests on your behalf — your first privacy report typically arrives within about a week. This human research is the core of what DeleteMe actually sells: real people investigating and submitting requests, rather than a purely automated scan.
Once your account is set up, the ongoing side runs largely hands-off: DeleteMe automatically rescans and resubmits opt-out requests roughly every three months on the sites covered by your plan, since data brokers routinely re-harvest and republish information that’s already been removed once. It’s genuinely a hybrid model — human-driven at the research stage, automated at the recurring-maintenance stage — not purely one or the other.
Coverage: What “950 Sites” Actually Means
DeleteMe’s marketing leans on a “750+” or “950+” broker figure, but the real picture is more specific. The Standard plan actively, automatically removes your data from around 86 sites; Premium extends that to about 101. The larger advertised number reflects sites DeleteMe scans and can act on via your annual allotment of 40-60 custom removal requests — not sites it clears automatically for you. Worth understanding clearly before you assume “950 sites” means full automatic coverage everywhere.
DeleteMe Pricing
| Plan | Annual | Biennial (2yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | $129/year | $209 ($8.71/mo effective) |
| Couples | $229/year | $349 |
| Family (4 people) | $329/year | $499 |
DeleteMe bills annually only — there’s no month-to-month plan. You can generally cancel after your first report with a pro-rated refund; confirm the exact current refund terms at checkout, since these details can shift.
Dashboard and Monitoring
The dashboard shows high-level stats — how many brokers currently hold your information, how many records have been removed — with light/dark mode and mobile support. Quarterly privacy reports detail exactly where your information was found and what was successfully removed during that cycle.
An Honest Look at Effectiveness
This is the part worth weighing most carefully. A 2026 Consumer Reports study testing seven data removal services measured DeleteMe’s actual removal rate at approximately 27% after four months — the lowest score in that comparison. That doesn’t mean DeleteMe does nothing; most users do report a real reduction in spam calls and unwanted contact, and DeleteMe maintains a 4.2/5 Trustpilot rating with 79% five-star reviews. But it’s a meaningful gap between the marketing framing and an independent, controlled test, and worth factoring into whether the price is justified for you specifically.
What DeleteMe Cannot Remove
Government databases, court records, and public archives like property deeds and voter registrations are out of scope. It also won’t touch search engine results, social media platforms, credit bureaus, news articles, or user-generated content. If your main concern is any of these specifically, DeleteMe isn’t going to solve it regardless of plan tier.
DeleteMe vs. Competitors
DeleteMe’s human-research approach is a genuine differentiator, but it comes at a real price premium. Incogni starts at $77.88/year — roughly 40% cheaper — with a faster, fully automated process, though less of the human institutional knowledge DeleteMe brings to tricky or complex broker sites. Optery offers a free tier if you want to start without paying anything. If you specifically value having real people handling complicated cases (multiple past addresses, name changes, a public-facing career), DeleteMe’s approach has real merit; if speed and price matter more, it’s worth comparing directly against Incogni and other alternatives first.
FAQ
Does DeleteMe sell your information?
No — per its privacy policy, DeleteMe collects your data solely to use for removal requests, and deletes your information six months after your membership ends.
How quickly does DeleteMe work?
Opt-out requests typically begin within seven days of signup. Meaningful results generally take six weeks to three months, since data broker response times vary and aren’t within DeleteMe’s control.
Can you cancel DeleteMe?
Yes. Once cancelled, DeleteMe retains your information for six months, and future scans/removals stop — though previously-removed information can resurface on broker sites over time regardless, since brokers continuously re-harvest data from other sources.
Is DeleteMe Worth It?
DeleteMe suits you best if you’re dealing with genuine privacy concerns — stalking, identity theft risk, unwanted contact from data brokers — and specifically value human researchers over pure automation for complicated cases. Given the Consumer Reports finding above, it’s worth going in with realistic expectations rather than assuming full removal: this reduces your exposure, it doesn’t eliminate it. If price and speed matter more to you than the human-research angle, compare directly against Incogni before committing to DeleteMe’s annual-only billing.
