Last verified: September 2026. Pricing and coverage figures come from both companies' official pages, independent counts of DeleteMe's broker list, and Consumer Reports' 2024 study.
Disclosure: this comparison is published by MyPrivacyAgent (MPA). We've included DeleteMe's genuine strengths — and our own limitations — because a "vs" page that only praises one side is worthless. Check the linked sources yourself.
The short answer
DeleteMe is the category's 15-year incumbent: human "Privacy Advisors," quarterly PDF reports, bundled email masking, and the biggest brand recognition. But it bills annually only ($129/yr for one person), advertises "986 data brokers" while automating roughly 86 on the Standard plan, and removed just 27% of tracked listings in Consumer Reports' 2024 test — below the ~35% paid-service average.
MyPrivacyAgent is the proof-first challenger: $19.99/month with no annual lock-in, per-listing evidence logs, and a rule that nothing is marked "removed" until a re-check confirms the listing is actually gone. Its agent swarm — programmatic opt-outs plus browser agents that navigate broker sites — reaches brokers form-fill-only services can't. It's also much newer and has no third-party audit yet.
Pricing
| DeleteMe | MyPrivacyAgent | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $129/yr (1 person) | $19.99/mo |
| Monthly billing? | No — annual or multi-year only | Yes, cancel anytime |
| 2 people | $229/yr | — |
| Family | $329/yr (up to 4) | — (one adult per plan) |
| Free option | One-time teaser scan (~40 sites) | Free exposure report, no card required |
| Premium tier | ~$180/yr (adds ~15 brokers, 60 custom removals/yr) | — |
DeleteMe's annual-only billing means you're committed for a year before you've seen a full quarterly reporting cycle. MPA's Patrol plan is month-to-month at $19.99 — two months of Patrol costs less than a third of DeleteMe's upfront year. DeleteMe wins on multi-person pricing: MPA currently covers one adult per plan, full stop.
Coverage: the 986-broker question
DeleteMe's headline is "We Remove Private Information from 986 Data Brokers." The fine print matters: an independent count of DeleteMe's own sites list found only ~86 sites are automated on the Standard plan, while 566 (57%) are "Custom Requests" — brokers you must find yourself on and submit, capped at 40 per year. Another 143 are VIP-only. Even DeleteMe's own page concedes "list size [is not] the best measure of a removal service."
MPA takes the opposite approach: no inflated headline number. Removals run through an agent swarm — programmatic opt-outs where brokers support them, and browser agents that actually navigate broker sites (filling forms, handling verification steps, handing CAPTCHAs and email confirmations to you) where they don't. That's the coverage that matters in practice, because the brokers that defeat pure form-fill automation are exactly the ones a quarterly-report service quietly never touches. If a site blocks our agent, you get honest DIY instructions — like our free Spokeo and Nuwber guides — instead of a fake "in progress" status.
Proof of removal
This is the sharpest difference.
- DeleteMe: a quarterly PDF privacy report listing sites scanned, findings, and removal status, plus "time saved" estimates. No before/after screenshots, no live per-broker dashboard. Re-scans run every three months.
- MPA: every removal carries a per-listing evidence log. Our rule, stated in our help center: "We re-open the listing page after a request and only mark it removed once the page no longer shows your listing." Re-checks run monthly and flag any listing that resurfaces so it can be re-filed — which they do, as we explain in why profiles come back after an opt-out.
DeleteMe's reports tell you what its advisors did. MPA's logs show you what the broker's site actually shows, before and after.
Method: humans vs agent swarm
DeleteMe's human Privacy Advisors are a real strength for edge cases — if you want a person who knows the industry handling your file, that's what $129/yr buys, and DeleteMe claims 141M+ opt-outs completed since 2010. MPA automates the routine 95% with its agent swarm and escalates the steps only a human can perform to you, with guidance. Automation-first is what makes monthly pricing and monthly re-checks economically possible; human-led is what makes DeleteMe's quarterly cadence and annual pricing necessary.
Extras
DeleteMe bundles email masking (and phone masking as a ~$7 add-on) — genuinely useful, and MPA doesn't offer aliasing as a product; our email and phone aliasing guide covers the best standalone tools to pair with removal today. DeleteMe also offers family plans and business tiers. MPA counters with a free exposure scan, a paste-a-listing removal tool, breach monitoring via Have I Been Pwned integration, and 47 free broker opt-out guides you can use without paying anyone.
Measured outcomes
Consumer Reports' 2024 "Data Defense" study tracked real listings for four months: DeleteMe removed 27% — below the ~35% paid-service average, and far below the 70% a careful manual approach achieved. MPA wasn't tested (the study predates our launch), and we won't claim a number we don't have. What we can say: our entire model — re-check before "removed," flagging any listing that comes back for re-filing — is built around the failure mode that study exposed.
Verdict table
| DeleteMe | MyPrivacyAgent | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $129/yr, annual only ❌ | $19.99/mo, cancel anytime ✅ |
| Coverage honesty | 986 claimed / ~86 automated ❌ | No inflated counts; browser agents for hard brokers ✅ |
| Proof | Quarterly PDF, no screenshots ❌ | Per-listing evidence + re-checks ✅ |
| Human touch | Privacy Advisors ✅ | Guided handoff for human-only steps |
| Family plans | Up to 4 ✅ | Not yet ❌ |
| Email/phone masking | Included ✅ | Not offered (use a third-party alias tool) ❌ |
| Measured removal rate | CR 2024: 27% ❌ | Untested — no fabricated claims ✅ |
| Track record | Since 2010 ✅ | Newer service ❌ |
Who should pick which
Pick DeleteMe if you want human advisors handling everything, need a family plan today, value bundled email masking, and prefer a 15-year brand — and you're comfortable paying a year upfront.
Pick MyPrivacyAgent if you want to see proof per listing rather than trust a quarterly PDF, prefer monthly billing with no lock-in, and want coverage of brokers that defeat form-fill automation. Start with the free exposure scan and judge the evidence model yourself.
Also see our best data removal services roundup and head-to-heads with Incogni and Optery.
FAQ
Is DeleteMe worth it? It depends on what you're paying for. You're getting human advisors, email masking, and an established brand — but Consumer Reports measured 27% removal at four months, and ~86 automated sites on the Standard plan means much of the advertised "986 brokers" is DIY-by-proxy through custom requests.
Is DeleteMe legit or a scam? DeleteMe is a legitimate, long-running company (owned by Abine; operating since 2010–2011). The legitimate criticisms are about value and marketing: the coverage-claim gap, annual-only billing, and below-average measured results — not fraud.
What's the best DeleteMe alternative? On measured outcomes, Optery (68% in CR's 2024 test, screenshot proof). On verified coverage, Incogni (Deloitte-audited, 420+ brokers on all plans, from $95.88/yr). On per-listing proof and monthly pricing, MyPrivacyAgent at $19.99/mo. On budget, EasyOptOuts at $19.99/year (CR: 65%).
Can I cancel DeleteMe? Plans auto-renew at the current or full retail rate; there's a reported 7-day money-back window and prorated refunds after your first privacy report. Since billing is annual, cancelling means recovering part of a year's payment — versus MPA, where cancelling stops a $19.99 monthly charge from your settings.
Does DeleteMe remove you from Google? DeleteMe targets data-broker and people-search listings; it offers a "Search Yourself" Google tool in accounts, and Google-result scrubbing is marketed on its top business tier. For Google specifically, see our Google results removal guide.