Incogni and Kanary are two well-known data removal services. Launched in 2022 by Surfshark, a company best known for its virtual private network (VPN) app, Incogni helps scrub your personal data information from numerous broker sites. It scans broker sites for your data and sends automated or manual removal requests to delete your information.
After an initial scan, Incogni performs frequent rescans to keep your data off new broker sites. It’s a digital companion that helps protect your privacy online with a monthly or annual subscription.
Broker coverage
Incogni officially covers 420+ data broker sites, where it can send automated removal requests that are processed quickly. This coverage includes some of the largest data broker sites globally. Yet, it doesn’t stop there. Incogni also covers 1,000+ data broker sites where it can send manual removal requests, though these aren’t processed as quickly as automated requests.
Notably, Incogni only processes custom removal requests for users subscribed to the Unlimited plan. Users on the Standard plan are limited to automated removal requests on the 420+ covered data broker sites.
Kanary supports automated removal requests for roughly 300 data broker sites, including some of the most prominent ones. However, it outshines Incogni in manual removal requests, supporting 20,000+ sites.
Kanary’s staff can help you submit formal manual removal requests to virtually any site where your personal information is present. These requests might take a long time to process, depending on the site, but Kanary’s staff follows up on them to help ensure speedy processing.
Incogni has broader coverage for automated removal requests, but Kanary does better for manual removal requests, particularly for sites that don’t have standard processes for requesting data deletion.
Data insights
Both Incogni and Kanary provide key insights and reports about pending and successful data removal requests. Users can access these reports from their dashboard and also get regular email updates.
On Incogni, I liked receiving email alerts when a pending removal request was successfully processed. I could also check my dashboard to view the status of each pending request.
After providing my personal information, the first Incogni scan took roughly two days, which isn’t out of the norm. Once the scan was complete, I received an email alert about it and a notification to authorize Incogni to send removal requests on my behalf. After authorization, I tracked the status of each request from my dashboard and got an email alert when each request was successfully processed.
On Kanary, my first scan took roughly a day to complete, which is shorter than Incogni’s two-day scan, but expected because Kanary covers fewer broker sites than Incogni. I received an email alert after the scan completed, then logged in to my dashboard to authorize removal requests. I could monitor each pending request from my dashboard– a few were successful within days, but most took longer.
Removal requests can take up to 90 days or more to be processed on both Incogni and Kanary, depending on the site. Manual requests take even more time than automated requests from data broker sites.
Incogni and Kanary excelled in this category, but I noticed a key difference. Incogni delivers more of an automated, hands-off approach, while Kanary provides more of a hands-on, manualized approach. Both platforms let me monitor data removal requests from an intuitive dashboard, but Kanary required more frequent logins to keep tabs on these requests and make adjustments from time to time.
Extra features
Incogni and Kanary offer some complementary features. For example, Kanary also helps you remove Personally Identifiable Information (PII) from Google, even if the data broker site that stored the information hasn’t yet removed it. In that case, Kanary submits a removal request to Google on your behalf, and such requests are usually quickly attended to.
Both Incogni and Kanary offer recurring removals, continuously monitoring the web for your personal data and sending removal requests when detected. However, there aren’t extra features outside these. Both platforms focus mainly on personal data removal and don’t offer extra security features like a VPN or dark web data scanning, which I’ve found on some rival data removal platforms.
Ease of use
Incogni provides an intuitive interface accessible via your web browser or the mobile app (Android-only; no iOS). I found it very simple to navigate, thanks to a dashboard with features neatly arranged at the top and all visual elements clearly highlighted on a white background.
On Incogni, I provided my personal data and initiated a scan. A complete scan can take up to two days, so some patience is warranted– I received an email alert once the scan was complete. After the scan, Incogni sent automated removal requests to supported data broker sites. I could also initiate manual removal requests from the dashboard whenever needed.
Kanary is also user-friendly, with a dark-themed, retro-like interface that I enjoyed. It’s accessible from a web browser or by downloading the Kanary Copilot app on your Android or iOS device. Notably, Kanary offers both iOS and Android apps, unlike Incogni, which is Android-only.
It’s a hard choice, but I’ll say Incogni offers a slightly more intuitive interface than Kanary, even if both are simple to navigate.
Customer support
During testing, Incogni stood out with its abundant self-help resources. Its official support center contains FAQs and user guides that I found helpful when navigating the platform, particularly for the first time.
If the self-help resources aren’t enough to resolve your problem, you can contact Incogni’s support team via email, live chat, and telephone. However, telephone support is only available if you’re subscribed to the Unlimited plan.
Kanary also provides self-help resources, mainly FAQs and user guides, accessible on its website. I found these resources useful when resolving mundane issues. For complex issues, Kanary’s support team was just an email away, and I received a response within 24 hours. My main complaint is Kanary’s lack of telephone and live chat support, which puts it at a competitive disadvantage compared to Incogni.
Plans and pricing
Incogni has four pricing plans: Standard, Unlimited, Family, and Family Unlimited. Users can pay monthly or annually, with an annual subscription providing a 50% discount compared to paying month-to-month.
The Standard plan costs $16 monthly but drops to $96 for an annual subscription ($8 per month, compared to $16 month-to-month). On the Standard plan, you can scan your personal data across 420+ broker data sites and send automated removal requests.
The Unlimited plan costs $30 per month but drops to $180 for an annual subscription ($15 per month, annualized). On this plan, you can scan your personal data and send automated removal requests to 420+ sites, as well as manual removal requests to over 1,000 sites. This plan also unlocks telephone support, whereas the Standard plan is limited to email and live chat support.
The Family plan offers the same features as the Standard plan, but for up to 5 users, and it costs $32 per month. The Family Unlimited plan offers the same features as the Unlimited plan for 5 users, costing $46 per month. Incogni doesn’t have a free trial, but you can request a refund within 30 days if you are unsatisfied with the platform.
Kanary has a straightforward pricing structure. You can pay either $17 per month or $180 annually (a 10% discount on the month-to-month price). After your initial subscription, you can add an extra family member for $8.50 per month or $90 per year. Kanary offers a 14-day free trial period.
Which is best?
Choosing between Incogni and Kanary seems like a tough choice. Rather than call one better than the other, I’ll say each has its key strength. Incogni is the best if you want a platform that’ll handle recurring removal requests on your behalf with minimal input from your end.
Kanary is ideal for manual removal requests, where you’ve identified the site where your data is located and want it removed. On your behalf, Kanary will send a formal request to the site and use available legal means to get the data removed. There’s no 100% guarantee that the data will be removed, but Kanary more often than not achieves this goal.
