.svg)
Does Optery Actually Work?
Since 2020, Optery has been a leader in the personal data removal service industry, thanks to its high number of supported data broker websites and in-depth privacy reports that document the removal process.
However, Optery’s premium plans are some of the most expensive in the industry and lack additional protection against online threats. Plus, third-party studies have thrown the efficiency of Optery’s services into question (along with that of its competitors, such as Incogni and DeleteMe).
A 2024 Consumer Reports study found that Optery only successfully removed 68% of profiles after four months of work — making it less effective than manual removals.
If your primary focus is on automated data broker opt-out requests — and you’re willing to pay a premium for Optery’s top-tier plans — it makes sense to put Optery's service near the top of your list. But before joining, it's important to know what these services can and can't do to protect your online privacy.
How Does Optery Work? Features, Pros, Cons, and Limitations
Optery is a data removal service that helps remove your personal information from people search sites — a type of data broker that publicly sells your data to marketers, government agencies, and anyone else who will pay for it.
When you first sign up for an Optery account, the service runs an initial scan of your first, last, and middle name (as well as your city, state, and birth year) across its supported data brokers — between 120 and 630+.
The difference in the number of data brokers that the service scans comes down to the plan option you choose and whether or not you enable “Expanded Reach” — a free upgrade that sends opt-out requests to brokers that Optery can’t confirm already have your personal information.
Optery also provides “custom removals” from over 1,345 data broker lists and people search sites that aren’t covered by its automated removals — but this service is only available on Optery’s highest-priced Ultimate plan tier.
This feature-gating approach means that Optery’s most beneficial features are only available to those willing to pay a serious premium. As reviewers at The New York Times’ Wirecutter wrote:
“Although pricing starts at $39 a year, you need to pay $249 to get custom removals.”
Unlike some other data removal services that apply "blind" opt-outs that risk exposing your personally identifiable information (PII), Optery verifies that brokers have your information before sending them opt-out requests. The only exceptions are the data brokers targeted after you enable “Expanded Reach”.
This also means that members receive a detailed exposure report that highlights where their information is exposed, with screenshots as proof.
Like other data broker opt-out tools, Optery removes your private information from popular search sites and some search engines — but that’s about it.
Zoom Out: Do You Really Need a Data Broker Removal Service?
Optery is a specialized service that can help improve your online privacy. It automates the otherwise extremely arduous and time-consuming task of manually submitting opt-out requests to data brokers. However, it may oversell its ability to block spam or protect you from how scammers use your leaked and publicly available data against you.
Two main subscriber benefits that Optery lists on its homepage are to “prevent identity theft and fraud” and “reduce phishing, spam calls, and email.” In reality, Optery (and all other specialized data removal services) can’t do much to prevent or warn you if you’re being targeted by identity thieves, scammers, and other online criminals.
Here are some of the biggest reasons why data broker removal services may not be enough to keep you safe online:
- There are likely thousands of active data brokers. PrivacyRights highlighted over 750 data brokers in the United States alone. Even the most in-depth data broker removal tools can’t remove your information from all of them.
- Data broker removal tools may be less effective than manual opt-outs. Consumer Reports found that Optery was only able to remove 68% of profiles within four months, making it less effective than just doing it yourself for free.
- Even when your data is removed, brokers often re-add it regularly. Services are often stuck playing whack-a-mole with brokers who re-add information, create duplicate profiles, and continue to post information.
- Data broker opt-out tools can’t help if your information was leaked in a data breach. Billions of pieces of data were leaked in the past year alone — including sensitive information such as Social Security numbers (SSNs), phone numbers, and account passwords.
- Americans lost $12.8 billion to fraud and identity theft last year. Data removal services can’t help protect you or your family members from how your leaked and publicly-shared data is used against you.
The bottom line: Removing your information from major data broker lists can be helpful for data privacy, but it's not a complete security solution. Removal services can't prevent data brokers from re-adding your information or leaking it, and they can't protect you from data misuse. For true 360° protection, you should sign up for an identity theft protection service.
How Much Does Optery Cost? Plans, Pricing, and Features
Optery's plans are divided into four tiers, starting with the Free Basic plan and moving up to the feature-filled Ultimate plan.
Users with a free account receive a quarterly exposure scan and report, as well as access to opt-opt guides and self-service removal tools.
For paid subscriptions, Optery offers monthly and annual pricing options. Despite its annual plans being promoted with discounted monthly rates, Optery requires users to pay the full yearly price upfront to realize those savings, which is common practice in this industry.
Note: Optery does not offer a free trial to test out the tools on its paid plans, but it does offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.
The bottom line: Optery has some of the strongest data removal capabilities on the market, but users have to pay top dollar if they want access to them because most are locked behind premium subscription tiers.
What Are the Benefits of Using Optery?
Data broker removal services often provide similar features, but small differences in approach can make a big impact on the type of service you receive.
While many removal services boast about the size of their data broker lists, there are more important things to consider.
Here are some of the key advantages to using Optery.
Patented search technology to verify your profiles
Instead of the "blind opt-out" strategy that is used by many of its competitors, Optery uses proprietary search technology to figure out which brokers have your information before requesting an opt-out. This prevents Optery from inadvertently sending your information to data brokers that never had it in the first place.
Removal reports with before-and-after screenshots
For paying customers, Optery performs automated scans and removal requests at least once per month. Extended and Ultimate plan members receive before-and-after screenshots within their removal reports every three months. Users can also pay for on-demand scans or get an unlimited number of them included in the Ultimate plan.
By default, Optery relies on its own internal processing technology for removals, but Extended and Ultimate users can opt in for more accurate and efficient removals through AI processing (this requires sharing your personal information with OpenAI).
Major data broker sites supported
Optery's data broker directory is vast — including over 630 brokers (more than 385 of which Optery can scan and verify). While these numbers are impressive, it's the inclusion of some of the most prolific data brokers in the world that is more important: names like Whitepages, Epsilon, Acxiom, Intelius, Spokeo, and InstantCheckmate.
Human Privacy Agents help on some plans
Optery's Privacy Agents provide additional services for Extended and Ultimate plan members, such as performing their own removals for quality assurance purposes and reviewing Exposure Reports to ensure that the process is working as it should. Privacy agents also respond to the priority support emails for Ultimate plan members.
Free tier and exposure report
Optery is one of the only data broker removal services that offers a useful free plan. Free plan members receive quarterly scans and Exposure Reports that include screenshots and links to approximately 100 data broker user profiles. Optery also scans Google search results and provides users with self-service removal tools, such as links to opt-out methods and instructions.
What Are the Downsides of Using Optery?
Like all stand-alone data broker removal services, Optery's main downside is the limited protection it offers against scammers and bad actors who already have your information. But there are other issues that may be of concern to you.
One of the most expensive options on the market
At $249 per year for the Ultimate plan, Optery costs more than most other data broker removal services. In fact, Optery's pricing is in the same range as some top-tier, all-in-one identity theft protection suites — which can make Optery’s cost hard to justify for a single-purpose tool.
Data sharing concerns
While Optery uses "blind opt-outs" less frequently than many other removal services, it does use them when paying subscribers activate the Expanded Reach feature. Expanded Reach sends requests to a wider network of brokers, but it could also inadvertently reveal your data to brokers who may not already have it.
Early in 2025, Optery also introduced AI processing, an opt-in feature that offers advanced removals using OpenAI's ChatGPT 4o model. Unfortunately, when users activate this feature, their personal information (name, age, location, etc.) is shared with OpenAI.
Questionable effectiveness and accuracy
A 2025 study titled Measuring the Accuracy and Effectiveness of PII Removal Services, found that, while Optery covers more unique data brokers than many other services, it also retrieves a high number of incorrect records for users.
As the study’s authors wrote:
“Optery is significantly ahead of other services in the number of records it retrieves for its users, However, on average, 29.9% of the records per user are incorrect and 33.0% are unsure.”
A 2024 Consumer Reports study also found that Optery was only able to remove 68% of profiles after four months of signing up — fewer than when users manually submitted requests.
Limited customer support
Optery’s only customer support options are its Help Desk resources or sending a message to the live chat or email support line. Responses to these requests typically come within 1-2 hours, but they can take up to a few days.
Optery claims that it doesn't offer phone support because it receives a "high volume of inquiries." However, many larger companies, including Aura, are able to provide 24/7 phone support.
Optery offers "priority" email support as a perk for Ultimate plan members, which assigns a Privacy Agent to answer queries, but this still isn't exactly premium-tier customer service.
Asks for significant personal information (including your state ID)
All data broker opt-out services require that you furnish your personal information for the removal process to work. But Optery asks for more than many others — requiring 10 pieces of PII to perform most removal requests.
A recent Optery review by The New York Times’ Wirecutter found that Optery is one of the only data broker removal services that requires your state ID to perform many of its removal requests. Your ID is a sensitive piece of information — you and your family could suffer serious harm if it falls into the wrong hands.
Optery provides account security features, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), to protect your account from hackers.
No additional online safety tools
Optery’s homepage states that it helps prevent identity theft, fraud, and phishing and scam calls, but it lacks the online safety tools that actually help in those areas. For example, Optery doesn’t include Dark Web, identity, or credit monitoring, device security — such as antivirus software, a virtual private network (VPN), and a password manager — or scam and spam blocking tools.
Optery vs. Aura: Which One Is Better?
Optery offers some unique features that help set it apart from other data broker removal services — but it’s still a specialized service that charges a premium price for a relatively limited number of features.
On the other hand, Aura is an all-in-one online safety solution that combines data broker opt-outs, online privacy, identity theft protection, credit monitoring, digital security, and more. This means Aura helps remove your personal data from online sources and protects you from how that leaked data can be used against you.
Aura was named CNET’s 2025 Editor’s Choice and Security.org’s “Best Comprehensive Protection” for data removal services.
Compared to Optery, Aura covers fewer data brokers but offers more robust protection against threats to your online privacy and safety.
Here’s a more comprehensive look at how Aura and Optery compare in features and pricing:
The bottom line: Aura provides more coverage against modern threats to your online privacy and safety. If your primary concern is removing your data from more data broker lists (despite knowing that brokers may re-add it later), Optery could be a good choice.
Optery Can’t Protect You From How Your Data Is Used
As the number of data brokers continues to grow, and data breaches expose billions of user records, privacy protection requires more than just data broker removal tools.
Optery's informed approach to opt-out requests may be unique among its direct competitors, but it's still only a data broker removal service. Subscribers need to pay a high price to access Optery's best features, and not even then will users get true online safety and privacy.
For this reason, consider a provider like Aura that offers multifaceted protection for you and your loved ones.
Aura's full suite of tools and services includes data broker removals, award-winning identity and credit monitoring, cybersecurity software, up to $5 million in identity theft insurance coverage, and round-the-clock support from U.S.-based fraud specialists.
