Optery vs. Kanary

No matter how cautious you are, it’s likely fairly easy to find some pretty personal details about you — e.g., your relationship status, the names of your family members, your street address — online. If you don’t believe me, go ahead and Google your name.

Creepy, right?

That’s why people who take their personal digital security seriously are relying more and more on automated data removal services to scrub the web of these personally identifying details. But just how effective are these services? And which ones work the best?

I’ve test-driven quite a few of these services and am here today to discuss two of my top choices: Kanary and Optery. We’re going to get into their functionality, user experience, reputations, and overall value. But first, in the interest of transparency, I want to talk about how this comparison came to be.

Our Methodology

All of my articles start with an intense research period. I take a look at a company’s claims and weigh that against their overall reputation online. I read reviews, consumer reports, and firsthand testimonials to get an overall idea of how well it seems a service is making good on their promises.

Then, I purchase and use the service myself — just like anyone else would. There’s no special press credential or preferential treatment here. As far as the company is concerned, I’m just another customer. That way I can get an accurate picture of how well the service works and how the provider treats its clients.

After a testing period of about a month, I write reviews of each of these services; I focus on the key factors that consumers would be interested to know, like functionality, ease of use, and overall cost. Only then do I make comparisons and recommendations.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at Kanary and Optery.

Optery vs. Kanary: Functionality

Right off the bat, I want to say that Kanary and Optery are both really powerful services, and each has its own pros and cons. With that in mind, I’m going to try and parse out which service is better in a variety of categories, the first of which being functionality.

Both of these services operate in very similar ways. You enter your personal information, and the service scans the internet for instances of that information on people-finder sites and data brokerages. The service then automates the process of requesting removals. Both of these sites deal with a similar number of sites and databases — a little north of 300; plus, both are pretty much equal in terms of confirming that removals have taken place.

>> Read More: The Data Big Tech Companies Have On You

At this point, there is no clear advantage that I can see.

Functionality Winner: Tie

Optery vs. Kanary: Effectiveness

Now, here’s where we start differentiating things. In terms of effectiveness, Optery moves a heck of a lot faster than Kanary — if you’re in a hurry to remove your data, this can be a key decision point. After about a week of using Kanary, they’d only completed four removals. In stark contrast, in just 14 hours of using Optery, 146 removals were completed.

Now, before you start thinking that you’re sold, let’s temper that a bit. When I reviewed Incogni, I found that when they reached out to sites and databases and were told that the information was never even present, they counted that as a removal. Even if this is how Optery is tallying their wins, it’s clear it’s a lot more efficient than Kanary — at least in the short term.

Effectiveness Winner: Optery

Optery vs. Kanary: User Experience

Generally speaking, both Kanary and Optery are both extremely easy to use. However, they both can be a little difficult to suss out where certain information is and what certain items on the dashboard mean.

I can see this being an issue for someone who has very limited tech experience. However, for folks savvy enough to be worried about where their personal information is showing up, it shouldn’t take too long to figure everything out. After mild frustration with each service, I was able to fully understand the dashboard in about 10 minutes of clicking.

That said, Optery’s dashboard is a little more detailed and intuitive than Kanary’s. I really appreciate how granular they got with each profile instance and their reporting structure. Advantage, Optery.

User Experience Winner: Optery

Optery vs. Kanary: Price

When it comes to dollar figures, Kanary costs significantly less than Optery, month to month. Kanary will run you $16.99, while Optery’s Ultimate plan costs $24.99. That said, Optery offers different tiers of service, while Kanary is one-size-fits-all. Here’s a breakdown of how Optery splits up their services:

It’s also worth pointing out that both services offer free versions that have limited scopes. But while you can use the free version of Optery indefinitely, the free version of Kanary expires after two weeks.

Due to the customizability of Optery’s service and their long-term free version, I must give this category to them.

Price Winner: Optery

Optery vs. Kanary: Privacy Policy

The point of using an automated data removal service is to prevent your personal information from being plastered everywhere online; this might make it seem counterintuitive to hand that information over to a company.

>> Learn About: Securing Confidential Personal Data Both Online and Offline

Luckily, both Optery and Kanary take data privacy seriously; plus, they’re both transparent about how they handle your information, what they retain, and what they delete when you cancel your subscription. Neither company has relationships with data brokers — which can be problematic, as you can see in my review of Onerep — and neither shares nor sells data to any third parties.

Now, I’m sure there are minor nuances I could point to in their privacy policies that might give one service an edge over the other; however, I feel like splitting hairs to declare a winner would be a bit disingenuous. Because of the care in which they handle customer data and how transparent both services are about their practices, I’m calling this one a tie.

Privacy Policy: Tie

Optery vs. Kanary: Reputation

It’s true that you shouldn’t believe everything you read online. However, there is a lot of good information out there, too — as long as you have your salt shaker ready to dole out a few grains. The same is true with Kanary and Optery.

While neither service has profiles with big sites like the Better Business Bureau or Consumer Reports, the Trustpilot profile for Optery is overwhelmingly positive; it boasts a 4.3 overall score generated from 40 reviews — 82 percent of which is five-star.

It was tough to find negative testimonials or press about either service, but I’m going to give this category to Optery. Now, this is not necessarily because their online reputation is better, per se, but because it was easier to find information and testimonials about their service. I like transparency and crowd-sourced information; when it’s difficult to find information about a service, I tend to raise my eyebrow a little.

Reputation Winner: Optery

Optery vs. Kanary: Which Is Better?

It’s tough to make sweeping statements about any one service being better than another — especially when the race is this close. When you go back through the article and look at the winners of each category, it might seem like Optery is the no-brainer answer here. In all honesty, though, it barely pulled ahead in most categories.

>> Learn More: How to Protect Your Information & Privacy While Traveling

If forced to pick, I’d say Optery is the better service based on how quickly it starts working and how detailed its reporting is. However, I wouldn’t say that if you decide to go with Kanary you’re making a mistake. It’s a more affordable service, after all. You might just need to wait a while to see the results you’re looking for.

Overall Winner: Optery

Wait! Before you go, if neither of these options seems right for you, make sure you read my review of Incogni. That’s another really powerful service that might have the features you’re looking for.