Note: PrivacyScrubber is primarily a Chrome extension for redacting PII inside AI chat sites (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and others), with a free web-based text/file scrubber and a paid PRO/TEAMS tier. In mid-July 2026 it launched a separate, open-source MCP server (installable via npx @privacyscrubber/mcp-server or Smithery.ai) that plugs into AI-coding IDEs like Cursor, Windsurf, and Claude Desktop. It does not offer a standalone desktop application.
Feature comparison
Competitor data from privacyscrubber.com (product, pricing, and features pages) and its MCP server launch announcement (PR.com, 14 July 2026), current as of July 2026 — verify before relying, as vendor pricing and scope change.
| Feature | anonym.plus | PrivacyScrubber |
|---|---|---|
| Product surfaces | Desktop app (Windows/macOS/Linux) + Chrome extension + Local API + MCP server — one vendor, one license, every surface | Chrome extension (PRO/TEAMS tiers) + a free web-based scrubber + a separately-launched MCP server for coding IDEs — no packaged desktop application for files |
| File anonymization (PDF/DOCX/XLSX/images) | Yes — native desktop handling of PDF, DOCX, XLSX, and images, including OCR, with results written back to a file | Browser-based only: free tier covers single-file .txt/.docx uploads; PRO tier ($15/mo or $110 lifetime) adds batch CSV/DOCX/TXT processing and offline OCR/PDF sanitization inside the browser |
| AI chat-site redaction (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc.) | Yes, via the anonym.plus Chrome extension — same on-device detection engine as the desktop app | Yes — this is PrivacyScrubber's core product, with native integration across a reported 12 AI chat/collaboration platforms (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Grok, DeepSeek, Perplexity, and others) |
| MCP server for AI-coding IDEs | Yes — local, offline MCP server exposing PII detection/anonymization tools to agents over loopback/stdio, with bearer-token auth | Yes — launched mid-July 2026, open source (MIT), installable via npx -y @privacyscrubber/mcp-server or Smithery.ai, integrating with Cursor, Windsurf, and Claude Desktop |
| Local API for developers | Yes — a local HTTP API for scripting anonymization into other tools, no cloud round-trip | Not offered as a separate product; the MCP server is the closest equivalent for IDE-integrated workflows |
| Entity types | 340+ built-in | Organized as "22+ industry detection profiles" (medical, legal, finance, HR, DevOps, etc.) rather than a flat entity count; the free tier covers 5 core PII categories |
| Languages | 48 languages for the UI, 20+ NLP detection models, all offline-capable | Not publicly specified on its marketing pages |
| Reversible mode | Yes — local Encrypt mode with AES-256-GCM and an offline key vault; only your device can reverse it | Yes — reversible tokenization (e.g. [NAME_1], [EMAIL_1]) that can be restored from session/local storage, in both the browser extension and the MCP server's "reverse scrub" |
| Pricing model | One-time perpetual license, no subscription | Free tier, PRO at $15/month or $110 one-time (per its pricing page), and TEAMS at $99/month flat for unlimited users; Enterprise is custom-quoted |
| Account / login required | No account for core use — internet needed only once, for initial license activation | Free tier and MCP server can run without an account; PRO/TEAMS tiers require a paid license |
| Vendor jurisdiction | Germany / EU-based vendor — no US CLOUD Act exposure for the vendor relationship itself | US-oriented vendor (its MCP server launch announcement is datelined Austin, TX) |
PrivacyScrubber strengths
- Genuinely early mover on a dedicated MCP server for redacting PII inside AI-coding IDEs (Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Desktop), and it shipped that server as open source (MIT) — a low-friction way for developers to try it
- Low-friction in-browser UX for the common case: a toolbar click scrubs a prompt before it reaches ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or another chat site, with no install beyond a Chrome extension
- Broad AI-platform coverage for chat redaction — a reported 12 platforms including collaboration tools like Notion AI, Slack, and Zendesk Agent Workspace, not just the big three chatbots
- Reversible tokenization is built into both the extension and the MCP server, so a developer or user can restore original values after getting an AI response
- A genuine free tier exists for basic text/single-file protection, lowering the barrier for individual users to start
PrivacyScrubber limitations
- No packaged desktop application — anyone who needs to anonymize a PDF, DOCX, XLSX, or scanned image outside a browser tab has no first-party tool to reach for
- File processing beyond simple text/single uploads sits behind the PRO paywall ($15/month or $110 lifetime), and heavier batch/OCR workflows are still constrained to the browser runtime
- The MCP server and the browser extension are two separate products with two separate installation paths (npm/Smithery vs. Chrome Web Store) rather than one unified app covering both surfaces
- No published Local API for developers who want to script anonymization directly into their own tools outside an MCP-aware IDE
- Entity coverage is organized around "22+ industry profiles" rather than a single transparent entity-type count, making like-for-like comparison harder
- US-oriented vendor, which EU buyers evaluating vendor jurisdiction and CLOUD Act exposure will want to factor in separately from the product's technical architecture
Why choose anonym.plus
- One vendor, one license, every surface: a full desktop app for files (PDF/DOCX/XLSX/images), a Chrome extension for AI chat sites, a Local API for developers, and an MCP server for AI-coding IDEs — PrivacyScrubber covers at most two of these four surfaces today
- 340+ built-in PII entity types and a full UI in 48 languages, versus PrivacyScrubber's 22+ industry profile groupings
- Reversible Encrypt mode backed by local AES-256-GCM and an offline key vault, not just in-memory token substitution
- One-time perpetual license — no recurring $15/month or $99/month fee to keep paying to keep using the tool
- Germany/EU-based vendor, relevant for EU organizations weighing vendor jurisdiction alongside on-device processing
- 100% on-device processing across every surface, verifiable by disconnecting the network and running the app anyway
How the two approaches actually differ
Both products process data locally rather than shipping it to a cloud API — that part is not in dispute. The real difference is surface coverage: PrivacyScrubber protects the moment you paste text into an AI chat window, or, since mid-July 2026, the moment an AI-coding IDE sends a prompt to a model. anonym.plus protects that same moment, plus the much larger set of moments where PII lives in files rather than prompts: a contract in a DOCX, a spreadsheet of customer records, a scanned ID card, a folder of PDFs that need redacting before they go to a client, a partner, or a court.
PrivacyScrubber's flow
- You type or paste a prompt into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or another supported chat site; the browser extension detects PII in your browser's memory and replaces it with a token before the prompt is submitted
- Separately, a developer can install the MCP server locally so that an AI-coding IDE (Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Desktop) scrubs PII and credentials from prompts sent to a model, then reverses the tokens on the response
- For files, you upload a document to the browser-based scrubber (free tier: single files; PRO tier: batch CSV/DOCX/TXT plus OCR/PDF), and processing happens client-side in the browser tab
- There is no single application that covers chat redaction, file redaction, and IDE integration under one roof — each surface is its own product with its own install step
anonym.plus's flow
- You open a file directly in the desktop app — PDF, DOCX, XLSX, or an image — and the same on-device NLP pipeline (built on Presidio + spaCy) that powers every other surface detects and redacts PII across 340+ entity types
- The same detection engine runs in the Chrome extension for AI chat sites, in the Local API for developers scripting anonymization into their own tools, and in the MCP server for AI-coding IDEs
- Any reversible redaction uses a local AES-256-GCM key vault stored on the device — keys are generated, stored, and used locally, never transmitted to a server
- One license activates all four surfaces; there is no separate purchase, subscription, or install path to reach file anonymization versus chat redaction versus IDE integration
When PrivacyScrubber makes sense vs when anonym.plus wins
Neither product is "better" in the abstract — they overlap on AI chat-prompt protection and diverge sharply everywhere else.
PrivacyScrubber is the right tool when
- The only workflow that needs protecting is pasting text into AI chat sites, and a lightweight Chrome extension with a free tier is enough
- A developer wants to try an open-source MCP server quickly via
npxwithout installing anything beyond their existing IDE - Coverage across a long tail of chat/collaboration platforms (Notion AI, Slack, Zendesk Agent Workspace) matters more than file-level anonymization
anonym.plus is the right tool when
- PII lives in files, not just prompts — contracts, spreadsheets, scanned IDs, HR records — and you need a real desktop app to redact them, not a browser tab with page limits
- You want one license covering AI chat redaction, file anonymization, a Local API, and an MCP server, instead of stitching together a browser extension and a separate MCP install
- A fixed, one-time cost is preferable to a recurring $15/month, $99/month, or usage-gated subscription
- Vendor jurisdiction matters — an EU/German-based vendor removes a variable that a US-oriented vendor relationship introduces
The key difference is not "cloud vs. local" — both are local. The key difference is surface coverage and packaging: PrivacyScrubber is a strong, focused tool for the browser-based AI chat moment, with a promising new MCP server for IDEs; anonym.plus is a single desktop application that extends the same on-device engine across files, chat, the Local API, and the MCP server, under one perpetual license.