Your family shares a lot online. School signups, streaming services, sports registrations, online shopping. Every one of those touchpoints hands over a real email address, a real phone number, or a real payment card - and once that data is out there, it stays out there.
2 apps try to solve this for everyday families: MySudo and Ivy by IronVest. Both offer masked identities. But they take very different approaches, and in 2026, those differences matter more than the similarities.
Why Families Need More Than One Privacy Feature
Most people treat privacy protection as a single checkbox - change your password, move on. But real exposure happens across 3 distinct channels.
Email gets harvested, sold to data brokers, and targeted by phishing campaigns. Phone numbers end up on spam call lists and smishing databases. Payment cards get skimmed, leaked in merchant breaches, or quietly charged by subscriptions you forgot you signed up for.
Protecting one without the others leaves the door open. A masked email means nothing if your real card number is sitting in a breached retailer's database.
That's why this comparison is worth doing carefully. Both Ivy and MySudo claim to protect your identity - but what they actually cover, and what they leave exposed, is quite different.
What Is MySudo?
MySudo is a privacy app built by Anonyome Labs. It lets you create separate "Sudo" personas, each with its own phone number, email address, and browser. The concept is compartmentalization: one Sudo for work, one for shopping, one for personal use.
It's a genuinely useful idea, and the app has built a loyal following among privacy enthusiasts since launching in 2015.
The limitations are real, though. MySudo is US-only - which immediately rules it out for families with members traveling or living abroad. There are no virtual payment cards, no AI-powered phishing detection, and a pricing model that charges per Sudo, which adds up fast once a whole family needs coverage.
What Is Ivy by IronVest?
Ivy is an AI-powered personal security app that brings masked email, masked phone numbers, virtual payment cards, and real-time phishing protection together in one place. Where MySudo focuses on identity compartmentalization, Ivy focuses on stopping threats before they reach you - while keeping your identity masked at the same time.
That's the key distinction. Ivy doesn't just hide who you are. It actively flags threats in real time, scanning sites as you browse, flagging phishing attempts, and stopping malicious pages before anyone in your household clicks on them. MySudo doesn't do any of that.
Ivy runs on iOS, Android, and as a browser extension, with cross-device sync and international availability. Ivy Pro covers all your devices - making it a practical fit for individuals and power users alike.
Masked Email: The Feature That Matters Most
If you're only going to prioritize one privacy feature for your family, make it masked email.
Your email address is the key to everything else. It's how attackers reset passwords, how data brokers track you across sites, and how spam campaigns find you after a breach. Every time a family member signs up for something with their real address, that address lands in another database.
Masked email breaks that chain. Each signup gets a unique, disposable address that forwards to your real inbox - but the site never sees your actual email. If that address shows up in a breach, you delete it and generate a new one. Your real inbox stays clean.
Ivy's masked email gives you 500 unique addresses on the Pro plan ($10.99/month or $99/year). Each address is fully independent, so a breach at one site doesn't touch any other account.
MySudo ties email addresses to Sudo personas rather than individual services. That's a meaningful difference. If your "shopping" Sudo email gets leaked, every merchant you used it with is now connected. You're not getting per-service isolation - you're getting per-persona isolation, which is a much coarser level of protection.
For families who want genuine separation between every service they use, Ivy's approach goes further.
Head-to-Head Comparison: Ivy vs MySudo
Masked Email
| Feature | Ivy Pro | MySudo |
|---|---|---|
| Number of addresses | 50 | Limited by Sudo count |
| Per-service isolation | Yes | No (per persona) |
| Instant deletion | Yes | Limited |
| Works outside US | Yes | No |
Masked Phone
Both apps include masked phone numbers. Ivy Pro comes with 2 (US only, 100 calls/mo, 300 SMS/mo). MySudo bundles a number with each Sudo persona.
MySudo's phone feature is strong for US users who want a full calling and texting experience inside the app. Ivy's masked phone is built primarily to keep your real number away from vendors, services, and spam lists - straightforward and effective.
Virtual Payment Cards
This is where the comparison gets one-sided fast. Ivy offers virtual payment cards. MySudo does not.
Virtual cards are live in the US to Ivy. Once available, you'll generate a card for a specific purchase, fund it with exactly what you need, and your real card number never touches the merchant. If that retailer gets breached, the virtual card is already gone - or you cancel it instantly from the app.
For families that shop online regularly, this feature alone is worth the subscription.
AI Phishing Protection
Ivy has a clear edge here too. Its AI monitors sites in real time, analyzes threat signals, and flags malicious pages before you click - with a 99.9% detection rate and sub-1-second response time.
MySudo doesn't offer AI-powered phishing protection. Its built-in browser adds some separation, but it doesn't actively scan or block threats.
Family Sharing
Family sharing is not available on Ivy. Each household member needs their own account.
MySudo has no family plan. Each person needs their own account, and costs scale with however many Sudos each person uses.
Availability
| Ivy | MySudo | |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Yes | Yes |
| Outside US | Yes | No |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Browser extension | Yes | No |
Pricing Breakdown
| Plan | Price | Key Inclusions |
|---|---|---|
| Ivy Free | $0 | 5 masked emails, AI phishing protection, zero-knowledge encryption |
| MySudo SudoGo | ~$0.99/month | 1 Sudo (1 phone, 1 email, 1 browser) |
| MySudo SudoMax | ~$14.99/month | 9 Sudos |
MySudo's SudoMax plan runs roughly $180/year for 9 personas - with no virtual cards and no AI protection. Ivy Pro at $10.99/month ($99/year) includes 500 masked emails, 2 masked phone numbers, and active AI threat detection running in the background.
The value gap isn't subtle.
Which App Is Right for Your Family?
Choose Ivy if:
- You want masked email addresses per service, not per persona
- Your family shops online and needs virtual card protection
- You want AI phishing blocking - not just identity masking
- Anyone in your household travels or lives outside the US
- You want one subscription to cover everyone
Consider MySudo if:
- You're a US-based individual who wants fully separate phone and browsing personas
- You don't need virtual cards or active threat detection
- You're comfortable paying per persona as your needs grow
For most families, Ivy covers more ground at a lower total cost. The masked email setup is more flexible, the virtual cards add a layer of protection MySudo simply can't match, and the AI phishing detection works quietly in the background - no management required.
Explore Ivy's plans at getivy.ai. No credit card needed to get started.
FAQs
What is masked email and why does my family need it? Masked email lets each family member sign up for websites using a unique, disposable address instead of their real one. If that address ever shows up in a data breach, you delete it and create a new one. Your real inbox stays private and spam-free.
How many masked email addresses does Ivy provide? Ivy Pro includes 500 masked email addresses. The free plan includes 5 to get started.
Does MySudo work outside the United States? No. MySudo is limited to US users. Ivy works internationally and is available on iOS, Android, and as a browser extension regardless of where you are.
Does Ivy offer family sharing? Family sharing is not available on Ivy. Each household member needs their own account.
Can Ivy replace a password manager? Ivy goes well beyond what a password manager does. It stores unlimited passwords with zero-knowledge encryption - but it also flags phishing sites before you land on them, masks your identity across services, and protects your payments. Password managers store credentials. Ivy warns you about threats before they reach you.
What happens if a virtual card is compromised? Cancel it instantly from the app and generate a new one. Your real bank account and card number are never exposed to the merchant, so a retailer breach has no impact on your actual finances.
Is Ivy safe to use? What encryption does it use? Ivy uses AES-256 encryption and a zero-knowledge architecture - meaning even Ivy can't access your data. It's SOC 2 Type II certified and GDPR compliant.
The Bottom Line
MySudo is a solid tool for privacy-focused individuals who want separate personas and a US-based masked phone experience. But for families, it leaves too many gaps: no virtual cards, no AI threat detection, no international availability, no family plan.
Ivy covers all of it in one place. Masked email that isolates every service, virtual cards that protect every online purchase, and AI that flags phishing before anyone in your household clicks something dangerous.
If you're ready to stop stitching together separate tools and start protecting your whole family with one app, get started at getivy.ai.