Email Validator Pro — Bulk SMTP & Deliverability Check

Validate 10,000 emails in minutes. SMTP mailbox check, disposable domain detection, catch-all flagging, role-based detection, deliverability scoring, and typo suggestions — all in one actor.

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Why this exists

The most popular email validator on Apify has 743 users but only a 3.3/5 rating. The second most popular has 142 users and a 2.0/5 rating. Users are stuck choosing between unreliable tools and overpriced ones.

This actor does everything the existing ones do, plus:

• Disposable domain detection — flags mailinator, guerrillamail, and 5,300+ throwaway providers
• Catch-all detection — identifies servers that accept all addresses (less trustworthy)
• Role-based detection — flags info@, admin@, support@ addresses
• Deliverability score — 0-100 composite score based on all checks
• Typo suggestions — catches gmial.com, hotmal.com, and 20+ common misspellings
• 20 emails — test it before committing

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Quick start

{
    "emails": [
        "real-user@gmail.com",
        "fake@mailinator.com",
        "info@example.com"
    ],
    "checkSmtp": true,
    "checkDisposable": true
}

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Competitor comparison

Feature	xmiso (743 users, 3.3★)	api-ninja (204 users, 5★)	This actor
SMTP mailbox check	Unknown	Yes	Yes
MX record check	Unknown	Yes	Yes
Disposable detection	No	No	Yes (200+ domains)
Catch-all detection	No	No	Yes
Role-based detection	No	No	Yes
Free provider flagging	No	No	Yes
Deliverability score	No	No	Yes (0-100)
Typo suggestions	No	No	Yes
Per-email error detail	No	Limited	Yes
Dry run mode	No	No	Yes
Free tier	No	Limited	20 emails free
Price per email	$0.0025	$0.0025	$0.003

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Input

Field	Type	Default	Description
emails	array	(optional)	List of email addresses to validate. Or use emailsUrl.
emailsUrl	string	(optional)	URL to CSV or JSON file with emails. One per line, or JSON array. For 10K+ lists.
checkSmtp	boolean	true	Connect to mail server and verify mailbox exists
checkDisposable	boolean	true	Check against 5,300+ disposable domain list
timeout	integer	10000	SMTP timeout in ms (3,000–30,000)
maxConcurrency	integer	5	Parallel validations (1–20). Keep low to avoid mail server blocks
googleSheetsId	string	(optional)	Export results to this Google Sheet (spreadsheet ID)
googleServiceAccountKey	string	(optional)	Google Service Account JSON key for Sheets export
dryRun	boolean	false	Preview results without charges

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Output

Each email produces one item in the dataset:

{
    "email": "user@gmail.com",
    "valid": true,
    "deliverable": true,
    "disposable": false,
    "catchAll": false,
    "roleBased": false,
    "freeProvider": true,
    "deliverabilityScore": 90,
    "checks": {
        "syntax": "pass",
        "domain": "pass",
        "mxRecord": "pass",
        "smtp": "pass"
    },
    "suggestion": null,
    "smtpDetail": "gmail.com is a major provider that blocks SMTP verification probes. Email syntax, domain, and MX are valid — deliverability cannot be confirmed via SMTP for this provider.",
    "error": null
}

Field	Description
email	Normalised email (lowercased, trimmed)
valid	Syntax + domain + MX all pass
deliverable	SMTP check confirms mailbox exists (null if SMTP skipped or inconclusive)
disposable	Domain is a known throwaway provider
catchAll	Mail server accepts all addresses (less trustworthy)
roleBased	Address is a generic role (info@, admin@, support@)
freeProvider	Domain is a free email provider (gmail, yahoo, etc)
deliverabilityScore	0-100 composite score across all checks
checks	Per-check status: pass, fail, unknown, or skip
suggestion	Typo correction if detected (e.g., gmial.com → gmail.com)
smtpDetail	Plain English explanation of the SMTP result — why it passed, failed, or was inconclusive
error	Error message if a check failed, otherwise null

Deliverability score breakdown

Check	Points
Syntax valid	+20
Domain exists	+20
MX records found	+20
SMTP confirms mailbox	+30 (unknown = +15)
Not disposable	+5
Not role-based	+5
Catch-all server	-10

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How SMTP validation works

1. Connect to the domain's mail server (MX record, port 25)
2. Send EHLO greeting
3. Send MAIL FROM with a verification address
4. Send RCPT TO with the target email
5. Read the response — 250 means the mailbox exists, 550 means it doesn't
6. Disconnect without sending any email

No email is ever sent. This is standard practice used by every email validation service.

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Pricing

$0.003 per email validated (pay-per-event pricing).

• Charged per email processed, regardless of valid/invalid result.
• Errors and dry runs are never charged.
• 1,000 emails = $3.00
• 10,000 emails = $30.00

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Limitations

• SMTP checks are blocked by major providers. Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and other large providers block SMTP verification probes. For these domains, SMTP returns unknown and the smtpDetail field explains why. Syntax, domain, and MX checks still run — deliverability just can't be confirmed via SMTP for those providers.
• Catch-all servers always return 250. If a server accepts all addresses, the SMTP check will say "deliverable" even for nonexistent mailboxes. The catchAll flag warns you about this.
• Not real-time delivery guarantee. A "deliverable" result means the mailbox existed at check time. The inbox could be full, disabled, or deleted minutes later.
• Disposable domain list covers 5,300+ providers from the canonical open-source list. New throwaway services appear constantly — coverage is good but not 100%.
• Rate limiting. Keep maxConcurrency at 5 or below for best results. Higher values may trigger temporary blocks from mail servers.

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Run on Apify

No setup needed. Click above to run in the cloud. $0.003 per operation.