# Bulk Email Validator – Syntax, MX, Disposable & Typo Check (`gazidev/email-syntax-mx-validator`) Actor

Clean email lists in bulk: RFC syntax, MX / null MX / A-record DNS check, 9,000+ disposable domains, role accounts (info@, admin@), free providers, typo fixes (gmial.com -> gmail.com), normalized address and a 0-100 score. Honest pre-validation: no SMTP mailbox ping. $0.30 per 1,000 emails.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/gazidev/email-syntax-mx-validator.md
- **Developed by:** [Cemal Atakli](https://apify.com/gazidev) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Marketing
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.30 / 1,000 email checkeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Bulk Email Validator – Syntax, MX, Disposable & Typo Check

Clean an email list before you send to it or import it. Paste a list, upload a CSV or point the Actor at another Actor's dataset. Each address gets:

- **RFC syntax check** (RFC 5321/5322 rules: dots, length limits, allowed characters, reserved domains) with a plain-English reason when it fails
- **Domain DNS check:** MX records, **null MX** detection (RFC 7505, `0 .`, "this domain accepts no mail"), non-existent domains (NXDOMAIN), A/AAAA fallback when there is no MX, and a check that the MX hosts resolve
- **Disposable / temporary email detection** using 9,000+ domains from the open-source [disposable-email-domains](https://github.com/disposable-email-domains/disposable-email-domains) list (CC0), with optional live refresh and your own extra domains
- **Typo suggestions:** `gmial.com` → `gmail.com`, `hotmial.com` → `hotmail.com`, `yaho.com` → `yahoo.com`, `company.con` → `company.com`
- **Role account** flag (`info@`, `admin@`, `sales@`, `no-reply@`...) and **free provider** flag (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, GMX, Yandex, QQ and 280+ more)
- **Normalized address** (lowercased, IDN-aware), **canonical** address (Gmail dots and `+tags` removed) and the **mail provider** behind the MX (Google, Microsoft 365, Zoho, Proofpoint...)
- A final **status**, `valid-format`, `risky` or `invalid`, plus a **0-100 score** and reason codes

It supports **international domains (IDN)** such as `ivan@яндекс.рф` or `anna@münchen.de`, and returns both the Unicode and punycode form.

It costs **$0.30 per 1,000 emails**. 5,000 emails over ~200 domains take about 4 seconds.

### What it does NOT do (please read)

**No SMTP mailbox check.** This Actor does not connect to the recipient's mail server to ask whether `john@company.com` exists. Apify (like most clouds) blocks outbound port 25, and SMTP "pinging" is unreliable anyway: catch-all servers, greylisting and anti-harvesting rules make it guess. Every row says so: `"smtpCheck": "not_performed"`.

So `valid-format` means: *the address is well-formed, the domain exists and can receive email, and nothing looks suspicious*. It does **not** prove that the mailbox exists. Use this Actor as cheap pre-validation to remove the obvious junk (typically 5-20% of a scraped or form-collected list), then send, or run only the survivors through a paid SMTP verifier.

### Use cases

- **Sign-up and lead form cleanup:** find typos (`@gmial.com`), throwaway addresses (`@mailinator.com`) and fake domains before they reach your CRM.
- **Before a cold or newsletter campaign:** remove invalid and disposable addresses to protect your sender reputation and bounce rate.
- **Scraped contact data:** validate the `emails` field from contact, Google Maps or lead scrapers in one run with `datasetId`.
- **B2B lead scoring:** separate company addresses from free webmail and role inboxes (`freeProvider`, `roleAccount`, `mailProvider`).
- **Cheaper SMTP verification:** cut the list first, then send only the `valid-format` rows to a paid verifier.
- **AI agents:** a deterministic tool for "is this email address plausible, and did the user mistype it?"

### Input

You can combine the sources below.

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| `emails` | List of addresses. `Name <a@b.com>` and `mailto:` links are accepted |
| `bulkText` | Paste one email per line (or comma/semicolon separated) or a whole CSV/TSV with a header row |
| `sourceFileUrl` | URL of a CSV/TXT file, for example a Google Sheets "Publish to web" CSV |
| `datasetId` | An Apify dataset ID or name. The email field is auto-detected, and list fields such as `emails: [...]` are expanded |
| `emailColumn` | Set this when auto-detection picks the wrong column or field |
| `keepFields` | Columns to copy into each result (for example `id`, `name`) so you can join the results back |
| `dedupe` | Removes duplicates (case-insensitive, after normalization). On by default; duplicates are not charged |
| `outputFilter` | `all`, `valid-format`, `not-invalid`, `risky` or `invalid`. Hidden rows are not charged |
| `checkDns`, `checkMxHost` | Turn the DNS checks on or off |
| `refreshDisposableList`, `extraDisposableDomains` | Download the newest disposable list at run start and add your own blocklist |
| `dnsServers`, `dnsTimeoutSecs`, `dnsConcurrency` | DNS tuning. Default: Cloudflare, Google and Quad9 public resolvers, 3 s timeout, 50 domains in parallel |
| `maxEmails` | Cap for test runs |

```json
{
  "emails": ["jane.doe@gmail.com", "john.doe@gmial.com", "test@mailinator.com", "someone@example.com", "info@apify.com"],
  "dedupe": true,
  "outputFilter": "all"
}
```

### Output

One dataset row per email. The **Overview** table shows the verdict, **Why risky / invalid** lists the problems with explanations, and **Domain & DNS** shows the MX details. A `SUMMARY` record holds the run totals. Export as JSON, CSV or Excel.

```json
{
  "input": "john.doe@gmial.com",
  "email": "john.doe@gmial.com",
  "status": "risky",
  "score": 5,
  "reasons": ["DISPOSABLE", "TYPO_SUSPECTED", "NO_MX_A_FALLBACK"],
  "reason": "Disposable / temporary email domain; Domain looks like a typo of a popular domain; No MX record; ...",
  "syntaxValid": true,
  "localPart": "john.doe",
  "domain": "gmial.com",
  "domainAscii": "gmial.com",
  "isIdn": false,
  "smtputf8": false,
  "canonical": "john.doe@gmial.com",
  "plusTag": null,
  "dnsStatus": "ok",
  "domainExists": true,
  "mxFound": false,
  "mxRecords": [],
  "mailProvider": null,
  "nullMx": false,
  "aRecordFallback": true,
  "disposable": true,
  "roleAccount": false,
  "freeProvider": false,
  "typoSuggestion": "john.doe@gmail.com",
  "smtpCheck": "not_performed",
  "source": "emails",
  "rowNumber": 2
}
```

#### Status and reason codes

| Status | Reason code | Meaning | Score impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| `invalid` | `SYNTAX_INVALID` | Not a valid address (the reason text says why) | 0 |
| `invalid` | `DOMAIN_NOT_FOUND` | The domain does not exist (NXDOMAIN) | ≤ 10 |
| `invalid` | `NULL_MX` | The domain publishes a null MX (RFC 7505): it accepts no email | ≤ 10 |
| `invalid` | `NO_MAIL_SERVER` | No MX and no A/AAAA record | ≤ 10 |
| `invalid` | `MX_HOST_UNRESOLVABLE` | MX records point to hostnames that do not resolve | ≤ 10 |
| `risky` | `DISPOSABLE` | Temporary / throwaway email domain | −80 |
| `risky` | `TYPO_SUSPECTED` | Looks like a typo of a popular domain, see `typoSuggestion` | −60 |
| `risky` | `DNS_TIMEOUT`, `DNS_ERROR` | The domain could not be checked (timeout or SERVFAIL); retry later | −45 |
| `risky` | `NO_MX_A_FALLBACK` | No MX record; mail would go to the website's server | −40 |
| `risky` | `ROLE_ACCOUNT` | Shared inbox (info@, sales@, admin@, no-reply@...) | −30 |
| `risky` | `DNS_NOT_CHECKED` | `checkDns` was off | −25 |
| `risky` | `UNICODE_LOCAL_PART` | Non-ASCII mailbox name, needs SMTPUTF8 support | −10 |
| `valid-format` | – | Well-formed, domain can receive mail, nothing suspicious | 100 |

`freeProvider` and `plusTag` are informational and do not lower the score.

### Pricing

Pay per event: **$0.0003 per email checked** ($0.30 per 1,000), plus a tiny start fee ($0.00005). Blank cells, values without an `@`, removed duplicates and rows hidden by the output filter are **not charged**. Set a *Maximum cost per run* and the Actor stops cleanly when it reaches it.

| Actor | Price per 1,000 emails | SMTP check |
|---|---|---|
| ryanclinton/bulk-email-verifier | $5 | – |
| **This Actor** | **$0.30** | No (stated up front) |

*Competitor price from the Apify Store in October 2026; it may change.*

### FAQ

**Why no SMTP check?** Outbound port 25 is blocked on Apify and on most cloud providers, and SMTP probing gives false results on catch-all and greylisting servers. We would rather tell you that plainly than sell a guess. Some "SMTP verifier" Actors in the Store have success rates around 50% for exactly this reason.

**Is `valid-format` the same as deliverable?** No. It means the address passed every check that can be done without contacting the mailbox. Bounces from deleted mailboxes are still possible.

**Why is a typo domain also marked disposable?** Some typo domains (like `gmial.com`) are registered by third parties to catch mistyped mail, and the open disposable list blocks them. Either way, do not send to them; use `typoSuggestion`.

**How fast is it?** Each domain is resolved once per run and cached. 5,000 emails over 190 domains took about 4 s in our tests; the offline checks alone run at about 13,000 emails per second. Lists with many unique domains are limited by DNS (about 50 domains in parallel by default).

**Is my data sent anywhere?** Only the domain names are sent to the DNS resolvers you choose (public resolvers by default). The full addresses never leave the Actor.

**Where does the disposable list come from?** From the community-maintained [disposable-email-domains](https://github.com/disposable-email-domains/disposable-email-domains) project, released under CC0 (public domain). A snapshot ships with the Actor; set `refreshDisposableList` to download the newest version at run start.

### Use with AI agents / Apify MCP

The Actor is fast, cheap and deterministic, which makes it a good tool for AI agents. Add it to Claude, Cursor or any MCP client through the [Apify MCP server](https://mcp.apify.com) (`https://mcp.apify.com?actors=gazidev/email-syntax-mx-validator`) and ask, for example, *"Check these 200 sign-up emails and list the typos with corrections"*. You can also call it over the API:

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/gazidev~email-syntax-mx-validator/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"emails":["john@gmial.com","test@mailinator.com","ceo@apify.com"]}'
```

### Other Actors by gazidev

Scraped contacts? Pair this Actor with our website contact finder and phone number validator to build clean, enriched lead lists.

# Actor input Schema

## `emails` (type: `array`):

Emails to check. `Name <a@b.com>` and `mailto:` links are accepted. Note: this Actor checks syntax, DNS/MX, disposable, role, free-provider and typos. It does NOT ping the mailbox over SMTP (port 25 is blocked on Apify).

## `bulkText` (type: `string`):

Paste one email per line (or separated by commas / semicolons), or a whole CSV/TSV export with a header row; the email column is detected automatically or set below.

## `sourceFileUrl` (type: `string`):

Public URL of a .csv or .txt file, e.g. a Google Sheets 'Publish to web' CSV link or an Apify key-value store record URL.

## `datasetId` (type: `string`):

Check emails from another Actor's dataset (contact / lead / Google Maps scrapers). The email field is auto-detected; list fields like `emails: [...]` are expanded.

## `emailColumn` (type: `string`):

CSV column or dataset field holding the email. Empty = auto-detect (email, e-mail, mail, emails...).

## `keepFields` (type: `array`):

CSV columns or dataset fields copied into each result under `record` (e.g. `id`, `name`, `company`) so you can join results back to your CRM.

## `dedupe` (type: `boolean`):

Keep only the first occurrence of each address (case-insensitive, after normalization). Duplicates are not charged.

## `outputFilter` (type: `string`):

Save all emails or only one status. Hidden emails are not charged.

## `checkDns` (type: `boolean`):

Look up MX records for every unique domain (cached, one lookup per domain). Turn off for a syntax/disposable/typo-only check.

## `checkMxHost` (type: `boolean`):

Also check that the MX hosts themselves have an IP address (catches parked domains with dead MX records). One extra lookup per domain.

## `refreshDisposableList` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch the newest list from the open-source disposable-email-domains project (CC0) at run start. Off = use the snapshot bundled with the Actor (9,000+ domains).

## `extraDisposableDomains` (type: `array`):

Your own blocklist, e.g. competitors or known spam domains. Subdomains match too.

## `dnsServers` (type: `array`):

IP addresses of DNS resolvers to use (rotated). Default: Cloudflare, Google and Quad9 public resolvers. Empty list = the container's system resolver.

## `dnsTimeoutSecs` (type: `integer`):

Per-server timeout. Domains that still time out are marked `risky` with `DNS_TIMEOUT`, not invalid.

## `dnsConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many domains are resolved at the same time.

## `maxEmails` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many input values (0 = no limit). Useful to test a big file cheaply.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "emails": [
    "jane.doe@gmail.com",
    "john.doe@gmial.com",
    "jane@hotmial.com",
    "info@apify.com",
    "test@mailinator.com",
    "someone@example.com",
    "user@no-such-domain-zz91.com",
    "иван@яндекс.рф",
    "anna@münchen.de",
    "Bad Email@@x",
    "Jane Roe <Jane.Roe+news@Outlook.com>",
    "sales@company.con"
  ],
  "dedupe": true,
  "outputFilter": "all",
  "checkDns": true,
  "checkMxHost": true,
  "refreshDisposableList": false,
  "dnsServers": [
    "1.1.1.1",
    "8.8.8.8",
    "9.9.9.9"
  ],
  "dnsTimeoutSecs": 3,
  "dnsConcurrency": 50,
  "maxEmails": 0
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

No description

## `problems` (type: `string`):

No description

## `dns` (type: `string`):

No description

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "emails": [
        "jane.doe@gmail.com",
        "john.doe@gmial.com",
        "jane@hotmial.com",
        "info@apify.com",
        "test@mailinator.com",
        "someone@example.com",
        "user@no-such-domain-zz91.com",
        "иван@яндекс.рф",
        "anna@münchen.de",
        "Bad Email@@x",
        "Jane Roe <Jane.Roe+news@Outlook.com>",
        "sales@company.con"
    ],
    "dnsServers": [
        "1.1.1.1",
        "8.8.8.8",
        "9.9.9.9"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("gazidev/email-syntax-mx-validator").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "emails": [
        "jane.doe@gmail.com",
        "john.doe@gmial.com",
        "jane@hotmial.com",
        "info@apify.com",
        "test@mailinator.com",
        "someone@example.com",
        "user@no-such-domain-zz91.com",
        "иван@яндекс.рф",
        "anna@münchen.de",
        "Bad Email@@x",
        "Jane Roe <Jane.Roe+news@Outlook.com>",
        "sales@company.con",
    ],
    "dnsServers": [
        "1.1.1.1",
        "8.8.8.8",
        "9.9.9.9",
    ],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("gazidev/email-syntax-mx-validator").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "emails": [
    "jane.doe@gmail.com",
    "john.doe@gmial.com",
    "jane@hotmial.com",
    "info@apify.com",
    "test@mailinator.com",
    "someone@example.com",
    "user@no-such-domain-zz91.com",
    "иван@яндекс.рф",
    "anna@münchen.de",
    "Bad Email@@x",
    "Jane Roe <Jane.Roe+news@Outlook.com>",
    "sales@company.con"
  ],
  "dnsServers": [
    "1.1.1.1",
    "8.8.8.8",
    "9.9.9.9"
  ]
}' |
apify call gazidev/email-syntax-mx-validator --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,gazidev/email-syntax-mx-validator"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/m42BqOTLQJCmyc191/builds/1H8hjKHKfq7A6wRJU/openapi.json