✉️ Email Validator — Bulk Email Verification & Email Checker

The most reliable Email Validator on Apify. Verify any email address list in bulk — syntax check, MX record lookup, and SMTP server reachability test — and receive back a quality score (high / medium / low), result classification, and free provider detection for every address. Abort-safe with checkpoint resume. No login. No API key. Instant structured output.

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📌 Table of Contents

• What Is This Actor?
• Why Use This Email Validator?
• Validation Process
• Use Cases
• Input Parameters
• Output Fields
• Example Input & Output
• Pricing & Free Trial
• Performance & Limits
• FAQ
• Changelog
• Legal & Terms of Use

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🔍 What Is This Actor?

Email Validator is a production-ready Apify actor that performs three-layer email verification on any list of email addresses — syntax validation, MX record DNS lookup, and SMTP server reachability check — and returns a quality score and detailed result classification for every address.

Provide a list of email addresses and receive back a clean, structured record for each one: the validated email, an overall quality rating (high / medium / low), a result label (valid / invalid / catch_all), a specific sub-result explaining exactly why each email passed or failed, and a flag indicating whether it belongs to a free email provider like Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook.

This bulk email checker processes up to 50 addresses concurrently, saves progress after every 10 addresses, and resumes automatically from the last checkpoint if a run is interrupted — making it the fastest and most reliable email verification tool available on Apify for large lists.

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🚀 Why Use This Email Validator?

Feature	This Actor	Manual Checking	Other Tools	NeverBounce / ZeroBounce
Bulk email verification	✅ Any size	❌	⚠️ Limited free	✅ Expensive
3-layer validation	✅ Syntax + MX + SMTP	❌	⚠️	✅
Email quality score	✅ High/Medium/Low	❌	⚠️	✅
Free provider detection	✅	❌	⚠️	✅
50 concurrent checks	✅	❌	❌	✅
Abort-safe checkpoint resume	✅	N/A	❌	❌
No API key or subscription	✅	N/A	⚠️	❌ Required
Structured JSON output	✅	❌	⚠️	✅
Export to CSV / Excel	✅ Via Apify	❌	❌	✅

Bottom line: This email validator delivers three-layer email verification with quality scoring, free provider detection, and abort-safe checkpoint recovery — at a fraction of the cost of dedicated email verification services like NeverBounce or ZeroBounce.

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🔬 Validation Process

Every email address goes through three validation layers in sequence:

Layer 1 — Syntax Check

The address is checked against the standard email format pattern. Invalid characters, missing @ signs, malformed domains, or addresses shorter than the minimum valid length are flagged immediately with subresult: "bad_syntax" and assigned email_quality: "low".

Layer 2 — MX Record Lookup

A DNS lookup is performed for the email's domain to check whether valid Mail Exchange (MX) records exist. A domain with no MX records cannot receive email — these are flagged with subresult: "no_mx_record" and email_quality: "low". Domains with valid MX records proceed to Layer 3.

Layer 3 — SMTP Server Reachability

A connection test is made to the primary MX server on port 25 to verify that the mail server is live and responding. If the server responds with a valid greeting, the address receives email_quality: "high" and email_result: "valid". If the server has valid MX records but is unreachable (common with large providers that block datacenter IPs), the address receives email_quality: "medium" and email_result: "catch_all".

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🎯 Use Cases

📧 Email List Cleaning & CRM Hygiene

• Validate entire email databases before launching outreach campaigns to reduce bounce rates
• Clean imported lead lists by removing invalid and low-quality addresses before CRM import
• Run periodic bulk email verification on your contact database to catch stale or invalid addresses

🚀 Outreach & Cold Email Campaigns

• Use this email validator before sending cold email sequences to maximize deliverability
• Separate high-quality verified addresses from catch-all and invalid ones before campaign setup
• Identify and remove free provider emails from B2B outreach lists for better targeting

🛠️ Developer & SaaS Integrations

• Integrate email verification into your user registration or lead capture flow via Apify API
• Build automated list validation pipelines that run on new contact imports
• Use quality scores to route contacts into different nurture streams based on email confidence

📊 Data Quality & Analytics

• Audit the quality of purchased or scraped email lists before using them in campaigns
• Measure what percentage of your email list is valid, catch-all, or invalid for data quality reporting
• Identify domains with no MX records to flag defunct companies or invalid business emails

🏢 Sales & Revenue Operations

• Validate prospect email lists before handing them to sales reps for outreach
• Enrich sales intelligence data with email quality scores to prioritize high-confidence contacts
• Reduce wasted outreach effort by filtering invalid and low-quality emails before sequencing

🎓 Research & Academic Use

• Validate contact email datasets for research projects before conducting surveys or outreach
• Study email domain health and MX record availability across industry segments
• Analyze free vs business email adoption patterns across contact datasets

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⚙️ Input Parameters

{
  "emails": [
    "john.smith@example.com",
    "test@gmail.com",
    "invalid-email",
    "contact@company.io"
  ],
  "timeout": 10,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy":    true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
  }
}

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
emails	array	[]	List of email addresses to validate — any volume accepted
timeout	integer	10	Timeout in seconds for DNS and SMTP connection checks per email
proxyConfiguration	object	Optional	Apify proxy config — note that many residential proxies block port 25 (SMTP)

Important note on proxy and SMTP: Most residential and datacenter proxies block outbound port 25 (SMTP). When SMTP is blocked, the actor returns email_result: "catch_all" with subresult: "smtp_unreachable_or_blocked" — which means the email has valid MX records but SMTP reachability could not be confirmed. This is still useful for filtering obviously invalid addresses.

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📋 Output Fields

Every record from this email validator includes:

Field	Type	Description	Example
email	string	The original email address as provided	"john.smith@company.com"
email_quality	string	Overall quality rating	"high", "medium", "low"
email_result	string	Validation result classification	"valid", "invalid", "catch_all"
subresult	string	Specific reason for the result	"accepted_email", "bad_syntax", "no_mx_record", "smtp_unreachable_or_blocked"
free	boolean	Whether the domain is a free email provider	true for Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, etc.

Quality Score Reference

email_quality	email_result	subresult	Meaning
high	valid	accepted_email	Passed all 3 layers — safe to use
medium	catch_all	smtp_unreachable_or_blocked	Valid MX records but SMTP could not be confirmed — use with caution
low	invalid	bad_syntax	Malformed email address — do not use
low	invalid	no_mx_record	Domain has no mail server — do not use

Free Provider Detection

The free field is true for addresses belonging to: gmail.com, yahoo.com, hotmail.com, outlook.com, aol.com, icloud.com, mail.com, yandex.com

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📦 Example Input & Output

Input:

{
  "emails": [
    "john.smith@company.com",
    "test@gmail.com",
    "not-an-email",
    "contact@defunct-domain-xyz123.com"
  ],
  "timeout": 10
}

Output:

[
  {
    "email":         "john.smith@company.com",
    "email_quality": "high",
    "email_result":  "valid",
    "subresult":     "accepted_email",
    "free":          false
  },
  {
    "email":         "test@gmail.com",
    "email_quality": "medium",
    "email_result":  "catch_all",
    "subresult":     "smtp_unreachable_or_blocked",
    "free":          true
  },
  {
    "email":         "not-an-email",
    "email_quality": "low",
    "email_result":  "invalid",
    "subresult":     "bad_syntax",
    "free":          false
  },
  {
    "email":         "contact@defunct-domain-xyz123.com",
    "email_quality": "low",
    "email_result":  "invalid",
    "subresult":     "no_mx_record",
    "free":          false
  }
]

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💰 Pricing & Free Trial

Plan	Price	Includes
Free Trial	$0	2 hours full access — no credit card required
Monthly	$7.99 / month	Unlimited runs, any list size, all validation layers

Everything included in every plan:

• ✅ Three-layer email verification — syntax, MX DNS, SMTP reachability
• ✅ Quality score (high / medium / low) per address
• ✅ Detailed sub-result classification per address
• ✅ Free provider detection (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, and more)
• ✅ 50 concurrent checks — fast bulk processing
• ✅ Abort-safe checkpoint resume — no data loss on interruption
• ✅ Any list size per run
• ✅ JSON + CSV + Excel export from Apify dataset

Start your 2-hour free trial now — no credit card needed. Click Try for free at the top of this page.

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⚡ Performance & Limits

Emails	Estimated Time
100	~1–3 minutes
1,000	~5–15 minutes
10,000	~30–90 minutes
100,000	~5–15 hours

• Up to 50 email addresses checked concurrently for maximum speed
• Results pushed to the Apify dataset in batches of 10 as they complete
• Checkpoint saved every 10 addresses — restart resumes from the last saved position
• Processing speed depends on DNS and SMTP response times from target mail servers
• Addresses at free providers (Gmail, Yahoo) typically return catch_all due to port 25 blocking — this is normal behavior, not an actor limitation

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❓ FAQ

Q: What is the difference between valid, catch_all, and invalid? A: valid means the address passed all three checks — syntax, MX DNS, and SMTP server response. catch_all means the domain has valid MX records but the SMTP connection could not be confirmed — these emails may or may not exist. invalid means the address definitively cannot receive email — either bad syntax or no MX records.

Q: Why do Gmail and Yahoo addresses return catch_all instead of valid? A: Major free email providers actively block SMTP verification connections from cloud and datacenter IPs to prevent spam list validation. When port 25 is blocked, the actor correctly marks these as catch_all with subresult: "smtp_unreachable_or_blocked" — this is expected behavior for all major providers.

Q: Can I trust email_quality: "high" results? A: Yes — high quality means the address passed syntax check, MX record lookup, and received a valid SMTP greeting from the mail server. This is the strongest available signal for deliverability without sending an actual test email. No email verification tool can guarantee 100% deliverability.

Q: What happens if I provide a very large list and the run is aborted? A: The actor saves a checkpoint every 10 addresses. If the run is aborted or times out, simply restart it with the same input — the actor skips already-processed addresses and continues from the last checkpoint automatically.

Q: Does the free field affect email quality? A: No. free is an informational flag only — it tells you whether the address domain is a consumer email provider. The quality score is determined solely by the three validation layers.

Q: Can I use this for real-time email validation in my app? A: This actor is optimized for batch processing. For real-time single-address validation in a live application, consider calling the actor via the Apify API with a single-item input and polling for results.

Q: Can I export results filtered by quality score? A: All results are pushed to the Apify dataset. You can filter by email_quality or email_result after export using Excel, Google Sheets, or any data tool.

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📜 Changelog

v1.0.0 (Current)

• ✅ Three-layer email verification: syntax, MX DNS lookup, SMTP reachability
• ✅ Quality score per address: high / medium / low
• ✅ Result classification: valid / invalid / catch_all
• ✅ Sub-result detail: accepted_email / bad_syntax / no_mx_record / smtp_unreachable_or_blocked
• ✅ Free email provider detection (8 major providers)
• ✅ 50 concurrent checks for high-speed bulk processing
• ✅ Abort-safe checkpoint resume — saves progress every 10 addresses
• ✅ Any list size supported
• ✅ Real-time dataset push in batches of 10

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🏷️ Tags

email validator email verification bulk email checker email validation email verifier mx record checker smtp verification email list cleaner email quality checker bulk email validation email hygiene email deliverability

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⚖️ Legal & Terms of Use

This actor performs standard DNS and SMTP connection checks on email addresses — the same checks used by any mail server when deciding whether to accept or reject an incoming message.

Please note:

• Use this email validator only for lawful purposes — list hygiene, deliverability improvement, CRM enrichment, and spam prevention are common legitimate uses
• Do not use this tool to build or validate email lists for spam, unsolicited bulk messaging, or any purpose that violates CAN-SPAM, GDPR, CASL, or other applicable anti-spam laws
• Performing SMTP checks on mail servers is a standard industry practice — however, excessive high-volume checking of specific domains may be considered abusive by those mail server operators
• The actor developer is not responsible for how validated email data is used

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🤝 Support & Feedback

• Bug report? Contact us via the Apify actor page
• Feature request? Post in the Apify Community forum
• Loving it? Please leave a ⭐ review — it helps other users find this actor!

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Built with ❤️ on Apify
The most reliable Email Validator — 3-layer verification, bulk processing, checkpoint resume

💰 $7.99/month · 🆓 2-hour free trial · No credit card required