# Email Verifier & Deliverability Scorer (`swholmes/email-verifier`) Actor

Clean and score any email list. Checks syntax, domain MX records, disposable/free providers, and role addresses, with optional SMTP mailbox probing and catch-all detection. Feed it a list or another Actor's dataset.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/swholmes/email-verifier.md
- **Developed by:** [Scott Holmes](https://apify.com/swholmes) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Automation, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 75.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.50 / 1,000 email verifieds

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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

## Email Verifier & Deliverability Scorer

Clean and score any email list. For each address it checks syntax, domain MX records, disposable/temporary domains, free-provider vs business, and role addresses (info@, sales@…), with an optional SMTP mailbox probe and catch-all detection. Returns a status (valid / risky / invalid) and a 0–100 deliverability score.

**This is a transformation Actor — it doesn't scrape.** It consumes an email list or another Actor's dataset. That means no anti-bot maintenance, no site breakage, near-zero run cost, and it plugs directly under every lead-gen and enrichment Actor on the platform.

### Input

| Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `emails` | array | Email addresses to verify. |
| `inputDatasetId` | string | Instead of a list, pull emails from another Actor's dataset (e.g. a lead-gen run). |
| `emailField` | string | Field holding the email in that dataset (default `email`). |
| `checkSmtp` | boolean | Attempt an SMTP mailbox probe + catch-all detection. See note below. |
| `concurrency` | integer | Parallel checks. |

### Output

```json
{
  "email": "info@acme.com",
  "status": "risky",
  "score": 60,
  "domain": "acme.com",
  "hasMx": true,
  "mxHost": "aspmx.l.google.com",
  "isDisposable": false,
  "isRole": true,
  "isFreeProvider": false,
  "smtpChecked": false,
  "smtpDeliverable": null,
  "isCatchAll": null,
  "reason": "role-address"
}
````

### Scoring

Business domain with valid MX starts at 90. Free providers 75, role addresses 60 (risky), disposable 30 (risky), no MX 10 (invalid), bad syntax 0. With `checkSmtp` on: a confirmed mailbox adds +10 (→100), an SMTP rejection drops to invalid, and a catch-all domain caps at 55 (risky, because RCPT can't be trusted).

### Monetization (pay-per-event)

Charges one `email-verified` event per address. Verification credits are a well-understood purchase (Hunter, NeverBounce, ZeroBounce all price per-check) — set it competitively per 1,000 and it becomes the natural upsell beneath your own Lead Pack and Enrichment Actors.

### Important note on SMTP

Outbound port 25 is blocked on most cloud hosts, Apify included, so the live SMTP probe (`checkSmtp`) may return `null` (unknown) — in which case scoring falls back to MX + syntax + disposable + role + free-provider signals, which already catches the large majority of bad addresses. If you need guaranteed mailbox-level verification, route the SMTP step through an external verification API and merge the result; the code is structured so that's a drop-in in `verify()`.

# Actor input Schema

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

List of email addresses to verify. Ignored if inputDatasetId is set.

## `inputDatasetId` (type: `string`):

Pull emails from another Actor's dataset instead of the list above. Great for verifying a lead/enrichment run's output.

## `emailField` (type: `string`):

Which field in the input dataset holds the email address.

## `checkSmtp` (type: `boolean`):

Connect to the mail server to probe whether the mailbox exists and detect catch-all domains. NOTE: outbound port 25 is often blocked on cloud hosts; when unavailable, results fall back to MX-based scoring.

## `concurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many emails to check in parallel.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "emails": [
    "info@apify.com",
    "not-an-email",
    "test@mailinator.com"
  ],
  "emailField": "email",
  "checkSmtp": false,
  "concurrency": 10
}
```

# 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": [
        "info@apify.com",
        "not-an-email",
        "test@mailinator.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("swholmes/email-verifier").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": [
        "info@apify.com",
        "not-an-email",
        "test@mailinator.com",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("swholmes/email-verifier").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).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": [
    "info@apify.com",
    "not-an-email",
    "test@mailinator.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call swholmes/email-verifier --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=swholmes/email-verifier",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "Email Verifier & Deliverability Scorer",
        "description": "Clean and score any email list. Checks syntax, domain MX records, disposable/free providers, and role addresses, with optional SMTP mailbox probing and catch-all detection. Feed it a list or another Actor's dataset.",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "E4ftyvaHVgZme8U0I"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/swholmes~email-verifier/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-swholmes-email-verifier",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/swholmes~email-verifier/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-swholmes-email-verifier",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/swholmes~email-verifier/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-swholmes-email-verifier",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "emails": {
                        "title": "Emails",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "List of email addresses to verify. Ignored if inputDatasetId is set.",
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "inputDatasetId": {
                        "title": "Input dataset ID (optional)",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Pull emails from another Actor's dataset instead of the list above. Great for verifying a lead/enrichment run's output."
                    },
                    "emailField": {
                        "title": "Email field name",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Which field in the input dataset holds the email address.",
                        "default": "email"
                    },
                    "checkSmtp": {
                        "title": "Attempt SMTP mailbox check",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "Connect to the mail server to probe whether the mailbox exists and detect catch-all domains. NOTE: outbound port 25 is often blocked on cloud hosts; when unavailable, results fall back to MX-based scoring.",
                        "default": false
                    },
                    "concurrency": {
                        "title": "Concurrency",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 50,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "How many emails to check in parallel.",
                        "default": 10
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```