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Email Validator API — MX, SMTP, Disposable Detection

Validate any email address in real-time: format check, MX record verification, SMTP mailbox probe, disposable/temporary email detection (400+ domains), free provider identification, and role-based address flagging. A lightweight, zero-dependency alternative to ZeroBounce, Hunter.io, and NeverBounce — no API key required.

👁 Email Validator on Apify
👁 GitHub

How It Works

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
 │ Email Validator API │
 └──────────────────┬──────────────────────────┘
 │
 ┌──────────────────▼──────────────────────────┐
 │ Step 1: FORMAT CHECK (+20 pts) │
 │ RFC 5321 regex validation │
 │ ✗ Invalid → stop, return error │
 └──────────────────┬──────────────────────────┘
 │ ✓ Valid
 ┌──────────────────▼──────────────────────────┐
 │ Step 2: DISPOSABLE CHECK (-50 pts) │
 │ 400+ temp/throwaway domains │
 │ mailinator, guerrillamail, tempmail... │
 └──────────────────┬──────────────────────────┘
 │
 ┌──────────────────▼──────────────────────────┐
 │ Step 3: ROLE-BASED CHECK (-10 pts) │
 │ 32 common role prefixes │
 │ admin@, support@, noreply@, info@... │
 └──────────────────┬──────────────────────────┘
 │
 ┌──────────────────▼──────────────────────────┐
 │ Step 4: MX RECORD LOOKUP (+40 pts) │
 │ DNS query for mail exchange servers │
 │ Returns up to 5 MX records sorted by │
 │ priority │
 └──────────────────┬──────────────────────────┘
 │ MX found
 ┌──────────────────▼──────────────────────────┐
 │ Step 5: SMTP VERIFICATION (+40 pts) │
 │ Direct TCP connection to mail server │
 │ EHLO → MAIL FROM → RCPT TO │
 │ 250=valid, 550=invalid, 252=catch-all │
 └──────────────────┬──────────────────────────┘
 │
 ┌──────────────────▼──────────────────────────┐
 │ FINAL SCORE (0-100) │
 │ valid = score ≥ 60 AND format ✓ │
 │ AND MX found AND not disposable │
 └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Features

• 5-layer validation pipeline — Format → Disposable → Role → MX → SMTP
• SMTP mailbox verification — Direct port 25 probe confirms if the inbox exists
• 400+ disposable domains — Detects temp/throwaway emails (mailinator, guerrillamail, tempmail, etc.)
• 30+ free providers — Flags Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, ProtonMail, etc.
• 32 role-based prefixes — Detects admin@, support@, noreply@, info@, etc.
• MX record lookup — Returns actual mail exchange servers with priority
• Confidence score — 0-100 point system with clear pass/fail threshold
• Bulk validation — Up to 50 emails per request
• Instant API — Real-time HTTP endpoint via Standby mode (<2s response)
• Zero dependencies — Uses only Node.js built-in modules (dns, net, http)

Use Cases

• Email list cleaning — Remove invalid/disposable addresses before sending campaigns
• Lead validation — Verify prospect emails before adding to CRM
• Signup fraud prevention — Block disposable emails at registration
• Deliverability optimization — Improve sender reputation by removing bad addresses
• B2B lead scoring — Flag free providers vs business domains
• Compliance — Ensure email collection meets data quality standards

Input

Example Input

{
"email":"hello@stripe.com"
}

Output

Full Validation Response

{
"email":"hello@stripe.com",
"valid":true,
"format_valid":true,
"mx_found":true,
"smtp_check":"valid",
"is_disposable":false,
"is_free":false,
"is_role_based":true,
"domain":"stripe.com",
"mx_records":[
{"priority":1,"exchange":"aspmx.l.google.com"},
{"priority":5,"exchange":"alt1.aspmx.l.google.com"}
],
"score":90,
"reason":"Valid email address"
}

Disposable Email Response

{
"domain":"mailinator.com",
"is_disposable":true,
"is_free":false
}

Score Breakdown

Score Component │ Points │ Condition
──────────────────────────┼────────┼──────────────────────────
 Format valid │ +20 │ Passes RFC5321 regex
MX records found │ +40 │ DNS resolves mail servers
SMTP: mailbox exists │ +40 │ RCPTTO returns 250
SMTP: catch-all server │ +20 │ RCPTTO returns 252
SMTP: timeout │ +10 │ Server didn't respond
SMTP: invalid mailbox │ -20 │ RCPTTO returns 550/553
 Disposable domain │ -50 │ Matched 400+ temp domains
 Role-based address │ -10 │ admin@, support@, etc.
──────────────────────────┼────────┼──────────────────────────
VALID threshold │ ≥60 │ AND format ✓ ANDMX ✓
 │ │ AND not disposable

API Endpoints (Standby Mode)

GET /validate — Single Email

$curl"https://YOUR-STANDBY-URL/validate?email=user@gmail.com"

GET /disposable — Quick Disposable Check

curl"https://YOUR-STANDBY-URL/disposable?email=test@mailinator.com"
# or by domain
curl"https://YOUR-STANDBY-URL/disposable?domain=guerrillamail.com"

POST /validate/bulk — Batch Validation

curl-X POST "https://YOUR-STANDBY-URL/validate/bulk"\
-H"Content-Type: application/json"\
-d'{"emails":["user@gmail.com","fake@mailinator.com","ceo@stripe.com"]}'

Response:

{
"count":3,
"results":[
{"email":"user@gmail.com","valid":true,"score":80,"is_free":true,"is_disposable":false},
{"email":"fake@mailinator.com","valid":false,"score":0,"is_disposable":true},
{"email":"ceo@stripe.com","valid":true,"score":90,"is_free":false,"is_role_based":false}
]
}

Pricing

• $0.002 per email validated
• Bulk requests charge per email in the batch
• Free tier available

Compared to Alternatives

Feature │ This API │ ZeroBounce │ Hunter.io │ NeverBounce
──────────────────────┼───────────┼────────────┼───────────┼────────────
 Price per check │ $0.002 │ $0.008 │ $0.010 │ $0.008
SMTP verification │ ✓ │ ✓ │ ✗ │ ✓
 Disposable detection │ 400+ │ ✓ │ ✓ │ ✓
MX record lookup │ ✓ │ ✓ │ ✗ │ ✓
 Role-based detection │ ✓ │ ✓ │ ✗ │ ✗
 Free provider flag │ ✓ │ ✗ │ ✓ │ ✗
API key required │ ✗ │ ✓ │ ✓ │ ✓
 Bulk endpoint │ 50/req │ 100K file │ 10/req │ 100K file
 Real-time API │ <2s │ <3s │ <2s │ <5s
 Confidence score │ 0-100 │ ✗ │ 0-100 │ ✗

Integration Examples

Python

import requests
# Single validation
response = requests.get(
"https://YOUR-STANDBY-URL/validate",
 params={"email":"user@company.com"}
)
result = response.json()
print(f"Valid: {result['valid']}, Score: {result['score']}")

JavaScript

// Bulk validation
const response =awaitfetch("https://YOUR-STANDBY-URL/validate/bulk",{
method:"POST",
headers:{"Content-Type":"application/json"},
body:JSON.stringify({
emails:["user@gmail.com","fake@tempmail.com","ceo@stripe.com"]
})
});
const{ results }=await response.json();
const valid = results.filter(r=> r.valid);
console.log(`${valid.length}/${results.length} emails are valid`);

CRM / Spreadsheet Workflow

1. Export lead list from CRM (CSV with email column)
2. POST emails to /validate/bulk (50 at a time)
3. Filter results: keep only valid=true AND score >=60
4. Re-import cleaned list to CRM
5. Result: higher deliverability, lower bounce rate

Disposable Email Domains (Partial List)

The API detects 400+ disposable/temporary email providers including:

mailinator.com, guerrillamail.com, tempmail.com, yopmail.com, 10minutemail.com, throwaway.email, sharklasers.com, dispostable.com, maildrop.cc, fakeinbox.com, emailondeck.com, getnada.com, mohmal.com, bugmenot.com, trashmail.com, spamgourmet.com, dropmail.me, and 380+ more.

Technical Architecture

Client Request
 │
 ▼
 ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
 │ Apify Standby Container (Node.js 22) │
 │ │
 │ ┌────────────────────────────────────┐ │
 │ │ HTTP Server (port from env) │ │
 │ │ /validate → single check │ │
 │ │ /disposable → quick lookup │ │
 │ │ /validate/bulk → batch (≤50) │ │
 │ └──────────┬─────────────────────────┘ │
 │ │ │
 │ ┌──────────▼─────────────────────────┐ │
 │ │ Validation Pipeline │ │
 │ │ 1. Regex format check │ │
 │ │ 2. Disposable Set lookup (O(1)) │ │
 │ │ 3. Role-based Set lookup (O(1)) │ │
 │ │ 4. DNS MX query (async) │ │
 │ │ 5. SMTP TCP probe (port 25) │ │
 │ └────────────────────────────────────┘ │
 │ │
 │ Zero external API calls │
 │ Zero npm dependencies (beyond Apify) │
 └─────────────────────────────────────────┘

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