# Email Validator Pro — Bulk SMTP & Deliverability Check (`accurate_pouch/email-validator`) Actor

Validate emails in bulk with SMTP mailbox check, disposable detection, catch-all flagging, deliverability scoring, and typo suggestions. 20 emails free per run.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/accurate_pouch/email-validator.md
- **Developed by:** [Manchitt Sanan](https://apify.com/accurate_pouch) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Lead generation
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 7 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$5.00 / 1,000 email validateds

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

## 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.

***

### 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

***

### Quick start

```json
{
    "emails": [
        "jane.doe@example.com",
        "disposable@example.org",
        "info@example.com"
    ],
    "checkSmtp": true,
    "checkDisposable": true
}
```

***

### 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 |

***

### 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 |

***

### Output

Each email produces one item in the dataset:

```json
{
    "email": "jane.doe@example.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 |

***

### 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.

***

### 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

***

### 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.

***

### Related actors in this suite

Other tools by [accurate_pouch](https://apify.com/accurate_pouch) for outreach + automation:

- **[Google Sheets R/W](https://apify.com/accurate_pouch/google-sheets-rw)** — Read, append, replace, modify, backup; safe replace + transform. $0.004/op.
- **[TheCrawler](https://apify.com/accurate_pouch/the-crawler)** — Web scraper + LLM-powered structured extraction. AGPL-3.0, also on npm (`thecrawler@0.1.1`). $0.005/page.
- **[Domain Age Checker](https://apify.com/accurate_pouch/domain-age-checker)** — RDAP bulk lookup for domain age. $0.004/domain.
- **[DNS/WHOIS Suite](https://apify.com/accurate_pouch/dns-whois-suite)** — Full DNS lookup + RDAP. $0.004/domain.

***

### Run on Apify

[![Run on Apify](https://apify.com/static/run-on-apify.svg)](https://apify.com/accurate_pouch/email-validator)

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

# Actor input Schema

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

List of email addresses to validate.

## `emailsUrl` (type: `string`):

URL to a CSV or JSON file containing email addresses. One email per line, or JSON array. Use instead of the emails field for large lists (10K+).

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

Connect to the mail server and verify the mailbox exists. More accurate but slower (~2-5 sec per email). Some servers block this.

## `checkDisposable` (type: `boolean`):

Check if the email domain is a known disposable/throwaway provider (mailinator, guerrillamail, etc).

## `timeout` (type: `integer`):

Timeout for SMTP connections in milliseconds. Increase for slow mail servers.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Parallel email validations. Keep low (3-5) to avoid being flagged by mail servers.

## `googleSheetsId` (type: `string`):

Export results to a Google Sheet. Paste the spreadsheet ID from the URL.

## `googleServiceAccountKey` (type: `string`):

Full JSON contents of your Google Service Account key file. Required for Sheets export.

## `dryRun` (type: `boolean`):

Preview results without charges. SMTP checks still run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "emails": [
    "test@example.com",
    "user@example.org",
    "contact@example.net"
  ],
  "checkSmtp": true,
  "checkDisposable": true,
  "timeout": 10000,
  "maxConcurrency": 5,
  "dryRun": false
}
```

# 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": [
        "test@example.com",
        "user@example.org",
        "contact@example.net"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("accurate_pouch/email-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": [
        "test@example.com",
        "user@example.org",
        "contact@example.net",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("accurate_pouch/email-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": [
    "test@example.com",
    "user@example.org",
    "contact@example.net"
  ]
}' |
apify call accurate_pouch/email-validator --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,accurate_pouch/email-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/xLRrWrvo2PxaMtI7q/builds/KR6ec4fuu3MgvAnpP/openapi.json