Mailinator
Email deliverability tools
Email testing software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
Take the quiz to check if Mailinator and its alternatives fit your requirements.
$79 per month
Free TrialFree version
Small
Medium
Large
- Information technology and software
- Banking and insurance
- Construction
What is Mailinator
Mailinator is an email testing tool that provides disposable, public inboxes for receiving messages without creating real email accounts. It is commonly used by QA teams, developers, and support teams to test sign-up flows, transactional email delivery, and email-based workflows. The service supports both public inboxes (anyone can view) and paid private domains/inboxes intended for controlled testing. It focuses on message capture and inspection rather than outbound email sending or campaign management.
Fast disposable inbox access
Users can generate an inbox instantly and receive messages without provisioning mailboxes or managing credentials. This reduces friction when testing registration, password reset, and notification flows. It is especially practical for repetitive QA cycles where many unique addresses are required.
Private domains for QA
Paid plans offer private domains/inboxes that keep test messages out of publicly accessible inboxes. This supports teams that need more control over test data and access. It also helps standardize test addresses across environments while keeping them isolated from real customer mailboxes.
Programmatic testing support
Mailinator provides API-based access in paid tiers, enabling automated retrieval and validation of email content in test suites. This fits CI/CD workflows where tests need to assert links, codes, or templates inside messages. It complements broader email QA tools by focusing on capture and verification of received mail.
Not a deliverability platform
Mailinator does not function as an outbound sending service and does not replace tools that manage IP/domain reputation, authentication configuration, or deliverability analytics. It primarily confirms that an application generated and sent an email to an address. Teams still need separate capabilities to diagnose inbox placement and deliverability performance across providers.
Public inbox privacy risks
Public inboxes are accessible to anyone who knows the inbox name, which can expose test messages and any embedded data. This makes public inboxes unsuitable for sensitive content, production data, or regulated environments. Teams typically need private domains/inboxes and strict test-data practices to mitigate this.
Limited rendering and QA depth
Mailinator is oriented around receiving and viewing messages, not comprehensive pre-send design validation. It is less suited for deep checks such as multi-client rendering comparisons, spam-filter previews, or advanced template diagnostics. Organizations with complex marketing email QA often pair it with more specialized testing and deliverability tooling.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Public (Public Inbox) | $0 — Free | Unlimited public inboxes, temporary storage, no sign-up required; basic testing features. |
| Verified Pro | $0 (requires verification) | Unlimited private inboxes, 1 private domain, 10MB permanent storage, limits: ~1K emails/month, 60 emails/day, 1 user; requires account verification. |
| Business | $79 per month (billed yearly) / $99 per month (month-to-month) | Unlimited private inboxes, 1 private domain, 50MB permanent storage, up to 20 emails/sec, ~100K emails/month, 5 team seats, API & webhooks, SMS testing (additional charge), phone/email support. |
| Business Plus | $159 per month (billed yearly) / $199 per month (month-to-month) | Unlimited private inboxes, 3 private domains, 100MB permanent storage, up to 100 emails/sec, ~300K emails/month, 10 team seats, SMS testing (additional charge), SSO support, pay-by-invoice option. |
| Enterprise | $699 per month and up (custom pricing) | Custom domains (5+), custom storage, high throughput (up to 500 emails/sec in listed tier), 3M+ emails/month, custom seats, accelerated support, custom terms; contact sales. |
