# Free email checker URL: https://email-validation.org/email-checker/ Updated: 2026-10-20 > Documentation index: https://email-validation.org/llms.txt Check whether an email address can receive mail before you send to it. You get its status, the reason, a recommended action and flags for free, role, disposable and catch-all addresses, with 5 free checks a day and no sign-up. 5 free checks a day without an account. Unknown results never cost a credit. ## How the check works The checker runs the same validation as our API and dashboard, one address at a time. 1. **Format**: The text must be a well-formed email address. Obvious mistakes, such as a missing @ or a space, are caught before anything else runs, and these answers are free. 2. **Domain**: The domain needs DNS records (MX records) that tell senders where to deliver its mail. A domain without them cannot receive email, whatever the mailbox. 3. **Mailbox**: The receiving mail server is asked whether it would accept mail for this mailbox, the way a sending server starts a delivery, but the conversation stops before any message is sent. No email reaches the address. 4. **Signals**: The result also says whether the address belongs to a free email provider, whether it is a role address such as info@ or sales@, whether it comes from a disposable inbox service and whether the domain accepts mail for every address. Some mail servers refuse to answer, answer slowly or ask senders to come back later. When a check cannot get a definite answer within 15 seconds, the status is unknown. Unknown results are always free, and a later retry often succeeds. A deliverable result means the mailbox accepted the check at that moment. It is a strong signal, not a promise that every future message will arrive. The bot check (Cloudflare Turnstile) loads only after you click into the form. We do not store or log the addresses you check here. ## What each result means Every result has one of four statuses, a reason and a recommended action. - Deliverable The mailbox exists and accepted our check, so mail sent to it should arrive. 1 credit · Send [Deliverable reasons](https://email-validation.org/docs/statuses/deliverable/) - Undeliverable Mail sent to this address will not arrive, so it should come off your list. 1 credit · Remove [Undeliverable reasons](https://email-validation.org/docs/statuses/undeliverable/) - Risky The address may accept mail, but sending to it can hurt your bounce rate or sender reputation. 1 credit · Send with caution [Risky reasons](https://email-validation.org/docs/statuses/risky/) - Unknown We could not get a definite answer this time, so no credit is used and a later retry often succeeds. Free, no credit used · Retry later [Unknown reasons](https://email-validation.org/docs/statuses/unknown/) ## Need more than a few checks? - **[Check a whole list](https://email-validation.org/bulk-email-verification/)**: Upload a CSV, XLSX or TXT file with up to 1,000,000 rows and download the results by status. [Bulk email verification](https://email-validation.org/bulk-email-verification/) - **[Check from code](https://email-validation.org/email-verification-api/)**: Validate addresses at sign-up or in your own tools with the REST API, the SDKs or the MCP server. [Email verification API](https://email-validation.org/email-verification-api/) - **[500 free credits](https://email-validation.org/signin/)**: Create an account to check 500 addresses for free, no card needed. Unknown results never use a credit. [Create a free account](https://email-validation.org/signin/) ## Frequently asked questions **How many free checks does the email checker allow?** 5 checks a day from each IP address, after a quick bot check, within a daily limit shared by all visitors. For more, create an account and use your 500 free credits. **Do you store the addresses I check here?** No. The address is sent once over HTTPS to run the check; we do not store or log it, and it never appears in a URL. We keep only the result, under a keyed hash of the address, for 12 months, so a repeat check can be answered without checking the address again. **How does a check work? Do you send an email?** A check looks at the syntax, the domain's DNS and MX records, and then asks the receiving mail server whether the mailbox exists. We also flag disposable, role and catch-all addresses. No email is sent to the address you check. **Which statuses can a result have?** Four: deliverable, undeliverable, risky and unknown. Every result also has a reason that explains why, such as no\_mailbox, disposable or greylisted, and a recommended action: send, send with caution, remove or retry later. **Am I charged for unknown results?** No. Any result with the status unknown is free. That includes checks where the receiving mail server does not answer within 15 seconds. Requests that fail with an error, malformed addresses and test addresses are free too. **What does catch-all mean?** A catch-all domain accepts mail for any address at that domain, real or not. No verifier can confirm a specific mailbox there without sending a message. We mark these results risky with the reason catch\_all. Keep them in a separate segment, send to them carefully and watch your bounces.