Email Hippo vs ZeroBounce (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Email Hippo if

• Fits if you clean a list now and then and want a small pay-as-you-go pack
• Works for teams that want fraud and risk signals on sign-ups

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want real-time checks on CORE, since they need a MORE, INSIGHT or ASSESS subscription
• Tight if you stay free, as it is 100 checks once
• Watch out: the starting price of $9.88 is for 1,000 checks and the billing basis is not stated
• Watch out: a minimum transaction fee applies to pay-as-you-go
• Watch out: above 2.5 million checks a month you need a quote

Pick ZeroBounce if

• Fits if you want list cleaning, warm-up and DMARC for one domain on one bill
• Works for developers who want an API with SDKs in 16 languages, or checks from an iPhone or iPad

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you only need a list cleaned, at about $129 for 10,000 checks
• Tight if you send from several domains, as ONE watches DMARC for just one
• Watch out: unused tests, monitors and warm-up seeds on ONE don't roll over, only verification credits do
• Watch out: the free 100 checks a month need a business email domain at sign-up
• Not for you if you're on Android or a desktop, as the only app is for iPhone and iPad

Email Hippo

• Prices are shown as a starting figure for 1,000 checks; the pricing calculator loads by script and the billing basis of the starting figure was not stated.
• CORE does not offer real-time checks; real-time use needs a MORE, INSIGHT or ASSESS API subscription.
• A minimum transaction fee applies to pay-as-you-go purchases.
• Enterprise quotes are required above 2.5 million checks a month, and above 1 million for ASSESS.

ZeroBounce

• Warm-up and DMARC monitoring come only with ZeroBounce ONE, and it covers a single DMARC domain.
• Unused tests, monitors, searches and warm-up seeds on ONE do not roll over; only verification credits do.
• The FAQ says credits never expire with an active ONE subscription; otherwise expiry rules may apply depending on when they were bought.
• The free credits need a business or premium email domain at sign-up.

Email Hippo

Bulk file verification (CORE)

Upload a CSV of up to 500,000 emails and pay only for unique addresses; duplicates are not charged.

Real-time validation (MORE)

An API that the page rates at about 430 ms average response and up to 250 requests per second.

Email intelligence (INSIGHT)

Adds a gibberish check, subaddressing detection, dark web checks and a marketing trust score.

Fraud assessment (ASSESS)

Adds a risk score, domain reputation and age, IP and location analysis, Tor exit node checks and blocklist detection.

WHOIS API

A separate product for domain age, ownership and registrar data.

ZeroBounce

Email validation

Checks lists by file upload or real-time API and flags invalid, catch-all, disposable, role-based, abuse and spam-trap addresses. Unknown results and duplicates are free.

AI scoring

An AI model scores each address for quality at one extra credit, which helps decide whether to send to catch-all and other uncertain addresses.

Email Finder

Finds a person's work address from a name and company domain, at 20 credits per successful search; unknown results cost nothing.

Warm-up and placement tests

ZeroBounce ONE includes warm-up through a seed network, inbox placement tests against 20+ providers and email server tests.

Blacklist and DMARC monitoring

Monitors IPs and domains on blacklists and gathers daily DMARC reports for one domain on the ONE plan.

API, SDKs and iOS app

A validation and scoring API with SDKs in 16 languages, an MCP server, and an iOS app for checking lists from an iPhone or iPad.

Email Hippo

• CORE$9.88

  per month and up, for 1,000 checks; billing basis not stated

  Bulk CSV list cleaning on a monthly, quarterly or annual subscription, or pay as you go (1,000 checks is about $9.88). Up to 500,000 emails per file.

• MORE$9.88

  per month and up, for 1,000 checks; billing basis not stated

  Real-time API for sign-up validation: DNS, MX and SMTP checks plus disposable, role, freemail and catch-all detection. Volumes run from 1,000 to 2,500,000 a month.

• INSIGHT$12.26

  per month and up, for 1,000 checks; billing basis not stated

  Everything in MORE plus enrichment such as a marketing trust score, dark web checks and consumer or business identification.

• ASSESS$14.63

  per month and up, for 1,000 checks; billing basis not stated

  Everything in INSIGHT plus fraud signals such as a risk score, domain age, IP and location analysis. Online volumes run to 1,000,000 a month.

ZeroBounce

• Freemium$0

  100 verification credits that refill each month, one inbox placement test, one server test and one blacklist monitor.

• Pay-As-You-Go$39

  one-time for 2,000 credits

  The minimum purchase. Per-credit rates fall with volume: about $129 for 10,000 ($0.0129 each) and $0.0032 each at 1 million.

• ZeroBounce ONE$79

  per month for 10,000 credits, billed annually ($99 monthly)

  Credits roll over, plus 250 warm-up seeds, 100 inbox tests, 100 server tests, 10 blacklist monitors, 1 DMARC domain and 15% off extra credits.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Purchases or subscriptions of more than 1 million credits, with onboarding and training.

Email Hippo

No public discounts listed.

ZeroBounce

• Annual discount

  20% off ZeroBounce ONE billed annually

  ZeroBounce ONE costs $79 a month when paid annually in one charge, against $99 billed monthly.