Maildrop vs Temp Mail (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Maildrop grades higher than Temp Mail: 3.0 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Maildrop grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Temp Mail grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Temp Mail
Disposable email addresses for sign-ups, with a Premium upgrade
Which one is for you
Pick Maildrop if
- Fits if you need an address for a one-off confirmation email
- Works for developers who want a free inbox to read from code
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you need privacy, as anyone can read any inbox
- Too light for real mail, as it can't send and drops attachments
- Tight if you wait for slow mail, as an inbox keeps 10 messages and clears after 24 hours without mail
- Watch out: connections are logged, and the vendor can't say what happened to a missing email
Pick Temp Mail if
- Fits if you want an address to give a site you'll never visit again
- Works for people who want to keep spam out of their real inbox
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want to keep mail, as received emails are deleted automatically
- Tight if you stay free, since custom names, more mailboxes and no ads are Premium
- Pricey if you pay weekly, at $2.99 a week against $58.99 for the year
- Skip it if you use Android, because the listing we read is iOS only
- Watch out: we couldn't read the temp-mail.org site, so its own plans aren't checked, and App Store prices vary by country
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAMaildropVery good | 2.6GPATemp MailGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree outright, with no sign-up and no account to pay for. | CPremium is $2.99 a week, $7.99 a month or $58.99 a year, about $4.90 a month on the yearly plan, which is inside the middle of email prices. |
| Free plan and trial | AThe whole service is free, including API access with rate limits. | BA free app that makes an address and receives mail and attachments, with ads. One person could live on that for sign-ups. |
| Features | CReceiving mail at any address on its domain, spam filtering and an API. It does the throwaway job fully, which is a smaller job, and it can't send. | COne small job: make an address, receive mail, delete it. It does that, and the Premium extras are custom names, more mailboxes and longer storage. |
| Ease of use | BNo account and nothing to set up: pick an address and read it. | A4.7 from about 20,000 App Store ratings. Open it and an address is ready, no registration. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with a GraphQL API. No apps listed. | CAn iPhone and iPad app on the App Store listing. No Android, web or desktop version is listed there. |
| Best for | a free public inbox with an API | throwaway email addresses on iPhone |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Maildrop and Temp Mail. How we grade
Price against what you get
Maildrop has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Temp Mail starts at $12.96 a month and scores 2.7.
Temp Mail scores higher, and starts $12.96 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other email apps on the chart, none scores higher than Maildrop for less, and 8 score higher than Temp Mail for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Temp Mail also covers email client.
At a glance
| Maildrop | Temp Mail | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $2.99 per week (Premium, auto-renewing in-app subscription) |
| Free plan | Entire service is free: no sign-up, up to 10 messages per inbox, API access with rate limits. | Free app: generate a disposable address and receive emails and attachments, with ads. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Made by | Heluna | Privatix LTD |
| Price read from | maildrop.cc | apps.apple.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Maildrop
- Every inbox is public: the privacy policy says anyone can read any message and to send nothing sensitive.
- Maildrop cannot send email, and attachments are discarded.
- An inbox holds at most 10 messages and is cleared after 24 hours without new mail, sooner when space runs short.
- Connections are logged, and the vendor cannot say what happened to a missing email.
Temp Mail
- Prices are the US App Store in-app amounts; the listing says they can vary by country.
- The temp-mail.org website returned a bot-protection block, so its own plans were not read.
- Received emails are deleted automatically, according to the listing, so it suits short-lived use.
Key features
Maildrop
- No sign-up
- Make up an address at maildrop.cc, give it out, then type it into the site to read the inbox.
- Spam filtering
- Filters from Heluna, plus greylisting, sender checks and subject checks, block most spam before it reaches an inbox.
- GraphQL API
- Developers can list a mailbox, read or delete a message and fetch statistics over a GraphQL endpoint.
- Strict message handling
- Messages must be under 500k and all attachments are removed and discarded.
Temp Mail
- Instant disposable address
- Generates a temporary address on demand with no registration, and it can be copied to the clipboard or shown as a QR code.
- Attachments and notifications
- Receives emails with attachments, sends push notifications for new messages and lets users download the source (EML) of a message.
- Automatic deletion
- The listing says emails are constantly and securely deleted for good, and that addresses can be deleted or replaced in a tap.
- Premium options
- Premium adds custom email names, multiple mailboxes, premium domains, extended storage, premium support and an ad-free app.
Plans
Maildrop
Free$0
Any address at maildrop.cc, no account, 10 messages per inbox, inboxes cleared after 24 hours without mail.
Temp Mail
Premium, 1 week$2.99
per week, in-app subscription
Custom names, multiple mailboxes, in-app email view, premium domains, extended storage, no ads.
Premium, 1 month$7.99
per month, in-app subscription
The same Premium features; a one-month option with a free trial is also listed, trial length not shown.
Premium, 3 months$19.99
per 3 months, in-app subscription
The same Premium features billed every three months.
Premium, 6 months$35.99
per 6 months, in-app subscription
The same Premium features billed every six months.
Premium, 1 year$58.99
per year, in-app subscription
The same Premium features billed yearly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Maildrop or Temp Mail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Maildrop is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $12.96 a month for Temp Mail. Maildrop is free, and Temp Mail starts at $2.99 per week (Premium, auto-renewing in-app subscription).
Which has a free plan, Maildrop or Temp Mail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Maildrop and Temp Mail have a free plan.
Which platforms do Maildrop and Temp Mail run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Maildrop lists a web app and only Temp Mail lists an iOS app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.