# mailboxlayer review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Email validation API that returns a JSON quality score Checked Nov 12, 2026 ยท graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA. mailboxlayer is a REST API for developers that checks one email address per request and returns JSON. The response covers syntax and typo suggestions, MX records, an SMTP check, catch-all, role, free-provider and disposable flags, and a quality score. It is part of the APILayer family of APIs. - **Category:** Email Verification & Deliverability - **Made by:** APILayer - **Website:** https://mailboxlayer.com - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Not for you if you want to upload a list, because there is only an API. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 12, 2026, mailboxlayer has a free plan, and paid plans start at $14.99 per month for 5,000 requests. - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** 100 API requests, for non-commercial use only. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Free | $0 | 100 API requests, non-commercial use, no support, no catch-all detection. | | Basic | $14.99 per month for 5,000 requests, billed monthly | Commercial use, standard support and catch-all detection. Yearly billing is $161.99. | | Professional Plus | $74.99 per month for 50,000 requests, billed monthly | Adds a bulk endpoint that takes 25 emails at a time. Yearly billing is $787.99. | | Enterprise Plus | $249.99 per month for 250,000 requests, billed monthly | Bulk endpoint of 100 emails per call. Yearly billing is $2,549.99. | | Custom | Custom | Unlimited requests and dedicated support, quoted by the vendor. | Read from https://mailboxlayer.com/pricing on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with mailboxlayer before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **Save 10% to 15% with yearly billing** (Annual discount): The pricing page shows yearly totals with discounts of 10% (Basic), 12.5% (Professional Plus) and 15% (Enterprise Plus). Source: https://mailboxlayer.com/pricing ## Key features - **Syntax and typo check:** Validates format and returns a did-you-mean suggestion for common typos. - **Real-time SMTP check:** Pings the address's mail server and tests it for catch-all configuration; catch-all detection is not in the free plan. - **Free and disposable filters:** A daily-updated provider database flags addresses at free providers such as Gmail and at disposable ones such as Mailinator. - **Role detection:** Flags role addresses that map to a function instead of a person. - **Quality score:** Each response includes a numeric score for the address's quality and deliverability. - **Usage statistics:** Daily and monthly request counts, with notifications when a plan's allowance runs low. ## Good for - Developers who want a single REST call in a sign-up form - Small projects that stay inside a few thousand checks a month ## Worth knowing - An API only: there is no list upload or bulk cleaning page, and the bulk endpoint starts at Professional Plus. - The free plan is 100 requests and non-commercial; the homepage text mentions 1,000 free monthly requests and subscriptions from $9.99, which the pricing page does not show. - Each address checked counts as one API request; overage is listed as a per-request charge on the pricing page. - Yearly billing is discounted by 10% to 15% depending on the plan. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 1.8 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. mailboxlayer is an API that checks an email address and returns a JSON quality score. It has no list upload or bulk cleaning page, the free plan is 100 non-commercial requests, and the bulk endpoint of 25 addresses starts at Professional Plus for $74.99 a month. - **Value for money: C.** Basic is $14.99 a month for 5,000 requests, between the $10 cheaper quarter and the $17.99 middle. Professional Plus is $74.99 and Enterprise Plus $249.99, all billed monthly with yearly at a discount. - **Free plan and trial: C.** Free is 100 API requests, non-commercial, with no support and no catch-all detection. Commercial use needs Basic. - **Features: C.** Syntax, SMTP, disposable and role checks with a score. No list upload exists, and catch-all detection and bulk need paid plans. - **Ease of use: D.** No store rating on record. It is an API only, so you need code to use it. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** Web API only. No apps and no integrations are listed. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from mailboxlayer's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among email verification and deliverability tools - mailboxlayer's GPA of 1.8 is higher than 1 of the 38 other email verification and deliverability tools we grade, and level with 2. - It stands best on value for money (C, above 5 of 38) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $14.99 a month, against a middle price of $17.49 for the category: 8 of the 25 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 1.7 out of 4. 8 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/email-deliverability ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** Nothing mailboxlayer does is plain enough to make in a weekend. The 2 things listed below take a company. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 35 of the 38 other email verification and deliverability tools grade higher. It costs $179.88 a year. - You could not: Checking that an address exists without writing to it. - You could not: An API that other software can build on. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. **Tags:** Email verification, Public API ## Alternatives - [Abstract Email Validation](https://toolgpa.com/tools/abstract-email): Email validation API: format, MX and SMTP checks in one call. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/abstract-email-vs-mailboxlayer) - [Kickbox](https://toolgpa.com/tools/kickbox): Pay-as-you-go email verification with an optional threat score. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/kickbox-vs-mailboxlayer) - [ZeroBounce](https://toolgpa.com/tools/zerobounce): Email list verification with warm-up and DMARC monitoring in one plan. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/mailboxlayer-vs-zerobounce) - [NeverBounce](https://toolgpa.com/tools/neverbounce): Email list cleaning and real-time verification, now part of ZoomInfo. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/mailboxlayer-vs-neverbounce) - [Emailable](https://toolgpa.com/tools/emailable): Email list verification with inbox reports and blacklist monitoring. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/emailable-vs-mailboxlayer) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026: - https://mailboxlayer.com/pricing - https://mailboxlayer.com Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/mailboxlayer Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).