# Reacher review (2026): is it any good? > Open-source email verification engine with an HTTP backend Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Reacher checks whether an email address exists by talking to the recipient's mail server, without sending a message. It is open-source software under the MIT license, written in Rust and run on your own infrastructure. A hosted version is offered through a separate service, No2Bounce, and a proxy service handles port 25 traffic. - **Category:** Email Verification & Deliverability - **Made by:** Reacher - **Website:** https://reacher.email - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you do not want to host and maintain a server. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Reacher is free to use. - **Pricing model:** Free - **Free plan:** The open-source engine is free to download and run yourself under the MIT license. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Self-hosted Reacher | $0 | Open-source software you run on your own servers. You supply the infrastructure. | Read from https://reacher.email/pricing on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Reacher before buying. ## Key features - **SMTP-based address check:** Checks whether a mailbox exists without sending an email; the GitHub project describes it as written in Rust. - **HTTP backend:** The repository comes with an HTTP backend, so the verifier can be called as an API from your own applications. - **Modifiable source:** The MIT-licensed code can be downloaded, changed and built into your own verification system. - **Port 25 SMTP proxies:** A separate Reacher service offers managed IP pools with rotation and MX-aware routing, for senders whose servers block verification traffic. ## Good for - Developers who want to run their own verifier - SaaS teams validating sign-up addresses inside their own stack - Teams that need to control where addresses are processed ## Worth knowing - You host and maintain it yourself; the pricing page says mail servers often limit or block verification traffic from unknown IP addresses. - Hosted verification, including catch-all checks, is a separate service called No2Bounce with usage-based pricing, which was not priced on the Reacher pages. - The Reacher site says it is owned by No2Bounce. - The SMTP proxy service is a separate paid offering; its prices were not read. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.0 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Reacher is an open-source email verification engine you host yourself, under the MIT license. Mail servers often block verification traffic from unknown IPs, and the hosted version with catch-all checks is a separate service. - **Value for money: C.** Free software, but you supply and run the server, which makes it a C under the ladder. The proxy service and hosted checks are priced separately and were not read. - **Free plan and trial: B.** The engine is free to download and run under MIT. It costs you a server and an IP that mail servers will accept. - **Features: C.** SMTP-based address check behind an HTTP backend. Catch-all checks come from a separate hosted service. - **Ease of use: D.** Self-hosting, and an HTTP API to call it. No rating on record. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** Web only, and no integrations are listed. You get the source and an HTTP backend. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Reacher's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among email verification and deliverability tools - Reacher's GPA of 2.0 is higher than 8 of the 61 other email verification and deliverability tools we grade, and level with 14. - It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 53 of 61) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0). - Reacher has no paid plan. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 1.7 out of 4, and no tool on the category's chart scores higher without costing more. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/email-deliverability ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** Reacher is free, so making your own would save you nothing. And it is not the kind of software a weekend replaces. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 39 of the 61 other email verification and deliverability tools grade higher. - 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, Open source, Self-hostable, Public API ## Alternatives - [Bouncer](https://toolgpa.com/tools/bouncer): Email list verification with credits that never expire. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bouncer-vs-reacher) - [Emailable](https://toolgpa.com/tools/emailable): Email list verification with inbox reports and blacklist monitoring. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/emailable-vs-reacher) - [MillionVerifier](https://toolgpa.com/tools/millionverifier): Low-cost bulk email verification with credits that never expire. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/millionverifier-vs-reacher) - [Reoon Email Verifier](https://toolgpa.com/tools/reoon): Bulk and real-time email verification with refunds on unknowns. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/reacher-vs-reoon) - [MailTester.ninja](https://toolgpa.com/tools/mailtester-ninja): Real-time email verifier and finder with a REST API. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/mailtester-ninja-vs-reacher) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://reacher.email/pricing - https://reacher.email - https://github.com/reacherhq/check-if-email-exists Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/reacher Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).