A ZeroBounce alternative for signup-form validation at a fraction of the per-email price
ZeroBounce is a list-cleaning service with a real API behind it: 100 free validation credits a month, then pay-as-you-go from $39 for 2,000 emails or a $99 monthly subscription. If your job is scrubbing a marketing list before a campaign, that is the right category of tool. If your job is stopping bad addresses at a signup form, the Email Validation API does the checks that matter there, syntax, live MX, disposable domains and typo suggestions, for 10 tokens a call on a plan shared with the rest of the catalog.
| What | ZeroBounce | Email Validation API |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Freemium at $0 with 100 validation credits a month, excluding activity data (as published). | 500 tokens a month, no card; 10 tokens per validation, so 50 free validations. |
| Entry paid price | Pay as you go from $39 for 2,000 emails; ZeroBounce ONE subscription $99/month (as published). | Starter $6.99 for 2,500 validations a month; Pro $24.99 for 15,000. |
| Data retention | Data is never stored for more than 30 days (as published). | Nothing is stored: the address is checked and the result returned. |
| Authentication | Multiple API keys listed as a feature; the call method is on the docs page, which did not load (as published). | One API key, sent as the X-Api-Key header. The same key works for every API in the catalog. |
| Data source | Not stated. | RFC-style syntax rules, live DNS MX lookups over DNS-over-HTTPS, a 12,169-domain disposable blocklist, and a typo dictionary of popular mail domains. |
Facts about ZeroBounce were read from its own pages on October 29, 2026. If something has changed since, tell us and we will update the page. Sources: ZeroBounce pricing.
Reasons to pick Email Validation API
- Per-email cost that fits a signup form: thousands of validations for the price of a coffee, with tokens that reset monthly.
- Disposable-domain detection and did-you-mean suggestions in the same call, which fixes the two most common form problems.
- No lists uploaded anywhere: one address in, one verdict out, nothing retained.
- One key for the whole catalog, so phone validation and IP intelligence sit beside it for the same form.
When ZeroBounce is still the better choice
- You clean large existing lists and need bounce-risk scoring, catch-all detection or activity data, which the Email Validation API does not provide.
- You want the bulk upload and reporting interface rather than an API.
Try it with your key
The first endpoint of the API as a curl command. Create a free key and paste it in. (Validate Email, 10 tokens).
curl "https://api-email-validation.dataandapis.com/v1/validate?email=jane.doe%40gmail.com" \
-H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"Plans
Free 500 tokens a month · Starter $6.99 for 25,000 · Pro $24.99 for 150,000 · Ultra $99.99 for 1,000,000. Every plan covers every API.
Pairs well with: Disposable Email Checker API — Check an email or domain against 12,000 disposable mail providers, subdomains included
Questions people ask
- Is it a replacement for list cleaning?
- No. It validates one address at a time at the point of entry. For scrubbing a large list before a campaign, a bulk service like ZeroBounce remains the right tool.
- What does the response contain?
- Whether the syntax is valid, whether the domain has MX records, whether the domain is disposable, the normalized address, and a suggestion when a popular domain looks misspelled.
- How fast is it?
- A live DNS lookup over DNS-over-HTTPS, typically a few hundred milliseconds end to end.
One key, 128 APIs, free to start
500 tokens a month without a card. Most calls cost one token.
Create a free account