Disposable email checker
Check whether an email address is disposable, temporary, role-based or from a free provider — and whether the domain can receive mail at all. No signup.
Same check from your code
The API returns everything above plus live mailbox verification, catch-all detection, and whether the address has been reported for abuse across the LayerCall network.
curl "https://www.layercall.com/v1/verify/email?email=test@mailinator.com" \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_KEY"1,000 lookups a month free, no card. Get a key or read the docs.
What each signal means
Disposable
The domain belongs to a throwaway or temporary mail service — Mailinator, 10-minute-mail and thousands of others.
The single strongest predictor of free-trial abuse and fake signups. Someone using a mailbox that self-destructs in ten minutes is not planning to be a long-term customer.
Role account
The local part is a function rather than a person: info@, admin@, support@, sales@, billing@.
Usually a shared mailbox. Fine for B2B contact forms, poor for individual accounts, and a common source of bounces and spam complaints because nobody feels personally responsible for it.
Free provider
Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo and similar consumer mail hosts.
Not a fraud signal on its own — most real people use one. It matters only in context: a free-provider address on a B2B enterprise signup is worth a second look, on a consumer product it is the norm.
MX found
The domain publishes mail-exchange records, so it can actually receive mail.
No MX means nothing you send will ever arrive. Catching this at signup prevents a dead account and a bounce that damages your sending reputation.
Questions
What is a disposable email address?
A temporary mailbox from a service that lets anyone create an address instantly, read one message and abandon it. They exist to get past email verification without giving out a real address, which makes them the most common tool for free-trial abuse and fake account creation.
How do you detect disposable domains?
A continuously updated list of known throwaway providers, combined with structural signals — domain age, MX configuration, and whether the domain behaves like a mail host or a disposable front end. New providers appear constantly, so the list is refreshed rather than static.
Should I block all disposable emails?
Usually yes on signup for anything with a free tier or trial, since that is precisely what they are used to abuse. Be more careful on checkout or support forms, where the cost of a false positive is a lost paying customer rather than a lost freeloader.
Does this verify the mailbox actually exists?
Not in this free tool. It checks syntax, MX records and classification. Live mailbox verification — an SMTP probe confirming the address accepts mail — and catch-all detection are available with an API key.
Is checking an email address here private?
Lookups are counted for rate limiting and cached briefly for speed. We do not build marketing profiles from them — see our Privacy Policy.