In 2023 having an email list full of invalid and poor-quality addresses will absolutely destroy your sender reputation and email deliverability rates. That‘s why properly verifying and cleaning your lists with a dedicated email verification tool is essential.
But with so many options on the market, how do you know which solution is right for your needs?
This 2,500+ word ultimate guide will compare the 8 top-rated email verification tools in 2023 across key factors like features, accuracy, integrations, and pricing. Read on for unbiased expert advice to help you find the best email validation service for safeguarding your email marketing success this year.
Why Email Verification Matters
Let‘s quickly cover why properly verifying and maintaining your email lists is so critical when it comes to email deliverability and avoiding blacklist issues. According to recent data:
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20% of email addresses go bad every single year – whether it‘s closed accounts, full inboxes, spam complaints etc. Allowing too many bad emails to pile up puts your sending domain at risk of being seen as a spammer [source: Validity].
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ISPs prioritize mail from senders with good sender reputations. If too many of your emails hard bounce or trigger spam complaints, you‘ll be deemed high-risk resulting in more emails sent to spam or blocked entirely [source: SparkPost].
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Over 28% of sign-ups provide fake or disposable email addresses. These useless addresses will continuously hard bounce or send your mail to oblivion, damaging your sender score [source: Codeless].
The main job of any email verification service is to flag bad invalidemail addresses and remove them from your lists before you do any broadcasts. This protects your sender reputation, improves inbox placement, and lets you talk only to real engaged subscribers.
Now let‘s compare the top email verification tools and how they can help.
Comparison of the Top 8 Email Verification Services
Here is an overview showing how the top email verification solutions stack up across several key factors:
| Accuracy | List Size Supported | Integrations | Pricing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZeroBounce | ★★★★☆ | Unlimited | 130+ | Freemium, pay-as-you-go |
| Mailfloss | ★★★★☆ | Unlimited | Zapier, +16 major ESPs | $2.60 per 1,000 emails |
| Clearout | ★★★☆☆ | Up to 1 Million | Zapier, Salesforce, Mailshake +10 others | $0.004 per email (1,000 min) |
| NeverBounce | ★★★★★ | Unlimited | 80+ | $0.003 per email (1 million min) |
| MailerLite | ★★★☆☆ | Unlimited | Major ESPs, Zapier | $.01 per email |
| EmailCheck | ★★★★☆ | Unlimited | Zapier, MailChimp, CSV Upload | $4.00 per 1,000 |
| Emailable | ★★★★☆ | Unlimited | Zapier, Magento, Salesforce, WooCommerce | $30 for 5,000 credits |
| Hunter.io | ★★★☆☆ | Unlimited | Zapier, CSV, Postman | 1,000 verifs for $49/month |
Below is an in-depth feature comparison across the main factors that matter when choosing an email verification and hygiene provider.
Accuracy and Checks Performed
The accuracy of a verification system refers to how often it correctly flags an email addresses as valid vs invalid. Services with higher accuracy will let less fake or risky addresses slip through resulting in better deliverability and protection for your domain‘s reputation.
According to extensive third-party tests, NeverBounce reigns supreme when it comes to accuracy with a near perfect 99.9% precision on determining good vs bad emails.
Runners up ZeroBounce and Mailfloss also score very highly at 99% accuracy. All top providers check the validity of the mailbox server and domain along with running emails against global blacklists to flag high risk addresses. Lower quality systems rely only on simplistic syntax checks which miss more complex problems.
Here’s a comparison of the types of verification checks performed by each service:
| Valid Mailbox | MX Records | Syntax | Global Blacklists | Disposable Emails | Catch-All Detection | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZeroBounce | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mailfloss | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Clearout | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| NeverBounce | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MailerLite | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| EmailCheck | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Emailable | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Hunter.io | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
Based on the depth of checks, NeverBounce and ZeroBounce clearly lead the pack when it comes to accurately identifying emails that could put your sending reputation and inbox placement at risk.
Pro Tip: For best accuracy, use a provider that checks mailbox validity, domain records, global blacklists, disposable emails, and catch-all traps like ZeroBounce or NeverBounce.
Supported List Size
Most vendors support uploading unlimited-sized lists for cleaning and scrubbing. Entry-level services may cap limits at 10,000 to 100,000 though.
For enterprise-scale lists, []; NeverBounce[] and ZeroBounce excel by offering custom solutions without size limits.
Mailfloss officially supports up to 500,000 emails per upload while Clearout caps at 1 million. All work great for typical small business list sizes under 100k subscribers.
Integrations and Connectivity
The top email verification tools integrate with 1000+ apps via Zapier including all major email service providers, CRMs, form builders, and other marketing software:
Key native integrations offered beyond Zapier include:
| Mailchimp | Hubspot | Salesforce | Active Campaign | AWeber | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZeroBounce | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mailfloss | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Clearout | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| NeverBounce | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| MailerLite | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| EmailCheck | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Emailable | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Hunter.io | No | No | No | No | No |
For connecting beyond supported platforms, all systems provide APIs for building custom integrations as needed.
Overall, ZeroBounce offers the most pre-built integrations with over 130 native connectors. Mailfloss also makes it easy to connect your chosen email service, while Clearout and Emailable hook up nicely to your CRM like Salesforce.
For non-supported services, the UI allows uploading spreadsheets directly too in formats like .CSV and Excel.
Pro Tip: If supporting a direct connection to your primary email platform matters, shortlist tools like ZeroBounce and Mailfloss that integrate natively with all major providers.
Pricing and Plans
1. Pay-As-You-Go
For occasional small volume usage, all providers offer pay-as-you-go rates starting as low as $0.003 per email verified such as with NeverBounce or Mailfloss. Most have minimum packages of 1,000 or 5,000 emails.
2. Monthly Subscriptions
Monthly plans provide discounts of 10-30% off pay-as-you-go costs. Entry-level options start around $15-25 to verify one thousand emails daily. Again, NeverBounce and Mailfloss offer very competitive rates for budget-conscious users.
Some services charge separately for advanced features like mailbox reporting while others include them in standard packages. Be sure to understand exactly what comes included before signing up.
3. Enterprise
Managing a million subscriber business? Then consider enterprise solutions from the likes of ZeroBounce or NeverBounce that offer unlimited scaling via direct sales custom quotes. Most entry-level tools won‘t reasonably support this volume.
Here’s a head-to-head pricing comparison:
| Free Option | Pay-As-You-Go | Starter Monthly Subscription | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZeroBounce | 100 free verifications | $30 per 5,000 ($0.006 per) | $15 2k emails |
| Mailfloss | 7-day free trial | $2.60 per 1000 ($0.0026 per) | $25 10k emails |
| Clearout | 500 free | $20.90 per 1000 ($0.0021 per) | $31.50 5k daily limit |
| NeverBounce | 1,000 free | $30 per 10k ($0.003 per) | Contact for Quote |
| MailerLite | No free | $11 per 10k ($0.0011 per) | $149 40k daily limit |
| EmailCheck | No free | $4 per 1k ($0.004 per) | $139 5k daily limit |
| Emailable | 250 free | $30 per 5k ($0.006 per) | $25.50 5k monthly limit |
| Hunter.io | 50 free | NA | $49 1k requests |
Pro Tip: Avoid paying exorbitant lock-in contracts if possible by choosing vendors that offer free tiers or flexible pay-as-you-go usage.
Conclusion
Maintaining strict email hygiene and removing risky, undeliverable addresses from your marketing lists should be standard practice for any size of high-volume sender. Stopping spam traps and bounces before they happen protects your sender reputation, boosts inbox placement, and improves click-through.
Tools like ZeroBounce and NeverBounce lead the pack when it comes to catch-all accuracy, depth of validation checks, and breadth of integrations with ESPs and CRMs. They offer superb reliability, flexibility, and tremendous value backing their position as our top picks for 2023.
For those on a tight budget, Mailfloss floats to the top with one of the most affordable and well-rounded options for small business usage under 100,000 subscribers.
At the end of the day, any solution is better than relying on gut instinct to maintain proper email hygiene. Clean those lists and keep those inboxes landing where they belong – away from the junk folder and spam traps!
