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Mailinator

mailinator.com

From $79/mo Free plan WebAndroidAPIBrowser extension
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Spec score 9.0 #3 of 28 in Email Testing Software

What it is

Mailinator provides temporary inboxes and tools for testing email and SMS workflows. Developers, QA teams, and businesses can use it to check delivery for OTP, MFA, onboarding, password recovery, and other email processes at scale. Paid subscriptions include private testing domains, where messages can arrive at any address without creating an inbox first. The REST API retrieves inboxes, messages, and SMS, injects messages, and connects with CI/CD pipelines. Inbound webhooks can accept HTTP POST messages from sources such as alert systems, Zapier, or Twilio, then apply configured rules. SMS can be routed to an inbox or API for automated OTP and 2FA testing. The free public inboxes are readable by anyone, and messages typically auto-delete after several hours. Mailinator is receive-only: it cannot send email or fill out forms. The Public - Free plan is free to use without sign-up. Business costs $79 a month billed yearly; a two-week Business trial is listed. Other plans include Verified Pro at free, Business Plus at $159 a month billed yearly, and Enterprise at a price agreed with the maker with custom pricing.

Spec sheet

What it does
Mailinator provides public and private inboxes for automated email and SMS workflow testing, including sign-ups, 2FA and password resets.Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Purpose
Mailinator provides temporary inboxes and email and SMS workflow testing for developers, QA teams, and businesses.Read 5 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Trial
The pricing page offers a free Business plan trial for two weeks.Read 5 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Integrations
Inbound webhooks can accept HTTP POST messages from sources such as alert systems, Zapier, or Twilio and apply configured rules.Read 5 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Security
Mailinator says web traffic is served over HTTPS, private system email bodies are encrypted at rest, and public system email is not encrypted.Read 5 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Support
Documentation is available 24/7/365; the support page says public issue emails are usually answered within 24–72 hours and subscribers receive priority support.Read 5 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Headquarters
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USARead 23 Sep 2026 · mailinator.com
Founded
2003Read 23 Sep 2026 · mailinator.com
Company
The pricing page says Mailinator is wholly owned and operated in the U.S.A., and the site footer identifies Manybrain, Inc.Read 5 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Android app listing
Google Play lists a third-party app named Mailinator: Verification Email with temporary inboxes, OTP receipt and auto-refresh; the listing shows 100+ downloads and no star rating.Read 14 Oct 2026 · play.google.com
API authentication
API requests authenticate with a team token supplied in an Authorization header or token query parameter.Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
API capabilities
The REST API lists, retrieves, parses and deletes messages, reads attachments and SMTP logs, handles domains and rules, and supports webhook injection.Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Automation
The REST API supports inbox and message retrieval, SMS retrieval, message injection, and integration with CI/CD pipelines.Read 5 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
CLI and MCP
Mailinator publishes a Node.js CLI and MCP server supporting inbox listing, message retrieval and AI-assistant access.Read 14 Oct 2026 · github.com
Company founding
ManyBrain states that Mailinator was founded in 2003 as a way to avoid spam from web forms.Read 14 Oct 2026 · manybrain.com
Company funding
Crunchbase identifies Manybrain, LLC as the legal entity and lists Mailinator as a private Ann Arbor company with 1–10 employees; no funding amount is shown on the accessible profile.Read 14 Oct 2026 · crunchbase.com
Company headquarters
ManyBrain lists its headquarters at 2232 S Main St, Suite 356, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103.Read 14 Oct 2026 · manybrain.com
Company size
LinkedIn lists Manybrain LLC as privately held with 2–10 employees.Read 14 Oct 2026 · linkedin.com
Disposable inboxes
The service lets users create temporary addresses under the public mailinator.com domain without registration.Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Documentation
The January 21, 2026 documentation overhaul added reorganized navigation, API references, Postman material and product guides.Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Email receipt testing
Mailinator supports checking whether transactional and bulk email messages were delivered to test inboxes.Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Email testing
Teams can test email delivery, OTP, MFA, onboarding, password recovery, and other email workflows at scale.Read 5 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Framework integrations
Mailinator advertises use with Selenium, Cypress, Playwright and Puppeteer test frameworks.Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Hosting certifications
The security page lists Linode SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 Type 2, HIPAA Type 1, HITECH, and PCI DSS certifications, and DigitalOcean SOC 2 Type 2, SOC 3 Type 2, and PCI DSS.Read 5 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Licence
The official Python SDK repository is released under the MIT license; Mailinator itself is delivered as a hosted service.Read 14 Oct 2026 · github.com
Limit: blocked addresses
A G2 reviewer reports that some websites blacklist Mailinator addresses and would like private temporary inboxes on the free tier.Read 14 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Limit: privacy and retention
Capterra reviewers complain that public inboxes are not private and that messages may appear slowly or remain available only briefly.Read 14 Oct 2026 · capterra.com
Load testing
Email load testing is offered, with the home page stating that an Enterprise subscription is required.Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Maker legal name
Mailinator is operated by Manybrain, LLC.Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Message rules
Routing rules can process incoming messages and trigger actions such as link clicks or webhook delivery.Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Praise: automation
GetApp reviewers most often cite automated testing, API retrieval, routing rules and private-domain workflow automation as use cases.Read 14 Oct 2026 · getapp.com
Praise: ease and speed
Capterra reviewers repeatedly praise quickly creating test addresses, handling multiple inboxes and simplifying application email testing.Read 14 Oct 2026 · capterra.com
Praise: usability
G2 reviewers describe Mailinator as easy to use, reliable for temporary addresses and useful for QA workflow testing.Read 14 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Private domains
Subscribers receive private testing domains whose inboxes are accessible through the web interface and API.Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Public attachments limitation
Public Mailinator does not allow attachments; the public-inbox page directs users to private subscriptions for that capability.Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Public inbox limitation
Public inboxes are intentionally non-private, and older documentation says messages auto-delete after a few hours.Read 14 Oct 2026 · manybrain.github.io
Public inbox privacy
Public inbox messages are readable by anyone and typically auto-delete after several hours, so the FAQ says not to expect privacy.Read 5 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Rating on Capterra
4.7 out of 5 from 153 reviewsRead 14 Oct 2026 · capterra.com
Rating on Chrome Web Store
5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratingRead 14 Oct 2026 · chromewebstore.google.com
Rating on G2
4.6 out of 5 from 12 reviewsRead 14 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Rating on GetApp
4.7 out of 5 from 142 reviewsRead 14 Oct 2026 · getapp.com
Rating on TrustRadius
8 out of 10 from 2 reviewsRead 14 Oct 2026 · trustradius.com
Receive-only
Mailinator is receive-only and cannot send email or fill out forms.Read 5 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Resilience
The security page describes redundant services with replication, failover and disaster-recovery capability.Read 14 Oct 2026 · api.mailinator.com
SDK update
On October 9, 2026, Mailinator announced updated C#, Python, JavaScript and Ruby SDK releases with new endpoints, tests and security fixes.Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
SDKs
Official client libraries are available for Java, JavaScript, C#, Go, Ruby and Python.Read 14 Oct 2026 · manybrain.github.io
Security controls
Mailinator states that traffic is HTTPS-only, servers are firewalled and Cloudflare-proxied, and production is separated from development and testing environments.Read 14 Oct 2026 · api.mailinator.com
SMS testing
The platform accepts SMS messages for testing workflows such as one-time passcodes.Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
SSO
Enterprise subscriptions support SAML single sign-on.Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Universal IDP
Mailinator offers an OpenID Connect identity provider for testing SSO integrations against private-domain identities.Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Webhook integrations
Documented webhooks can inject messages from systems such as Twilio, Zapier and IFTTT into Mailinator inboxes.Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com

Plans and prices

Public - Free Free Unlimited public inboxes · temporary storage · no sign-up · free to use Read 5 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Public - Free Free per month unlimited public inboxes · temporary storage · no sign-up · no attachments in public inboxes Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Verified Pro Free with Verification Unlimited private inboxes · 1 private domain · 10MB permanent storage · up to 10 emails/sec · 2K emails/mo and 60 emails/day annually · 1 user Read 5 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Verified Pro Free with verification unlimited private inboxes · 1 private domain · 10MB permanent storage · up to 10 emails/sec · 1K emails/month · 1 user Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Business $79 a month Billed Yearly Unlimited private inboxes · 1 private domain · 50MB permanent storage · up to 20 emails/sec · 100K emails/mo · 3,333 emails/day · 5 team seats Read 5 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Business (annual) $79 a month billed yearly unlimited private inboxes · 1 private domain · 50MB storage · up to 20 emails/sec · 100K emails/month · 5 team seats · SSO Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Business $99 a month monthly unlimited private inboxes · 1 private domain · 50MB storage · up to 20 emails/sec · 100K emails/month · 5 team seats · SSO Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Business Plus $159 a month Billed Yearly Unlimited private inboxes · 3 private domains · 100MB permanent storage · up to 100 emails/sec · 300K emails/mo · 10K emails/day · 10 team seats Read 5 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Business Plus (annual) $159 a month billed yearly unlimited private inboxes · 3 private domains · 100MB storage · up to 100 emails/sec · 300K emails/month · 10 team seats · SSO Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Business Plus $199 a month monthly unlimited private inboxes · 3 private domains · 100MB storage · up to 100 emails/sec · 300K emails/month · 10 team seats · SSO Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Enterprise $699 a month and up; custom pricing unlimited private inboxes · 5+ private domains · custom storage · up to 500 emails/sec · 3MM+ emails/month · custom seats and limits · SSO Read 14 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com
Enterprise Priced on request Custom Pricing Unlimited private inboxes · 5+ private domains · custom storage · up to 500 emails/sec · 3MM+ emails/mo · custom daily limits and team seats Read 5 Oct 2026 · mailinator.com

Every Mailinator plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • REST API supports inbox, message, and SMS retrieval
  • Supports automated OTP and 2FA testing
  • Private domains receive mail without prior inbox setup
  • Free public inboxes need no sign-up

Limits

  • Public inbox messages are readable by anyone
  • Cannot send email or fill out forms
  • Business starts at $79 a month billed yearly

Who it suits

It suits developers, QA teams, and businesses that need to test email delivery or SMS-based verification workflows. Teams using public inboxes should not treat their messages as private.

Verdict

Mailinator covers automated testing of email and SMS workflows, with private domains and API tools on subscriptions. Public inboxes are open to others, and the service only receives messages.

Where Specifiction places it

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