EmptyInbox vs MailDrop
EmptyInbox
emptyinbox.me
MailDrop
maildrop.cxSide by side
| Figure | EmptyInbox | MailDrop |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $5/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 10 |
| Spec score · Temporary email services | 8.4 (#12) | 9.0 (#5) |
| Retention | Messages are deleted automatically after seven days. | Messages are kept temporarily and then deleted automatically. |
Plans
EmptyInbox
- FreeFree
- Top-up — Micro$1, paid once
- Top-up — Starter$5, paid once
- Top-up — Standard$15, paid once
- Top-up — Bulk$40, paid once
MailDrop
- FreeFree
- FreeFree
- Pay as you go$1, paid once
- Starter$5 a month
- Starter$5 a month
- Pro$15 a month
- Pro$15 a month
- Business$49 a month
- Business$49 a month
- Pay as you go$11,000, paid once
In their own words
EmptyInbox
EmptyInbox provides disposable email inboxes for AI agents and developers through a REST API, an MCP server and a web inbox. A new address can be created for each task or agent run. Messages can be polled, or received through the MCP wait_for_message flow, which can extract verification codes. The web inbox uses passkey sign-in and displays extracted codes and links alongside messages. Each inbox creation uses one credit; receiving, listing and reading messages are free. Messages are deleted automatically after seven days. EmptyInbox receives email only and has no sending endpoint or SMTP credentials. Listed integrations include MCP-compatible agents, OpenAI GPT Actions, LangChain, CrewAI and OpenAPI-compatible frameworks; workflow guides cover Playwright, Cypress, n8n and LangChain. The free plan includes five inbox credits and REST API and MCP access. One-time top-ups start at 1.00 USD for 10 credits, payable by Bitcoin or USDT. The project is open source under the MIT license, and questions go through GitHub issues.
MailDrop
MailDrop provides temporary email inboxes for sign-ups, verification messages, downloads, trials, and forms. You can open an inbox without an account, phone number, or personal information, choose a domain, and set a custom email prefix. Inboxes refresh every 30 seconds and can receive HTML messages, verification codes, and attachments for browser preview or download. Messages are retained only temporarily and then deleted automatically, so the site advises against using the service for long-term accounts such as banking. A REST API can create temporary mailboxes and read incoming email. API keys authenticate requests, and a claimed mailbox can be read only with the key that created it. When a quota is used up, the API returns HTTP 429 and quota details in response headers. MailDrop is available on the web and through its API, and the site says it is available in seven languages. The Free plan costs nothing; paid plans include Starter at $5 a month, Pro at $15 a month, and Business at $49 a month.