Mail.cx vs TempInbox
Mail.cx
mail.cxTempInbox
tempinbox.devSide by side
| Figure | Mail.cx | TempInbox |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.82/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 4 | 1 |
| Spec score · Temporary email services | 9.1 (#4) | 8.2 (#14) |
| Custom domains | Pro users can connect up to 100 custom domains using DNS verification. | TempInbox does not provide custom domains; it uses shared service domains and supports optional address-prefix naming. |
| Retention | Mail is kept for 1 hour on Free and 72 hours on Pro, then automatically deleted. | Messages and attachments can be soft-deleted and later permanently removed by scheduled cleanup jobs. |
| Support | The contact page says support normally responds within two business days and prioritizes security and abuse reports. | The maker says normal inquiries should receive a response within three business days and urgent abuse reports within 24 hours. |
| Use cases | Mail.cx targets developers, QA teams and product teams testing verification, transactional email, notifications and application integrations. | The maker describes the service as useful for developers, QA teams, and privacy-conscious users handling verifications, trials, and low-trust signups. |
| What it does | Mail.cx provides short-lived email inboxes for receiving messages and testing email workflows. | TempInbox provides disposable email inboxes for short-lived signups, verification messages and low-risk testing. |
Plans
In their own words
Mail.cx
Mail.cx provides short-lived inboxes for developers, QA teams, and product teams checking account verification, transactional messages, notification pipelines, or application integrations. It only receives email; it does not send it. A web inbox can be opened without signup by choosing a username or generating one, and server-sent events can push arriving mail to the browser. Its REST API supports long-polling, retrieval of parsed or raw email, attachment downloads, and event delivery. API use is limited to 10 requests per second per token; long-polling allows one concurrent wait per token and 10 per address. Free messages are automatically deleted after one hour, while Pro messages are retained for 72 hours. The Free plan is free, and Pro is $9.90 a year. A separate pricing note lists paid plans from $4/mo. Mail.cx says connections use TLS and that passwords and API tokens are stored as hashes. Its terms caution that message retention and recovery are not guaranteed, and advise against relying on the service for critical, sensitive, or business-essential communications.
TempInbox
TempInbox is a free web service for temporary email inboxes without signup. It is intended for verification messages, trials and low-trust registrations, with developers, QA teams and privacy-conscious users among its stated audiences. One browser can hold up to three inboxes, and access is saved in that browser. The Free plan costs nothing and has no 10-minute timer, but inbox lifetime is custom. Messages may be soft-deleted and later removed in scheduled batches, so long-term storage is not guaranteed. The browser interface lets users view, download and clear messages, including attachments. Hosted TempInbox is receive-only: it has no sending, replies or forwarding, and no supported public API or SDK. It works in Android and iPhone mobile browsers without an app. The maker describes privacy and security as best-effort and warns that messages may be exposed, delayed, removed or inaccessible. It advises against banking, medical, legal, payroll and other high-stakes accounts requiring lasting confidentiality.