MailDrop vs TempInbox
MailDrop
maildrop.cxTempInbox
tempinbox.devSide by side
| Figure | MailDrop | TempInbox |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $5/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 10 | 1 |
| Spec score · Temporary email services | 9.0 (#5) | 8.2 (#14) |
| Spec score · Disposable Email Services | 8.9 (#5) | 8.0 (#9) |
| Messages | MailDrop receives HTML emails, verification codes, and attachments, which users can preview or download in a browser. | The service provides an interface for viewing, downloading, and clearing inbox messages. |
| No registration | The service says users need no account, phone number, or personal information to open an inbox. | Basic use requires no account, signup or personal identity information. |
| Retention | Messages are kept temporarily and then deleted automatically. | Messages and attachments can be soft-deleted and later permanently removed by scheduled cleanup jobs. |
| Use cases | The site promotes disposable addresses for sign-ups, verifications, downloads, trials, and forms. | 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 | MailDrop provides disposable email inboxes for receiving messages without registration. | TempInbox provides disposable email inboxes for short-lived signups, verification messages and low-risk testing. |
Plans
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
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.
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.