Mailinator vs TempInbox
Mailinator
mailinator.comTempInbox
tempinbox.devSide by side
| Figure | Mailinator | TempInbox |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $79/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 13 | 1 |
| Spec score · Disposable Email Services | 9.0 (#3) | 8.0 (#9) |
| Spec score · Temporary email services | 8.7 (#10) | 8.2 (#14) |
| Documentation | The January 21, 2026 documentation overhaul added reorganized navigation, API references, Postman material and product guides. | The documentation page is a short product overview linking to raw Markdown rather than a deep reference manual. |
| Security controls | Mailinator states that traffic is HTTPS-only, servers are firewalled and Cloudflare-proxied, and production is separated from development and testing environments. | The maker lists rate limiting, bot and abuse controls, token-based mailbox access, cleanup routines, and infrastructure-level security controls. |
| 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. | The maker says normal inquiries should receive a response within three business days and urgent abuse reports within 24 hours. |
| What it does | Mailinator provides public and private inboxes for automated email and SMS workflow testing, including sign-ups, 2FA and password resets. | TempInbox provides disposable email inboxes for short-lived signups, verification messages and low-risk testing. |
Plans
Mailinator
- Public - FreeFree
- Public - FreeFree
- Verified ProFree
- Verified ProFree
- Business$79 a month
- Business (annual)$79 a month
- Business$99 a month
- Business Plus$159 a month
- Business Plus (annual)$159 a month
- Business Plus$199 a month
In their own words
Mailinator
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.
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.