> Enrich.chat gives AI agents verified work emails and mobiles. To use it from an agent, read https://enrich.chat/agents.md . This is the Markdown version of https://enrich.chat/blog/email-verification-tools/

# The best email verification tools in 2026, compared on price, accuracy claims and limits

We read eight verifiers' pricing pages and docs on October 16, 2026. See what 10,000 checks cost, what each charges for unknown results, and where Enrich.chat fits.

By Enrich.chat Editorial. Updated October 16, 2026.

**Short answer:** The best email verification tool depends on the job: a list you own, a sign-up form, or new contacts. Verifying 10,000 emails costs from $27 at [EmailListVerify](https://www.emaillistverify.com/pricing) to $129 at [ZeroBounce](https://www.zerobounce.net/pricing), checked October 16, 2026. [Enrich.chat](https://enrich.chat/pricing/) is not a bulk verifier: it labels each work email it finds as verified, catch_all or unknown.

## Key takeaways

- Eight verifiers' published pay-as-you-go prices for 10,000 emails run from $27 (EmailListVerify) to $129 (ZeroBounce), checked October 16, 2026.
- Seven of the eight say unknown results are free. MillionVerifier also leaves catch-all results free, while Clearout charges 1 credit for one and EmailListVerify's pricing page does not say.
- Accuracy figures are vendor claims: 99.6% at ZeroBounce, 99.73% at Clearout, 97% at EmailListVerify. In Hunter's own 15-verifier test, the seven tools it ran from this page scored 59.93% to 70.00%.
- ZeroBounce has an official MCP server and Hunter includes MCP on every plan. Emailable ships a CLI and skill for agents, and the other five list an API only.
- Enrich.chat does not clean lists. A work email it finds comes back as verified, catch_all or unknown, and 10,000 credits cover 1,000 of them.

## The verdict

To clean a list you already own, pick a dedicated verifier: **EmailListVerify** and **MillionVerifier** have the lowest published prices of the eight at 10,000 emails. **Enrich.chat** is the pick for a different job: new work emails inside an AI agent, each with a verified, catch_all or unknown status. It is not a bulk verifier.

- Best for new contacts in an AI agent: Enrich.chat (A status on each work email it finds, not a list cleaner)
- Lowest price at 10,000 emails: EmailListVerify ($27, then MillionVerifier at $39)
- Best billing for risky results: MillionVerifier (Charges only for ok, invalid and disposable results)
- Best for AI agent access: ZeroBounce (Official MCP server; Hunter includes MCP on every plan)
- Best for find, verify and send: Hunter (One plan covers the finder, verifier and sequences)

## The best email verification tools at a glance

|  | Enrich.chat | ZeroBounce | Bouncer | MillionVerifier | Emailable | Kickbox | Hunter | Clearout | EmailListVerify |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Verifies a list you already own | no: new emails only | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Price to verify 10,000 emails | n/a: not a verifier | $129 | $60 | $39 | $60 | $70 | $110 | $65 | $27 |
| Free allowance | yes: 10 lookups a day | yes: 100 a month | partial: 100 credits | partial: 100 credits | partial: 250 credits | partial: 100 verifications | yes: 100 a month | partial: 100 credits once | partial: 100 verifications |
| Nothing charged for unknown | partial: a miss costs 0 credits | yes | yes | yes: catch-all free too | yes | yes | yes | yes | not stated |
| Credits do not expire | no: credits renew monthly | partial: only with ONE | yes | yes | yes | not stated | partial: 12 months on Data Platform | yes | yes: pay as you go |
| Catch-all handling documented | yes: catch_all status | yes: catch-all label | yes: risky, acceptAll flag | yes: catch-all result | yes: accept_all flag | yes: accept_all flag | yes: some resolved | yes: Deep Verify, extra cost | partial: says it detects them |
| API access | yes: no key to start | yes | yes: OpenAPI spec | yes: 160 a second | yes: 25 a second | yes: sandbox mode | yes: 10 a second | yes: limits by plan | yes: included |
| MCP or AI agent access | yes: keyless MCP | yes: official MCP | no: none seen | no: none seen | partial: CLI and skill | no: none seen | yes: MCP on all plans | no: none seen | no: none seen |

## The 9 tools: Enrich.chat first, then eight verifiers in alphabetical order

This is not a ranking of accuracy, because no independent test covers all of these tools. Enrich.chat is first because it answers a different question: what is the status of a work email it just found. The eight verifiers follow in alphabetical order. Prices come from each vendor's own site, checked October 16, 2026.

### Enrich.chat

Contact and company data for AI agents and apps. It is not a bulk email verifier. Pass a name and a company website, or a LinkedIn URL, and a found work email comes back as verified, catch_all or unknown.

- Best for: AI agents and apps that need new work emails with a status, not a cleaner for a list you already own
- Pricing: Monthly plans from $29: 10 credits per work email found, 250 per mobile, 0 when nothing is found
- Strength: Each work email comes back as verified, catch_all or unknown, with credits_used
- Strength: A keyless MCP server and a plain HTTPS API, with unlimited seats on every plan, billed monthly
- Strength: The free catch-all checker tests whether a domain accepts every address
- Watch out for: No standalone verifier: it will not clean a CRM export or emails from another tool, and Bulk enrich finds new work emails rather than checking old ones
- Watch out for: Work emails only on the email input, and a company must be a website, not a name

### Bouncer

EU-hosted verifier with real-time, batch and batch-sync APIs, a toxicity score, form protection and a deliverability kit.

- Best for: Developers who want a documented API, form protection and deliverability tests next to verification
- Pricing: Pay as you go: 1,000 credits for $8, 10,000 for $60, 100,000 for $400 ([Bouncer pricing](https://www.usebouncer.com/pricing/), Oct 16, 2026)
- Strength: Duplicates and unknown results are never charged, and credits never expire, per its pricing page
- Strength: Real-time, batch and batch-sync endpoints, with an OpenAPI spec in its [docs](https://docs.usebouncer.com/integration-guidelines)
- Strength: A toxicity score from 0 to 5 and a deliverability kit are sold in the same account
- Watch out for: Its docs say the real-time endpoint has an hourly rate limit and can return more unknown results on slow servers
- Watch out for: No MCP server on the pages we read

### Clearout

Verifier with an email finder, form protection, CRM monitoring and a Deep Verify mode for catch-all addresses.

- Best for: Teams that want catch-all addresses resolved and sign-up forms checked
- Pricing: Pay as you go: 5,000 credits for $40, 10,000 for $65, 100,000 for $400 ([Clearout pricing](https://clearout.io/pricing/), Oct 16, 2026)
- Strength: Unknown results and duplicates are free, and purchased credits never expire, per its [pricing guide](https://clearout.io/pricing-guide/)
- Strength: Deep Verify tries to turn catch-all and secure-gateway results into valid or invalid
- Strength: Form Guard checks email, phone and name at sign-up
- Watch out for: A catch-all result costs 1 credit, and Deep Verify is priced separately from standard credits
- Watch out for: No first-party MCP server on the pages we read

### Emailable

Verifier with a bulk tool, an API, a sign-up widget, and a CLI and skill for AI agents that run shell commands.

- Best for: Developers and agents that want a CLI, a rate-limit table and credits that never expire
- Pricing: Pay as you go: 5,000 credits for $38, 10,000 for $60, 100,000 for $420; 15% off on a monthly credits subscription ([Emailable pricing](https://emailable.com/pricing/), Oct 16, 2026)
- Strength: Unknown results and duplicates are credited back, and credits never expire
- Strength: An open-source CLI and a skill that set up automatically for Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode, per its [agents page](https://emailable.com/agents/)
- Strength: A written guarantee with listed conditions, on its [guarantee page](https://emailable.com/guarantee/)
- Watch out for: The CLI needs an agent that can run shell commands, and no MCP server appears on the pages we read
- Watch out for: The smallest purchase is 5,000 credits

### EmailListVerify

Low-priced bulk verifier with an API included in every package and an email finder that shares the same credits.

- Best for: Budget cleaning of large lists
- Pricing: Pay as you go: 1,000 credits for $5, 10,000 for $27, 100,000 for $186 ([EmailListVerify pricing](https://www.emaillistverify.com/pricing), Oct 16, 2026)
- Strength: The lowest published price at 10,000 emails of the eight verifiers checked
- Strength: API access is included with every package, and pay-as-you-go credits do not expire
- Strength: Credits can be split between verification and its finder, which uses 5 credits per email found
- Watch out for: Its pricing page does not say whether unknown results are charged
- Watch out for: No MCP server on the pages we read

### Hunter

Email finder, verifier and cold-email sequences in one subscription, with browser extensions and an MCP server.

- Best for: People who want to find, verify and send from one tool
- Pricing: Verification costs 0.5 credit. Free 50 credits a month; Starter $49 a month for 2,000 credits, or 4,000 verifications; Data Platform $11 per 1,000 verification credits ([Hunter pricing](https://hunter.io/pricing), Oct 16, 2026)
- Strength: Unknown results use no credit, and repeating a check in the same billing period is free
- Strength: [MCP access is included on every plan](https://hunter.io/mcp), and the verifier API allows 10 requests a second
- Strength: Says it can resolve some accept-all addresses to valid or invalid
- Watch out for: Hunter ran and published the benchmark in which it ranks first, and says that may have given it an edge
- Watch out for: Plan credits are shared between finding and verifying

### Kickbox

Verification-first platform with bulk and API verification, a Sendex quality score and deliverability consulting.

- Best for: Marketing and product teams that want a quality score beside each result
- Pricing: 500 verifications for $5, 10,000 for $70, 100,000 for $500, 1,000,000 for $2,999 ([Kickbox pricing](https://kickbox.com/pricing/), Oct 16, 2026)
- Strength: Unknown results are refunded as credit, per its pricing page
- Strength: A Sendex score from 0 to 1 and an accept_all flag come back with every API result, per its [API docs](https://docs.kickbox.com/docs/single-verification-api)
- Strength: A sandbox mode tests an integration without using credits
- Watch out for: Its pricing page does not say whether credits expire
- Watch out for: No MCP server on the pages we read

### MillionVerifier

Low-priced bulk verifier with a free single-address checker, an API and more than 40 integrations.

- Best for: Large lists and price-sensitive senders
- Pricing: Pay as you go: 10,000 credits for $39, 100,000 for $149, 1,000,000 for $449 ([MillionVerifier pricing](https://www.millionverifier.com/), Oct 16, 2026)
- Strength: Charges only for ok, invalid and disposable results, so catch-all and unknown are free, per its [help page](https://help.millionverifier.com/email-verification/email-verification-results)
- Strength: Says it refunds your last payment if your hard bounce rate passes 4% after verifying, on its [prices page](https://www.millionverifier.com/why-millionverifier/best-email-verification-prices/)
- Strength: Credits never expire, and the real-time API allows 160 requests a second
- Watch out for: No MCP server or agent CLI on the pages we read
- Watch out for: It was not in Hunter's 15-verifier benchmark, so there is no outside score to compare

### ZeroBounce

Validation and AI scoring platform with an email finder, deliverability tools and an official MCP server.

- Best for: Teams that want validation, scoring and deliverability tools in one account, and agent access
- Pricing: Pay as you go: 2,000 credits for $39, 10,000 for $129, 100,000 for $649; ZeroBounce ONE from $99 a month ([ZeroBounce pricing](https://www.zerobounce.net/pricing), Oct 16, 2026)
- Strength: Unknown results and duplicates cost no credit, per its pricing FAQ
- Strength: An [official MCP server](https://www.zerobounce.net/docs/api-integrations/zerobounce-mcp-server) on npm, plus API, bulk and integrations
- Strength: Documents catch-all, spamtrap, abuse and do_not_mail statuses in its [status codes](https://www.zerobounce.net/docs/email-validation-api-quickstart/v2-status-codes)
- Watch out for: The highest of the eight at 10,000 emails: $129
- Watch out for: Credits never expire on accounts created on or before June 1, 2026, and follow a two-year rule on newer accounts, per its Terms

## What are the best email verification tools in 2026?

The best email verification tool depends on the job: cleaning a list you already own, protecting a sign-up form, or getting a status on a work email you have not found yet. Across the eight verifiers whose prices we read on October 16, 2026, verifying 10,000 emails costs from $27 at [EmailListVerify](https://www.emaillistverify.com/pricing) to $129 at [ZeroBounce](https://www.zerobounce.net/pricing).

A verifier checks an address you already have. It does not find one. [Enrich.chat](https://enrich.chat/pricing/) does the other job: it finds a work email and returns it as `verified`, `catch_all` or `unknown`. It sits first in the list as a labelled exception, not as a replacement for a bulk cleaner. To find addresses first, see our guide to the [best email finder tools](https://enrich.chat/blog/best-email-finder-tools/).

We picked verifiers that publish a price and document an API. We left out NeverBounce: its pricing page showed a human-verification check to our reader on October 16, 2026, so we could not read its current prices. Our [NeverBounce pricing guide](https://enrich.chat/blog/neverbounce-pricing/) covers it, and [ZeroBounce pricing](https://enrich.chat/blog/zerobounce-pricing/) goes deeper on that vendor.

Accuracy is the hardest claim to check. Each vendor quotes a figure from its own sample, so this page reports every one as a claim, not a fact. The one multi-vendor benchmark with a written method that we could read was run by Hunter, which sells a verifier. We show it with its limits in the accuracy section.

## How do email verification tools check an address, and what can they not prove?

A verifier runs layered checks, then reports a status. [Hunter's benchmark guide](https://hunter.io/email-verification-guide/best-email-verifiers) describes its verifier as checking syntax, domain settings, MX records and SMTP responses. The last step asks the mail server whether it would accept the address. Our guide to [email validation](https://enrich.chat/blog/email-validation/) explains each layer.

No check proves that a person reads the mailbox. Section 3.3 of [RFC 5321](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5321.html) says some servers check recipients only after they receive the message text, then report a failure afterward. A valid result lowers the risk of a bounce. It does not remove it.

Catch-all domains are the main blind spot. A catch-all server says yes to every address. ZeroBounce's [status-code docs](https://www.zerobounce.net/docs/email-validation-api-quickstart/v2-status-codes) call these addresses impossible to validate without sending a real email and waiting for a bounce. In [Hunter's accept-all guide](https://hunter.io/email-verification-guide/accept-all-catch-all/), 27% of emails to accept-all addresses bounced against 1% for valid ones. See our guides to [catch-all emails](https://enrich.chat/blog/what-is-a-catch-all-email/) and [email bounce rate](https://enrich.chat/blog/email-bounce-rate/).

## How much does email verification cost, and is there a free verifier?

Eight verifiers' pay-as-you-go prices for 10,000 emails run from $27 to $129, checked October 16, 2026. Figure 1 charts each one.

**Figure 1: Pay-as-you-go price to verify 10,000 emails on eight verifiers.** Bar chart of the published pay-as-you-go price to verify 10,000 emails, checked October 16, 2026: EmailListVerify $27, MillionVerifier $39, Bouncer $60, Emailable $60, Clearout $65, Kickbox $70, Hunter $110 and ZeroBounce $129. Enrich.chat is not a bulk verifier and has no bar.

*Published pay-as-you-go price to verify 10,000 emails, in US dollars, checked October 16, 2026. It is a list price at one volume, not a bill. Hunter's $110 is our arithmetic from $11 per 1,000 verification credits. Sources: [EmailListVerify](https://www.emaillistverify.com/pricing), [MillionVerifier](https://www.millionverifier.com/), [Bouncer](https://www.usebouncer.com/pricing/), [Emailable](https://emailable.com/pricing/), [Clearout](https://clearout.io/pricing/), [Kickbox](https://kickbox.com/pricing/), [Hunter](https://hunter.io/pricing), [ZeroBounce](https://www.zerobounce.net/pricing).*

A different volume changes the order. [MillionVerifier](https://www.millionverifier.com/) falls from $0.0039 a credit at 10,000 to $0.00149 at 100,000, and [EmailListVerify](https://www.emaillistverify.com/pricing) from $0.0027 to $0.00186. The table adds each tool's smallest purchase and its 100,000-email price.

*Pay-as-you-go list prices in US dollars, checked October 16, 2026. Hunter's 10,000 figure is our arithmetic, and its 100,000 price was not shown.*

| Tool | Smallest purchase | 10,000 emails | 100,000 emails |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| EmailListVerify | $5 for 1,000 | $27 | $186 |
| MillionVerifier | $39 for 10,000 (smallest on its slider) | $39 | $149 |
| Bouncer | $8 for 1,000 | $60 | $400 |
| Emailable | $38 for 5,000 | $60 | $420 |
| Clearout | $40 for 5,000 | $65 | $400 |
| Kickbox | $5 for 500 | $70 | $500 |
| Hunter | $11 for 1,000 | $110 | Not shown |
| ZeroBounce | $39 for 2,000 | $129 | $649 |

Subscriptions change the maths. [ZeroBounce ONE](https://www.zerobounce.net/pricing) starts at $99 a month with a 10,000-credit minimum and lets credits roll over, and [Emailable](https://emailable.com/pricing/) takes 15% off with a monthly credits subscription. [Hunter](https://hunter.io/pricing) counts a verification as 0.5 credit inside its plans, so its Starter plan at $49 a month billed monthly covers 4,000 verifications, and the same credits also pay for finding emails.

Every verifier here lets you try it first. [Hunter's free checker](https://hunter.io/email-verifier) needs no signup, and its free plan covers 100 verifications a month. [ZeroBounce](https://www.zerobounce.net/pricing) gives 100 validations a month and [Emailable](https://emailable.com/pricing/) 250 credits at sign-up. [Bouncer](https://www.usebouncer.com/pricing/), [Kickbox](https://kickbox.com/pricing/), [MillionVerifier](https://www.millionverifier.com/) and [EmailListVerify](https://www.emaillistverify.com/pricing) give 100 each, [Clearout](https://clearout.io/pricing/) gives 100 credits once. Enrich.chat's free [catch-all checker](https://enrich.chat/tools/catch-all-checker/) tests one domain, and its finder gives 10 lookups a day with no signup.

## Which email verifiers charge for unknown and catch-all results?

Seven of the eight say an unknown result costs nothing, and [EmailListVerify's pricing page](https://www.emaillistverify.com/pricing) does not say. [MillionVerifier](https://help.millionverifier.com/email-verification/email-verification-results) goes further: it charges only for ok, invalid and disposable results, so catch-all results are free too. [Clearout](https://clearout.io/pricing-guide/) charges 1 credit for a catch-all result.

*What each vendor says about result labels and billing, from its own pages, checked October 16, 2026.*

| Tool | Result labels | Unknown results | Catch-all results |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ZeroBounce | valid, invalid, catch-all, unknown, spamtrap, abuse, do_not_mail | Free, credit returned ([pricing FAQ](https://www.zerobounce.net/pricing)) | Not listed as free |
| Bouncer | deliverable, risky, undeliverable, unknown | Never charged ([pricing](https://www.usebouncer.com/pricing/)) | Returned as risky with an acceptAll flag; charge not stated |
| MillionVerifier | ok, invalid, disposable, catch_all, unknown | Free | Free |
| Emailable | deliverable, risky, undeliverable, unknown | Credit returned ([pricing](https://emailable.com/pricing/)) | accept_all flag; the API check is optional and off by default |
| Kickbox | deliverable, risky, undeliverable, unknown | Credit refunded ([pricing](https://kickbox.com/pricing/)) | accept_all flag; charge not stated |
| Hunter | valid, invalid, accept_all, webmail, disposable, unknown | No credit ([pricing FAQ](https://hunter.io/pricing)) | Not listed as free |
| Clearout | valid, invalid, catch-all, unknown | Free | 1 credit; Deep Verify priced separately |
| EmailListVerify | Not stated on the pricing page | Not stated | Not stated |

A free unknown still leaves work for you. ZeroBounce's docs say about 80% of its unknown results are usually bad addresses, so leave unknowns out or re-check them before you send. On catch-all domains, ZeroBounce returns some domains it has vetted as valid, and [Hunter](https://hunter.io/pricing) says its verifier can resolve some accept-all addresses to valid or invalid. Both are vendor methods you cannot inspect. Our guide to [hard and soft bounces](https://enrich.chat/blog/hard-bounce-vs-soft-bounce/) explains what happens when one fails.

## How accurate are email verifiers?

No independent number settles it. Each vendor quotes its own figure, and the one multi-vendor benchmark we could read was run by Hunter, which sells a verifier. Treat every number below as a claim.

*What each vendor says about accuracy on its own pages, checked October 16, 2026. We did not test any of these claims.*

| Tool | Its claim | Terms or limits |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ZeroBounce | Claims 99.6% accuracy, which its [pricing page](https://www.zerobounce.net/pricing) calls guaranteed | The guarantee terms are on its [ZB Guarantee page](https://www.zerobounce.net/docs/email-list-validation/the-zb-guarantee) |
| Bouncer | Its [homepage](https://www.usebouncer.com/) cites fewer than 2% unknown results | No accuracy percentage on the pages we read |
| MillionVerifier | Says its accuracy is 99% ([help page](https://help.millionverifier.com/email-verification/email-verification-results)) | Refunds your last payment if your hard bounce rate passes 4% after verifying ([prices page](https://www.millionverifier.com/why-millionverifier/best-email-verification-prices/)) |
| Emailable | Guarantees 99% or better deliverability, and 97% or better for Microsoft-managed addresses ([guarantee](https://emailable.com/guarantee/)) | Covers only addresses it marked Deliverable that bounced as non-existent, on lists of 1,000 or more from your own opt-in, mailed within 24 hours, reported within 72 hours |
| Kickbox | No accuracy percentage on its pricing page or homepage | Its homepage shows customer results instead |
| Hunter | No percentage for its verifier on the pages we read | Its benchmark guide says many tools claim 99% |
| Clearout | 99.73% accurate results on its [homepage](https://clearout.io/); a 73% accuracy figure on its [catch-all page](https://clearout.io/catch-all-email-verification/), which describes Deep Verify | Deep Verify is priced separately |
| EmailListVerify | 97% accurate ([pricing FAQ](https://www.emaillistverify.com/pricing)) | No method shown on that page |

[Hunter's benchmark guide](https://hunter.io/email-verification-guide/best-email-verifiers), dated November 3, 2025, ran 15 verifiers through Clay's integrations on 3,000 addresses: about 2,700 real addresses from outreach replies plus 300 invalid ones. Hunter labelled addresses as valid or invalid using email activity recorded in Hunter, and says that may have given it an edge. Its accuracy score counts unknown results as wrong. Figure 2 shows the seven tools from this page that it tested.

**Figure 2: Overall accuracy of seven verifiers in Hunter's own benchmark.** Bar chart of overall accuracy from Hunter's benchmark of 15 email verifiers on 3,000 addresses, published November 3, 2025: Hunter 70.00%, Clearout 68.37%, Kickbox 67.53%, Bouncer 65.43%, EmailListVerify 63.87%, ZeroBounce 60.70% and Emailable 59.93%. Hunter ran the test and labelled the addresses with its own data, and unknown results count as wrong.

*Overall accuracy in Hunter's own benchmark of 15 verifiers, published November 3, 2025. Hunter sells a verifier, ran the test through Clay at default settings, labelled valid and invalid addresses with its own data, and counted unknown results as wrong. Source: [Hunter](https://hunter.io/email-verification-guide/best-email-verifiers).*

Read the scores with care. The claims and the test measure different things: Emailable's guarantee covers only addresses it marked Deliverable, while Hunter's score counts every unknown as a miss. A tool that returns more unknowns, which can be the cautious choice, scores lower. Hunter also reports that accuracy generally fell on mid-size and large company domains. It is one vendor's sample on one platform. Use it as a reason to test, not as a ranking.

Run your own check. Take 100 to 200 addresses whose outcome you know, such as past hard bounces and real replies. Send the same list to two verifiers' free tiers, then score each result and count the unknowns separately. Our guide to [bulk email verification](https://enrich.chat/blog/bulk-email-verification/) covers how to prepare a list.

## Which email verification tools work with AI agents and APIs?

All eight verifiers have an API. ZeroBounce and Hunter list an MCP server, Emailable ships a CLI and skill for agents that run shell commands, and the other five list no agent connection on the pages we read.

*How an agent or app connects to each tool, from the vendors' own pages, checked October 16, 2026.*

| Tool | API and stated limit | AI agent access |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Enrich.chat | Plain HTTPS API, GET requests plus a batch POST, no key for the free tier; about one request a second | MCP server at `enrich.chat/mcp`, no key, or one prompt that reads [agents.md](https://enrich.chat/agents.md) |
| ZeroBounce | API with multiple keys; its validate page lists 80,000 requests per 10 seconds (100,000 on ONE) | [Official MCP server](https://www.zerobounce.net/docs/api-integrations/zerobounce-mcp-server) on npm, which uses your API key |
| Bouncer | Real-time, batch and batch-sync endpoints; its API reference says 1,000 requests a minute by default, while its [integration guidelines](https://docs.usebouncer.com/integration-guidelines) still describe an hourly limit | None on the pages we read |
| MillionVerifier | 160 requests a second per account on the single API ([help](https://help.millionverifier.com/email-verification-api/real-time-api)) | None on the pages we read |
| Emailable | Verify 25 a second, batch 5 a second, up to 50,000 emails a batch ([limits](https://emailable.com/docs/api/rate-limits/)) | Open-source CLI and skill for Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode ([agents page](https://emailable.com/agents/)) |
| Kickbox | Single and batch API with a sandbox mode; its quickstart states 25 requests in flight per IP and 8,000 a clock minute | None on the pages we read |
| Hunter | Verifier API at 10 requests a second and 300 a minute ([docs](https://hunter.io/api-documentation/v2)) | [MCP server](https://hunter.io/mcp) included on every plan |
| Clearout | API with rate limits set by plan, from 3 RPM on the free plan ([pricing](https://clearout.io/pricing/)) | No first-party MCP server on the pages we read |
| EmailListVerify | API included with every package; the limit is not on the pricing page | None on the pages we read |

To use Enrich.chat from an agent, add the MCP server at `enrich.chat/mcp` to ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor or VS Code, or paste a prompt that sends the agent to [agents.md](https://enrich.chat/agents.md). The [install page](https://enrich.chat/install/) lists the steps. For more agent-ready tools, see the [best MCP servers for sales](https://enrich.chat/blog/best-mcp-servers-for-sales/) and our guide to the [email verification API](https://enrich.chat/blog/email-verification-api/).

## How does Enrich.chat handle email verification?

Enrich.chat does not verify lists. It finds a work email and returns it with a status, so a new contact arrives labelled `verified`, `catch_all` or `unknown`. Figure 3 shows how that differs from a bulk verifier.

**Figure 3: A verifier cleans a list you own; Enrich.chat labels emails it finds.** Two lanes. In the first, a CSV or CRM export goes to a bulk verifier by upload or API, and each address comes back as valid, risky, invalid or unknown. In the second, a name and a company website go to Enrich.chat at GET /v1/email, and a found work email comes back as verified, catch_all or unknown. Enrich.chat does not check addresses you hold, so it cannot clean a list you already own.

*The two starting points. A bulk verifier takes addresses you already have; Enrich.chat takes a name and a company website. Enrich.chat's labels are documented in [agents.md](https://enrich.chat/agents.md), and the verifier labels follow the vendors' docs, such as [Bouncer](https://docs.usebouncer.com/terminology) and [Kickbox](https://docs.kickbox.com/docs/single-verification-api).*

Here is a lookup with the free tier. The person and address are fictional, on example.com.

```
GET https://enrich.chat/v1/email?name=Marcus%20Webb&domain=example.com

{
  "found": true,
  "work_email": {"value": "marcus.webb@example.com", "status": "verified"},
  "pattern": "first.last@example.com",
  "name": "Marcus Webb",
  "title": "Head of Operations",
  "credits_used": 10,
  "free_lookups_remaining": 9
}
```

The status tells your agent what to do next. If no address is found, the response is `{"found": false}`, uses 0 credits, and may include a guess built from the company's address format. A guess is not data, so do not send to it.

*What each Enrich.chat status means and what an agent should do, from [agents.md](https://enrich.chat/agents.md).*

| Status | Meaning | What your agent does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `verified` | The strongest label | Send first, in small batches |
| `catch_all` | The domain accepts every address, so the mailbox cannot be confirmed | Hold back, or cap at 2% to 5% of a list, as [Hunter suggests](https://hunter.io/email-verification-guide/accept-all-catch-all/) |
| `unknown` | Not verified | Leave out until you check it another way, such as a verifier from this page |
| `found: false` | Nothing found | Nothing to send and 0 credits used |

The credit maths is simple. A month with 500 new contacts needs 5,000 credits if every one is found, which fits the Growth plan at $29 a month with unlimited seats. Every miss lowers the total. See the [pricing page](https://enrich.chat/pricing/) for plan terms.

Watch out for these limits. Enrich.chat has no standalone verifier, so it cannot clean a CRM export or emails from another tool. The dashboard's [Bulk enrich](https://enrich.chat/features/bulk-enrichment/) takes a CSV of up to 5,000 rows a run, but it finds new work emails and does not check ones you hold. It returns a status, not the role or disposable flags a verifier adds. The email input of `/v1/person` takes work emails only and finds the person behind one; it is not a mailbox check. A company must be a website, not a name, and requests run at about one a second. Its statuses are labels, not delivery guarantees, so treat every address as a strong lead, not a certainty.

```text
Use www.enrich.chat to find the work email for each person in this list from their name and company website: [paste rows]. Return each email with its status exactly as returned, mark misses as not found, never guess an address, put every catch_all and unknown row in a separate group that I will check with my email verifier, and report the total credits_used.
```

For one-off lookups, try the free [email finder](https://enrich.chat/tools/email-finder/). For code, the [email finder API](https://enrich.chat/api/email-finder/) is one GET request, and the [install page](https://enrich.chat/install/) covers agents. To see how verification fits a wider cleanup, read our guides to [database hygiene](https://enrich.chat/blog/database-hygiene/) and [cold email data](https://enrich.chat/blog/cold-email/).

## When is another verifier the better choice than Enrich.chat?

Another tool is the better choice whenever the address already exists in your files, or when you need form protection or a bulk verifier.

- **Bouncer** when you want a documented API with batch and batch-sync endpoints, and form protection in the same account. See its [integration guidelines](https://docs.usebouncer.com/integration-guidelines).
- **Clearout** when catch-all addresses are a big share of your list and you will pay extra to try resolving them. Its [Deep Verify page](https://clearout.io/catch-all-email-verification/) describes the mode.
- **Emailable** when your agent runs shell commands and you want a CLI, or when you want a written guarantee. See its [agents page](https://emailable.com/agents/).
- **EmailListVerify** when you clean large lists on a tight budget. Its [pricing page](https://www.emaillistverify.com/pricing) lists 10,000 credits for $27.
- **Hunter** when you want to find, verify and send from one subscription. See [Hunter pricing](https://enrich.chat/blog/hunter-io-pricing/) and [Hunter alternatives](https://enrich.chat/alternatives/hunter-io/).
- **Kickbox** when you want a quality score beside each result and a sandbox for testing. See its [API docs](https://docs.kickbox.com/docs/single-verification-api).
- **MillionVerifier** when you want catch-all and unknown results to cost nothing. Its [help page](https://help.millionverifier.com/email-verification/email-verification-results) says it charges only for ok, invalid and disposable results.
- **ZeroBounce** when you want an official MCP server and scoring in the same account. See its [MCP server docs](https://www.zerobounce.net/docs/api-integrations/zerobounce-mcp-server) and our [ZeroBounce pricing](https://enrich.chat/blog/zerobounce-pricing/) guide.

Choose Enrich.chat when you start from names and company websites, not from addresses. It has no Chrome extension and no sequencer, so pair it with a verifier for old lists and a sender for outreach.

## How do you choose and test an email verifier?

Match the verifier to the job, then test two of them on your own addresses before you buy credits. Follow these steps.

1. **Name the job.** A list you own needs a bulk verifier. A sign-up form needs a real-time API or widget. New contacts need a finder that returns a status, such as Enrich.chat or [another email finder](https://enrich.chat/blog/best-email-finder-tools/).
2. **Check the billing rules.** Compare what each tool charges for unknown and catch-all results in the table above. Check whether credits expire, and whether the smallest pack fits your list.
3. **Test a known sample.** Use 100 to 200 addresses with known outcomes, run them through two tools, and count correct results, wrong results and unknowns separately.
4. **Handle each status.** Send to valid addresses first, cap accept-all addresses at a small share of each batch, hold unknowns for a re-check, and delete invalid ones. Our [email bounce rate](https://enrich.chat/blog/email-bounce-rate/) guide lists the limits senders enforce.
5. **Re-verify before big sends.** People change jobs, so old addresses go bad: see [B2B data decay](https://enrich.chat/blog/b2b-data-decay/). A valid status does not mean you may email the person, so read the rules in our [cold email data](https://enrich.chat/blog/cold-email/) guide. This is not legal advice.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the best email verification tool?

It depends on the job. For cleaning a list, [EmailListVerify](https://www.emaillistverify.com/pricing) ($27) and [MillionVerifier](https://www.millionverifier.com/) ($39) have the lowest published prices at 10,000 emails, checked October 16, 2026. [ZeroBounce](https://www.zerobounce.net/pricing) adds an official MCP server, and [Hunter](https://hunter.io/pricing) bundles a finder and sender. [Enrich.chat](https://enrich.chat/pricing/) is not a bulk verifier: it labels each work email it finds. Test two tools on 100 to 200 addresses you know before you buy credits.

### Is there a free email verifier?

Yes. [Hunter's checker](https://hunter.io/email-verifier) needs no signup, and its free plan covers 100 verifications a month. [ZeroBounce](https://www.zerobounce.net/pricing) gives 100 validations a month, [Emailable](https://emailable.com/pricing/) 250 credits at sign-up, and [Bouncer](https://www.usebouncer.com/pricing/), [Kickbox](https://kickbox.com/pricing/), [MillionVerifier](https://www.millionverifier.com/) and [EmailListVerify](https://www.emaillistverify.com/pricing) 100 each. Our free [catch-all checker](https://enrich.chat/tools/catch-all-checker/) tests whether a domain accepts every address.

### How much does it cost to verify 10,000 emails?

Published pay-as-you-go prices run from $27 at EmailListVerify to $129 at ZeroBounce. MillionVerifier is $39, Bouncer and Emailable $60, Clearout $65, and Kickbox $70. [Hunter's Data Platform](https://hunter.io/pricing) sells verification credits at $11 per 1,000, so $110 by our arithmetic. These are list prices checked October 16, 2026, in US dollars, before any volume deal.

### How accurate are email verifiers?

No vendor figure is independent. ZeroBounce claims 99.6%, Clearout 99.73% and EmailListVerify 97%. In [Hunter's own test](https://hunter.io/email-verification-guide/best-email-verifiers) of 15 verifiers, which counted unknown results as wrong and labelled addresses with Hunter's data, the seven tools it ran from this page scored 59.93% to 70.00%. Test two tools on your own addresses.

### Do email verifiers charge for unknown results?

Most do not. [ZeroBounce](https://www.zerobounce.net/pricing), [Bouncer](https://www.usebouncer.com/pricing/), [Emailable](https://emailable.com/pricing/), [Kickbox](https://kickbox.com/pricing/), [Hunter](https://hunter.io/pricing) and [Clearout](https://clearout.io/pricing-guide/) say unknown results cost nothing, and MillionVerifier also leaves catch-all results free. Clearout charges 1 credit for a catch-all result. EmailListVerify does not say. Check this before you buy.

### Can Enrich.chat verify an email list?

No. Enrich.chat has no standalone verifier. Its Bulk enrich takes a CSV, but it finds new work emails from a name and company website or a LinkedIn URL and returns each as verified, catch_all or unknown. It does not check addresses you already hold. For a list you already own, use a verifier from this page. The [catch-all checker](https://enrich.chat/tools/catch-all-checker/) tests one domain at a time, and the [email finder API](https://enrich.chat/api/email-finder/) covers new lookups.

## Sources

1. [ZeroBounce pricing](https://www.zerobounce.net/pricing)
2. [ZeroBounce status codes (v2)](https://www.zerobounce.net/docs/email-validation-api-quickstart/v2-status-codes)
3. [ZeroBounce MCP Server](https://www.zerobounce.net/docs/api-integrations/zerobounce-mcp-server)
4. [Bouncer pricing](https://www.usebouncer.com/pricing/)
5. [Bouncer integration guidelines](https://docs.usebouncer.com/integration-guidelines)
6. [Bouncer terminology](https://docs.usebouncer.com/terminology)
7. [MillionVerifier pricing and plans](https://www.millionverifier.com/)
8. [MillionVerifier best email verification prices](https://www.millionverifier.com/why-millionverifier/best-email-verification-prices/)
9. [MillionVerifier email verification results](https://help.millionverifier.com/email-verification/email-verification-results)
10. [MillionVerifier real-time API](https://help.millionverifier.com/email-verification-api/real-time-api)
11. [Emailable pricing](https://emailable.com/pricing/)
12. [The Emailable guarantee](https://emailable.com/guarantee/)
13. [Emailable for AI agents](https://emailable.com/agents/)
14. [Emailable API rate limits](https://emailable.com/docs/api/rate-limits/)
15. [Emailable emails API](https://emailable.com/docs/api/emails/)
16. [Kickbox pricing](https://kickbox.com/pricing/)
17. [Kickbox single verification API](https://docs.kickbox.com/docs/single-verification-api)
18. [Getting started with Kickbox](https://docs.kickbox.com/docs/getting-started)
19. [Hunter plans and pricing](https://hunter.io/pricing)
20. [15 Best Email Verification Tools in 2026 (with benchmark data)](https://hunter.io/email-verification-guide/best-email-verifiers)
21. [What are accept-all email addresses](https://hunter.io/email-verification-guide/accept-all-catch-all/)
22. [Hunter MCP](https://hunter.io/mcp)
23. [Hunter API documentation](https://hunter.io/api-documentation/v2)
24. [Hunter Email Verifier](https://hunter.io/email-verifier)
25. [Clearout pricing](https://clearout.io/pricing/)
26. [Clearout pricing guide](https://clearout.io/pricing-guide/)
27. [Clearout catch-all email verification](https://clearout.io/catch-all-email-verification/)
28. [EmailListVerify pricing](https://www.emaillistverify.com/pricing)
29. [RFC 5321: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5321.html)

## Try this prompt

Find work emails and hold back the risky ones

```text
Use www.enrich.chat to find the work email for each person in this list from their name and company website: [paste rows]. Return each email with its status exactly as returned, mark misses as not found, never guess an address, put every catch_all and unknown row in a separate group that I will check with my email verifier, and report the total credits_used.
```

## Related

- [Email bounce rate: what is good](https://enrich.chat/blog/email-bounce-rate/)
- [Best email finder tools (2026): 9 compared on price and AI agent access](https://enrich.chat/blog/best-email-finder-tools/)
- [Catch-all email checker](https://enrich.chat/tools/catch-all-checker/)