CheckMail vs ZeroBounce
email verification compared.
ZeroBounce is one of the oldest names in email verification, with a feature set built for enterprise marketing teams: AI scoring, spam trap detection, activity data, and list enrichment. CheckMail is the opposite, a lean API that does the core checks well, for a fraction of the price. If you're comparing them, you're probably deciding whether those premium features are worth 3–5× the cost.
Pricing at common volumes
ZeroBounce pay-as-you-go rates versus CheckMail credits. Both allow one-time purchase, credits never expire on either platform.
| Volume | ZeroBounce | CheckMail |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | ~$16 ($0.0160) | $2 ($0.0020) |
| 5,000 | ~$39 ($0.0078) | $9 ($0.0018) |
| 10,000 | ~$80 ($0.0080) | $14 ($0.0014) |
| 50,000 | ~$225 ($0.0045) | $50 ($0.0010) |
| 100,000 | ~$390 ($0.0039) | $80 ($0.0008) |
ZeroBounce prices based on March–April 2026 pay-as-you-go rates. ZeroBounce also offers a $99/month ZeroBounce ONE subscription for 10,000 credits. ZeroBounce charges for unknown results.
Feature comparison
| Feature | ZeroBounce | CheckMail |
|---|---|---|
| Syntax validation | ✓ | ✓ |
| DNS / MX check | ✓ | ✓ |
| SMTP verification | ✓ | ✓ |
| Disposable detection | ✓ | ✓ |
| Catch-all detection | ✓ | ✓ |
| Role-based detection | ✓ | ✓ |
| Typo suggestions | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free provider detection | ✓ | ✓ |
| Spam trap detection | ✓ | ✗ |
| AI scoring | ✓ | ✗ |
| Activity data | ✓ | ✗ |
| Data enrichment | ✓ | ✗ |
| REST API | ✓ | ✓ |
| Batch API | ✓ | ✓ |
| Credits expire? | Never | Never |
| Charges for unknowns? | Yes | Yes |
ZeroBounce offers AI scoring, spam trap detection, activity data, and list enrichment that CheckMail doesn't. If you need those features, ZeroBounce is the right choice. If you need fast, accurate SMTP verification at a fraction of the cost, CheckMail does exactly that.
The real differences
Price
At 10,000 checks, ZeroBounce costs around $80 versus $14 for CheckMail, roughly 5.7×. At 100,000 checks, ZeroBounce is around $390 versus $80, roughly 4.9×. If you're verifying at volume and don't need spam trap scoring, that's money you're leaving on the table.
Developer experience
Every email verification service, including ZeroBounce and CheckMail, works the same way under the hood: syntax check, DNS lookup, SMTP handshake. The technology is commodity. The difference is what you pay for it, and how fast you can go from signup to first request. CheckMail is one API key and a curl command. No dashboard tour, no account manager.
Billing model
Both offer pay-as-you-go credits that never expire. ZeroBounce also pushes the ZeroBounce ONE subscription at $99/month for 10,000 credits, which works out to $0.0099 per check, roughly 7× CheckMail's price at the same volume.
What ZeroBounce has that we don't
AI-based deliverability scoring, spam trap detection, activity data, and enrichment (name, gender, location). These are real features that some teams genuinely need. If you're running cold outreach at scale and want to score risk on every address before sending, ZeroBounce has tools CheckMail doesn't.
Try it in one line
No SDK. No signup dance. Get an API key and run this.
curl https://api.checkmail.dev/v1/verify \
-G --data-urlencode "email=john@example.com" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $CM_KEY"
{
"email": "john@example.com",
"status": "valid",
"checks": {
"syntax": true,
"mx_found": true,
"smtp_valid": true,
"catch_all": false,
"disposable": false,
"role_based": false,
"free_provider": false
},
"suggestion": null,
"mx_host": "aspmx.l.google.com",
"cached": false,
"ms": 1243
}Try CheckMail
Start with 100 free credits. $2 for 1,000 checks after that. Credits never expire.