Email validation is a email risk scoring service step in keeping your contact list clean and ensuring your emails reach the right recipients. A real-time email verification tool checks to make sure a person’s email address is valid and can receive emails, helping you avoid high bounce rates and maintain your sender reputation.

Choosing the best real-time email verification tool comes down to what you’re using it for. All tools do the same basic job of verifying an email address, but some are better at handling different situations. Price is an important factor, too. Look for a pay-as-you-go option or subscription plan that fits your needs. Support and integrations are also important, especially if you have any specific requirements.

Real-Time Email Verification Tools: A Complete Guide

In our tests, Clearout stood out for providing the most detailed status report. Its API can be integrated with your other apps and services to validate emails as people fill out forms. It also offers a free trial and budget-friendly plans. However, it struggled with catch-all and @yahoo email addresses. In addition, its customer support isn’t available around the clock.

The top-rated real-time email verification tools have a range of additional features to help with email deliverability and list management. For example, Smartlead’s inbox placement testing and spam content analysis helps improve inbox delivery rates. Other features include DMARC reporting and blocklist monitoring, as well as a variety of other analytics and insights. Some of these tools are also GDPR- and CCPA-compliant. Others, like BriteVerify, offer a more holistic approach to email verification by combining real-time validation with bulk validation and phone number and mailing address verification.