Alternatives / ZeroBounce
A ZeroBounce alternative for checking emails in your app
If you validate addresses as people sign up, rather than cleaning marketing lists, TrustLookup does the core checks for less and covers phone numbers and IPs with the same key.
The short version
Pick TrustLookup if
- You check emails one at a time as people sign up, and want each check to cost less.
- You also want to check phone numbers, IP addresses or domains with the same key.
- You want a monthly plan from $19 instead of a $39 minimum pack.
- You want SPF and DMARC records for a domain at no cost.
Stay with ZeroBounce if
- You clean large marketing lists and need spam-trap, abuse and “do not mail” detection. TrustLookup doesn’t flag those.
- You want deliverability tools around validation: inbox placement tests, warm-up, blacklist and DMARC monitoring.
- You rely on ready-made integrations with email marketing platforms.
- You want unknown results to be free. ZeroBounce never charges for them; TrustLookup only refunds checks that fail on our side.
Side by side
| TrustLookup | ZeroBounce | |
|---|---|---|
| Syntax, MX and mailbox check | Yes | Yes |
| Disposable and role addresses | Yes | Yes |
| Catch-all detection | Yes | Yes |
| Spam traps, abuse and “do not mail” | No | Yes |
| Activity data and AI scoring | No | Yes, scoring costs extra credits |
| SPF and DMARC records | Free (email_dns check) | DMARC monitoring is a separate product |
| Phone, IP and domain checks | Yes | No phone or IP lookups |
| Unknown results | Charged, unless the check failed on our side | Never charged |
| Smallest purchase | $19 a month for 7,500 credits | $39 for 2,000 credits |
| Free allowance | 250 credits a month | 100 validations a month |
What it costs
TrustLookup charges 1 credit per email. ZeroBounce sells packs from $39 for 2,000 credits, or the ZeroBounce ONE plan at $99 a month with a minimum of 10,000 credits.
| Lookups a month | TrustLookup | ZeroBounce |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $19 Starter | $39 (2,000-credit pack) |
| 2,000 | $19 Starter | $39 (2,000-credit pack) |
| 10,000 | $79 Growth | $99 a month (ZeroBounce ONE) |
ZeroBounce prices from its pricing page. ZeroBounce doesn’t charge for unknown results, which narrows the gap when many of your addresses come back unknown.
Switching takes one request
Send the address to /v1/lookup and read results.email.data: syntax_valid, has_mx, disposable, role, free_provider and smtp.deliverable / smtp.catch_all. The top-level summary and risk score (0 to 100) give you one field to decide on.
TrustLookup
curl https://api.trustlookup.io/v1/lookup \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRUSTLOOKUP_KEY" \
-d q="[email protected]" \
-d checks="email,email_dns"Questions
Is TrustLookup as accurate as ZeroBounce for list cleaning?
For large marketing lists, ZeroBounce does more: it flags spam traps, abuse addresses and do-not-mail addresses, which TrustLookup doesn’t. TrustLookup is built for checking addresses as they arrive in your app.
Does the mailbox check send an email?
No. It asks the mail server whether the mailbox exists and hangs up before any message is sent.
Can I check a whole list?
Yes. Upload a CSV on any paid plan and download the results as new columns.
What else can I check with the same credits?
Phone numbers, IP addresses and domains. See the email validation API page for what an email check returns.
Sources
ZeroBounce details come from its public pages, checked on 27 October 2026: ZeroBounce pricing, ZeroBounce validate API docs, ZeroBounce homepage. Prices change, so check them before you decide. ZeroBounce is a trademark of its owner; TrustLookup isn’t affiliated with it. Spotted something out of date? Write to [email protected].
Try it on your own data
250 free credits every month, no card. Run the same numbers or emails through both and compare.