Are your email efforts falling flat despite massive efforts in writing great copy, building sequences and testing out different patterns and send times? The problem could be in not testing your emails before they go out.
Mailtester is a tool that combines an email checker with deliverability features to help you figure out once and for all: why are my emails just not landing in the primary inbox?
Today, we’ll show you what Mailtester is and help you determine if it’s a good fit for your company.
What is Mailtester and who is it for?
Mailtester is a platform that combines email verification and deliverability tools to ensure that your emails make it to the primary inbox.
This tool is a great fit for:
- Email marketers and sales teams who need to quickly validate fresh or imported addresses before launching campaigns. It helps minimize bounced emails, preserve sender reputation, and boost deliverability.
- Growing businesses and startups that are operating on tight budgets. Its flexible pay-as-you-go credit system and affordable subscription plans allow users to clean lists without high upfront costs.
- Technical teams and developers who want to automate email hygiene. The REST-style API and libraries for languages such as Python, Ruby, C#, and PHP make it easy to integrate validation into signup forms or CRM systems.
- Teams managing high-volume lists that require ongoing monitoring. Advanced features like inbox placement testing and blacklist alerts help maintain email list health at scale.
Top features in Mail Tester
Mailtester has a wide range of tools to preserve and improve your sender reputation and email deliverability.
- Single email verification tool: Instantly checks whether an individual recipient address is valid and deliverable, before you hit send
- Bulk email verification tool: Allows you to upload full lists so the tool filters out invalid, risky, or duplicate addresses at scale
- Email deduplication: Detects and removes duplicate entries in your database automatically during list verification
- Inbox placement tools: Lets you test your emails to see if they land in the inbox, spam folder, or promotions tab across major providers
- Blacklist monitoring: Continuously scans your sending domains and IPs against public blocklists and notifies you if any appear
Mailtester pricing
There are two pricing models: per email or subscription-based.
Per-email plans start at $19 for 5,000 credits. Subscription plans start at $39 per month, which gives you 500 email searches, 5,000 verifications, 10 inbox reports and five blacklist monitoring runs.
What real users are saying about this tool
When you need to troubleshoot, you won’t have that many options for finding answers.
“As with most such systems, it’s short on expert advice to address problems when it finds them. Yes, there are names of issues, but a consistent database of answers with actionable steps would be great.” – Source
There are some issues with accuracy, according to some reviews. And for a business taking pride in accurate emails and great deliverability, this is a major issue.
“It doesn’t verify all the professional email addresses” – Source
The best Mailtester alternatives for improving inbox placement in 2025
If you want to power up your email marketing efforts with valid contacts and excellent deliverability, there is a wide range of options that do a similar job (and better) than Mailtester. Here are just a few of them that are worth your time and attention.
Woodpecker
Woodpecker is more than just a mail tester. It’s a full outreach automation platform with deliverability features built directly into your workflow. It helps sales teams, agencies, and growing businesses avoid spam folders, personalize follow-ups, and scale their cold email campaigns with confidence.
Top features
- Built-in email warmup: Automatically improves your sender reputation by mimicking real conversations with other inboxes.
- Deliverability protection: Includes spam word detection, bounce protection, inbox rotation, SPF/DKIM domain checks, and daily sending limits to avoid triggering spam filters.
- Cold email automation: Create personalized sequences with conditional logic, auto-pauses, and reply tracking.
- Email verification: Integrated email validation helps reduce bounces before campaigns go live.
- Unified dashboard: Monitor reply rates, open rates, bounce rates, and campaign health from a central view.
Pricing
Woodpecker offers tiered plans based on the number of prospects contacted per month.
- Starter: $20/month for up to 500 contacted prospects
- Growth: $188/month for up to 10,000 prospects and advanced automation
- Additional warmups, integrations, or agency tools can be added separately
Considerations
- ❌ More complex than a basic validation tool like Mailtester
- ❌ Pricing reflects its broader feature set—may be overkill if all you need is a simple check
- ❌ Setup can take some time for first-time users unfamiliar with outreach tools
User reviews
✅ “Campaign setup is straightforward, and the warmup tools helped improve deliverability from day one.”
✅ “We no longer have to use separate tools for verification and inbox protection, it’s all in one place.”
❌ “A bit of a learning curve at first, especially if you’ve only used simple email testers.”
Try Woodpecker for free today.
Seguno
Seguno is a Shopify-native email marketing platform designed to help store owners send timely, personalized messages without needing to jump between tools. It’s a top choice for merchants who want email marketing tightly integrated into their storefront and shopping experience.
Top features
- Unique discount codes: Automatically generate and insert exclusive discount codes into emails for each subscriber.
- Behavior-based segmentation: Send targeted messages based on purchase history, browsing behavior, and engagement.
- Pre-built automation workflows: Easily trigger emails for events like cart abandonment, product updates, and welcome sequences.
- Email deliverability monitoring: Keeps tabs on your email health to improve inbox placement.
- 200+ templates and forms: Save time with branded, mobile-friendly designs for popups, emails, and product announcements.
Pricing
Seguno is free for stores with up to 250 subscribers. Paid plans start at $35/month and scale based on subscriber count. All plans include unlimited emails, forms, and access to the full library of templates.
Considerations
- ❌ Automations are somewhat limited compared to more advanced platforms
- ❌ Pricing can climb quickly as your subscriber list grows
- ❌ Smart text (like first name personalization) isn’t as user-friendly as in tools like Mailchimp or MailerLite
User reviews
✅ “The interface is intuitive, and the Shopify integration is seamless. Templates and branding tools save tons of time.”
✅ “Customer support is quick and genuinely helpful.”
❌ “Subscriber limits feel restrictive, and it gets expensive fast.”
❌ “I’d love to see more automation options and easier personalization features.”
Mailgenius
Mailgenius is a tool built specifically to help users improve their inbox placement by testing emails for common spam triggers and authentication issues. It’s a good fit for teams who want a more interactive experience, including AI-driven feedback on how to improve their email setup.
Top features
- SPF, DKIM, and DMARC checks: Verifies that your email authentication records are properly configured.
- Reverse DNS and domain age checks: Identify domain-level trust issues that may affect deliverability.
- HTML body analysis: Audits your email content for formatting issues, spammy phrasing, or code errors.
- AI deliverability consultant: Provides tailored recommendations for improving email reputation and inbox placement.
- Competitor email testing: Allows you to analyze the deliverability of emails from others in your industry (available on higher plans).
Pricing
Mailgenius offers four pricing tiers:
- Newbie – $8/month for 10 test credits and access to the AI deliverability assistant
- Standard – $20/month for 30 tests, AI bot, and guidance from a certified Mailgenius expert
- Genius – $39/month for unlimited testing and competitor analysis
- Automatic – $79/month for automated testing of your outgoing emails
Considerations
- ❌ Can feel expensive for small teams with minimal email volume
- ❌ The AI assistant may offer too much detail at once, which can be overwhelming
- ❌ Limited direct support channels (no phone support)
User reviews
❌ “MailGenius can be a pricey option for small businesses… there is a lack of phone support.”
❌ “The artificial intelligence bot is a bit overwhelming.”
Mailtrap
Mailtrap is a developer-friendly email delivery and testing platform that covers both internal QA and production-level sending. It’s best suited for teams building and testing transactional emails who also want access to deliverability insights and infrastructure tools.
Top features
- Email API and SMTP: Send transactional or bulk emails with fast delivery and inbox placement focus.
- Email Sandbox: A fake SMTP environment to safely test emails without sending them to real recipients.
- Spam and HTML checker: Analyze content for spam triggers, broken code, and other deliverability issues.
- QA automation: Automate test scenarios for email workflows and integrations.
- Email marketing suite: Includes basic tools like templates, contact segmentation, and campaign scheduling (though not fully featured for marketers).
Pricing
Mailtrap offers two separate product lines:
- Email Sending: Free plan for 1,000 emails/month and 100 contacts. Paid plans start at $15/month for 10,000 emails and 5,000 contacts.
- Email Sandbox: Forever-free plan for up to 100 tested emails/month. Paid plans begin at $14.99/month for 5,000 tested emails.
Considerations
- ❌ No true email marketing functionality, which means switching platforms for campaigns
- ❌ Lengthy verification process for new senders
- ❌ Customer support is reportedly unresponsive, and analytics may be inaccurate
User reviews
❌ “We’d like to see an email marketing feature added soon. At the moment, we have to use a different platform.”
❌ “The verification process is time-consuming, but understandable.”
❌ “Their stats were all wrong… I didn’t get a single response to multiple support emails.”
Mailreach
Mailreach is a specialized email deliverability platform that helps you build sender reputation and avoid spam folders through warmup automation and spam placement testing. It’s ideal for teams managing multiple mailboxes who want more than just basic email validation.
Top features
- Email warmup: Automatically sends and receives emails in a realistic pattern to improve sender reputation.
- Spam checker: Reviews your emails for common spam triggers and offers actionable suggestions.
- Email spam test: Lets you test how your emails are handled by different ISPs and whether they land in inboxes, promotions, or spam folders.
Pricing
Pricing depends on the number of mailboxes and credits needed.
- For example: 1 inbox + 20 spam test credits = $25/month
- You can also buy 25 spam test credits separately for $9.60/month
This makes it more flexible but slightly complex for teams with varying needs.
Considerations
- ❌ Pricing can feel high for low-volume users
- ❌ Performance may slow down when handling large lists
- ❌ The interface could be cleaner and more responsive
User reviews
❌ “The pricing is a bit high if you want to send only 500 emails a month… better value at higher volumes.”
❌ “Speed is an issue with larger recipient lists. UI could be made cleaner and more attractive.”
Conclusion
There are many moving parts to an email campaign and starting out with a list of valid emails is a must. Mailtester can help you with the foundations for a successful campaign, but it ends there. When it comes to execution, you’ll have to get an entirely different tool.
Why not just get Woodpecker from the start? We have all the tools you need to turn cold email into a channel that generates money for your business. From verification to split testing, we have what it takes to make cold email your next big revenue hit.