When a few bad email addresses can quickly lead to high bounce rates, it’s crucial to remove them to maintain deliverability and avoid landing in spam folders.
The right email bounce checker helps SMBs clean lists before sending, protect sender reputations and improve campaign results.
In this post, you’ll learn about seven of the best tools and how to choose the right one for your unique needs.
Key takeaways
Email bounce checkers are tools that verify email addresses before sending to keep bounce rates low and protect deliverability.
While email bounce checkers improve inbox placement and list quality, accuracy varies and advanced features may require paid plans.
To succeed using email bounce checkers, test with free credits, validate lists regularly and integrate with sales and marketing workflows to catch risky addresses early.
Pipedrive combines CRM, email outreach and bounce tracking (plus integration with third-party verification tools) to improve SMB campaign success – try it free for 14 days.
A quick overview of soft bounce vs. hard bounce emails
Email bounce checkers identify and reduce both soft and hard bounces, so campaigns reach inboxes and you maintain a strong sender reputation with email providers.
Understanding the difference helps you spot which email addresses to clean vs. fixable issues:
What are soft bounces? | What are hard bounces? |
Soft bounces are temporary undeliverable emails caused by issues such as full inboxes, server problems or messages that are too large. What to do: Retry later, but remove the address if problems persist (repeated soft bounces can become hard bounces). | Hard bounces happen when emails can’t be delivered permanently. Usually, this is because the address is invalid, the domain doesn’t exist or a recipient has blocked your emails. What to do: Remove these addresses from your lists immediately to avoid penalties. |
Different software approaches these issues in different ways.
While some detect real-time bounces as you send emails, others combine verification with customer relationship management (CRM) workflows.
7 of the best email bounce checker tools for SMBs
The best email bounce checkers help you verify addresses, reduce hard bounces and achieve higher delivery rates.
Whether you’re cleaning an existing list or analyzing campaign success, one of these seven tools will be a good fit for your setup.
Here’s how each excels in its specific lane.
1. Pipedrive: best for combining sales and email marketing
Pipedrive is a CRM platform that helps SMBs manage sales pipelines, email outreach and marketing campaigns in one place.
Instead of juggling multiple tools, Pipedrive helps you save time and prevent email errors with complete oversight.
For example, teams can track messages sent directly from the Campaigns feature, including open rates, replies and bounces:
This clear visibility into deliverability helps you instantly check bounced emails and spot which contacts need follow-up or removal.
Pipedrive in action: Learn how corporate education company Trainify saves two hours a week with Campaigns. By combining CRM and email marketing through Pipedrive’s solution, the team freed up budget while reducing human error.
Pipedrive also integrates with tools like MillionVerifier to clean and validate lists before sending:
This combination ensures campaigns always reach real prospects and customers to drive revenue.
Some of Pipedrive’s rich key features include:
Email marketing software, Campaigns, with crucial metrics to help teams spot deliverability issues early
Integration with your favorite verification tools through Marketplace or the API
Sales pipeline visibility tied to email engagement for more timely follow-up
Segmentation and targeting based on email activity for more relevant outreach
Compliance with local and global security standards (like GDPR and ISO/IEC 27001)
Who Pipedrive is best for: SMBs that want to manage their CRM and email campaigns in one place, track bounce rates and easily integrate with other validation tools.
2. MillionVerifier: best for affordable bulk list cleaning
MillionVerifier is a bulk email verifier and list‑cleaning platform that helps teams validate large lists without high costs.
SMBs often run campaigns on tight budgets but still require reliable email hygiene. MillionVerifier’s low per‑email cost and flexible pricing allow users to clean thousands (or even millions) of addresses without paying enterprise‑level fees.
By uploading files or connecting via API, SMBs can check huge lists and remove bad addresses in a few clicks:
Doing so before campaigns go out cuts down bounces and keeps your emails out of spam folders.
Some of MillionVerifier’s most popular features include:
Bulk email verification processes with advanced checks for addresses that are likely to bounce
File upload support for large CSV or XLSX email lists and direct pasting for quick checks
A pay‑as‑you‑go system with credits that never expire
Real‑time API and integrations with major email platforms and CRMs (including Pipedrive)
EverClean automated list monitoring to keep lists clean over time
Who MillionVerifier is best for: Teams with large, ever‑growing contact databases or irregular send volumes that want a budget‑friendly way to clean lists at scale.
3. ZeroBounce: best for a comprehensive deliverability suite
ZeroBounce is an email deliverability platform that gives SMBs a complete picture of list health and campaign performance.
Combining advanced insights and actionable data helps smaller teams avoid risky contacts and make smarter sending decisions.
For example, AI-based scoring helps teams prioritize high-quality addresses, while the email finder enriches lists and activity data to track engagement over time.
Here’s a quick video on how ZeroBounce’s scoring works:
By combining this scoring with validation and engagement tracking, teams can reduce bounces and improve overall inbox placement (whether you land in the primary inbox, spam folder or promotional tab).
ZeroBounce’s features include:
AI-powered assessments that identify high-value or removable contacts
Email-finding and appending to enrich incomplete lists
Activity tracking to measure opens, clicks and engagement trends
Spam trap and abuse address detection
Bulk verification and a real-time API for seamless workflow integration
Who ZeroBounce is best for: SMBs that want a full deliverability toolkit combining verification, AI insights and engagement data to make campaigns more effective.
4. NeverBounce (ZoomInfo): best for real-time, automated verification
NeverBounce is an email verification tool built for real-time validation and automated list cleaning.
Small teams often don’t have the bandwidth to manually clean subscriber lists or monitor every campaign.
By checking emails as they’re added to your CRM, signup forms or marketing campaigns, the platform prevents bounces and keeps your sending reputation intact.
NeverBounce offers real-time API validations and integration with major CRMs and marketing solutions. There’s a free email checker tool to try out first:
This real-time email verification helps growing or fast-moving contact lists stay accurate without extra manual work.
NeverBounce’s key features include:
An email verification API for forms, CRMs and campaigns
Bulk list cleaning with high accuracy
Integration with popular marketing and sales platforms
Risk detection for disposable, invalid and role-based emails
Automated workflows to keep lists clean over time
Who NeverBounce is best for: Teams with growing contact lists or real-time lead capture forms who need hands-off, automated verification.
Heat up your cold emails with 25 customizable email templates
5. BriteVerify (Validity): best for instant results with pay-as-you-go pricing
BriteVerify is a real-time email validation tool focused on pay-as-you-go pricing.
Not every company sends emails at a predictable volume. So, flexible plans work for teams that clean lists occasionally or want fast verification without committing to a monthly fee.
For instance, BriteVerify can check single email addresses in real time or in bulk. It then returns clear pass/fail results:
Dashboards make it easy to spot invalid email addresses before they impact campaigns. SMBs get immediate results, reporting graphs and no long-term contract to manage.
BriteVerify’s key features include:
Instant email verification with clear deliverability status
Flexible pricing with no subscription required
Bulk list uploads and real-time API validation
Detection and prevention of disposable email addresses entering the database
Integration with common marketing and CRM platforms
Who BriteVerify is best for: SMBs that want fast, on-demand email verification and adjustable pricing plans (especially those who don’t need continuous or automated list cleaning).
6. MailboxValidator: best for simple, lightweight verification
MailboxValidator is a straightforward email checker that confirms deliverable, valid email addresses.
It’s a no-frills way for SMBs to ensure clean email lists or to check contacts one at a time. MailboxValidator simply connects to the mail server and confirms whether the address exists or not.
Here’s a short video on how it works
The platform is quick to set up and doesn’t require technical expertise.
Other key features of MailboxValidator include:
Syntax checker to validate proper formatting
MX record checker to confirm the domain can receive emails
Disposable email provider detection to filter out low-quality addresses
Role-based detection (e.g., admin, support or sales)
Email greylisting checker to detect and avoid spam folders
Who MailboxValidator is best for: SMBs that want a low-effort email checker without advanced automation, enrichment or deliverability tooling.
7. SendGrid Email Address Validation: best for developers and automated workflows
Email Address Validation API allows developers to validate addresses automatically as systems collect or send emails.
As part of SendGrid’s wider delivery platform, it helps SMBs with in-house engineers or product-led growth bake validation into forms, apps and backend workflows.
Instead of cleaning lists manually, you give the platform access to check emails automatically:
By reviewing and reducing bounces at the source, you’ll be able to keep systems clean as you scale.
SendGrid’s email validation features include:
Real-time API for automated email validation and suppression of invalid addresses
Machine learning capabilities to catch mistyped, inactive, non-existent, disposable or shared addresses (e.g., team@ or help@)
Lead capture form integration to minimize funnel leaks and prompt corrections for typos
Safe sending practices to maintain mailbox provider trust (not broken SMTP-handshake techniques)
Continuous learning from a large dataset to improve deliverability and accuracy
Who SendGrid Email Address Validation is best for: SMBs with technical teams or custom applications that want fully automated, tightly integrated validation within existing delivery workflows.
Which email bounce checker is right for me?
The right email bounce checker should fit your unique needs, list size and team capacity while improving email deliverability and protecting your sender reputation.
For example, while a startup may need simple bulk list cleaning, a more established SMB may want a combined CRM and email solution.
Here are five tasks to help you pick the right one:
Task for assessing email bounce checkers | What you’ll achieve |
Sign up for a free account or trial | Most tools offer ways to test list validation and explore the interface (e.g., through limited free credits). |
Read reviews and community forums | Platforms like G2 and Reddit discussions provide real-world feedback from SMB users. |
Arrange product demos | If your team needs a hands-on walkthrough, demos can highlight workflow integrations and reporting capabilities. |
Ask colleagues or social media for recommendations | Fellow SMBs are often happy to share experience with specific tools in similar situations. |
Look at pricing | Compare pricing models (pay-as-you-go vs. subscriptions) to ensure the tool fits your send volume and budget. |
These steps help your SMB find the right email bounce checker that fits your team’s workflow and supports the volume and type of email you send.
It’s less about brand and more about your specific needs. Strive to find one that helps you maintain high deliverability while offering the right balance of features, ease of use and cost.
Testing tools with free trials, reading reviews and asking peers all make the decision easier to ensure your campaigns reach real inboxes every time.
Final thoughts
Email bounce checkers help SMBs avoid deliverability penalties, improve inbox placement and get more value from every campaign.
The best choice depends on your goals, whether that’s bulk list cleaning, real-time validation, deeper deliverability insights or an all-in-one CRM and email solution.
Try Pipedrive free for 14 days if you’re ready to combine sales and email marketing to reduce bounce rates and close more deals.
