12 best email list cleaning services to declutter your list and reach the inbox

She was talking about organizing your home, but the same theory applies to your email list: to create an optimal experience for your most important subscribers, you need to remove outdated and low-quality addresses. 

Get it right, and you’ll increase open rates, avoid the spam folder, bounce less often, and slash your costs—all outcomes sure to boost email deliverability and spark joy in the eyes of a savvy email marketer. 

This article will explain more about verifying your list and then introduce the 12 best email list cleaning services to make sorting your subscribers a breeze.

An email list cleaning service removes low-quality email addresses from your subscriber list. You upload your subscribers and the email cleaning tool will analyze each one to identify which addresses are safe to send to, which should be removed, and which are unknown. 

You can then either export your newly cleaned email list using the recommendations made by the tool or dive deeper into the data to make an informed choice about which email addresses to discard or keep. 

The best email cleaning services also have advanced tools to improve the deliverability of your email marketing campaigns. 

For example, they may predict where your emails will land so you can take steps to optimize your messages before sending them. Or they may offer alerts to notify you if your account is put on an email blocklist.

Good email list hygiene means you’ll send fewer emails to low-quality email addresses owned by people who don’t open, read or interact with your content. 

This brings a ton of benefits, including:

Higher open rates

Emails sent to low-quality addresses never get opened. Removing these addresses from your list automatically leads to better open rates. The improvement can be significant if your list has a high percentage of invalid email addresses.

Lower bounce rates

Emails bounce when you send them to email addresses that don’t exist or full inboxes. Removing these addresses from your list will lower your bounce rates. 

Lower costs and better ROI

Sending emails costs money. You’ll pay more than necessary if you send messages to people who never interact with your content. 

Better analytics

Fake and inactive subscribers impact the email marketing metrics you use to measure campaign performance. Removing these addresses from your list helps you understand how campaigns work. 

Fewer spam complaints

People may mark your emails as spam if they don’t want to receive them. Too many spam complaints will affect your sender reputation, which can result in email providers sending your emails straight to the spam folder. 

Now you’re sold on the need for a clean list, you need to choose an email verification service. The rest of this article will help you choose the best one for you. 

First up, here are some key points to consider when choosing a service.

Bulk email cleaning

All the services in this article allow you to clean your list by uploading a file containing your email addresses. The best services also integrate with your email service provider to automatically import and export subscribers to the cleaning tool 

Real-time verification 

If you receive a consistent stream of new subscribers, adding real-time email verification to your forms ensures people use a verified email when they sign up for your list. These will reduce the need to continually check your subscribers, although you should still perform a bulk check every few months. 

Campaign analysis

Email addresses aren’t the only factor that impacts your deliverability rate. The content of your emails plays a role too. Email verification tools with campaign analysis features analyze your messages to reduce the chances that they will be mistaken for spam. 

Inbox placement

The inbox placement feature predicts where your campaign will land in the recipients' inboxes, helping you avoid the spam folder. It can also be the difference between landing in the promotions folder and the primary inbox. 

DMARC reports

Protect your domain account against unauthorized sending activity by monitoring usage in real time. Easily review content sent from your domain and choose which sources are allowed to send emails. DMARC reports can also help you to troubleshoot other sending issues.

Blocklist monitoring

Email blocklists are used by spam filters and mailbox administrators to stop people sending spam. Landing on one of these lists will seriously impact your deliverability. Email verification tools with blocklist monitoring tools features check the most important lists and alert you if you’re added to one so you can take action to solve the problem.

Customer support

Most of the basic features in these tools are easy to use. But, customer support is a huge bonus if you plan to use features like adding real-time verification to forms. Look for agent-led support and extensive knowledge bases.

Now you know what to look for, here is our rundown of the 12 best email verification services. We’ve included key features, pros, cons and pricing so you can decide on the best tool for your needs. 

Email deliverability features

Email verification statuses

1. MailerCheck

MailerCheck is an email list cleaning service from the email experts behind MailerLite. The tool’s user-friendly interface makes verifying and cleaning your email list a breeze: just upload a file with your addresses or integrate the tool with your email service provider account. 

The tool delivers a report highlighting low-quality email addresses in various categories. You can remove all the addresses or look into each category in further detail. MailerCheck guarantees you will receive an above 98% delivery rate with your verified list. 

MailerCheck also has plenty of advanced features, making it a great all-in-one email marketing and deliverability optimization tool.

These include API access so you can add real-time verification to forms, campaign analysis and deliverability monitoring features to maximize the chances of your emails landing in your subscribers' inboxes, and reputation monitoring tools to give you the best chance of maintaining great deliverability. 

Key features

• Verify your email list in seconds via bulk upload or integration with your email marketing tool

• Make informed choices about whether to delete or keep contacts with detailed reporting

• Stop bad addresses from reaching your list by adding real-time verification to forms 

• Test email content to identify spam words, broken links, and blocklists that could impact deliverability before you hit send

• Predict whether your emails will land in the inbox or the spam folder of popular mailbox providers including Gmail, AOL, and Outlook

• Protect your business from unauthorized use of your domain with DMARC reporting

• Discover if your IP or domain has been blocked with blocklist monitoring, and use MailerCheck’s actionable suggestions to resolve the issue

Pros

• High delivery rate: Guaranteed 98% plus delivery rate with your verified email list

• Easy integration: Integrate with popular email service providers such as MailerLite, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, GetResponse, and ConvertKit

• Start for free: Verify 200 email addresses for free. Sign up for a subscription to the reputation monitoring features before April 1st, 2023 and get 3 months free

• Optimize campaigns for deliverability: Analyze email content and predict where your emails will land

• Rich documentation: Access everything you need to know about getting the most from MailerCheck

• API access: Access the API to automatically check email addresses in real time as people sign up

• Straightforward pricing: Purchase credits and use them whenever you need them.

Cons

• No live support but all users can access email support 

2. ZeroBounce

ZeroBounce is an email list cleaning service with all the tools you need to ensure emails land in your subscribers’ inboxes. Analyze your existing list to discover low-quality email addresses and remove them. Then use the ZeroBounce API to check new email addresses in real-time as people subscribe. 

Key Features

• Use bulk email validation to check your list and remove poor-quality addresses

• Check new signups in real time by adding email validation to your forms

• An AI scoring system gives each email address a quality score that estimates how likely they are to engage with your emails

• Email deliverability features let you test your campaign on 20 addresses to see where it lands 

• Blocklist monitoring tells you if your domain or IP shows up on an email blocklist

Pros

• Customer data: Discover the names, gender and location of some of your contacts

• Multiple support options: Contact the team via chat, email or phone

• Integrations: Connect to popular email marketing automation platforms

• AI email scoring: Discover your most engaged contacts

Cons

• Lowest pricing starts at 2,000 emails

• No DMARC monitoring features

3. EmailListVerify

EmailListVerify is an email list cleaning tool that makes it easy to find low-quality subscribers. It can identify multiple types of bad emails, including spam traps, disposable emails, and inactive accounts. The tool claims 23% of all emails checked on its platform were bad. 

Key Features

• Bulk email verification checks for common issues like syntax errors

• API integration lets you add real-time email verification to your signup forms

• Upload your list in various file formats or integrate with top email services

• Pay-as-you-go or monthly pricing options

Pros

• Affordable: The service offers cheap pay-as-you-go plans

• High deliverability: The service claims it ensures 99% deliverability

• Support options: Access support via live chat and email

Cons

• No email placement or deliverability tools

• No blocklist monitoring

4. NeverBounce

NeverBounce is a reliable email deliverability tool that helps clean your list and verify new users. It stands out due to its sync feature, which connects to your email service provider to automatically clean your email list on a regular schedule. 

Key Features

• Upload and clean your existing email list

• Receive a report that breaks emails into 5 categories: valid, accept all, unknown, disposable and invalid

• Sync with your email marketing tool to automatically check new emails

• Domain health check monitors the live status of domains

Pros

• Many integrations: Connect to over 80 email tools

• Human checks: The team personally reviews lists if the check reveals a high number of emails in the unknown category

• Team accounts: Organizations can share credits and allow anyone in the team to use the tool

Cons

• No email placement means you can’t test emails before sending

• No free trial, although you can get free credits if you request a demo

5. Clearout

Clearout is an email list verification service built for sales teams. Its messaging focuses on how it helps verify the email addresses of prospects, although it shares the same bulk and real-time verification features as other tools on the list. The tool stands out thanks to its email prospect finder which you can use to discover verified prospect email addresses. 

Key Features

• Proactively stop bad emails from reaching your list with point-of-capture verification

• Verify your email list and then remove bad emails

• Email prospect finder helps you discover valid email addresses for prospects and contacts

• Integrate with email service providers, including MailerLite 

Pros

• Unique features: Email finder is a useful feature not offered by other products on this list

• 24/7 support: Get help via chat, email, and phone

Cons

• No email deliverability test to check campaign performance before sending

• No blocklist monitoring features

6. Snov.io

Snov.io is a sales software platform with multiple tools, including an email list verifier. It promises 98% accuracy and allows you to check individual email addresses, bulk email lists and real-time emails entered into forms. The platform also has a sales CRM, drip marketing, and an email finder.

Key features

• Verify emails individually or in bulk

• Stop bad emails from reaching your list with real-time verification

• Merge duplicate contacts into a single entry

• Includes access to many other sales tools 

Pros

• Built for sales teams: Tool has features useful for sales teams performing email outreach 

• Implementation manager: Get help setting up an account

Cons

• Expensive if all you want is email verification 

• Lacks features like blocklist monitoring, campaign analysis, and inbox placement

7. Bounceless

Bounceless is a simple email list cleaning tool that lets you check your list for bad email addresses. The tool produces a report highlighting emails in six categories: deliverable, invalid, accept all, disposable, unknown, or spam traps. 

Key features

• Upload an email list or integrate it with your email marketing service

• Verify addresses in real time with the Bounceless API

• Scan your emails to generate a report and download your clean list

Pros

• Clean interface: The tool is easy to navigate and use

• Multiple support options: Access 24/7 help via a knowledge base, online chat, and phone support.

Cons

• No predictive deliverability reports

• No DMARC or blocklist checking

8. Debounce

Debounce is an email validation tool with plenty of features to clean your list. It can find disposable email addresses, those with incorrect syntax, duplicates and more. The tool has a bulk email verifier you can use to check your existing list and an email verification API to verify addresses as people sign up. 

Key features

• Integrate with your email marketing tool to automatically import your list or use a .txt or .csv file

• Selectively download email addresses from your clean list

• Use a team account to let multiple people use the same credits

• WordPress plugin lets you add real-time verification to WordPress forms

Pros

• Easy integration: WordPress plugin makes adding real-time verification to supported forms easy

• Affordable: Check your emails without breaking the bank

• Free duplicate email removal: The tool removes duplicates without using your credits

Cons

• No content deliverability optimization tools

• No option for subscription pricing

9. XVerify

XVerify is a verification tool with the tools you need to clean up your customer data. It promises to eliminate hard bounces, reduce spam complaints and increase deliverability. You can use both bulk and real-time email verification.

Key features

• Name verification checks your form’s name field for special characters and profanity 

• Generate reports that explain why email addresses were blocked

• Add email verification to website forms via real-time API or integrations with Fromstack and Jotform

Pros

• Easy real-time verification setup: Integrations make adding verification to your form a breeze

• Low starting costs: Buy as few as 500 credits

• Correct syntax errors: The tools will automatically correct typos in email addresses

Cons

• No content optimization tools

10. MillionVerifier

MillionVerifier is an email list cleaning tool with all the core features you need, including email list verification, a bulk email verifier, and API access. It also has automated email verification that syncs with your email service provider. The tool claims 99% accuracy and it integrates with 17 different email marketing platforms. 

Key features

• Verify emails by uploading your list or integrating with an email marketing tool

• Connect to the API to verify emails in real-time

• Set up automated cleaning to check subscriber lists on connected platforms

Pros

• Very cheap: Verify one million emails for just $389

• Automatically clean new emails: Connect your email marketing account

• Email academy: Get access to support lessons

Cons 

• Lacks advanced features like email placement and DMARC reporting

11. Bouncer

Bouncer is an email validation service with bulk and real-time email-checking capabilities. It runs syntax, DNS and MX record checks to deliver accurate results and help you reach your subscribers’ inboxes. Each report highlights the different types of emails in your list and even provides an estimated bounce rate. 

Key features

• Drag-and-drop files to check email addresses in bulk

• Add real-time verification to forms to ensure only clean email addresses make it to your list

• Require a business email address when people sign up for your form

• Inbox placement tools predict whether emails will land in spam folders or the inbox

• Use blocklist monitoring features to discover if you’re on a blacklist

Pros

• See issues before buying: Bouncer estimates your list bounce rate for free, so you can decide whether it’s worth spending on credits

• Plentiful integrations: Connects with many email marketing tools

Cons

• No email content analysis features

12. Kickbox

Kickbox is a premium email verification service that claims high accuracy in both individual and bulk email verifications. It integrates with sign-up forms for real-time filtering, ensuring a well-maintained email list. The service guarantees a 95% delivery rate on those labeled "deliverable", complete with a unique quality score for each address.

Key Features:

• High-speed, accurate real-time and bulk email verification

• Intuitive interface with clear, easy-to-understand results

• Strong focus on compliance and data security

• Advanced dashboard featuring a proprietary Sendex™ score for each email

Pros:

• Comprehensive analytics: Access insights and analytics through the user-friendly dashboard

• Lots of integrations: Kickbox integrates with a wide range of popular marketing tools

• Support: Kickbox offers a wealth of resources and personalized support

Cons:

• Higher cost: Price increases for larger lists are steeper than some competitors

• Wait times: Verification of larger lists can take a long time

Choosing an email list verification tool isn’t easy. Here are some common questions and answers to help inform your decision.

How much does it cost to clean an email list?

The cost of cleaning your list depends on the number of emails it contains. Typically the price per email address goes down as the size of your list goes up. 

MailerCheck paid plans start at $0.002 per email address when you buy one million credits and rise to $0.01 per address when you buy 1,000 credits. You can also check up to 200 addresses for free. 

How do I clean my email list?

You can easily clean your email list using an email list cleaning service. These tools analyze each email address on your list for problems like typos, or duplicates. The tools then make it easy to remove the addresses, so you only send campaigns to high-quality contacts. 

How often should I clean my email list?

This really depends on how many email addresses you gather. We recommend most people check their list every 6 months, every time you bulk upload new subscribers, and whenever you contact subscribers you haven’t messaged in a while. 

You may also decide to check your list if you notice changes in key metrics such as open rate, unsubscribed or spam complaints. 

Businesses or newsletters that consistently bring in many subscribers may decide to add verification to forms to ensure people can only sign up with legitimate email addresses. This keeps your list clean in real-time.

How do I remove email addresses in bulk?

Most email list cleaning services provide an option to remove low-quality emails from your list in bulk. For example, once MailerCheck analyzes your list, you can choose which email categories you would like to keep and which to remove, then either download this list or upload it to your email service. 

What does it mean when an email list is cleaned?

A cleaned email list has had the low-quality email address removed. This results in fewer bounced emails, spam complaints and keeps your sender reputation high.

An email list cleaning service is the best way to verify the emails on your list and ensure you only send messages to people who want to receive them. They help you bounce less, avoid the spam folder and maybe even spend less on email marketing! 

Most of these tools offer similar base functionality. The tool you ultimately choose will depend on ease of use, brand trust and whether you want to access advanced features to optimize your deliverability or you simply want the basics at a low cost.