---
title: "Email verification benchmarks"
description: "Five-provider valid, invalid, catch-all and unknown classifications on a 2,715-address reference, with one-time credit pricing and methodology."
url: https://agentsverify.dev/leaderboard
markdown_url: https://agentsverify.dev/leaderboard.md
---

# Email verification benchmarks

Across **2,715 email addresses and five providers**, valid classifications range from **333 to 603**—about **80% more at the high end**.

AgentsVerify goes beyond catch-all and secure email gateway (SEG) detection to identify **deliverable addresses**, without sending an email.

For GTM engineers and cold outreach specialists preparing lists, what matters is **price per usable lead**: verification cost balanced against recovered contacts and bounce risk.

## What each provider returns

| Result | AgentsVerify | ZeroBounce | BounceBan | MillionVerifier | Hunter |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Valid | 600 | 603 | 564 | 340 | 333 |
| Invalid | 1,994 | 1,912 | 2,040 | 1,452 | 1,445 |
| Catch-all | 108 | 89 | 110 | 749 | 811 |
| Unknown | 13 | 111 | 1 | 174 | 126 |

## The price of scale

One-time credits · USD before tax

| Credits | AgentsVerify | ZeroBounce | BounceBan | MillionVerifier | Hunter |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 10,000 | $11.70 | $129 | $40 | $39 | $110 |
| 25,000 | $17.70 | $274 | $100 | $59 | $225 |
| 50,000 | $26.70 | $499 | $175 | $89 | $370 |
| 100,000 | $44.70 | $649 | $300 | $149 | $740 |
| 500,000 | $89.70 | $2,199 | $1,000 | $299 | $1,500 |
| 1,000,000 | $134.70 | $3,199 | $1,700 | $449 | $2,800 |

Excludes introductory discounts, subscriptions and refunds.

## Methodology

About the study

**AgentsVerify** conducted this study using the **same email list and result definitions for every provider**. The goal is a **fair comparison of practical verification performance**, based on measured results rather than brand recognition or past reputation.

**All verifications and provider comparisons** were fully completed on **18-10-2026**, ensuring a consistent comparison date across providers.

Bars show percentages; tables show exact counts. Prices compare one-time purchases for the **same number of credits**.

How providers are compared

Providers use different labels. We group their results into **four shared categories**:

**Valid**

The address is expected to receive email.

**Invalid**

The address is expected to reject email.

**Catch-all**

The provider leaves address deliverability unresolved on a domain that accepts arbitrary recipients.

**Unknown**

The provider could not determine whether the address can receive email.

AgentsVerify continues beyond catch-all detection with additional address-level checks. Addresses resolved as valid or invalid count in those categories; only unresolved catch-all results remain in the catch-all count.

[**ZeroBounce**](https://www.zerobounce.net/docs/email-validation-api-quickstart/v2-status-codes)

**603 valid** = **446** valid results + **157** “do not mail” results counted as valid under its published definitions.

A disposable or role-based label does not automatically mean the address is invalid.

[**BounceBan**](https://github.com/bounceban-com/skill-email-verification/blob/main/introduction.md)

**Deliverable → Valid** · **Undeliverable → Invalid**

“Risky” results are split between catch-all and unknown.

[**Hunter**](https://hunter.io/api-documentation)

**Accept-all → Catch-all**