Choose the temporary email block list that is right for you. But before we dive in, let’s talk about what temporary email is end why block lists exist.
What is temporary email and why block it?
Temporary email (aka disposable email and a bunch of synonyms). They are pretty much the equivalent of a hit-and-run for free goods and services you offer. All those “users” and “customers” who just vanish after grabbing your freebie offer? Who never read let alone respond to any email you send? Blame disposable email address services they used to sign up! The email inbox is deleted shortly after the transaction and leaves you with a contact list with more holes than Swiss cheese.
Using temporary email may be a good way to dodge spam. But for businesses that use email in privacy respecting ways, it can be a real pain. In order to be able to actually talk to their users and customers many businesses choose to block disposable email. The benefits are cleaner lists, better analytics, and fewer phantom users and less resource drain.
What is a temporary email block list?
A temporary email block list, is essentially a list of domains that are known for offering temporary email addresses. You can use such a list when validating email address input in your signup form or the download form for a freebies. When a customers enters their email, you check against the list. If the email is from a known temporary email domain, you can ask the user to provide a better permanent email.
Blocking disposable email addresses using static lists is a usually free and simple way to block users from signing up with temporary emails. You will end up with cleaner databases, genuine customer data and more accurate analytics.
Choosing a temporary email block list
Here are the lists of disposable email domains that we can recommend – and a great alternative we offer.
New disposable email providers pop up every day and existing ones use new domains every day. A static list becomes obsolete quickly. This means your blocking becomes less effective every day.
These lists are updated from time to time so you will need to update your copy too. Typically this means creating a new version of your software to includes the updated list. Plus releasing that new version to the public. Depending on your setup this can be some overhead.
1 – The winner: use a realtime temporary email API
While static email domain lists can be a good way to block disposable email there is a better way. The best list is not a list – but an API. This approach has a couple of benefits over using a static list:
- Always up to date – New temporary email providers and domains pop up every day. We monitor them and add 50 in a typical day. This gives you unparalleled accuracy.
- Realtime – Keep your signup process snappy for end users. A check is a lightning speed call to a simple JSON API.
- Zero maintenance – No need to download and cache large files, no need to build and deploy your software just to update the blocklist.
- Free option available – Get a monthly call limit of 200 checks for free. Paid plans are budget-friendly.
- WordPress Plugin available – No easier way to block disposable email if your site is running WordPress.
The list: istempmail.com
Email domains blocked: 124,907
Last update: 1 hour ago
But you came here looking for burner email domain lists, so here they are.
2 – Disposable/disposable
A github project that compiles many many different lists into one. The result is a very large list that is filtered down by domains with valid MX records. While the list It is kindof a second hand list – you won’t know who actually blocked a domain.
The list https://github.com/disposable/disposable
Email domains blocked: 52,561
Last update: yesterday
3 – Fake email list 7c Fakefilter
7c’s stated goal is to provide this list for site owners as a ‘reliable source to find out all fake/temp provider registration attempts’. Unlike other lists they are not crowdsourced. Instead they monitor known temporary email providers for new domains and add those to their block list.
The list: https://github.com/7c/fakefilter
Email domains blocked: 16,146
Last update: yesterday
4 – Wes Bos’ burner email list
Wes Bos is a legend in web development. He is became famous for his course on CSS Flexbox and has created a lot of other content around making software. Since some of his products are free he gets tons of signups from disposable email adresses. Unlike other creators he uses the block list to reduce bounces and improve the deliverability of his email campaigns. He doesn’t actually mind people using disposable emails to get his products. Instead he compiles the list to filter recipients when sending mails.
The list: https://github.com/wesbos/burner-email-providers/
Email domains blocked: 15,537
Last update: 1 week ago
5 – Disposable email domains github repo
Another list hosted on github.
Pretty nice: this project includes an allowlist of email domains that are often identified as disposable but in fact are not.
Getting a domain removed (if you are positive it does not used for temporary email) involves creating a PR at the git repo. Not sure everybody running a domain knows how to do that.
Find the list here: https://github.com/disposable-email-domains/disposable-email-domains
Emails domains blocked: 3,614
7 – Hexometer banned email domains
A static list published on a website. Not bad to start with. But an unknwon update frequency makes it hard to work with reliably. We appreciate the effort though – and hey, it’s free!
The list: https://hexometer.com/academy/list-of-banned-email-domains/
Blocked email domains: 3,905
Last update: Unknown
8 – Free WordPress plugin to block temporary email
If you run a WordPress site and want to block disposable email it doesn’t get any simpler than this. We might be biased, but see for yourself. Install the free plugin Block temporary email and get 200 monthly checks for free with the free plan at IsTempMail. Here’s how it works step by step:
- Goto WordPress admin panel and install plugin ‘Block temporary email’
- Goto www.istempmail.com/sign-up and create a free account
- Confirm your email
- Copy your API token from
- In WordPress admin enter the token in plugin settings
And boom. Game over for temporary email users.
Get started: istempmail.com
Blocked email domains: 124,907
Last update: 1 hour ago
TL;DR
There are a lot of free options available. They all require you to do some of the maintenance/infrastructure work to receive updates. The largest list is disposable/disposable We also presented a sleek solution – our temporary email block API because it offers the best effort/outcome for software developers. People running WordPress blogs or websites can use the WordPress plugin to block temporary email for free.
We hope this will help you choose a service so you can get started with blocking disposable email. If you have feedback or would like to see a list added here, let us know.