A Mailinator alternative with a private inbox

Your private address is ready below. Nobody can open this inbox by guessing its name, and it deletes itself when the time runs out.

Preview Addresses don't receive real emails yet. We're still setting up delivery.

Your temporary email address
 
Expires in …

Inbox 0

Waiting for emails…

New messages appear here automatically. Turn on Notify me to get an alert while you are in another tab.

    Mailinator is a tool for software testers. Every inbox at @mailinator.com already exists, so a tester can type any name and check what arrived. That is exactly what makes it fast for testing, and exactly why it is a poor fit for personal sign-ups: on the public free plan, all inboxes are public. Anyone who types the same name sees the same emails.

    What a public inbox means in practice

    Say you sign up for a shop with a made-up Mailinator name. A week later the shop sends a password reset link to that address. Anyone who types the same name can open it, click the link and set a new password on your account. The same goes for order confirmations with your home address, or a code that unlocks an account.

    A test account with fake data does not care. An account with your name, your address or your money does.

    When Mailinator is the right tool

    • You test email flows for a living. Mailinator has an API and paid plans built for teams that check sign-up and notification emails in code. TempDog has no API.
    • You need many inboxes at once. With Mailinator you can make up any address without opening the site first. TempDog gives you one random address at a time.

    When you need a private inbox instead

    • The account is yours. Your address is random and long, so nobody can stumble onto it by guessing a name. Only you, or someone you give your access key to, can open it.
    • You will need the email later. Keep the address from 5 minutes to 30 days, instead of a few hours on Mailinator’s free plan. Save access gives you a key and a QR code to reopen it on another device.
    You want Better choice
    Automated tests with code or an API Mailinator
    Lots of throwaway inboxes for a test run Mailinator
    A sign-up with your own name, order or payment TempDog
    An inbox nobody else can open TempDog

    Not sure a temporary address is right for the account? Read whether temporary email is safe and legal, or see how 10 temporary email services compare.

    Information about Mailinator comes from its public website, mailinator.com, checked on November 1, 2026. Features change, so check before you rely on them. Mailinator is a trademark of its owner; TempDog is not affiliated with it. If something here is out of date, tell us.

    Questions

    Is TempDog part of Mailinator?

    No. TempDog is an independent service and is not affiliated with Mailinator. We compare the two honestly below.

    Is TempDog good for testing sign-up emails?

    For a few manual tests, yes. For automated tests across many inboxes, a service built for testers, such as Mailinator, is the better fit. TempDog has no API.

    What happens to my emails when the time runs out?

    The address and every email in it are deleted. The address is never given to anyone else, so later emails sent to it are not delivered to a stranger.