# InboxSpec vs testmail.app

A dated comparison of volume pricing, live queries, extraction and custom domains, including where testmail.app is better.

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**Checked on 24 October 2026**

Every testmail.app fact on this page comes from its public pricing page and documentation on that date, listed under [Sources](https://www.inboxspec.com/docs/markdown/compare-testmail.md#sources). Prices and plans change, so check their current pages before deciding. If something here is wrong or out of date, tell us at [hello@inboxspec.com](mailto:hello@inboxspec.com) and we will correct it.

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## At a glance

| Topic | testmail.app | InboxSpec |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price, monthly billing | Free $0, Essential $12, Pro $39, Enterprise $129, Unlimited $299. Annual billing lowers these to $9, $29, $89 and $269 a month. | Free $0 (500 messages/month), Starter $19 (10,000), Developer $49 (50,000), Team $129 (150,000). Monthly billing only. |
| Volume | 100, 10,000, 50,000, 1,000,000 and 10,000,000 emails/month. Paid limits are soft: temporary surges cost nothing extra. | 500, 10,000, 50,000 and 150,000 messages/month, with optional paid overage. |
| Custom receiving domain | Unlimited plan ($299 a month, or $269 billed annually). | Shared domain on Free. Custom receiving domains on every paid plan: 1 on Starter, 3 on Developer, 10 on Team. |
| People | Unlimited users on every plan. | No per-seat fees on any plan. Every plan has the same fair-use ceiling of 1,000 people per workspace. No per-inbox, per-request or MCP charge. |
| Waiting | A live query holds the request and then redirects to itself every minute. There is no timeout parameter, so the test suite has to impose its own limit. | POST /v1/messages/wait blocks on the server for up to 285 seconds per call (default 120). Waiting is not metered and not rate limited; concurrent-wait limits apply. |
| Codes and links | Not extracted. Its examples use a regular expression over the body. | The wait response already contains ranked codes and links classified as verify, sign\_in, reset\_password, unsubscribe or other. |
| Deleting mail | No delete function. Mail expires after 1, 3 or 30 days depending on plan. | Delete a message or inbox, or clean up a whole run by tag. |
| Capture outgoing mail | Not offered. Mail arrives at its public MX. | Capture SMTP with STARTTLS on port 587 on every plan, including Free. |

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## Where testmail.app is the better choice

-   It is cheaper for volume. 50,000 emails costs $39 a month against InboxSpec's $49, and 1,000,000 costs $129 against InboxSpec Team's 150,000.
-   Soft limits: an occasional surge does not cost extra or get refused.
-   Unlimited users on every plan, and addresses that need no registration.
-   A GraphQL API that returns only the fields you ask for, and annual discounts.
-   Its plan named Enterprise lists SSO and a 99.99% uptime SLA.

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## Where InboxSpec differs

-   A custom domain from $19 a month rather than $269.
-   A wait with an explicit timeout and a timeout result, instead of a redirect loop that only the test suite can stop.
-   Codes and classified links in the wait response, capture SMTP for outgoing mail, and hosted MCP.

Some limits apply to InboxSpec whichever tool you compare it with:

-   InboxSpec is new. Production opened in October 2026, so it has no long operating record.
-   It only receives and captures email. It does not send to real recipients, test SMS, render emails in real mail clients or offer annual billing.
-   It has no SSO, SOC 2 report or uptime SLA.
-   REST and hosted [MCP](https://www.inboxspec.com/docs/markdown/mcp.md) are public. The [TypeScript SDK and CLI](https://www.inboxspec.com/docs/markdown/installation.md) are reviewed release archives that are not yet on a public package registry.

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## Sources

All pages read on 24 October 2026. InboxSpec figures come from the [pricing page](https://www.inboxspec.com/pricing) and the [wait guide](https://www.inboxspec.com/docs/markdown/waits.md).

-   [testmail.app pricing](https://testmail.app/pricing/)
-   [testmail.app documentation](https://testmail.app/docs/)

Mailosaur, MailSlurp, testmail.app and Mailtrap are trademarks of their owners. InboxSpec is not affiliated with them.