Updated · Volt Ghost team
Disclosure: Volt Ghost is our service, so read our entry with that in mind. For the others we only state what their own sites said on 17 October 2026 (sources are linked in each section). We didn't measure speed, deliverability or uptime, and we don't repeat anyone's user or traffic figures.
Quick picks
| If you need… | Look at |
|---|---|
| An inbox that's gone in minutes | 10MinuteMail |
| A chosen address you can reuse for months | Guerrilla Mail |
| An address that lasts until you delete it, plus mobile apps | Temp-Mail.org |
| Email testing for a QA team, with an API | Mailinator |
| A realistic-looking address, up to 7 days, reopenable on another device | Volt Ghost |
Side by side
| Service | How long it lasts | Who can read the inbox | Can send? | Paid tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volt Ghost | 24 h, one free extension up to 7 days | Holder of the recovery link | No | None |
| 10MinuteMail | 10 min, resettable | Only you (per its FAQ) | Reply and forward | None mentioned |
| Guerrilla Mail | Address never expires; mail kept 1 h | Anyone with the inbox ID | Compose page (suspended on the day we checked) | Custom domain, $9.99/year |
| Temp-Mail.org | Until you delete it or the domain list changes | Not stated in its FAQ | No (disabled on purpose) | Premium |
| Mailinator (public) | Mail kept "several hours" | Anyone: all public inboxes are public | No | Business plans for private domains |
Volt Ghost
Best for: sign-ups where the mail might come late, or where a random-looking address gets refused. Addresses look like a person's name by default ([email protected]), inboxes last 24 hours with one free extension to 7 days, and a recovery link reopens the inbox on any device. Trade-offs: receive-only, no attachments, English only for now, and sites with strict disposable-domain filters may refuse our two domains, as they do every service here. Try it on the home page.
10MinuteMail
Best for: one quick confirmation. Its FAQ says the address and mail self-destruct after 10 minutes, you can reset the timer with "Give me 10 more minutes", and you can reply and forward. It also says lost mail can't be recovered and asks you not to close the window. The interface lists 45 languages. Trade-offs: short life by design; no way back once the tab is closed. Full details in Volt Ghost vs 10MinuteMail.
Guerrilla Mail
Best for: choosing your own address and returning to it. According to its About & FAQ page, addresses never expire, mail is deleted after one hour, and anyone who knows an inbox ID can read it (a "Scramble Address" alias helps). It offers a public API and runs on its own open-source mail server. Trade-offs: the one-hour mail window, shared-knowledge access, and ads with Google Analytics and AdSense cookies, as its privacy section notes. See Volt Ghost vs Guerrilla Mail.
Temp-Mail.org
Best for: a disposable address you'd like to keep using for a while, including on your phone. Its FAQ says an address is valid until you delete it or the service changes its domain list, and that sending is disabled to prevent fraud and spam. It has App Store and Google Play apps, and a Premium plan that lists a custom domain, up to 10 addresses at once, 100 MB of storage and no ads. Trade-offs: the free tier carries ads, and the site also promotes paid add-ons such as temporary phone numbers.
Mailinator
Best for: developers and QA teams. The site describes a free public system where any @mailinator.com address works without sign-up, and paid plans with private testing domains, an API and webhooks. Its FAQ says public emails last several hours, all public mail is public, and the public system doesn't accept attachments. Trade-offs: never use the public system for anything private, because anyone can open any inbox. For manual testing on a private inbox, see our testing page.
How to choose, in four questions
- How long until the mail arrives? Minutes: anything works. Hours or days: you need a service that keeps mail that long.
- Could someone else read it? Public-by-design inboxes are fine for a newsletter, not for a password reset.
- Do you need to reply? Only a couple of services send at all.
- Will you ever need this account again? If yes, skip all five and use an alias or your real address. Here's why.
How we checked
On 17 October 2026 we read each service's home page and FAQ or About page and recorded only what they state. Prices and features change, so the linked sources are the final word. We'll re-check and update the date on this page at least every three months.