Frequently Asked Questions
Everything on this page is a real, specific answer — not a rewording of the marketing copy elsewhere on the site. Organized by topic; use the section headers to jump to what you need.
The basics
What exactly is zephbox?
A disposable email service. It generates a working, receive-only email address — either a standard zephbox domain or a Gmail/Outlook-style alias — that you can use anywhere a site asks for an email, without handing over your real one. Mail sent to it appears in a live inbox on the page, and the address self-destructs on a timer.
Is it actually free?
Yes, genuinely — not a trial. The free tier has no time limit on how long you can use the service, only a daily limit on how many addresses you can generate and how long each one stays active. Full Access is an optional paid tier for people who need more: custom domains, forwarding, longer retention, and the developer API.
Do I need to create an account?
No. The free tier works the moment you land on the homepage, tracked only by an anonymous device identifier stored in your browser — no email, password, or personal detail required. Creating a free account raises your daily limit and lets you find the same addresses again across browser sessions.
What countries or languages is zephbox available in?
The service itself works from anywhere. The site and generator interface are fully translated (not machine-translated on the fly) into English, German, Spanish, Indonesian, and Brazilian Portuguese — use the language switcher in the top navigation to change.
Addresses & inbox
How long do addresses last?
24 hours by default on the free tier, extendable by another 24 hours at any time before it expires, using the extend control in the inbox toolbar. Full Access accounts get a longer default retention window — see Pricing for the exact figure.
Can I get my address or its mail back after it expires?
No, and this is deliberate. Expired addresses and every message tied to them are permanently deleted, not archived or soft-hidden — there's genuinely nothing left to recover, by us or anyone else. If you need something to persist longer, extend it before it expires or use a Full Access account's longer retention.
Why do Gmail/Outlook-style aliases work better than other temp-mail domains?
Most sites check the recipient's domain against public lists of known disposable-email providers and reject anything on that list outright. A Gmail or Outlook-style alias is backed by a real account on that provider's own infrastructure — it isn't on those blocklists, so it passes the same checks a personal address would.
How fast does mail actually arrive?
Usually within a few seconds. Incoming mail is synced in near real time rather than on a slow polling schedule, and pushed to your open inbox tab without a page refresh.
Can I send email from a zephbox address, or reply to something?
No — every zephbox address is receive-only, permanently, on every plan. This is a deliberate safety design, not a missing feature: an anonymous address that could also send mail would be a much more attractive tool for spam and phishing.
Will every website accept a zephbox address?
Most will, especially with a Gmail/Outlook-style alias, but not universally — some services run their own aggressive detection beyond a simple domain blocklist. There's no disposable-email provider that guarantees 100% acceptance everywhere; be skeptical of anyone who claims otherwise.
Accounts & billing
What's the actual difference between Free and Full Access?
Free (with or without an account) gives you standard temporary addresses at a daily quota. Full Access adds custom aliases and custom domains, longer mailbox retention, forwarding to a real inbox, and the full developer API. See Pricing for the complete breakdown.
How do I cancel or change my plan?
From your account dashboard. Cancelling stops future billing; it doesn't retroactively refund the current period unless required by law in your jurisdiction — see Terms of Service for the specifics.
Can I export or delete my account data?
Yes, both are self-service from account settings — full data export and full account deletion, no waiting on support for either. See Privacy Policy for what's included.
Developer API
Is there an API?
Yes. Full Access includes a REST API for creating inboxes, extracting OTP codes and magic links directly from message content, long-polling for new mail, and configuring webhooks so your own backend gets notified when mail arrives. Full reference at API Documentation.
Can I use the API from CI/CD or automated test suites?
That's exactly what it's built for — generating fresh inboxes per test run and reading verification codes back programmatically from Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, or a plain script, with no browser or human required at any point.
Are there rate limits on the API?
Yes, documented per-endpoint on the API Documentation page. They exist to keep the service usable for everyone, not as an artificial upsell — reasonable automated testing usage fits comfortably within them.
Privacy & safety
Is zephbox safe to use for something sensitive, like a bank or account recovery?
No — it isn't meant to be. zephbox is built for one-time verification, not permanent account ownership. Anything with real financial or legal weight, or that you'll need to recover later, belongs on a real email address you control.
What data does zephbox actually collect?
An anonymous device identifier for the free tier, plus standard account data (username, email, hashed password) if you register. Full detail, including what advertising cookies do once enabled, is in the Privacy Policy and Security & Privacy pages.
Can zephbox staff read my mailbox contents?
Technically yes, in the sense that the system has to process message content to display it to you and to run OTP/magic-link extraction — but there's no human review of mailbox content as a matter of course, and it's permanently deleted on the same schedule as the address itself.
Didn't find your answer here? Contact us directly, or check What Is Temp Mail for a deeper conceptual explanation.