Burner addresses, on a real domain, via API.

The problem with the existing options

Sometimes you need a fresh email address for a legitimate reason: testing your own signup flow under load, validating a free-tier limit on a service you build on, or running a migration where you need to re-register a hundred test accounts. Your real inbox is the wrong tool — it pollutes search, it is hard to script against, and you do not want a year's worth of receipts in your work account.

The browser-based disposable-inbox sites are the obvious next stop, and they fail for the same two reasons every time: they have no API (you cannot script them), and their domains are on every major blocklist (you cannot register with them on most real services). Some also rotate domains so quickly that the address you got five minutes ago is gone.

catchotp gives you the same convenience — fresh address, TTL, no setup — on a domain with proper MX records, DKIM signing, and a real abuse-handling story. Plus an API and a CLI so you can build the automation you actually wanted.

What you get

Disposable-inbox sites vs catchotp

From CLI to script

Start in the terminal; promote to a script when you want to automate. Same identifiers, same waiter semantics.

# Install the CLI once
npm install -g @catchotp/cli
catchotp login   # paste your API key

# Create a burner address
catchotp inbox create --ttl 30m
# → inbox_01HK... · abc123@inbox.catchotp.com (expires in 30m)

# Watch it for incoming mail
catchotp inbox watch inbox_01HK...
# → resolves the moment any message arrives, prints the parsed JSON

# Or pull the latest OTP without opening anything
catchotp otp get inbox_01HK...
# → 482109

import { CatchOTP } from '@catchotp/sdk';
const otp = new CatchOTP({ apiKey: process.env.CATCHOTP_KEY });

// Create a burner that auto-expires in 30 minutes
const inbox = await otp.inboxes.create({ mode: 'ephemeral', ttlMinutes: 30 });
console.log(inbox.address);  // → "abc123@inbox.catchotp.com"

// Use that address to register your test account on YOUR own service,
// then pull the verification mail back out:
const message = await otp.messages.waitFor(inbox.id, { timeoutSeconds: 60 });
console.log(message.subject, message.text.slice(0, 200));

from catchotp import CatchOTP
client = CatchOTP(api_key=os.environ["CATCHOTP_KEY"])

inbox = client.inboxes.create(mode="ephemeral", ttl_minutes=30)
print(inbox.address)  # → "abc123@inbox.catchotp.com"

# List all messages so far
for msg in client.messages.list(inbox.id):
    print(msg.from_, msg.subject)

Related use cases

Read the SDK reference or jump straight to pricing.