Mailgun Email Validator
Kick spam with a highly advanced email validation in comment forms, user registration and contact forms using Mailgun's Email validation service.
Consider an alternative
Mailgun Email Validator shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 50+ sites, is rated 4.1/5 and was last updated 9 years ago, and scores 38/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (50+ active installs)
- No update in 8 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 4.9 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Mailgun Email Validator stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| anti-spam | >100 |
| comments | >100 |
| email validation | >100 |
| spam | >100 |
| validation | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 from 25 reviews
About Mailgun Email Validator
From the official readme · v1.2.4.1Description
Most email validators look for an @ and a .(dot) some go further and blacklist certain domain names. But Mailgun’s Advanced email validation service goes deeper and looks for the existence of the domain name, presence of a MX record and the custom ESP(Email Service Provider) grammar.
The grammar here is the rules defined by each email provider. For example, Yahoo Mail addresses can only contain letters, numbers, underscores, and one period.
So user.name.abc@yahoo.com perfectly passes the is_email() function but can never exist as it contains more than one period. Such addresses can’t escape Mailgun’s Email validation.
Why use Mailgun’s email validation service?
- Performs the usual email syntax check.
- Checks the existence of the email domain. So
user@some-random-characters.comcan’t escape. - Checks if the email domain has a MX record. So
anything@example.comis caught. - Checks if the username complies with the grammar of its ESP (Email Service provider). Eg Gmail doesn’t allow usernames less than 6 characters and hyphens so
small@gmail.comandhyphen-user@gmail.comcan’t get away.
Why use this plugin?
- Integrates with the is_email() function of WordPress. So it works seamlessly with Contact Form 7, Jetpack/Grunion contact forms, WordPress registration form and any form which uses the
is_email()function. - Kicks spam before it is inserted into the database
- Ensures that the commenting process is uninterrupted even if Mailgun suffers a downtime
- Works completely transparent, nothing changes in the frontend
This plugin requires a Mailgun Public API Key which can be obtained by signing up at Mailgun.
If you’re trying out this plugin on a local WAMP/LAMP/MAMP installation make sure your system is connected to the Internet for this plugin to contact Mailgun.
Available Languages
- English
- Serbo-Croatian by Borisa Djuraskovic
- Spanish by Andrew Kurtis
Further Reading
Read about Mailgun’s email validation service.
Installation
- Unzip and upload the
mailgun-email-validatorfolder to the/wp-content/plugins/directory. - Activate the Mailgun Email Validator plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
- Configure the plugin by going to
General > Email Validationpage. - Signup for a Mailgun account (First 100 validations are free every month).
- Login, copy and paste your public API key to
General > Email Validationpage.
Changelog
1.2.4.1
- 19th October 2017
- Add global variables $pagenow and $wp
1.2.4
- 8th October 2017
- Don’t use Mailgun validation on the WooCommerce WP-Admin orders page. More details…
1.2.3
- 16th October 2016
- Removed PHP4 style constructors for PHP 7 compatibility
1.2.2
- 21st April 2015
- Use Mailgun’s API v3
- Added Spanish language, props Andrew Kurtis
1.2.1
- 19th October 2014
- Use HTTP HEAD instead of GET to validate API key. More details…
1.2
- 3rd September 2014
- Added Serbo-Croatian language, props Borisa Djuraskovic
Screenshots
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
Best Mailgun Email Validator alternatives
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FAQ
Mailgun Email Validator: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 5, 2026
Is Mailgun Email Validator free?
Yes. Mailgun Email Validator is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Mailgun Email Validator safe to use in 2026?
Mailgun Email Validator shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 50+ sites, is rated 4.1/5 and was last updated 9 years ago, and scores 38/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Mailgun Email Validator?
Mailgun Email Validator is active on 50+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 11,738 times since it launched in October 2013. It was downloaded 66 times in the last 30 days.
Does Mailgun Email Validator work with WordPress 7.1?
Mailgun Email Validator is officially tested up to WordPress 4.9.33, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Mailgun Email Validator last updated?
The latest version, 1.2.4.1, was released on November 25, 2017 (9 years ago).
Who makes Mailgun Email Validator?
Mailgun Email Validator is developed and maintained by Jesin A.
What are the best alternatives to Mailgun Email Validator?
The most popular alternatives to Mailgun Email Validator are Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Pro… (5M+ installs), Antispam Bee (700K+ installs) and WP Armour (400K+ installs).
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