| What matters | GrabMail | Maildrop |
|---|---|---|
| Access model | Public inbox | Public inbox |
| Upstream retention | 5 days upstream | Up to 10 messages |
| Message removal | Request source deletion | Request source deletion |
| GetaTempMail session | 1 hour | 1 hour |
| Send or reply here | No | No |
A public address has the same basic privacy limit
GrabMail and Maildrop are both public-mail sources. A random address is useful for separating a test from your personal email, but anyone who knows a public mailbox address may be able to retrieve it at the source. Choose either only for low-stakes messages.
Inside GetaTempMail, both use the same copying, search, and sanitized reading interface. Selecting a different source creates a new address; it does not transfer messages between providers. Save your current result before switching.
Time limits and message limits affect different tasks
GrabMail documents five-day upstream retention, while Maildrop has a ten-message mailbox capacity. A capacity-limited inbox can lose older entries during a burst of messages even when little time has passed. A time-based retention statement alone does not tell you whether a busy test inbox will keep everything.
GetaTempMail still provides one hour of access with either source. The longer upstream window is therefore not a reason to use this interface as an archive. For a multi-day test, choose a mailbox or capture service with a lifecycle you control.
Do not confuse retrieval pacing with delivery speed
Maildrop documents greylisting that can delay a first-time sender while its mail server retries. GrabMail requests are paced in our integration to respect the source’s API rhythm. These are different mechanisms: one concerns mail delivery and the other concerns fetching data.
We have not run a controlled delivery-speed comparison between the two. If a test email is missing, compare your sender’s logs with the submitted address and current source status instead of choosing a winner based on one arrival time.
A few common questions
Will changing sources keep my existing messages?+
No. Changing source creates a new address and replaces the current local session. Save your result before switching.
Which source is fastest?+
We have not benchmarked delivery speeds. Sender behavior and source availability vary, so this comparison does not promise a delivery-time winner.