- You need pre-send spam testing or seed-list inbox placement. Kickbox shut both down on 15 January 2024 and now offers verification plus consulting only.
- You want client previews, AI eye-tracking heatmaps and an AI assistant alongside spam scoring, in one plan from $9/mo with a 14-day refund.
- You want SPF, DKIM and DMARC checked with every test. Kickbox dropped its self-serve auth checker in January 2024.
- You prefer a free tier that resets monthly (10 spam tests, 10 previews, 10 heatmaps, 3 inbox tests, no card) over a one-time credit grant.
// Unspam vs Kickbox
A Kickbox alternative that still tests deliverability, not just addresses
Kickbox is a pay-as-you-go email verification service; it discontinued its deliverability suite (spam testing, inbox placement, blocklist and DMARC tools) in January 2024. Unspam keeps those in one plan: spam testing, inbox placement, client previews and AI heatmaps, with a free tier and paid plans from $9/mo.
Which one fits you?
- Your main job is verifying email addresses at volume: real-time API for signup forms, bulk list cleaning and the Sendex quality score are Kickbox's core product, with 25+ native integrations like HubSpot, Mailchimp and Klaviyo.
- You want pay-as-you-go credits with no subscription: from $5 one-time for 500 verifications, 100 free verifications to start, and auto-refunds on 'unknown' results.
- You need self-serve API access. Unspam's API is only available on its custom-priced White Label plan, with no self-serve trial.
Unspam vs Kickbox, feature by feature.
Based on public product pages and documentation. Spotted something outdated? Tell us in the chat and we’ll fix it.
Feature
Unspam
Kickbox
Free plan or trial
Free plan, no card
100 free verifications
First paid plan
$9/mo
$5 one-time · 500 credits
Spam score testing
Yes
—Nodiscontinued Jan 2024
Inbox placement tests
Yes
—Nodiscontinued Jan 2024
Client previews & screenshots
Yes
—No
AI attention heatmap
Yes
—No
Blacklist monitoring
Yes
—Nodiscontinued Jan 2024
SPF / DKIM / DMARC checks
Yes
Partialvia paid consulting
AI fix recommendations
Yes
—No
Scheduled automatic tests
Yes
—Nodiscontinued Jan 2024
API access
YesWhite Label plan
Yes
Email verification
Yes
Yes
Automated inbox warmup
—No
—No
DMARC report monitoring
Partialchecked per test
—Nodiscontinued Jan 2024
Deliverability consulting
Yesseparate service
Yescustom-priced
What each one costs.
Kickbox sells pay-as-you-go verification credits. Its spam testing and placement suite was discontinued in January 2024. List prices as of mid-2026; credits expire after 12 months.
- Free $0
10 spam tests, 10 previews, 10 heatmaps, 3 inbox placement tests per month. AI assistant included.
- Basic $9/mo
50 spam tests, 50 previews, 10 heatmaps, 10 inbox placement tests per month. Historical results.
- Business $19/mo
200 spam tests, 200 previews, 50 heatmaps, 50 inbox placement tests per month. Historical results.
- Agency from $29/mo
500 spam tests, 500 previews, 250 heatmaps, 250 inbox placement tests per month.
- White Label Custom
Spam tests, previews, heatmaps, and inbox tests sized to your contract. Custom API access.
- 500 credits $5 one-time
500 verifications ($0.010/email)
- 10,000 credits $80 one-time
10,000 verifications ($0.008/email)
- 100,000 credits $800 one-time
100,000 verifications ($0.008/email)
- 1,000,000 credits $4,000 one-time
1,000,000 verifications ($0.004/email)
- Enterprise Custom quote
Volumes above 1M verifications
Kickbox pricing and feature information was collected from publicly available sources in June 2026 and may have changed since; it is provided for general comparison only and is not guaranteed to reflect current offers. Confirm current pricing on the vendor's website. Kickbox is a trademark of its respective owner. Unspam is not affiliated with or endorsed by Kickbox.
Why teams move from Kickbox to Unspam.
Kickbox exited deliverability testing
On 15 January 2024, Kickbox discontinued Inbox Placement, Precheck spam testing, Reputation, Blocklist Monitoring and its DMARC tools. It is now a verification-only product. Unspam still runs spam tests, seed-list placement across 6+ providers and blacklist checks across 14+ services. Results in about 30 seconds.
Credits expire, free tiers shouldn't
Kickbox credits expire 12 months after purchase, with no refund for unused credits, and the free 100 verifications are a one-off. Unspam's free plan resets every month with no card required, and paid plans from $9/mo carry a 14-day no-questions-asked refund.
Previews and heatmaps included
Kickbox has no client previews and no heatmaps. Unspam includes device previews, AI eye-tracking heatmaps and an AI assistant on every plan. The free tier gets 10 previews and 10 heatmaps a month.
// FAQ
Unspam vs Kickbox, answered.
Is Unspam a full replacement for Kickbox?
For deliverability testing, yes: Kickbox no longer offers spam testing or inbox placement at all, while Unspam covers spam testing and inbox placement on every plan. For verification, partly: Unspam includes an email verifier, but Kickbox's real-time verification API and 25+ native integrations remain stronger for high-volume list cleaning, and Unspam's API is White Label only.
How do Kickbox and Unspam prices compare?
Different models. Kickbox sells prepaid credits, listed at $5 one-time for 500 verifications ($0.010/email) as of mid-2026, with credits expiring after 12 months; reviewers also call it expensive at scale. Unspam is a subscription: a free plan, then paid plans from $9/mo with a 14-day refund and 2 months free on annual billing.
What is the biggest functional difference?
Kickbox verifies addresses: whether an email exists and is safe to send to. Unspam tests the email itself: spam score, inbox placement, client previews, AI heatmaps and per-test SPF/DKIM/DMARC checks. Since January 2024, Kickbox does none of those. Note that neither tool offers automated inbox warmup or ongoing DMARC aggregate-report monitoring.
How do the free tiers compare?
Kickbox gives new accounts 100 free verifications, once, with no card required. Unspam's free plan recurs monthly: 10 spam tests, 10 previews, 10 heatmaps and 3 inbox placement tests, with the AI assistant included and no card required.
// see for yourself