Can I keep using Gmail for manual checks?

You can. Many teams move only automated tests first. For manual QA, a named inbox in the Zyntra viewer keeps test mail out of anyone's personal Gmail.

What does Zyntra cost compared to free Gmail?

The free plan covers 150 emails and 500 API requests a month. Starter is $9/month billed yearly for 10,000 emails.

Comparison

Gmail plus addressing vs a test inbox API

[email protected] is free and already there, which is why most teams start with it. Every tagged address lands in one real mailbox, so a test has to sign in to Gmail, search and filter, and parallel runs read the same inbox. A test inbox API gives each tag its own inbox and one HTTP call to read it.

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Side by side

Gmail plus addressing facts are from its own website, checked on October 16, 2026. Prices change; check the sources below before you decide.

ZyntraGmail plus addressing

Where mail landsEach address is its own inboxEvery +tag goes to the same mailbox

Reading it in a testOne GET with an API keyGmail API with OAuth, or a mail client library, then a search by recipient

Parallel test runsSeparate addresses, nothing sharedAll runs read the same mailbox and must filter

Links in the emailPre-extracted into a links fieldYour test parses the HTML

CleanupDeleted after 1 day unless you created the inboxMail stays until you delete it

A person reading itWeb viewer for inboxes created in the dashboardThe Gmail inbox, mixed with everything else in it

Cost$0: 150 emails/month, 500 API requests/monthFree

Which one fits

Choose Gmail plus addressing if

You test by hand a few times a week and never in parallel.
Your tests already sign in to Gmail and the setup is stable.

Choose Zyntra if

Email tests run in CI, in parallel, and should never read each other's mail.
You don't want OAuth tokens for a real Google account inside your test suite.
You want the confirmation link without parsing HTML.
Test mail should clean itself up.

How plus addressing works

Subaddressing is described in RFC 5233: the part after a separator, + in Gmail's case, is a detail for the recipient's own sorting. The mail server delivers it to the base mailbox. That is what makes it useful for filters and awkward for tests: the address looks unique, but the inbox is not.

Questions

Can I keep using Gmail for manual checks?: You can. Many teams move only automated tests first. For manual QA, a named inbox in the Zyntra viewer keeps test mail out of anyone's personal Gmail.
What does Zyntra cost compared to free Gmail?: The free plan covers 150 emails and 500 API requests a month. Starter is $9/month billed yearly for 10,000 emails.

Sources

Give every test its own inbox

Free plan. Send to any address and read it back over the API.

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