How to verify an email address in PHP

Verify whether an email address is real and deliverable — in real time, from PHP, using the MailTester Ninja API. One HTTP call. Nothing is stored on our side.

Code

<?php
$q = http_build_query([
  "email" => "someone@example.com",
  "key"   => "YOUR_API_KEY",
]);
$data = json_decode(file_get_contents("https://happy.mailtester.ninja/ninja?$q"), true);
echo $data["code"] . " " . $data["message"]; // ok Accepted

What you get back

`ok`	Accepted	the mailbox exists and accepts mail
`ko`	Rejected	invalid / undeliverable address
`mb`	Catch-All / uncertain	domain accepts everything, or temporary state

Get a free API key at mailtester.ninja/api. Prefer a quick manual check? Use the free domain analyzer.

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