ZapBounce vs Kickbox
Kickbox is a deliverability consultancy that happens to sell a verifier, and the Sendex score reflects that: it rates how good an address is, not merely whether it exists. One clause undoes a lot of that goodwill, and it is the twelve-month credit expiry.
| ZapBounce | Kickbox | |
|---|---|---|
| Accuracy reporting | Coverage stated: the share of your list with a definite verdict | None published |
| 1,000 addresses | $5 | $10 ($5 for 500) |
| 10,000 addresses | $25 | $70 |
| 100,000 addresses | $139 | $500 ($1,100 for 250,000; $2,999 for a million) |
| Free tier | 100 a month, no card | 100 free |
| Credit expiry | Never | Credits expire one year from purchase |
| Billed for unknowns | No | No |
Kickbox figures read from their own pricing page in September 2026.
How Kickbox prices it
Kickbox sells pay-as-you-go packs from $5 for 500 to $2,999 for a million, and unknown results don't count against the balance (kickbox.com, read 24 September 2026). The clause that changes the arithmetic is expiry. Credits lapse one year after purchase, so your real rate is what you spent divided by what you used before then. ZapBounce credits carry no date at all.
Why teams pick ZapBounce over Kickbox
What changes when your list runs through ZapBounce instead.
The short version
- Credits never expire. Kickbox credits expire twelve months after purchase, so a balance bought for a migration can lapse before the next list arrives.
- Published prices on one page: $5 for 1,000, $25 for 10,000 and $139 for 100,000, with no minimum.
- Coverage reported as a headline number on every list, beside the unknowns we never bill.
- 100 credits free each month, no card, to test a sample before you buy anything.
- Four plain results and three flags that any segment rule can read, with the literal SMTP code attached to every row.
Moving off Kickbox
Twelve-month credit expiry, more than anything else. Buy for a migration, use two thirds, and the rest evaporates on the anniversary. For anyone cleaning a list twice a year that single clause decides the vendor.
Easy, but the Sendex score does not come with you. If your workflow thresholds on it, you are replacing a quality score with a binary verdict plus a catch-all label, and that is a real change to how you segment.
The hard addresses, and how they come back
Questions people ask about Kickbox
How much does the twelve-month expiry actually cost?
Take what you bought, subtract what you used, and look at the purchase date. For a team that cleans a list twice a year, the unused remainder is often a third of the original spend. ZapBounce credits do not expire, so that remainder is still in the account the next time a list arrives.
What replaces the Sendex score?
Nothing exactly. You would get a verdict, a catch-all label and an unresolved count. That is less nuance and more transparency about where the nuance ran out. Whether that trade works depends on how your segments are built.
Kickbox only bills definitive results. Do you?
Same rule. ZapBounce never bills an unknown, and a duplicate in the same batch is never billed either. Both rules are printed on the pricing page rather than left to the terms.
Is ZapBounce cheaper than Kickbox?
At 100,000 addresses we list $139 and they list $500 ($1,100 for 250,000; $2,999 for a million). Compare the per-address rate rather than the headline, and check what each side does with unknowns: ours are never billed.
Can I test both before deciding?
Yes, and you should. Run the same sample of a few thousand addresses through each and compare how many came back unresolved. That difference matters more than either accuracy claim.
Find your Kickbox purchase date. Their credits run out twelve months from it, and ours carry no expiry at all.
Run the same sample through us and Kickbox
100 free checks a month, no card, and the unknowns come back labeled.