Six of twelve models named ZeroBounce first on the direct prompt; two named Clearout. ZeroBounce was named by twelve of the twelve models and Clearout by ten and ZeroBounce carries 53 labels and Clearout 33, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in three categories this edition.
Named in two categories this edition.
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the email verification page.
Across every category in the September 2026 Edition, ZeroBounce and Clearout were named in the same answer seventy-four times, of the 178 answers naming ZeroBounce and the 101 naming Clearout. In those answers Clearout took the first choice three times and ZeroBounce twenty.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | ||||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | ||||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | ||||||
| Perplexity Sonar | ||||||
| Grok 4.1 Fast | ||||||
| Mistral Small | ||||||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | ||||||
| Llama 4 Maverick | ||||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | ||||||
| Kimi K2 | ||||||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | ||||||
| MiniMax M2.5 |
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Several providers (ZeroBounce, NeverBounce, Bouncer's monthly credits) expire credits, which punishes infrequent users” DeepSeek V4 Flash · budget prompt · soft negative
“Be Cautious About: Overpriced "Legacy" Providers... ZeroBounce charges up to $129 per 10,000 verifications” Gemini 3.5 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“premium enterprise tools like ZeroBounce charge ~$129 for 10,000 verifications” Gemini 3.5 Flash · budget prompt · soft negative
“Well-regarded alternatives with stronger track records in recent independent testing include Bouncer, ZeroBounce, Kickbox, and NeverBounce” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · first choice
“ZeroBounce (Best overall balance for mid-market) ... ZeroBounce for robust list hygiene + extras (top G2 pick for mid-market)” Grok 4.1 Fast · direct prompt · first choice
“ZeroBounce — Best Overall for Mid-Market ... Choose ZeroBounce if you want the safest bet with proven mid-market fit” Kimi K2 · direct prompt · first choice
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of four in this category shown.
“Clearout: 94.1% real accuracy” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · soft negative
“The best email verification service for a mid-market B2B company is Hunter, Clearout, or Kickbox” Llama 4 Maverick · direct prompt · first choice
“For most mid-market B2B companies, I'd recommend starting with Clearout” GLM 4.7 FlashX · direct prompt · first choice
“would be Hunter, Clearout, or Zerobounce” Llama 4 Maverick · paraphrase prompt · first choice
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.