Migrate from Hunter
Hunter is primarily an email finder tool. Its verification feature is a secondary concern and uses credits shared with discovery requests. This guide covers switching that verification step to Mailbeam.
Key differences
| Feature | Hunter | Mailbeam |
|---|---|---|
| Primary use case | Email finding | Email verification |
| Verification method | Basic SMTP + MX | Full 8-check suite |
| GDPR / EU hosting | Partial | Native (Frankfurt) |
| Pricing | Shared credits | Per-verification |
| AI scoring | No | Yes (0–100 + reason) |
| Real-time latency | ~300ms | < 100ms |
Endpoint mapping
Hunter's verify endpoint: GET https://api.hunter.io/v2/email-verifier
Mailbeam's equivalent: POST https://api.mailbeam.dev/v1/verify
Code migration
Hunter (old):
const response = await fetch(
`https://api.hunter.io/v2/email-verifier?email=${email}&api_key=${apiKey}`
);
const { data } = await response.json();
// Hunter returns: { result: "deliverable" | "risky" | "undeliverable" }
if (data.result !== "deliverable") {
return res.status(422).json({ error: "Email not deliverable" });
}Mailbeam (new):
import Mailbeam from "@mailbeam/sdk";
const mb = new Mailbeam({ apiKey: process.env.MAILBEAM_KEY });
const { valid, score, reason } = await mb.verify(email);
if (!valid || score < 60) {
return res.status(422).json({ error: "Invalid email", reason });
}Hunter result mapping
Hunter result | Mailbeam equivalent |
|---|---|
"deliverable" | valid: true, score >= 70 |
"risky" | valid: true, score 40–70 (use your own threshold) |
"undeliverable" | valid: false |
"unknown" | score < 40 with no definitive result |