TL;DR
addy.io was formerly known as AnonAddy. It is an open-source email forwarding service that lets you create unlimited aliases on its free tier. You can...
Aspect
Temporary Email Services
addy.io
Pricing
Free for basic use. Some services charge for premium features like longer inbox duration. NukeMail's premium starts at $3/week for extended access and additional addresses.
You'll get a generous free tier with unlimited standard aliases. Paid plans start at $1/month for the Lite tier with custom domains and more bandwidth. It's a cheap service. The $4/month Pro plan unlocks every feature and unlimited bandwidth.
Self-Hosting
Not applicable. Temp email is a hosted service you visit in your browser. You rely on the service provider for uptime and data handling.
Fully open-source and self-hostable. If you have a server, you can run your own addy.io instance with total control over your data. This is rare among email alias services and provides a big advantage for users who want zero trust in third parties.
Account Requirement
No account needed. Completely anonymous, instant access. The service never collects any identifying information about you.
You have to provide your real email address when you sign up so the service knows where to send your forwarded messages. Addy.io must know your forwarding destination. That is how alias-based email routing works.
Alias Types
One address type. A random or chosen address at the temp email domain. Simple and simple for one-time use.
You can choose from multiple alias types including UUID aliases, random word aliases, custom aliases and catch-all aliases on custom domains. You have plenty of flexibility in how you generate and manage these addresses. UUID aliases are useful for high-security contexts because the alias itself is not guessable.
Bandwidth Limits
Limited by inbox duration, not bandwidth. During the active period, no message size restrictions beyond the SMTP standard. NukeMail accepts emails up to 25MB.
The free tier limits you to 10MB of bandwidth per month for forwarded emails. This constraint matters if you receive image-heavy emails or newsletters with embedded media. Paid tiers raise that bandwidth to 100MB for Lite users or provide unlimited access for Pro users.
Address Longevity
Temporary. Addresses expire and are gone forever. Data is deleted. This is by design. The purpose is to leave no trace after the address has served its purpose.
These aliases stay active until you decide to remove them. They are perfect for long-term use with services you actually care about. You can deactivate an alias instead of deleting it, which keeps the option to reactivate it later if you need to.
Reply and Send
Receive-only. Cannot send or reply. Works for verification codes and confirmation links, but not for ongoing conversations.
You can reply using your aliases and even send new messages from them. It provides full email functionality without exposing your real address. You are able to start conversations from an alias address so those aliases look exactly like real email accounts.
API Access
Most temp email services don't offer APIs. Some developer-focused ones like NukeMail provide API access for automated testing and CI/CD integration.
Full REST API available for creating, managing and deleting aliases programmatically. Useful for developers building privacy-focused applications or automating alias management across teams.
Verdict
addy.io is a great choice for users who care about privacy and want a long-term alias solution that doesn't cost much. The free tier is actually useful because it offers unlimited standard aliases. The $1/month Lite plan unlocks extra features and self-hosting is a real option if you want full control. It is arguably the best value available in the email alias space.
Temporary email is still the right tool when you need a quick and anonymous disposable address with no strings attached. Creating an addy.io alias for a one-time free trial signup is overkill. Temp email handles that in seconds with zero setup.
If you're technically inclined and care about email privacy, addy.io works well as your daily driver for alias management. Keep temp email bookmarked for those situations where you need maximum anonymity and zero commitment.
The self-hosting option makes addy.io unique in the alias space. You eliminate the trust requirement entirely if you run your own instance. Your alias data never touches a third-party server. Use this with temp email for anonymous one-off signups because it gives you the most complete email privacy setup available.
If you're a developer, the addy.io REST API lets you generate aliases in scripts, build alias creation into web apps or create custom privacy tools. NukeMail's developer API works differently. It is built for automated testing instead of long-term privacy management. These two APIs handle different parts of your development workflow.
A real advantage of addy.io over temp email is that you can receive emails indefinitely without doing anything. With temp email you have to check the inbox within the time window. With addy.io aliases your emails quietly forward to your real inbox whether you check them right away or weeks later. For newsletters and services that send irregular but important updates this passive forwarding is much more convenient.