SMTP, Catch-All, and verification presets

Consulti's email verifier checks two distinct things, and you can save your preferred configuration as a preset.

If you've asked "what's the difference between SMTP and Catch-All", "how do I save my verifier settings", "what does the catch-all checkbox do", or "why is this email coming back as Risky" — this article covers it.

SMTP vs Catch-All

• SMTP verification — connects to the recipient's mail server and asks if the address exists. Returns Deliverable, Undeliverable, or Risky. This is the core check and runs on every verification.
• Catch-All detection — checks whether the recipient's domain accepts mail for any address (a "catch-all" domain). If it does, the SMTP check can return Deliverable even for a fake address, so we flag the result as catch-all so you know to handle it separately.

You'll see one verdict per email plus a catch_all: true/false flag. A catch-all Deliverable is real but unverifiable — most senders treat them as Risky and exclude from sends.

Why some emails come back as Risky

Risky means the SMTP server didn't give a clean yes/no. Common causes:

• Greylisting — server intentionally delays unknown senders. Re-running the check usually resolves.
• Catch-all domain — see above.
• Tarpit — server is intentionally slow to discourage scrapers.
• Role addresses — info@, support@, sales@ — accept mail but rarely belong to a person.

Presets

A preset is a saved bundle of verification options (catch-all on/off, retry settings, role-address handling). Save one in any verifier tool and it appears in the Presets dropdown across all verification surfaces — Single Verify, Bulk Upload, Hypercleaner, Email Finder.

How to save a preset

1. Open any verifier tool (e.g. Hypercleaner under Email Verifier).
2. Configure the options you want.
3. Click Save as preset and give it a name.
4. The preset is now available in the dropdown on every verifier page.

Where credits come from

Both SMTP and Catch-All checks consume verification credits — 1 per email regardless of which checks you've enabled. Database leads are pre-verified and don't go through this pipeline; they don't burn verification credits.