MoltSets Email Validation: How the A to F Grade Works

MoltSets email validation works in two parts, and only one is live. Today, every email MoltSets returns comes with an A to F send-safety grade and a last-validated date, and addresses that fail validation are dropped before you see them. The standalone validate_emails add-on, for checking lists from other sources at about $0.25 per 1,000, is priced on MoltSets' site but marked coming soon and does not work yet, so for outside lists you still need a dedicated verifier.

Some tool links here are affiliate links (disclosure). You can see the grades on your own data with a free MoltSets account (no card). For the full product picture, read our MoltSets review.

Nerdy Joe is a certified Apollo.io Managed Services Partner and a PlusVibe Certified Silver Partner, and we are a MoltSets affiliate. We have not tested MoltSets' grades or run accuracy tests. Everything below comes from MoltSets' risk score docs, pricing pages and FAQ, checked November 9, 2026, and from competitors' own sites.

Quick answer: what is live and what is not

If you are deciding whether MoltSets can replace your verifier, the answer depends on where your emails come from. For emails MoltSets finds, verification is built in. For a CSV you bought or scraped elsewhere, MoltSets cannot check it yet.

How the MoltSets risk grade works

MoltSets' docs define five grades. Each one is a send-safety signal with a recommendation attached.

The grade shows up as risk_score in API responses, next to the email and its validation date. The CLI adds risk scores to every output row.

When signals conflict

One address can have several signals, for example a recent validation and a spam sighting. MoltSets applies a fixed order: D beats A, A beats B, B beats C, and C beats F. A missing risk_score should be treated as F.

That order is sensible from a sender's point of view. A single complaint sighting outweighs a clean validation, because hitting a spam trap does more damage than skipping one good contact.

Send safety, not identity

MoltSets is explicit that the grade measures whether mail is safe to send, not whether you have the right person. In its words, an A "doesn't confirm the address belongs to the person you searched."

In practice, check the name, title and company that came back with the email. If the profile looks wrong, a deliverable address still reaches the wrong inbox.

Why MoltSets grades instead of a single SMTP check

Most email verifiers rely on an SMTP probe: they ask the receiving mail server whether a mailbox exists, without sending a message. MoltSets says Microsoft "began blocking SMTP-based validation checks" in spring 2026, so third-party validators started marking deliverable Microsoft inboxes as invalid.

MoltSets' answer is a blended score. It combines live validation, MoltSets' own validation history, engagement data (opens, clicks, orders) and spam sightings, rather than trusting one SMTP response.

Treat the Microsoft claim as MoltSets' explanation, not an independently confirmed fact; we did not verify it with Microsoft. The useful point holds either way: a grade built from several signals gives you more to act on than a yes or no.

Dropped failures: what you never see

The second live piece is quieter. MoltSets says addresses that fail validation are dropped before delivery.

• If a lookup's only address fails, the call returns status: "not_found".
• A not_found result costs no record against your plan's cap.
• It still counts as one request toward the request cap, which is 5x the record cap on every plan.

So you are not paying plan records for dead addresses. The trade-off is that you cannot see why a lookup came back empty, because the failed address is simply gone.

How to use the grades in a campaign

This is our workflow, built on MoltSets' own recommendations. Adjust it to your sending setup and risk tolerance.

1. Send A grades. These are validated deliverable.
2. Send B grades in a separate segment. They have known engagement but no fresh validation, so watch bounces on that segment first.
3. Decide on C grades deliberately. Catch-all domains accept mail for any address, so a bounce may not show up even when the mailbox does not exist. Send small, and follow MoltSets' advice to suppress C-grade non-responders after 1 to 2 attempts.
4. Never send D grades. MoltSets' extension already refuses to send D-graded emails to Attio or webhooks.
5. Treat F as unknown. No signal is not a pass. Hold F grades back or run them through a second verifier first.
6. Re-check old exports. Each email has a last-validated date. If a list has sat for weeks, look at those dates before you load it.

Grade checklist before import

• [ ] Rows with status: "ok" only
• [ ] D grades removed
• [ ] A and B in separate campaigns or segments
• [ ] C and F grades either held back, sent in a small test, or re-verified
• [ ] Name and company match the person you meant to reach
• [ ] Last-validated dates checked on older exports

Our MoltSets to Instantly workflow shows how to split grades into segments and import the CSV, and our cold email infrastructure guide covers the sending side (domains, inboxes, warmup) that protects you from the bounces that slip through.

The coming-soon validate_emails add-on (not live)

MoltSets has published pricing and docs for a standalone validation add-on, but its pricing page marks it "coming soon." As of November 9, 2026, the endpoint does not work yet, and MoltSets gives no launch date.

Here is what MoltSets says it will offer when it launches.

Planned pricing

Planned rules

• 1 validation token per verdict. Unknown and malformed addresses are free, and duplicates within one call are collapsed.
• Up to 1,000 addresses per call through validate_emails.
• Separate token balance, on top of a paid MoltSets plan (not available on Free).
• Verdicts: valid (send); invalid, spamtrap, abuse (with a spam_complainer sub-status) and do_not_mail (suppress); catch-all (your call); unknown (no spam sighting in the last 6 months and no validation in the last 60 days, free).

MoltSets also claims the add-on will be "8x to 23x cheaper" than some well-known verifiers. Its comparison table on that page still shows an unfilled "[DATE CHECKED]" placeholder, so we do not repeat its competitor figures; the verified prices are in the next section.

Until MoltSets announces the launch, do not plan a workflow around this add-on. We will update this page when it goes live.

MoltSets vs dedicated email verifiers

Dedicated verifiers work today on any list, which is the main gap in MoltSets' offer right now. These prices are from each vendor's own site, checked November 9, 2026.

How to read this:

• If you find emails with MoltSets, the built-in grade already does the first pass, and you may only need a verifier for C and F grades.
• If you bring lists from elsewhere, pick a dedicated verifier now. MoltSets' planned price per 1,000 would be low, but it is not something you can buy yet.
• Price is not the whole story. Verifiers differ on catch-all handling, refund policies and how they cope with the Microsoft SMTP change MoltSets describes. Test any verifier on a sample of your own list.

Our roundup of the best email verification tools compares more options, and our detailed MoltSets review covers how the grades fit the rest of the product.

MoltSets vs Findymail's email verifier

Findymail is the closest comparison because it also finds and verifies in one step. Its standalone verifier is live today, and it publishes a bounce guarantee MoltSets does not have.

Findymail also claims its catch-all verification yields more valid emails than other tools; that is Findymail's claim, not one we tested. Our Findymail email verifier guide covers it in full. If a bounce guarantee and a working verifier for outside lists matter more than the lower entry price, Findymail is the safer pick today; our MoltSets vs Findymail comparison weighs the rest of the trade-offs.

Limits to know

• No bounce guarantee or refund for bounces is published, and no accuracy percentage. MoltSets' own accuracy blog says to "test it on your data like any other provider."
• No refunds on plans. MoltSets' FAQ says purchases and renewals are not refunded.
• The validation add-on is not live, and neither is the web scraping add-on.
• C and F grades need judgment. MoltSets leaves both as "your call."
• The Microsoft SMTP claim is MoltSets'. We could not confirm it independently.
• Few public reviews. MoltSets had no reviews on GetApp and 0 ratings on its Chrome Web Store listing when checked November 9, 2026, so there is little outside evidence on grade accuracy yet.

Final take

MoltSets' live email validation is the A to F grade on every email it returns, plus silent removal of addresses that fail. That is a practical, signal-rich way to decide what to send, and it is included in plans from $27 a month. The standalone validate_emails add-on is priced at about $0.25 per 1,000 but is not live, so it is not a reason to buy today.

If you will find emails with MoltSets, start with the free tier: create a MoltSets account, enrich a few hundred contacts from your own list, and look at the grade mix before you choose a MoltSets plan. For pricing, data claims and the rest of the trade-offs, read the full MoltSets review, and if you plan to automate grade filtering, our MoltSets API guide shows where risk_score sits in each response. When you are ready, try MoltSets.

Rather not build the list yourself?

Nerdy Joe is owned by Agency Growth Partners (AGP). AGP builds verified lead lists and runs outbound for agencies, including the grade filtering and second-pass verification described above. If you would rather hand it off, book a call with David.

Sources

• MoltSets email risk scores: https://developer.moltsets.com/moltsets-data/email-risk-scores
• MoltSets email validation pricing: https://moltsets.com/pricing/email-validation/
• MoltSets validate emails reference: https://developer.moltsets.com/api-reference/get-valid-emails/validate-emails
• MoltSets web scraping pricing: https://moltsets.com/pricing/web-scraping/
• MoltSets pricing: https://moltsets.com/pricing/
• MoltSets our data: https://moltsets.com/our-data/
• MoltSets features: https://moltsets.com/features/
• MoltSets FAQ: https://moltsets.com/faq/
• MoltSets Fair Use Policy: https://moltsets.com/fair-use-policy-enrichment/
• MoltSets LinkedIn Chrome extension: https://moltsets.com/how-it-works/linkedin-chrome-extension/
• MoltSets CLI: https://moltsets.com/how-it-works/cli/
• MoltSets blog, how to measure contact data accuracy: https://moltsets.com/blog/how-to-measure-contact-data-accuracy/
• GetApp, MoltSets: https://www.getapp.com/all-software/a/moltsets/
• Chrome Web Store, MoltSets for LinkedIn: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/moltsets-linkedin-email-f/bfhhpbdldppenlgnebjfpabiiiocfahp
• NeverBounce pricing: https://neverbounce.com/pricing
• ZeroBounce pricing: https://www.zerobounce.net/email-validation-pricing
• MillionVerifier: https://www.millionverifier.com/
• Findymail email verifier: https://www.findymail.com/email-verifier/
• Findymail pricing: https://www.findymail.com/pricing/
• Findymail API docs: https://app.findymail.com/docs/