Use a temporary email when you never expect to come back, and an alias when you do. A temporary address, like the one at the top of this page, is a separate inbox that runs out after 30 minutes. An alias is another name for a mailbox you already have, so its mail keeps reaching you for as long as you want it to.
Three options side by side
“Alias” covers two quite different things, and most confusion about this comparison starts there. A plus address is built into some mailboxes and shows your real address to anyone who looks. A forwarding alias comes from a separate service and hides it.
| Compare | Plus address | Forwarding alias | Temporary email |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where mail lands | Your own inbox | Your own inbox | A separate shared inbox |
| How long it lasts | As long as your mailbox | Until you turn it off | 30 minutes on a free address |
| Hides your real address | No | Yes | Yes |
| Set-up | None, if your provider supports it | An account with the service | None |
| Replying | Yes | Depends on the service | No |
| Recovering an account later | Yes | Yes | Not reliable |
| Stopping the mail | Needs a filter | Turn the alias off | It stops by itself |
How each kind of alias works
A plus address adds a tag to your username. In Gmail, mail to [email protected] lands in the inbox of [email protected] without any set-up. It is excellent for sorting, since you can filter on the tag. It is weak on privacy, since removing “+shop” reveals your address, and some forms won’t accept the plus sign at all.
A forwarding alias looks like a random address on the service’s domain and passes your mail along to your real inbox. You can turn off any one alias without touching the others. The catch is trust: all that mail passes through one more company, so read how it handles your data, and expect free plans to limit how many aliases you get.
Aliases also do something a temporary address can’t, which is show you who leaked your address. Give each shop its own alias, and when spam turns up at the one you gave a single retailer, you know where it came from. You can then turn that alias off and leave the rest of your accounts alone.
Which one to choose
- A one-time code, a download or a site you are only testing: temporary email
- A shop, forum or app you will log in to again: forwarding alias
- Sorting mail from companies you already trust: plus address
- A site that refuses temporary addresses: forwarding alias or plus address, though some sites block those as well
- Banking, tax and anything official: your real address
Frequently asked questions
Is an email alias safer than temp mail?
For an account you plan to keep, yes. Only you receive the mail and you can still reset your password. For a one-off sign-up, temp mail ties nothing back to your mailbox, and it needs no account at all.
Can temporary mail forward to my real inbox?
No. Free addresses here don’t forward anywhere, so you read their mail on this site. That separation is what keeps your real inbox out of it.
Does Temporary Mail offer aliases?
Not in the forwarding sense. For an address that lasts, Pro accounts offer permanent, private addresses with their own inbox, bought in the GoMail or MailBin app.