How do I choose between the PAYG tiers (2k, 5k, 10k, up to 1M)?

PAYG comes in nine tiers on Valid Email Checker — 2k, 5k, 10k, 25k, 50k, 100k, 250k, 500k, and 1M credits. They all behave the same way once you buy them. The decision is purely about how many you need and how much you want to spend up front.

Start with the actual number of emails you have

Count the addresses in front of you right now. A CSV from your CRM, a Mailchimp list, a freshly exported newsletter file — whatever the source. One credit verifies one email. If you have 8,200 addresses, the 10k tier is the obvious pick. If you have 47,000, the 50k tier covers them in one purchase. There is no per-row processing fee on top, so you do not save money by splitting a list across two smaller purchases.

Per-credit cost drops as tiers grow

The 2k tier works out to roughly $0.0024 per credit. The 1M tier is closer to $0.001. That means a $1,000 purchase at the top end buys what would otherwise cost about $2,400 if you bought it as 500 separate 2k packs. Larger tiers are objectively cheaper per credit. Buy the size you genuinely need, not five small packs over a year.

PAYG credits never expire

Because PAYG credits sit in your account indefinitely (see do credits expire), buying slightly more than you need today is safe. The 25k tier when you only have 19k addresses is fine — the extra 6,000 credits stay available for the next campaign, the next list cleanup, or six months from now. There is no inactivity timer, no rollover clock.

A rough sizing guide

• One-off cleanup of a small newsletter or contact list (under 2,000 addresses): 2k tier.
• Mid-sized list cleanup (2k–10k addresses): 5k or 10k tier depending on slack.
• A cold outreach campaign or full CRM hygiene pass (10k–50k addresses): 25k or 50k tier.
• Lead-gen agency running multiple client lists per month: 100k or 250k tier.
• Enterprise verification volume, repeated monthly: consider Monthly subscription instead of PAYG (see PAYG vs Monthly).