Two techniques dominate the "keep my real inbox clean" conversation: plus addressing (adding +tag to your Gmail address) and disposable email (a throwaway address that expires). They look similar but behave very differently.

What plus addressing is

Gmail ignores anything after a plus sign: you+netflix@gmail.com delivers to you@gmail.com. You can filter, label or block that exact variant later, and you always keep the mailbox.

  • You keep the mail. Everything lands in your real inbox, organized.
  • You can trace leaks. If you+shop@gmail.com starts receiving spam from a company you never shopped at, you know who sold your address.
  • It is Gmail-only. The trick works on Gmail and a few other providers, not on every domain.

What disposable email is

A brand-new address on a different domain, alive for minutes. The message exists only in the temporary inbox; you read it and move on.

  • You do not keep the mail. When the address expires, the message is gone.
  • The site never sees your real address. Not even a variant of it.
  • It is unlinkable. Nothing ties the throwaway back to you except your IP.

Side-by-side

| | Plus addressing | Disposable email | | --- | --- | --- | | Real address hidden | No (your name is in it) | Yes | | Mail kept forever | Yes | No (expires) | | Leak attribution | Excellent | N/A (nothing to leak) | | Works for accounts you keep | Yes | No | | Provider support | Gmail and a few others | Any domain you control |

Which to use, per situation

  • A service you will keep using → plus addressing. You need the password-reset email forever.
  • A one-off download or trial → disposable email. The confirmation is the only message you will ever want.
  • Testing whether a site spams → plus addressing, then watch the label.
  • A site you do not trust at all → disposable email. Do not even reveal your name.
  • Testing your own product's email flow → disposable email (fresh state per run).

The honest overlap

Both tools answer "should I give this site my address?" with a cheaper yes. Plus addressing keeps the mail and costs you anonymity; disposable email costs you the mail and keeps your identity. Most people benefit from using both: plus addressing for accounts, disposable inboxes for everything else.

If you run your own domain, you can go one step further and run your own mail service — see why self-host for what that involves.