Choosing a Domain
position: 21
The part of an address after the at sign matters more than the part before it. The name is yours to invent and nobody checks it. The domain determines whether the signup form accepts you at all.
Why there is a choice
Domains wear out. A domain used by a public disposable service is eventually noticed, added to the blocklists that signup forms consult, and refused. This is not preventable on a public service: the lists are built precisely by looking at services like this one.
The response is to treat domains as consumables. Several are in circulation at any time, a domain showing signs of being widely blocked stops being offered to new addresses, and fresh ones take its place. Addresses already created on an older domain keep receiving mail, so nothing breaks underneath you.
That is why the list changes over time, and why trying a different domain is the first thing to do when a form refuses your address.
What the options mean
The default. Picked at random from the domains currently in good standing. For most situations this is the right choice and needs no thought.
A specific domain from the list. Useful when one has just been refused. Pick another and try again.
The site's own domain. Available, and it looks tidy, but it is the most recognisable domain we have. It is publicly attached to a service whose purpose is obvious from its name, so it is checked and blocked faster than any other, and it can never be rotated out because the site itself lives there. Choose it when appearance matters more than acceptance.
A private domain. Available with an account. These are never published on any page, never appear in a list a scraper can read, and consequently are absent from the blocklists for far longer. This is the main practical reason to register.
How to choose
Signing up for something ordinary. Take the default. It works most of the time and takes no decisions.
The form just refused you. Switch to another domain from the list. This resolves it more often than not.
A signup that matters and must work first time. Register and use a private domain.
Sharing the address with a person rather than a form. Any of them. A human does not consult a blocklist.
What the name before the at sign changes
Nothing, as far as acceptance goes. Blocklists match on the domain. A clever local part does not help.
It does matter for you, though. A name you chose is far easier to recognise and retype than a random one, which is worth doing when you expect to come back to the address later.
Reserved names are refused: the addresses that receive mail about the domain itself, such as abuse or postmaster. Those must reach us rather than land in somebody's temporary mailbox.
A note on how domains are chosen
The domains offered here do not contain words like temp, trash, fake or disposable. That is deliberate. A domain announcing its own purpose is added to blocklists the moment anybody looks at it, and it also looks worse to the person receiving your address. Ordinary looking domains last longer and attract less attention, which benefits everybody using them.