Email deliverability tester: score your setup out of 100
Tick 19 checks across authentication, list hygiene, sending and domains. See your score and the three fixes worth most.
- Weights published
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Tick every check your setup passes today
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Fix first: SPF, DKIM and DMARC must all pass, and suppression must be enforced. The score counts once these pass.
- SPF published and listing every sending service: 10 points
- DKIM signing, confirmed in a received message's headers: 10 points
- Every address verified before the first send: 10 points
The short answer
- An email deliverability test scores four areas: authentication 35 points, list hygiene 30, sending behaviour 20 and domain setup 15.
- Two items must pass before the score counts: SPF, DKIM and DMARC all publishing, and a suppression list the system enforces.
- 85 to 100 means your setup is sound. 70 to 84 means fix the biggest misses. Under 70 means pause sending and fix the setup.
- The tester lists your three highest-point misses, so you know which fix moves the score most.
How the score works
Each check you pass adds its points. The total is out of 100, and every weight is in the table below.
- Must pass: SPF, DKIM and DMARC all publishing, and suppression enforced. If either fails, fix it first.
- 85 to 100: your setup is sound. Low replies point to the list or the offer.
- 70 to 84: workable. Fix the highest-point misses first.
- Under 70: pause sending and fix the setup before you test new copy.
Authentication weighs most because a failure there hides every other problem. List hygiene comes second, since most problems that look technical start with the list.
All 19 checks, with points and how to verify
Authentication 35, list hygiene 30, sending behaviour 20, domain setup 15.
| Area | Check | Points | How to verify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authentication | SPF published and listing every sending service (must pass) | 10 | Look up the TXT record and check every tool you send through is in it |
| Authentication | SPF within the 10-lookup limit | 5 | Past 10 DNS lookups the record fails rather than degrades |
| Authentication | DKIM signing, confirmed in a received message's headers (must pass) | 10 | Send yourself a message and read the headers |
| Authentication | DMARC published, at least p=none, with reports sent to a read inbox (must pass) | 5 | Look up the record and check the report address is real |
| Authentication | List-Unsubscribe and List-Unsubscribe-Post headers on bulk sends | 5 | Gmail and Yahoo require it of bulk senders since 2024 |
| List hygiene | Every address verified before the first send | 10 | Your own verification pass, not a status inherited from a data provider |
| List hygiene | Suppression list imported and enforced (must pass) | 10 | It applies when the audience is frozen and again at send |
| List hygiene | Bounces write back to suppression automatically | 5 | Send to a known bad address and check it appears |
| List hygiene | Role addresses removed unless targeted on purpose | 3 | Search the list for info@, sales@ and admin@ |
| List hygiene | Duplicates matched on a stable identifier | 2 | Re-import a file and check the count does not double |
| Sending behaviour | Per-mailbox and per-domain daily caps enforced | 6 | Enforced by the tool, not by memory |
| Sending behaviour | Business-hours send window | 4 | Check what happens to a step whose timer expires overnight |
| Sending behaviour | At least three days between touches per contact | 4 | Look at the guardrail setting, not the cadence design |
| Sending behaviour | A reply pauses the sequence automatically | 4 | Reply from a test address and confirm the next step holds |
| Sending behaviour | Working opt-out line on every commercial message | 2 | Read the last line of every step |
| Domain setup | Cold outreach on a separate domain from your main one | 6 | Check which domain your invoices leave from |
| Domain setup | Sending domain clearly resembles the main one | 3 | Would a recipient connect the two without thinking? |
| Domain setup | The sending domain shows a real page, not a parked one | 3 | Open it in a browser |
| Domain setup | A chosen number of mailboxes per domain | 3 | A number someone decided, not one that piled up |
Weights reflect how much each area decides whether mail arrives. Check your records with the free DMARC and SPF tools linked below.
Three worked scores
Every box ticked scores 100 with both must-pass items green: your setup is sound.
Everything except DMARC scores 95, but authentication fails its must-pass rule. Publish a DMARC record at p=none with a real report address, and the 95 counts.
A partial setup scores 76. All of authentication (35), verified addresses, suppression and bounce write-back (25), caps and reply pause (10), and a separate domain (6). That's workable, and the biggest misses are the business-hours window, touch spacing and role addresses.
Sending behaviour as a setting, not a habit
Questions
- How do I test my email deliverability?
- Check four areas in order: authentication, list hygiene, sending behaviour and domain setup. This tester scores 19 checks out of 100. A score of 85 or more, with SPF, DKIM, DMARC and suppression all passing, means your setup is sound.
- What is a good deliverability score?
- On this rubric, 85 to 100 is good and 70 to 84 is workable with gaps. Under 70, pause sending and fix the setup first. Two items must pass whatever the total: authentication and enforced suppression.
- Why is authentication weighted most?
- Authentication carries 35 of the 100 points because a failure there hides every other problem. SPF and DKIM are worth 10 points each, and DMARC must be published for the score to count.
- Does a high score mean my emails land in the inbox?
- A high score means your setup follows the practices mailbox providers publish. Placement also depends on your list and content, so pair it with a clean list and a spam check of the copy.
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