Protect Your Domain And Boost Credibility By Validating Your SPF Record.

SPF is the first step to a strong email authentication system. It helps you by making sure your sent emails are delivered to your customers without being blocked and stay out of spam. It also helps prevent impersonators from sending emails looking like they come from your domain name. This gives consumers the peace of mind of knowing your emails are really from you. SPF builds trust and ensures clear communication with your customers.

BIMI illustration of how to get a blue checkmark

What is SPF and why do I need it?

SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework. It's designed to verify that an email sender is actually who they say they are. SPF is essentially a list of IP addresses that are authorized to send emails on your behalf.

When an email is sent from your domain, the Sender Policy Framework is checked to confirm the identity of the sender. If the sender’s identity cannot be verified, the email will be flagged as spam or fraudulent. Checking your SPF is the first step towards ensuring your messages are authenticated, which will help them stay out of spam.

Validating your SPF record is especially important in 2024, as Google and Yahoo are introducing stricter rules for bulk email senders. In many cases, SPF will be a required adoption, along with DKIM and DMARC. If you haven’t done so already, now is the time to ensure your domain meets the necessary SPF requirements for a seamless customer email experience.

How does the SPF Checker tool work?

First, enter the domain from which you send customer emails. The tool will then check your SPF record for problems such as format issues or having too many DNS lookups in the record. If the tool encounters any issues with your SPF record, it will provide steps on how to resolve them.

SPF checker validates for issues

Benefits of Email Authentication

  • 1
    Improve email deliverability Don’t get blocked, stay out of spam and go right to your customer’s inbox by meeting authentication requirements.
  • 2
    Prevent impersonation attacks Give customers, employees and partners peace of mind knowing all emails from your brand are actually from you.
  • 3
    Stay up to speed With email providers like Google and Yahoo enforcing stricter authentication protocols in 2024, a properly set up SPF record is a must-have.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is my SPF record public?
Yes, each domain’s SPF record is publicly accessible. You can search by domain name with the SPF checker tool.
What is DKIM?
DKIM stands for Domain Keys Identified Mail. DKIM uses an encryption key to validate sender identity by attaching a digital signature to the email header.
What’s the difference between SPF and DKIM?
SPF verifies sender identity via a defined list of authorized IP addresses, while DKIM uses an encryption key instead. Although DKIM is a stronger form of authentication than SPF, it is recommended to start with SPF before moving forward with more robust protocols.
What is DMARC?
DMARC stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance. It is the strongest form of sender authentication because it uses both SPF records and DKIM signatures.
What’s the difference between SPF and DMARC?
SPF can operate on its own, or as a part of a DMARC protocol. DMARC uses both SPF and DKIM to provide the most robust sender identity verification available. DMARC also offers a mechanism to send failed delivery reports so you’re always in the loop.
What are common email authentication errors?

Common SPF errors include:

  • SPF none: The domain name does not resolve or have an SPF record
  • SPF neutral: The domain does not definitively state that the sending IP address is authorized
  • SPF hard fail: The client is not permitted to send mail from the domain
  • SPF soft fail: The client is probably not allowed to send mail but is in transition
  • SPF temperror: There is a temporary error retrieving records, such as a DNS timeout
  • SPF permerror: There is a permanent error due to an incorrectly formatted SPF record