Guide

What is a good email deliverability score?

A deliverability score is a single number that tells you how likely your email is to reach the inbox. Here is what the numbers mean and how to move yours up.

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The free InboxProof audit runs a 7-point check (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, TLS, PTR, and IP reputation) and returns a 0-100 score with a plain-English fix list. No signup.

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What the score measures

A deliverability score is a weighted combination of the signals that mailbox providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.) use to decide whether to accept your email. The most important signals are:

Authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC): the biggest factor. If these are missing or misconfigured, your score will be low.
Alignment: the domain in your "From" header must match the domain that passes SPF/DKIM/DMARC.
IP reputation: whether your sending IP is on a blocklist or has a history of spam.
List quality: bounce rate, complaint rate, and engagement.
Content signals: spammy words, too many links, broken links.

What is a "good" score?

90-100 (A)

Excellent. Your domain is well-authenticated, your IP is clean, and you are unlikely to be marked as spam. This is the target for any serious sender.

70-89 (B)

Good, but there is room for improvement. You are probably delivering to the inbox most of the time, but a missing record or a weak configuration is holding you back.

50-69 (C)

At risk. You are likely landing in spam or being rejected by some providers. Fix the authentication issues first.

Below 50 (D)

Poor. Your email is likely being rejected or marked as spam by most providers. Start with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.

How to move your score up

The order to fix things, in priority order:

SPF: make sure your SPF record exists, ends in -all, and stays under the 10-lookup limit.
DKIM: sign your email with a strong key (1024-bit minimum, 2048-bit preferred).
DMARC: publish a DMARC record with at least p=none and a reporting address.
Alignment: make sure your "From" domain matches the SPF/DKIM/DMARC domains.
IP reputation: check your sending IP against the major blocklists and request delisting if needed.
List hygiene: clean up your list, remove hard bounces, and respond to complaints quickly.

How often should you check?

At minimum, check your score whenever you make a change to your DNS, your sending infrastructure, or your ESP. If you are a regular sender, check it weekly. The InboxProof Pro plan does this automatically and alerts you when anything changes.

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