SPF record checker
Enter a domain and see its SPF record, which services it lets send mail in its name, and whether receivers can actually use it.
What the result shows
- The SPF record, and whether there is exactly one
- How it ends: -all, ~all, ?all or +all
- How many DNS lookups it needs, against the limit of ten
Read-only: the same lookups a browser or a mail server makes, nothing changed, nothing stored beyond ten minutes. What Stackbrace asks for.
What is an SPF record?
A TXT record on your domain starting v=spf1 that lists the servers allowed to send email in your domain's name: your mail provider, your newsletter service, your website's contact form. Receivers check the sending server against it.
Why do the DNS lookups matter?
Each include: and a few other terms cost a DNS lookup, and receivers stop after ten and treat the record as broken. A record that grew by adding services over the years often passes that limit without anyone noticing, and then every message fails SPF.
Should it end in -all or ~all?
-all tells receivers to fail mail from any server not listed; ~all marks it as suspicious. With DMARC at p=reject either works. ?all and +all do nothing useful: they let anyone send as you.
Every day, not just today
Stackbrace counts a site's SPF lookups and checks its ending every day, and tells you when the record changes. Start free with one site.