Sending an email does not mean it will reach the inbox. In fact, almost 1 in 6 marketing emails never make it and end up in spam or get blocked. So even if your email is well-written, it may not be seen at all. This is where email deliverability tools help. These tools show you where your emails are going, what issues they have, and how you can fix them. They can check things like spam placement, domain setup, and your sender reputation.
But most businesses get stuck on one question: should we use free email deliverability tools or go with a paid one?
Free tools are good if you just want to run quick tests. Paid tools give you more detailed data, regular monitoring, and better control over your email performance. The right choice depends on how many emails you send and how important deliverability is for you.
In this guide, we will look at the best email deliverability tools, compare free vs paid options, and help you choose the right email deliverability testing tool for your needs.
What to Look For in an Email Deliverability Tool
Email deliverability tools focus on three main things: where your emails land, your sender reputation, and the quality of your email list. The following factors work together to ensure your emails reach the inbox rather than end up in spam.
Inbox placement and spam testing
These tools show you exactly where your email goes after sending. It can land in the main inbox, a promotions tab, or the spam folder. This helps you understand if people are actually seeing your emails.
They also check your email content, subject line, links, and formatting. Based on this, they give you a spam score and point out what might be wrong. Sometimes, even small things like a weak subject line or broken link can push your email into spam.
Reputation monitoring and blacklist checks
Your sender reputation is like a trust score for your domain. If your score is good, your emails are more likely to reach the inbox. If it is low, your emails may get blocked or marked as spam.
These tools track metrics such as bounce rate, spam complaints, and how people interact with your emails. They also check if your domain or IP is on any blacklist. If there is a problem, you can fix it before it affects your campaigns.
Email verification and list cleaning
A clean email list is very important. These tools help you remove invalid or risky email addresses. They can catch typing mistakes, fake emails, and inactive users.
They can also check email addresses in real time when someone signs up. This helps you avoid adding bad contacts to your list. Some tools also check if your email authentication is set up correctly, which helps protect your domain and improve deliverability. Keeping your list clean and up to date can greatly improve your chances of reaching the inbox.
Email authentication support
A good email deliverability tool should help you set up and manage email authentication. This includes SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These are simple checks that prove your emails are coming from a trusted source.
When your authentication is set up properly, your emails are less likely to go to spam. It also helps build trust with email providers and the people receiving your emails. On top of that, it protects your domain from spoofing and phishing attacks.
Free Email Deliverability Tools
Here are the 5 free email deliverability tools that help your emails land in the inboxes of the targeted recipients:
EasyDMARC
EasyDMARC offers a free email deliverability testing tool that shows where your emails are landing. It checks whether your emails go to the inbox, the promotions tab, or the spam folder across providers like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo. It also provides a simple report with key details, such as inbox placement rate and delivery status.
Key Features
- Inbox placement and spam testing across multiple providers
- Detailed report with inbox, spam, and missing email data
- Gmail tab placement insights (Primary, Promotions, Updates)
- Delivery time and sender IP visibility
Benefits
This tool helps you clearly see whether your emails are reaching the inbox. You can quickly spot deliverability issues and fix them before sending campaigns. It also acts as an early warning system if something is wrong with your email setup.
Best for
Perfect for beginners, small businesses, and growing teams who want a powerful yet easy way to test email deliverability without spending money. It is especially useful if you want quick, reliable insights before every campaign and do not want to deal with complex tools.
MXToolbox
MXToolbox is a free email deliverability tool that helps you check your domain health and email setup. It is widely used to find technical problems that can affect email delivery, such as DNS errors, misconfigured records, or blacklist issues. The tool is very simple to use and delivers quick results, making it useful even if you are not very technical.
Key Features
- Blacklist monitoring across multiple databases
- DNS and mail server checks
- SMTP diagnostics and connection testing
- Basic domain health reports
Benefits
MXToolbox helps you quickly identify problems that can stop your emails from reaching the inbox. For example, if your domain is blacklisted or your DNS records are incorrect, you can fix them before they affect your campaigns. It also saves time by consolidating all important checks into one place, rather than using multiple tools.
Best For
Suitable for beginners, marketers, and technical teams who want a fast and reliable way to check domain health, fix email setup issues, and improve deliverability without spending money.
Google Postmaster Tools
Google Postmaster Tools is a free tool that shows how your emails perform, specifically in Gmail inboxes. Since Gmail is one of the most widely used email providers, this tool is very important for understanding your real email performance. It gives detailed insights into how Google views your domain and sending behavior.
Key Features
- Domain and IP reputation tracking
- Spam rate monitoring for Gmail users
- Feedback loop and delivery error insights
- Authentication and encryption status
Benefits
This tool helps you understand if your emails are being trusted by Gmail or not. You can track spam complaints, identify sudden drops in performance, and fix issues before they become serious. Over time, this helps you build a stronger sender reputation and improves inbox placement.
Best For
Good for businesses and email marketers who send regular or high-volume emails to Gmail users and want clear, data-driven insights to improve deliverability.
Microsoft SNDS
Microsoft SNDS is a free tool that provides insights into how your emails perform with Outlook and Hotmail users. It focuses on your sending IP and shows how Microsoft views your email traffic. This is important because Microsoft uses its own filtering systems to decide whether your emails are safe or spam.
Key Features
- Sender reputation data for Microsoft networks
- Spam complaint and traffic volume insights
- IP status and filtering behavior
- Access to the Microsoft feedback loop
Benefits
SNDS helps you understand whether your emails are trusted by Microsoft servers. If there are issues like high complaint rates or unusual traffic patterns, you can detect them early and take action. This reduces the risk that your emails will be blocked or filtered into the spam folder.
Best For
Perfect for businesses that send emails to Outlook or Hotmail users and want better visibility into how Microsoft evaluates their email sending practices.
Sender Score
Sender Score is a free email deliverability tool that gives your domain or IP a reputation score between 0 and 100. This score is based on your email sending behavior and how recipients interact with your emails. It works like a credit score for your email reputation.
Key Features
- Sender reputation score (0 to 100)
- Data based on real-world email activity
- Insights into IP and domain performance
- Historical tracking of reputation changes
Benefits
Sender Score gives you a simple way to understand your email health without going into too much technical detail. A higher score means your emails are more likely to reach the inbox, while a lower score indicates issues such as spam complaints or poor engagement. This helps you take action and improve your performance over time.
Best For
Recommended for marketers, founders, and growing teams who want a quick and clear way to track sender reputation and make better email decisions without using complex tools.
Paid Email Deliverability Tools
Free tools lack some features that you can enjoy with the paid tools. Here is a list of 5 paid email deliverability tools that offer a mix of solutions:
Mailtrap
Mailtrap is a paid email deliverability tool designed for testing, sending, and monitoring emails in one place. It is widely used by developers and product teams to test emails before sending them to real users and to improve inbox placement. It also provides detailed insights into how your emails perform.
It combines email testing, sending infrastructure, and analytics, which makes it more than just a basic email deliverability testing tool.
Key Features
- Email sandbox for safe testing without sending real emails
- Spam testing and email content analysis
- Detailed email logs and performance analytics
- Built-in support for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication
Benefits
Mailtrap helps you catch issues before your emails reach real users, which reduces the risk of landing in spam. It also gives detailed insights into email performance, so you can improve deliverability over time. Since everything is in one platform, it saves time and removes the need for multiple tools.
Pricing
Mailtrap offers a free plan for basic usage. Paid plans start at around $15 per month, with pricing increasing based on email volume and features.
Best For
Suitable for growing businesses, SaaS teams, and developers who want a powerful all-in-one email deliverability tool with testing, sending, and analytics in one platform.
Postmark
Postmark is an email deliverability tool focused on fast, reliable email sending, especially for transactional emails such as password resets, alerts, and notifications. It is built mainly for developers and product teams who want their emails to reach the inbox quickly and consistently.
Unlike many tools, Postmark focuses heavily on deliverability and speed. It is known for very high delivery rates and strong inbox placement, which makes it a trusted choice for critical emails.
Key Features
- High inbox placement with a strong deliverability focus
- Detailed email activity logs and 45-day history
- Real-time notifications for opens, clicks, and bounces
- Separate sending streams for different types of emails
- Built-in support for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC
Benefits
Postmark helps make sure your important emails reach users without delay. This is especially useful for transactional emails where timing matters. It also gives clear insights into email activity, so you can track performance and quickly fix issues.
Since it handles things like IP reputation and infrastructure in the background, you do not have to worry about a complex setup. This makes your email system more reliable and easier to manage.
Pricing
Postmark offers a free developer plan with up to 100 emails per month. Paid plans start at around $15 per month for 10,000 emails, and pricing increases based on email volume. Additional features like dedicated IPs and DMARC monitoring may cost extra depending on your needs.
Best For
Mostly used by SaaS companies, developers, and growing businesses that send critical emails and want top-level deliverability, speed, and reliability without managing complex infrastructure.
Mailgun
Mailgun is designed primarily for developers and businesses that send large volumes of email. It offers powerful APIs and SMTP services to send, receive, and track emails easily. Along with sending, it also provides tools to test, monitor, and improve email deliverability.
It is known for its strong infrastructure and scalability, which makes it a good choice for both transactional and marketing emails. Mailgun also focuses on improving inbox placement through validation, reputation management, and analytics.
Key Features
- Email API and SMTP for sending emails at scale
- Inbox placement testing and deliverability tools
- Email validation and list cleaning features
- Real-time tracking for opens, clicks, and bounces
- Support for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication
Benefits
Mailgun helps you send emails reliably while also improving your chances of reaching the inbox. Its validation and monitoring features reduce bounce rates and spam issues. You also get detailed analytics, which makes it easier to understand what is working and what needs improvement.
Since it is highly scalable, you can start small and grow without changing platforms. This makes it a long-term solution for businesses that are serious about email performance.
Pricing
Mailgun offers a free plan with 100 emails per day. Paid plans start at around $15 per month for 10,000 emails, with higher tiers available as your email volume grows. Advanced deliverability features such as inbox placement testing and validation may be available under separate plans or add-ons.
Best for
Recommended to developers, SaaS companies, and growing businesses that want a scalable and powerful email deliverability tool with advanced testing, analytics, and automation features.
MXToolbox
MXToolbox is a popular email deliverability tool that offers both free checks and paid monitoring features. It helps you track your domain health, email setup, and blacklist status in one place. While many people use its free tools, the paid version gives continuous monitoring and alerts, which makes it more powerful for ongoing email deliverability management.
It is primarily used to identify and resolve technical issues that can affect email delivery, such as DNS errors, blacklisting, or server issues.
Key Features
- Real-time blacklist monitoring with alerts
- DNS, MX, and SMTP diagnostics
- Domain and mail server health monitoring
- Scheduled checks and detailed reports
- Basic email setup validation (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
Benefits
MXToolbox helps you stay on top of deliverability issues before they become serious problems. Instead of manually checking your domain again and again, you get alerts if something goes wrong. This helps protect your sender reputation and keeps your emails landing in the inbox.
It also makes troubleshooting easier by showing exactly what is broken and how to fix it, even if you are not very technical.
Pricing
MXToolbox offers free tools for basic checks. Paid plans start at around $129 per year, with higher plans offering more monitoring, alerts, and advanced reporting features.
Best For
Perfect for businesses, IT teams, and email marketers who want continuous monitoring and early warnings for deliverability issues, not just one-time checks.
GlockApps
GlockApps helps you check where your emails are landing and why. It is mainly used to test inbox placement, spam score, and overall email performance before you send campaigns.
It provides detailed reports across email providers like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo, so you can clearly see whether your emails are going to the inbox, the promotions tab, or the spam folder.
Key Features
- Inbox placement testing across major email providers
- Spam score analysis using filters like Google, Barracuda, and SpamAssassin
- Domain and IP reputation monitoring with blacklist checks
- Email authentication checks for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC
- Detailed reports with actionable suggestions
Benefits
GlockApps helps you understand exactly why your emails may be going to spam. Instead of guessing, you get clear data and suggestions to fix the problem. This makes it easier to improve inbox placement and avoid deliverability issues before they affect your campaigns.
It also gives deep insights into your domain, IP, and email content, which helps you make better decisions and improve performance over time.
Pricing
GlockApps offers limited free testing credits to try the tool. Paid plans start at around $59 per month, with higher plans like Growth ($99/month) and Enterprise ($129/month) offering more advanced features and testing limits.
Best for
Good for serious email marketers, agencies, and businesses that want deep deliverability insights, detailed spam testing, and full control over their email performance.
Free vs Paid Email Deliverability Tools: Key Differences
Now that we have looked at both free and paid email deliverability tools, let’s compare them.
Both types can help improve your email performance, but they serve very different purposes. Choosing the right one depends on how seriously you take email deliverability.
| Feature | Free Email Deliverability Tools | Paid Email Deliverability Tools |
| Cost | Free to use | Varies, but the base cost is around $10-15 |
| Inbox placement testing | Basic or limited | Detailed and accurate testing |
| Monitoring | One-time checks | Continuous monitoring with alerts |
| Data & insights | Limited data | Deep analytics and reports |
| Email authentication support | Basic checks | Advanced setup and management |
| Scalability | Not suitable for high volume | Built for scaling businesses |
| Support | Limited or no support | Dedicated support and guidance |
Starting With DMARC
Improving email deliverability takes more than just sending good emails. You need to use the right domain, keep your email list clean, monitor your sender reputation, fix technical issues, and regularly test where your emails are landing. All these steps work together to help your emails reach the inbox.
One of the most important steps in this process is setting up DMARC. DMARC tells receiving servers what to do if your emails fail SPF and DKIM checks. It helps block fake emails that try to use your domain. This protects your audience from spam and phishing emails sent in your name and improves your domain reputation over time. Domains with DMARC are also seen as more trustworthy by email providers.
If you want to get started with DMARC or improve your existing setup, EasyDMARC can help. Our team can implement, fix, and manage DMARC for you. Try our 14-day free trial.
