SPF Checker

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is a TXT record that lists which mail servers are allowed to send email for your domain. Receivers use it to detect forged senders.

SPF evaluation may trigger at most 10 DNS lookups (from include, a, mx, ptr, exists and redirect). Exceeding it causes a permerror and can make legitimate mail fail. This tool counts your lookups.

-all (hard fail) tells receivers to reject anything not listed and is the strictest. ~all (soft fail) marks it suspicious instead. Both are acceptable; +all should never be used.

No. A domain must publish exactly one SPF TXT record. Multiple SPF records are invalid and break SPF entirely — merge them into one.

SPF authorizes which servers may send mail for your domain based on the sending IP, while DKIM cryptographically signs the message itself. They are complementary, and DMARC relies on both passing and aligning.

Not on its own. SPF checks the envelope sender (the Return-Path), which the recipient never sees. DMARC adds the requirement that SPF align with the visible From domain, which is what stops spoofing.

An include mechanism pulls in another domain SPF record, letting a provider such as your email host authorize its own servers on your behalf. Each include counts toward the 10-lookup limit.

Yes, it is still worth publishing a strict record like v=spf1 -all so receivers reject any mail claiming to come from your domain, which helps prevent your name being used in spoofed messages.