SPF, DKIM and DMARC checker
Check the three records that decide whether inboxes trust mail from a domain: SPF and its DNS lookup count, DKIM keys under common selectors, and the DMARC policy. Free, no sign-up.
Records drift. Blocklists happen anyway.
Barkme looks every verified domain up on Spamhaus DBL, SURBL and URIBL daily and alerts you the day it is listed, so mail problems surface before customers notice. Free plan included.
What we check
Every check, and why it matters.
SPF
A TXT record that lists which servers may send email as your domain. We also count the DNS lookups it needs, following every include.
Why it matters. Receivers check the sending server against this list. A missing record, a second record, or more than 10 DNS lookups all make SPF fail - and your mail drifts into spam.
DKIM
The public key receivers use to verify the signature on your outgoing mail, published under a selector name.
Why it matters. DKIM proves a message really came from you and was not changed on the way. Gmail and Yahoo require it from anyone sending at volume.
DMARC
The policy that tells receivers what to do with mail that fails SPF and DKIM, and where to send reports about it.
Why it matters. DMARC is what actually stops spoofing: p=none only watches, quarantine sends fakes to spam, and reject refuses them. Major inboxes now require at least p=none.
Reading the results
Five verdicts.
- Pass
- Healthy. Nothing to do.
- Warning
- Works today, but worth fixing before it causes trouble.
- Fail
- Broken, or about to break. Fix these first.
- Info
- Optional or informational. Not a problem.
- Not checked
- We did not get a clear answer. It says nothing bad about your domain - try again later.
What we do - and don't
A light touch.
- DNS lookups only. We never connect to your mail servers and never send test email.
- DKIM is probed under the selectors common providers use - a custom selector cannot be discovered from outside.
- Results are kept for 24 hours so you can share the link. We do not record who ran the check.