burnedinbox
✦ Cold Email AIBy Clay, Instantly & Smartlead ExpertsTest my inbox
Built for cold emailers, agencies, and outbound teams

Check if your inbox
is burned?

BurnedInbox helps cold emailers test inbox placement, check core DNS and authentication signals, and spot setup issues before they hurt campaigns.

Test my inboxRun free placement test

Spam Folder

yourcompany.com · Score: 28/100

F
SPF Recordpass
DKIM Signaturefail
DMARC Policyfail
Blacklist Statusfail
Sender Reputationwarn

Simple process

Three steps to know where you stand

01

Enter your domain

Type your domain or email. We generate a unique seed address so only you receive the results.

02

Send us an email

Send an email from your actual ESP, SMTP, or email client to the seed address. Use your real setup.

03

Get your verdict

We detect where it lands — inbox, promotions, or spam — plus a full DNS and setup diagnostic.

Comprehensive analysis

Eight signals. One report.

BurnedInbox checks the core technical signals that usually decide whether a cold email setup is healthy, weak, or quietly underperforming.

Critical

SPF Record

Authorizes your sending servers

Critical

DKIM Signature

Cryptographic email authentication

Critical

DMARC Policy

Spoofing and BEC protection

Critical

47 Blacklists

Spamhaus, SURBL, Barracuda, and more

Infrastructure

MX Records

Mail routing configuration

Infrastructure

Reverse DNS

PTR record for your sending IP

Security

TLS Encryption

In-transit email encryption

Reputation

Sender Reputation

Trust and reputation signal analysis

Why setups fail

Most inbox problems do not
look broken at first

Cold email setups often keep sending even when something underneath is off. Missing authentication, weak reputation, bad DNS, or poor placement can quietly drag down performance before most teams notice.

Authentication gaps

Missing or weak SPF, DKIM, or DMARC can reduce trust and hurt inboxing.

Placement issues

Messages may send successfully while landing in promotions or spam.

Burned infrastructure

Old or overused inboxes can drag reply rates down fast.

Bad scaling decisions

Scaling weak infrastructure usually makes deliverability worse.

Clear output

A simple verdict you can act on

No vague deliverability advice. Just a clear read on whether to keep sending, fix your setup, or replace weak infrastructure.

Healthy

Your setup looks stable. Keep sending and keep monitoring.

Needs attention

Your setup has weak points that may reduce deliverability.

Critical

Your infrastructure may be hurting campaigns already.

Who it's for

Built for people who rely on outbound

Agencies

Check client setups before campaigns go live.

Founders

Avoid wasting lead lists on weak infrastructure.

Outbound teams

Catch setup issues before scaling.

Operators

Use BurnedInbox as a fast first-pass diagnostic.

Common questions

What does BurnedInbox check?

It checks core deliverability and infrastructure signals like inbox placement, DNS records, blacklist exposure, authentication, and reputation indicators.

Can this tell me with certainty if an inbox is burned?

Not with perfect certainty. It helps surface likely issues and risk signals that suggest whether a setup is healthy or underperforming.

Is the placement test free?

Yes. BurnedInbox is designed to be a free diagnostic tool.

What should I do if the result is critical?

That depends on the issue. Some setups can be fixed with the right DNS records and a recovery plan. Others are better replaced entirely — especially if the infrastructure is old, overused, or showing blacklist exposure.

Check your setup before
your campaigns pay for it

Run a free inbox test, see where your messages land, and find out whether your infrastructure is helping you scale or quietly holding you back.

Test my inboxRun free placement test
Need a faster fix? Explore WarmInboxes →

When fixing is not enough

Some setups should be repaired.
Others should be replaced.

If your inboxes are underperforming, patching DNS is not always the fastest move. Sometimes the infrastructure itself is the problem — old domains, overused IPs, or inboxes that have accumulated too much damage to recover quickly.

In those cases, starting fresh with pre-warmed infrastructure is usually faster than waiting for a recovery that may never fully land.

Explore prewarmed inboxes

WarmInboxes provides prewarmed inboxes and free domains for teams that need to launch faster or reset after a deliverability drop.