Does Open-DMARC-Analyzer offer blacklist monitoring?

No, Open-DMARC-Analyzer is specifically designed for DMARC report analysis. It does not include features for monitoring blacklists (or blocklists) or general domain reputation, which are typically found in broader email deliverability platforms.

Can I use MXtoolbox for free?

Yes, MXtoolbox offers a free tier that includes weekly blacklist (or blocklist) monitoring for one domain and access to many of its diagnostic tools. Paid plans provide more comprehensive DMARC features, inbox placement analysis, and higher email volume limits.

Which product is better for a small business?

For a small business, MXtoolbox is generally a better fit. It offers a more user-friendly, hosted solution with broader email deliverability features and direct support. Open-DMARC-Analyzer requires significant technical expertise for setup and maintenance, which might be challenging for SMBs without dedicated IT staff.

What are the hidden costs of Open-DMARC-Analyzer?

While the Open-DMARC-Analyzer software is free, the hidden costs include expenses for hosting infrastructure (server, electricity, internet), a database (MariaDB), and any required PHP packages. There are also significant time and expertise costs associated with initial setup, ongoing maintenance, security updates, and troubleshooting.

MXtoolbox vs Open-DMARC-Analyzer

Choose MXtoolbox for comprehensive hosted tools, choose Open-DMARC-Analyzer for a self-hosted open-source solution.

4.1 / 5(29)

Compare to Suped

0 / 5(0)

Compare to Suped

Compare product functionality

Feature set

MXtoolbox offers a wide array of tools beyond just DMARC, covering a broad spectrum of email deliverability and DNS health. Its DMARC reporting is integrated into a larger suite, providing insights into various email authentication aspects, alongside blacklist monitoring and general DNS lookups. We found it useful for a holistic view of email infrastructure.

For DMARC specifically, MXtoolbox provides detailed analytics and helps with deployment assistance. It assists in identifying legitimate sending sources and offers protection against domain impersonation. The platform simplifies the complex task of DMARC compliance by providing an intuitive interface for managing DMARC records and analyzing reports.

Open-DMARC-Analyzer, as its name suggests, is solely focused on DMARC report analysis. It provides a robust, self-hosted solution for parsing and visualizing DMARC aggregate reports. Its strength lies in its ability to offer a comprehensive view of DMARC compliance without relying on third-party cloud services.

Being open-source, it allows for deep customization and control over your DMARC data. While it excels at DMARC analysis, it doesn't extend to other email security or deliverability features like blacklist monitoring or SPF flattening out of the box. Users seeking a focused, on-premise DMARC solution will find its feature set highly relevant.

How easy is each product to use

User experience

MXtoolbox provides a web-based interface that is generally straightforward to navigate, especially for its free tools. The DMARC reporting dashboard is designed to be intuitive, showing clear compliance rates and source identification. For those less technically inclined, the guided setup processes are helpful.

However, with its extensive suite of tools, it can sometimes feel a bit cluttered, requiring us to click through multiple links to reach specific reports. While the overall experience is polished for a hosted solution, users sometimes wish for a more unified dashboard view across all its diagnostic capabilities.

Open-DMARC-Analyzer offers a functional, no-frills user interface typical of many open-source projects. Its strength is in presenting DMARC data clearly, but the initial setup and ongoing maintenance require significant technical expertise. We found that deploying it involves setting up a web server, PHP, and a MariaDB database.

Once set up, analyzing reports is relatively simple, but the lack of advanced features like alerts or automated actions means a more hands-on approach is necessary. Its user experience caters to those comfortable with self-hosting and managing their own server environments, prioritizing control over out-of-the-box simplicity.

Which product has the best support

Support

MXtoolbox, as a commercial product, offers structured support channels. For paid plans, we've found that they provide customer service through email and phone, which is standard for SaaS platforms. They also maintain a knowledge base and guides to help users troubleshoot common issues.

Their support team can assist with DMARC deployment and configuration issues, ensuring that customers get timely help. While some users have reported issues with their refund policy, the availability of direct support is a significant advantage for businesses seeking assistance with complex email deliverability challenges.

Open-DMARC-Analyzer, being an open-source project, relies primarily on community support. Users typically find assistance through forums, GitHub issues, or other community-driven platforms. There's no dedicated support team in the traditional commercial sense, which means response times and quality can vary.

For those with technical expertise, this model can be empowering, allowing direct access to the code and the ability to implement custom solutions. However, for organizations without in-house server administration or development resources, the lack of formal support might present a challenge when encountering issues or requiring advanced configurations.

Who should use each product

Suitability

MXtoolbox is well-suited for a broad range of users. For Small to Medium Businesses (SMBs), its comprehensive tools and guided setup can simplify email security and deliverability without requiring extensive in-house expertise. It helps prevent emails from landing in spam folders and protects against brand impersonation.

Enterprise organizations benefit from its consolidated monitoring and reporting features across multiple domains. Managed Service Providers (MSPs) can leverage its suite of tools to manage and monitor client email infrastructure, ensuring strong email reputation and DMARC compliance for their diverse customer base. We've seen it effectively used to diagnose a range of email issues.

We've also found it helpful for individual IT professionals who need quick diagnostics for DNS, MX records, and blacklist checks. Its user-friendly interface lowers the barrier to entry for managing complex email settings.

Open-DMARC-Analyzer is best suited for organizations with significant technical resources and a preference for self-hosting. This includes larger enterprises or tech-savvy SMBs that prioritize data control, customization, and the avoidance of recurring subscription fees over ease of setup.

For MSPs, it could be integrated into a larger custom solution, but it wouldn't serve as a standalone, out-of-the-box multi-tenant offering. It's particularly appealing to those who already manage their own server infrastructure and want a dedicated DMARC analysis tool without external dependencies.

It's not ideal for users seeking a 'set it and forget it' solution or those who require external support or advanced features beyond core DMARC reporting, such as generalized blacklist (or blocklist) monitoring or SPF flattening services.

How does MXtoolbox compare with Open-DMARC-Analyzer?

DMARC report analysis

Parses and visualizes DMARC aggregate reports to show email authentication status.

Source detection

Identifies legitimate and illegitimate email sending sources based on DMARC data.

Forward detection

Distinguishes between direct emails and forwarded emails in DMARC reports.

Spoof detection

Identifies and helps protect against unauthorized use of your domain for sending emails.

Notifications and alerts

Provides real-time alerts for DMARC policy changes, spoofing attempts, or blocklisting.

Requires custom integration for alerts

Reporting

Generates various reports on DMARC compliance, email deliverability, and domain health.

API

Offers an API for integrating DMARC data with other systems.

Not an explicit feature

Multi-tenancy

Ability to manage multiple domains or clients within a single account.

Possible with custom setup, not out-of-the-box

SPF flattening

Helps manage SPF record limits by combining multiple SPF includes.

Available in higher tiers

Not a core feature

Hosted DMARC

Manages DMARC records and reporting services on your behalf.

Requires self-hosting

BIMI

Supports Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) implementation.

Not a stated feature

MTA-STS/TLS-RPT

Monitoring and reporting for MTA-STS and TLS-RPT policies.

Not a stated feature

Blocklists and reputation

Monitors IP and domain reputation across various blocklists.

Not its primary focus

AI copilot

Uses AI to assist with email security analysis or recommendations.

No AI features mentioned

DNS monitoring

Monitors DNS records for changes or misconfigurations.

Not its primary focus

Self hostable

Can be installed and run on your own servers.

Hosted cloud solution

Free trial/free tier

Offers a free version or a trial period for its services.

Limited free tools & paid trial

Open-source software is free

Drawbacks and what to watch out for

When considering the drawbacks, MXtoolbox users have sometimes reported issues with their billing and cancellation policies, specifically regarding their "risk-free" trials not being fully honored for refunds. This can lead to frustration and unexpected charges. Open-DMARC-Analyzer, on the other hand, faces the typical challenges of open-source, self-hosted solutions, primarily the need for significant technical expertise for setup, maintenance, and lack of dedicated professional support or advanced features like proactive alerts. Its functionality is also solely focused on DMARC, without the broader email deliverability tools found in commercial alternatives.

We have pulled the average ratings from G2 for each product, and also included the most recent negative reviews for each product in full. Positive reviews tend to have less detail and have a higher chance of being fraudulent, so negative reviews are a better signal for your decision.

4.1 / 5(29)

0 / 5(0)

Business Practices are scammy

0.0 / 5

What do you like best about MXToolbox? It helped us solve the small issue we had with our emails going to customers spam folder. What do you dislike about MXToolbox? I initially signed up online for a month-to-month contract, but then a salesperson got a hold of me and sent me a quote. The quote he sent me was for a year contract which I did not want, so I signed up for the month to month. Once the problem was fixed I tried to cancel and I couldn't do it online. I emailed them and they told me I had to call them. After lots of back and fourth they told me I signed a year contract and I couldn't cancel. I would have never signed up for a year. It was a very scammy business practice. Eventually they stopped responding so I had to stop the payments from my credit card. Recommendations to others considering MXToolbox: I don't recommend them because of their shady business practices. What problems is MXToolbox solving and how is that benefiting you? fixing a problem with emails going to spam

Sam B.

IT Director Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

No G2 reviews

G2 is the most popular review platform for DMARC products, so this is a strong signal that this product is not popular.

Think twice before doing their paid plans. Deceptive "risk-free" 30 day trial

0.0 / 5

What do you like best about MXToolbox? I suspect many of the people responding favorably on this forum are using their free tools. Their free tools are very useful -- but think twice before upgrading to their paid plans. What do you dislike about MXToolbox? Like many other software vendors - they make an offer of a risk-free one-month trial. However, they don't actually refund you your money if you cancel before 30 days. Here is my example: I signed up for their delivery center option on November 10, 2018 and was promptly billed $99. I used the service for 2 days, realized the paid features were overkill for my own and customers' needs, so called to cancel November 12 (two days after signup.) They acknowledged my cancellation by email but never credited back my account for the $99. On December 17th I called their toll-free line. Matt on the phone said ("getting a refund would require managers approval and it's not a certain thing.") No sign of any refund as-yet, no confirmation from the company following the call of what to expect on refund. On December 15 I emailed. Their response to my email was "Sorry, we can't process that sort of thing by email. Either call or create a support ticket." Unfortunately, the support ticket option is available only for active subscribers -- so you are left with calling their phone system and having no record of exchange. Attached is an image from their website taken December 2018 in which they describe their "risk-free" offer. https://postimg.cc/mhgzm197 In summary -- Be aware that their free trial is not like how most other software vendors manage their trial promotions. They are opportunistic about billing you and (in my experience) don't honor the refund they promise as part of their risk-free trial. Recommendations to others considering MXToolbox: Use their free tools (they are good.) Their paid tools are overpriced, and they have a misleading "risk-free" plan that will end up costing you $99. What problems is MXToolbox solving and how is that benefiting you? Their free tools will help you diagnose MX configuration issues.

jon b.

Jon Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

Beware their "30 day free trial" of the Delivery Center!

0.5 / 5

What do you like best about MXToolbox? The free tools are good, and one wouldn't mind paying something for them, but one does object to being defrauded - see below. What do you dislike about MXToolbox? Tried to cancel free trial only a couple of days in, but $99 had been taken from my card and they have not responded to repeated requests to end it and refund the money. It looks like attempted fraud. What problems is MXToolbox solving and how is that benefiting you? Simple things like reverse DNS lookup helped us to check our email setup.

Alexander S.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

Makes email management easy

3.5 / 5

What do you like best about MXToolbox? -Affordable pricing -Setting up is very easy -Useful dashboards -Makes email reputation checks easier What do you dislike about MXToolbox? -This tool covers everything required for email management, there is nothing to dislike about. What problems is MXToolbox solving and how is that benefiting you? I have used this tool for domain reputation checking for phising mail analysis also I am using this for some of my projects to check mail deliverability and reputation of the domain to make sure the domain is not being blacklisted due to sending loads of emails.

Nitin R.

Software dev Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

MXToolBox is great for blacklist testing

3.5 / 5

What do you like best about MXToolbox? MXToolBox is suitable for Blacklists, DMARC, Diagnostics, Email Health, and DNS Lookup checks. What do you dislike about MXToolbox? For a free tool, I'd say MXToolBox is pretty top-notch. What problems is MXToolbox solving and how is that benefiting you? I used MXToolBox for DNS look-ups and blacklist checks.

Verified User in Marketing and Advertising

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

Pricing

MXtoolbox offers tiered pricing with a free option and increasingly comprehensive paid plans, while Open-DMARC-Analyzer is open-source software with no direct licensing costs, but requires users to cover their own hosting and infrastructure expenses.

Small

Up to 10k emails / month

$0 (1 domain, weekly blocklist)

Self-hosting costs

Medium

Up to 100k emails / month

$129/month (5 domains, 500k volume)

Self-hosting costs

Large

Up to 1 million emails / month

$129/month (5 domains, 500k volume) or $399/month (5M volume)

Self-hosting costs