MXtoolbox offers a broad suite of tools extending beyond just DMARC, covering general email deliverability and DNS health. For DMARC, it provides analytics, deployment assistance, and protection against domain impersonation. The platform helps manage verified sources and monitors SPF and DKIM configurations to ensure proper email authentication.
Beyond DMARC, we found MXtoolbox valuable for its adaptive sender blocklist (or blacklist) monitoring, inbox placement analysis, and recipient complaint reporting. It consolidates many essential email security and deliverability checks into a single interface, making it a versatile tool for general email health.
The Splunk TA-DMARC add-on is designed to integrate DMARC reporting data directly into an existing Splunk environment. Its core functionality is to ingest DMARC aggregate and forensic reports, allowing users to leverage Splunk's powerful search, correlation, and visualization capabilities for DMARC analysis. It is not a standalone DMARC solution but rather an extension for Splunk.
This add-on allows organizations already heavily invested in Splunk to centralize their DMARC data alongside other security logs. It relies on Splunk's native features for advanced reporting, alerting, and data correlation, which means its feature set is intrinsically tied to the capabilities of the underlying Splunk instance.
How easy is each product to use
User experience
MXtoolbox provides a relatively straightforward user interface, particularly for its DMARC features. The dashboard offers an overview of DMARC compliance and email health. Setting up DMARC monitoring and alerts is guided, which simplifies the initial configuration process. The free tools are particularly intuitive for quick checks.
However, some users might find the navigation a bit dated, requiring multiple clicks to access certain reports. While the core DMARC functionalities are accessible, the breadth of tools available can sometimes make it feel less streamlined for users focused solely on DMARC.
The user experience of the Splunk TA-DMARC add-on is entirely dependent on the user's familiarity with Splunk. It requires existing knowledge of Splunk's search language (SPL), dashboard creation, and data model concepts. The add-on itself provides the data, but the interpretation and visualization are up to the Splunk user.
For those new to Splunk, there will be a significant learning curve. If you're already a Splunk power user, integrating DMARC data will feel natural and powerful, as you can customize every aspect of your DMARC monitoring within the familiar Splunk environment. If Splunk isn't your daily driver, this solution presents a steep climb.
Which product has the best support
Support
MXtoolbox offers customer support primarily through email and a knowledge base, with phone support for certain issues, though some reviews indicate challenges with cancellations. They also provide DMARC deployment assistance, suggesting a hands-on approach to helping users configure their settings correctly. The 30-day satisfaction guarantee implies a commitment to customer service for their paid plans.
We found that for general queries and common issues, their documentation and self-service options are quite robust. For more complex, account-specific problems, the process might involve a bit more back and forth, especially if dealing with billing or contract concerns, as noted in some user feedback.
The Splunk TA-DMARC add-on is listed as "Not Supported" and "archived." This means there is no official support provided by the original developer, nor is it actively maintained. Users are entirely responsible for troubleshooting, bug fixes, and any required updates.
This lack of official support is a critical factor. Any issues encountered must be resolved internally or by leveraging community resources. While the MIT License allows for modification, relying on an archived and unsupported add-on for critical security monitoring introduces significant operational risk and potential for unaddressed vulnerabilities.
Who should use each product
Suitability
MXtoolbox is well-suited for a wide range of users, from SMBs to mid-market organizations, and even some enterprises looking for a dedicated and comprehensive email deliverability solution. Its user-friendly interface makes it accessible for teams without deep specialized DMARC expertise. For MSPs, it offers features like domain impersonation protection and DMARC analytics across multiple domains.
It's particularly strong for organizations that need more than just DMARC reporting, leveraging its broader suite of tools for DNS monitoring, blocklist (or blacklist) checks, and general email health. While it can scale to enterprise needs, it shines for those seeking an all-in-one platform without a heavy reliance on existing SIEM infrastructure.
The Splunk TA-DMARC add-on is best for organizations that are already deeply embedded in the Splunk ecosystem, particularly enterprises or large organizations with dedicated Splunk administrators. It's ideal for those who want to centralize DMARC data within their existing SIEM for correlation with other security events.
It is less suitable for SMBs or organizations without an established Splunk environment, as the overhead of deploying and managing Splunk purely for DMARC would be prohibitive. MSPs could potentially integrate it if their clients use Splunk, but the lack of support makes it a challenging choice for service providers needing reliable solutions.
DMARC report analysis
Ability to process and analyze DMARC aggregate and forensic reports.
Comprehensive DMARC analytics and deployment assistance
Ingests DMARC data into Splunk for analysis
Source detection
Identifies legitimate and illegitimate sending sources.
Provides an API for programmatic access to data or features.
Available for integration with SIEM tools
Splunk has APIs, allowing data access
Multi-tenancy
Support for managing multiple domains or clients from a single account.
Supports multiple domains in paid tiers
Managed through Splunk's user and data segregation
SPF flattening
Helps manage SPF record lookup limits.
Included in Delivery Center Plus tier
Hosted DMARC
Provides DNS hosting for DMARC records.
BIMI
Support for Brand Indicators for Message Identification.
MTA-STS/TLS-RPT
Support for Mail Transfer Agent Strict Transport Security and TLS Reporting.
Blocklists and reputation
Monitors blocklists (or blacklists) and domain/IP reputation.
Weekly and adaptive sender blacklist monitoring
AI copilot
AI-powered assistance for DMARC management.
DNS monitoring
Monitors various DNS records for issues.
Extensive DNS, MX, and general domain health checks
Self hostable
Option to host the solution on your own infrastructure.
Requires a self-hosted Splunk instance
Free trial/free tier
Availability of a free version or trial period.
Free tier available for basic monitoring
Add-on is free, but Splunk itself costs
Drawbacks and what to watch out for
MXtoolbox has faced criticism regarding its billing practices, with some users reporting difficulties canceling trials and unexpected annual contracts. While its free tools are highly valued, the paid plans have garnered some negative feedback about their refund policy. Splunk TA-DMARC add-on's primary drawback is its archived status and lack of official support, which presents significant risks for long-term reliability and security.
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
It helped us solve the small issue we had with our emails going to customers spam folder. 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. I don't recommend them because of their shady business practices. 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
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. 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. 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. 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
The free tools are good, and one wouldn't mind paying something for them, but one does object to being defrauded - see below. 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. 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
-Affordable pricing -Setting up is very easy -Useful dashboards -Makes email reputation checks easier This tool covers everything required for email management, there is nothing to dislike about. 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
MXToolBox is suitable for Blacklists, DMARC, Diagnostics, Email Health, and DNS Lookup checks. For a free tool, I'd say MXToolBox is pretty top-notch. 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 plan and paid subscriptions based on domain count and email volume, while the Splunk TA-DMARC add-on itself is free but requires a separate Splunk license.
Small
Up to 10k emails / month
Free tier (1 domain, weekly blacklist monitoring)
Free (requires Splunk license)
Medium
Up to 100k emails / month
Delivery Center ($129/month, up to 5 domains, 500k volume)
Free (requires Splunk license)
Large
Up to 1 million emails / month
Delivery Center ($129/month, up to 5 domains, 500k volume) or Delivery Center Plus ($399/month, up to 5 domains, 5M volume)
Free (requires Splunk license)
Enterprise
Over 1 million emails / month
Delivery Center Plus ($399/month, up to 5 domains, 5M volume) or Contact for pricing
Free (requires Splunk license)
Suped hard sell incoming!
Still not satisfied with MXtoolbox or Splunk TA-DMARC add-on?
4.1 / 5(29)
