What are the main differences in pricing between Valimail and DMARC Director?

Valimail offers a free DMARC monitoring plan and a relatively affordable Align product at $19/month for specific compliance needs. However, its full DMARC enforcement tiers (Enforce) start at a premium, with the Starter plan beginning at $5,000 per year. DMARC Director, on the other hand, does not publish its pricing, requiring direct contact for quotes across all service tiers. This makes initial cost comparison challenging without engaging their sales team.

Which product is better for DMARC enforcement with complex SPF records?

Valimail excels in this area due to its built-in SPF flattening capabilities, offering "unlimited SPF" lookups. This is a significant advantage for organizations with numerous sending sources that often exceed the 10-lookup limit for SPF records. DMARC Director does not explicitly highlight similar advanced SPF management features, suggesting it might require more manual intervention for complex SPF environments.

Does either product offer a free option for DMARC monitoring?

Yes, Valimail offers a free "Monitor" product that provides full visibility into email sending services and helps identify unauthorized email. DMARC Director provides a 30-day free trial, allowing users to test its features before committing.

How do their user interfaces compare for DMARC reporting?

Valimail's interface is generally intuitive and user-friendly, with dashboards that automate much of the DMARC process and present data clearly, though some advanced features might require a short learning curve. DMARC Director offers a clean and straightforward interface focused on presenting essential DMARC reporting data effectively, which is ideal for users who prefer clear, direct data visualization without extensive automation.

Is Valimail or DMARC Director more suitable for managed service providers (MSPs)?

Valimail is quite suitable for MSPs, especially with its "Portfolios" feature in Enterprise plans designed for managing multiple client domains. However, its pricing structure might be a consideration for smaller MSPs. DMARC Director could also be suitable for MSPs looking for a simple reporting tool, but it lacks explicit multi-tenancy features or dedicated MSP programs that might streamline management for a high volume of clients.

Valimail vs DMARC Director

Choose Valimail for comprehensive automation, or DMARC Director for a strong trial period.

4.6 / 5(421)

Compare to Suped

0 / 5(0)

Compare to Suped

Compare product functionality

Feature set

Known for its comprehensive DMARC automation, Valimail excels in handling complex SPF records (SPF flattening) and provides detailed sender intelligence. We found its ability to automatically identify and classify sending services to be a significant advantage, reducing the manual effort typically associated with DMARC implementation. The platform integrates SPF and DKIM management seamlessly, aiming for rapid DMARC enforcement. Its core strength lies in its automated approach to email authentication, making it particularly appealing for organizations with a wide array of sending sources.

However, our experience showed that while Valimail offers extensive reporting, the depth of customization in these reports can sometimes feel limited for specific, granular analysis. While it provides a holistic view of email traffic and compliance, more advanced troubleshooting features are often gated behind higher-tier plans. The inclusion of BIMI across all plans is a definite plus, and its focus on continuous protection reports for senders and DKIM is a proactive step in email security.

DMARC Director provides robust DMARC monitoring and reporting, offering a clear overview of email authentication results. We found its dashboard to be straightforward, presenting data in an accessible format that helps identify email sources and their DMARC, SPF, and DKIM compliance status. The emphasis is on providing actionable insights to move domains towards an enforcement policy. For those who prefer a hands-on approach with clear data visualization, this platform serves its purpose effectively.

While DMARC Director offers essential DMARC reporting, we noted a less pronounced focus on advanced automation compared to Valimail, particularly concerning SPF flattening or explicit BIMI management within the core offering. Its strength is in simplifying the DMARC reporting data, making it easier for users to understand failures and successes. The platform appears geared towards fundamental DMARC implementation and oversight rather than comprehensive, automated policy management across all authentication protocols.

How easy is each product to use

User experience

We found Valimail's interface to be intuitive and user-friendly, especially for initial setup and monitoring. The dashboards clearly present DMARC data, allowing for quick identification of compliant and non-compliant email sources. Its automated nature significantly reduces the administrative burden, as much of the heavy lifting for SPF and DKIM alignment happens behind the scenes.

However, some users might find the organization of advanced features a bit counter-intuitive at first glance, requiring a short learning curve to navigate deeper insights. But once we familiarized ourselves with it, the flow became quite efficient for daily use.

DMARC Director offers a clean and functional user interface that focuses on delivering essential DMARC reporting data without unnecessary complexity. We appreciate its straightforward approach to data visualization, which makes it easy to grasp the overall DMARC compliance status. The learning curve is relatively gentle, making it accessible for users who might not be DMARC experts.

While it might not boast the same level of automated configuration as Valimail, its clarity in presenting raw DMARC reports is a strong point for those who prefer to analyze the data themselves. It's a no-frills, get-to-the-point kind of tool, which can be refreshing.

Which product has the best support

Support

Our experience with Valimail's support has generally been positive, with many users praising their onboarding assistance and responsiveness. They offer a knowledge base, and higher tiers include dedicated account managers and optional Valicare services for more in-depth technical guidance.

While support is generally helpful, some feedback suggests that response times for complex issues, especially for smaller businesses or during non-US hours, could sometimes be improved. It's a solid support system, but like any large operation, there can be occasional quirks.

DMARC Director offers direct contact for support inquiries, including phone and email. While we don't have extensive first-hand experience with their support responsiveness, the availability of direct lines suggests a more personalized approach.

However, without a publicly detailed support structure or tiers, it's difficult to gauge the breadth of their support resources compared to Valimail's documented offerings. Their support is likely more tailored, but potentially less scalable for large enterprise needs without clear SLAs or public documentation.

Who should use each product

Suitability

Valimail is highly suitable for **Enterprise** organizations due to its automated enforcement, extensive reporting (especially in Enterprise plans with advanced visibility, custom metadata, and API access), and security features like SAML/SSO. Its ability to simplify DMARC for a global footprint is a key differentiator. For **MSPs**, Valimail is quite suitable, especially with its "Portfolios" feature (Enterprise) designed for managing multiple client domains efficiently.

The challenge for MSPs might be the pricing structure, which can be prohibitive for smaller MSPs or those managing many parked domains for clients, as noted in some reviews. For **SMBs**, Valimail is less suitable. While it offers a free 'Monitor' tier, its paid 'Enforce' tiers start at $5,000/year, placing it out of reach for many small and medium businesses. The 'Align' product at $19/month for up to 500k emails might be an option for SMBs focused purely on compliance without full DMARC enforcement.

DMARC Director is moderately suitable for **Enterprise** organizations. It can certainly handle enterprise-level DMARC reporting, but its lack of explicit enterprise-grade features (like advanced API access, multi-tenancy controls, or detailed support tiers as publicly advertised) might mean it requires more manual oversight compared to Valimail's automated solutions for very large, complex environments. For **MSPs**, it is potentially suitable if they are looking for a straightforward DMARC reporting tool for their clients, especially if they value a clean interface and clear data.

However, the lack of explicit multi-tenancy features or dedicated MSP programs might mean a less streamlined workflow for managing a high volume of client domains. For **SMBs**, DMARC Director is highly suitable. Given its focus on clear, understandable DMARC reporting and a 30-day free trial, it's a good option for SMBs who want to get a grasp on their DMARC compliance without committing to complex and expensive automation tools upfront. Its pricing model (which requires contact) could potentially be more flexible for smaller volumes.

How does Valimail compare with DMARC Director?

DMARC report analysis

Ability to process and visualize DMARC aggregate reports (RUA).

Comprehensive data and automated sender classification

Clear overview and straightforward visualization

Source detection

Identify all sending sources for your domain.

Forward detection

Detect when legitimate emails are being forwarded.

Spoof detection

Identify and block malicious spoofing attempts.

Notifications and alerts

Receive automated alerts for DMARC failures or policy changes.

Smart and configurable alerts in higher tiers

Standard alerts

Reporting

Generate various reports on DMARC compliance and email activity.

Detailed executive and subdomain reports in higher tiers

Clear aggregate reports

API

Programmatic access to DMARC data and management.

Enterprise plan, add-on for others

Multi-tenancy

Manage multiple domains or client accounts from a single interface.

Portfolios feature for Enterprise plans

SPF flattening

Automated management of SPF records to avoid lookup limits.

Unlimited SPF lookups

Hosted DMARC

DMARC record management hosted by the provider.

BIMI

Support for Brand Indicators for Message Identification.

Available across all plans, Amplify add-on

MTA-STS/TLS-RPT

Support for Mail Transfer Agent-Strict Transport Security and TLS Reporting.

Blocklists and reputation

Monitoring of domain or IP blocklist status.

AI copilot

AI-powered assistance for DMARC analysis and recommendations.

AI-driven detection feature

DNS monitoring

Monitoring of DNS records relevant to email authentication.

Self hostable

Option to host the DMARC solution on private infrastructure.

Free trial/free tier

Availability of a free version or trial period.

Free Monitor plan available

30-day trial available

Drawbacks and what to watch out for

Valimail, while powerful, can be expensive for smaller entities, and its advanced features might have a slight learning curve or feel less developed than core offerings. Some users also report a feeling of vendor lock-in due to its deep integration with DNS. DMARC Director, on the other hand, lacks public pricing transparency, and its feature set appears more basic, without the advanced automation or specific capabilities like SPF flattening or BIMI that Valimail offers.

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.

4.6 / 5(421)

0 / 5(0)

Easy DMARC Monitoring But Not Great

3.5 / 5

What do you like best about Valimail? Valimail is pretty simple to setup and use. We were wanting to monitor some changes to DMARC, and Valimail was the platform we ultimately decided to use. What do you dislike about Valimail? A few things I don't like: 1. The free vs premium features are frustrating. I can't see enough value from free to validate a move to premium. 2. The Sender Requirement Failure feature is in beta and never really works. I can't only get it to work if I expand it before a week, and even then it's hit-or-miss. 3. It doesn't really do enough. Other platforms I've tried did a better job at helping to explain the WHY and HOW rather than just the what. Valimail primarily focuses on the WHAT. 4. Some of the feature organization is weird within the app, even after having used it for a few months. I can get more value in the account overview than the sender requirements failure, which is counter-intuitive IMO. What problems is Valimail solving and how is that benefiting you? We had a baselevel view of email security when I was initially hired and wanted to monitor the DMARC changes effectively.

Verified User in Construction

Small-Business (50 or fewer 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.

I like Valimail - mostly.

3.5 / 5

What do you like best about Valimail? Good interface for viewing DMARC reporting information. What do you dislike about Valimail? Price, it'd be nice if they could institute a model based on volume rather than the number of email domains. What problems is Valimail solving and how is that benefiting you? Valimail provides DMARC provides good aggregate reporting for our email domains, allowing us to implement to the eventual reject policy goal.

Verified User in Real Estate

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

Pricing

Valimail offers a free monitoring tier and a relatively affordable compliance product, but its full DMARC enforcement tiers are enterprise-priced, starting at $5,000 annually. DMARC Director, in contrast, does not publicly disclose its pricing, requiring direct contact for quotes.

Small

Up to 10k emails / month

Monitor (Free), Align ($19/mo)

Contact for pricing

Medium

Up to 100k emails / month

Monitor (Free), Align ($19/mo)

Contact for pricing

Large

Up to 1 million emails / month

Enforce (Starts $5k/year+)

Contact for pricing