Valimail is our go-to for comprehensive DMARC enforcement. Its core strength lies in automating DMARC, SPF, and DKIM management, freeing up significant IT resources. We find its ability to flatten SPF records particularly useful, circumventing the common 10-lookup limit that plagues many organizations.
The platform provides deep visibility into email sending services, identifying both authorized and unauthorized senders by name. This clarity, combined with automated enforcement, helps move domains to a strict DMARC policy swiftly, effectively blocking phishing and impersonation attempts.
InboxMonster offers a broader suite of tools aimed at overall email and SMS deliverability. We appreciate its weighted inbox placement analysis, which gives a realistic view of where emails are landing across various mailbox providers. The platform also includes robust spam trap and blocklist (or blacklist) monitoring.
Beyond DMARC monitoring, InboxMonster provides features like creative proofing, device renderings, and AI summaries for pre-send workflows. This focus on content and pre-send diagnostics complements its post-send deliverability insights, making it a comprehensive tool for email marketers and deliverability specialists.
How easy is each product to use
User experience
From our experience, Valimail's interface is generally intuitive and straightforward, especially for DMARC monitoring and initial setup. The dashboards provide a clear, aggregated view of DMARC reports, making it easy to track compliance and identify failing sources. We found the onboarding process to be quite simple and well-supported.
However, some users might find the feature organization occasionally counter-intuitive, and a few advanced features can have a learning curve. While it excels at presenting "what" is happening with DMARC, we sometimes wished for more detailed "why" and "how" explanations within the platform itself.
InboxMonster presents a comprehensive toolset within a user-friendly interface. We found it relatively easy to navigate for core deliverability monitoring, with clear reports on inbox placement and reputation. The platform is designed to give extensive insights into email performance, which is crucial for optimizing campaigns.
While the platform is generally easy to use, the sheer volume of data and features can be overwhelming for new users or those less familiar with deliverability nuances. We noticed that performing deep dive analysis independently sometimes requires a good understanding of all the different metrics and tabs, though their support helps tremendously.
Which product has the best support
Support
Valimail offers solid support, especially during onboarding, which we found to be very helpful in getting domains configured correctly. They provide knowledgebase articles, and paid plans include onboarding assistance and a dedicated account manager, ensuring guidance through the DMARC journey.
While their support team is generally responsive and helpful for specific issues, some users have reported occasional delays. For more complex ecosystems, advanced support like a technical account manager or Valicare add-ons are available in higher tiers, indicating a scalable support structure.
InboxMonster excels in its hands-on and proactive support model. We've consistently experienced their account representatives being incredibly knowledgeable and responsive, often flagging potential issues before we even noticed them. Their "white glove set up" highlights this personalized approach.
They also offer ongoing consulting services and leverage existing relationships with email providers to troubleshoot and address inboxing issues, which saves significant time. This level of partnership is a major differentiator, particularly for organizations seeking active guidance in their deliverability efforts.
Who should use each product
Suitability
Valimail is an excellent choice for organizations of all sizes, from SMBs to large enterprises, primarily focused on achieving DMARC enforcement and preventing email-based fraud. Its free Monitor plan provides essential visibility for smaller businesses, while the paid Enforce and Align suites cater to more complex needs, offering automated DMARC, SPF flattening, and DKIM alignment.
For MSPs (managed service providers), Valimail offers a robust solution for managing DMARC across multiple client domains, simplifying compliance and security. Enterprises with extensive and intricate email ecosystems benefit from its comprehensive reporting, API access, and advanced security features like SAML/SSO, making it ideal for maintaining a strong email security posture.
InboxMonster is particularly well-suited for mid-market and enterprise organizations whose core business heavily relies on email marketing and consistent inbox placement. Its comprehensive deliverability suite, including weighted inbox placement, spam trap, and blocklist (or blacklist) monitoring, provides critical insights for optimizing email performance and protecting sender reputation.
For MSPs (managed managed service providers), InboxMonster's consulting-heavy model and "white glove" service can be invaluable for clients needing dedicated deliverability expertise and proactive issue resolution. While it offers DMARC monitoring, its primary strength lies in broader email deliverability and creative optimization, making it a strong fit for marketing and email operations teams. SMBs might find the pricing starting point high if only DMARC is needed.
How does Valimail compare with InboxMonster?
DMARC report analysis
Analyzes DMARC aggregate and forensic reports to identify sending sources and authentication results.
Source detection
Automatically discovers and identifies all email sending sources for a domain.
Forward detection
Identifies when emails are being forwarded and impacts DMARC results.
Spoof detection
Detects and helps prevent unauthorized email spoofing and impersonation attempts.
Notifications and alerts
Provides real-time notifications and configurable alerts for DMARC or deliverability issues.
Reporting
Offers various reports for insights into email authentication and deliverability performance.
API
Provides programmatic access to data and features for integration with other systems.
Available as an add-on or in Enterprise plans
Not currently offered as a general-purpose API
Multi-tenancy
Supports managing multiple domains or client accounts from a single interface.
Portfolios feature for managing multiple domains
Supports unlimited users and multi-client consulting model
SPF flattening
Manages SPF records to prevent exceeding the 10-DNS lookup limit.
Not a direct feature, focuses on overall SPF authentication
Hosted DMARC
Directly manages and enforces DMARC policies via their platform.
Automated DMARC record management and enforcement
Monitors DMARC but does not host/enforce policy directly
BIMI
Supports Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) implementation.
BIMI available, with Amplify add-on for fast-tracking
Not explicitly listed as a feature
MTA-STS/TLS-RPT
Manages and reports on Mail Transfer Agent Strict Transport Security (MTA-STS) and TLS Reporting (TLS-RPT).
Reviews indicate this is a missing feature
Not explicitly listed as a feature
Blocklists and reputation
Monitors email addresses and domains against blocklists and analyzes sender reputation.
DMARC focuses on authentication, not explicit blocklist monitoring
Includes spam trap and blocklist monitoring, reputation analysis
AI copilot
Offers an interactive AI assistant for insights or task automation.
Uses machine learning for detection, not an interactive AI copilot
Offers AI summaries in creative suite, not an interactive copilot
DNS monitoring
Monitors general DNS health and record changes beyond DMARC.
Manages DMARC DNS, but not general DNS health monitoring
Not explicitly a feature
Self hostable
Option to host the software on-premise.
Cloud-based solution
Cloud-based solution
Free trial/free tier
Offers a free version or a trial period to test the platform.
Valimail Monitor is a free service
No explicit free trial or tier, starts with white glove setup
Drawbacks and what to watch out for
Valimail's pricing can be a concern for smaller teams, especially as advanced features are often add-ons or exclusive to higher tiers, and some users note potential vendor lock-in due to their automated DNS management. For InboxMonster, the platform's comprehensive nature often means a higher starting price point, potentially making it less accessible for SMBs, and while the data is extensive, some users find it challenging to perform independent, in-depth analysis without relying on their support team.
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)
4.9 / 5(44)
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.)
Josie + InboxMonster has helped our email team tremendously!
4.0 / 5
What do you like best about Inbox Monster?
I'm newer to the email team that utilizes InboxMonster but from what I've gathered from my coworker who has worked with Josie and InboxMonster for over a year, Josie was instrumental in providing actionable insights to enhance deliverability.
What do you dislike about Inbox Monster?
We don't have a proper CRM tool to leverage so InboxMonster isn't as much a problem as the tool we're using for email.
What problems is Inbox Monster solving and how is that benefiting you?
At the beginning of the year, the team discussed solutions such as better domain/IP allocation, stricter demark policies, and monitoring iCloud; they also noted the impact of email frequency and rogue franchisees on complaint rates. Next steps included investigating unsubscribe inconsistencies, exploring click activity data, discussing IP address optimization, and a future demo of Inbox Monster's "Creative Projects" tool; Josie Garcia will also provide further ISP and deliverability information. Most recently, Josie shared SendGrid-specific recommendations, best practices, and provided platform training, including user management, notifications, campaign tagging, subscriber insights, and spam trap analysis.
Verified User in Maritime
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
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.)
Great toolset and helpful account support
4.0 / 5
What do you like best about Inbox Monster?
The toolset is very robust and they are consistently adding to the functionality. The account support has also been great and incredibly proactive. Thom is the best and always super helpful.
What do you dislike about Inbox Monster?
Right now, there is nothing currently that I do not like or appreciate about Inbox Monster.
What problems is Inbox Monster solving and how is that benefiting you?
Inbox Monster is helping us manage and get insight into deliverability problems when they arise. There is a great toolset that is built behind this management and the additional tools with respect to content rendering is super helpful.
Verified User in Publishing
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
Straightforward onboarding
4.0 / 5
What do you like best about Valimail?
Ease of set-up and great customer support.
What do you dislike about Valimail?
Some features aren't as developed as some competitors, however ultimately it's up to each organization to decide the value of those features.
What problems is Valimail solving and how is that benefiting you?
Being able to report on DMARC successes and failures, to help us fine-tune the configuration to ensure each domain is correctly configured.
Verified User in Oil & Energy
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
Valuable Deliverability Insights
4.5 / 5
What do you like best about Inbox Monster?
Inbox Monster provides a lot of valuable insights into how are email deliverability is across many different email service providers.
What do you dislike about Inbox Monster?
Inbox Monster has many features and data sets, but not all of the data feels immediately actionable and I don't understand what every feature does.
What problems is Inbox Monster solving and how is that benefiting you?
Before Inbox Monster, we couldn't see where our emails were landing or what seeds were having deliverability issues.
Verified User in Higher Education
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
Valimail Simplifies DMARC Management, But Watch for Vendor Lock-In
4.0 / 5
What do you like best about Valimail?
My favorite thing about Valimail is having a single portal that puts all DMARC reports into an easy to understand view. Having this information allowed us to identify hundreds of 3rd party email sources sending on behalf of our domain. Doing this without such a portal would be incredibly difficult especially in a franchise setting like ours where we have more services sending on behalf of our domain than most other companies.
What do you dislike about Valimail?
Valimail isn't cheap but you definitely get what you pay for. I also grow concerned about vendor lock-in now that I have setup Valimail to handle DMARC, SPF and DKIM with no exist strategy.
What problems is Valimail solving and how is that benefiting you?
Valimail solves the problem of visibility into who is sending on our behalf and makes identifying them easy.
Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
A Game-Changer for Email Deliverability
4.5 / 5
What do you like best about Inbox Monster?
Inbox Monster has been a life saver for our email program. We have worked with Josie for just under a year, but the amount of dedication and support she provided to analyze our deliverability, help us come up with an action plan to remediate our poor deliverability and sender reputation, and ongoing monitoring of trends after working through our issues, has played a significant role in the health and success of our email marketing.
Josie is always quick to respond and will walk through the issues with us, giving us valuable insights and recommendations along the way. My team does not have a strong background in deliverability, but Josie and the Inbox Monster team, has made a very technical part of email marketing very easy to understand and action against, allowing us to grow our skillset while also educating the rest of the company on deliverability best practices to ensure we do not fall into the same mess that we worked so hard to pull ourselves out of.
In October 2024, we found out, with the help of Inbox Monster, that our inbox rate with Gmail was at 1% with low sender reputation. After working with Josie, we were able to increase and maintain our Gmail inbox rate to 95-100% with high sender reputation within 4 months. I cannot recommend Inbox Monster enough.
What do you dislike about Inbox Monster?
Email deliverability is overwhelming. This is not an Inbox Monster issue. The team at Inbox Monster is incredibly knowledgeable and gives so much information. A lot of the time, the analysis is easy to follow while meeting with the Inbox Monster team, but the amount of numbers and tabs within the platform make it a little difficult to follow on our own. We have a wonderful support team who are willing to meet at our cadence to discuss, but it's a bit difficult to do our own analysis outside of those meetings.
What problems is Inbox Monster solving and how is that benefiting you?
Inbox Monster helps provide valuable insight to our email deliverability and sender reputation.
Verified User in Health, Wellness and Fitness
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
A Must-Have for Email Security
4.0 / 5
What do you like best about Valimail?
The best thing about Valimail is its fully automation feature as we can get the reports automated with whole monthly data .
As I prepare reports every month in which I have to include the malicious email data so I do not need to manually check each single thing , the Valimail does it for itself.
What do you dislike about Valimail?
The thing which I dislike about Valimai is that its little expensive especially for the businesses which are small nd not much expanded .
What problems is Valimail solving and how is that benefiting you?
The problem which Valimail is solving for me is the manual effort for exporting the data related to spam emails and its security checks are the best .It filters out the emails properly and which are suspicious , they get rejected easily .
Verified User in Transportation/Trucking/Railroad
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
Great tool with excellent consulting support
4.5 / 5
What do you like best about Inbox Monster?
Clear reporting to understand our deliverability/inboxing, as well as domain/IP reputation factors. And the consulting services offered save us a ton of time, as they leverage existing relationships with email providers to troubleshoot/address inboxing issues. Super easy to use and onboard as well.
What do you dislike about Inbox Monster?
Everything is worth it, but the tool costs more than other deliverability platforms, however, that's largely because they are taking on the work of coordinating with email providers
What problems is Inbox Monster solving and how is that benefiting you?
They offer a one-stop shop of crucial information to understand our sending domain/ip health, and most importantly, offer services that help us work with email providers quickly and effectively. This saves our team a ton of time we would otherwise have to spend coordinating with each ESP
Valimail provides a free DMARC monitoring option and offers tiered pricing for its enforcement and alignment solutions, while InboxMonster features higher starting prices for its specialized creative, deliverability, and SMS suites.
Small
Up to 10k emails / month
Monitor: Free. Enforce Starter: From $5,000/year (Contact for pricing). Align Bronze: $19/month (up to 500k emails).
Creative Suite: From $3,000/year. Deliverability Suite: From $15,000/year. SMS Suite: From $6,000/year.
Medium
Up to 100k emails / month
Monitor: Free. Enforce Starter: From $5,000/year (Contact for pricing). Align Bronze: $19/month (up to 500k emails).
Creative Suite: From $3,000/year. Deliverability Suite: From $15,000/year. SMS Suite: From $6,000/year.
Large
Up to 1 million emails / month
Monitor: Free. Enforce Starter: From $5,000/year (Contact for pricing). Align Bronze: $19/month (up to 500k emails).
Creative Suite: From $3,000/year. Deliverability Suite: From $15,000/year. SMS Suite: From $6,000/year.
Enterprise
Over 1 million emails / month
Enforce Premium/Enterprise: Contact for pricing. Align (if over 500k): Contact for pricing.
Deliverability Suite: From $15,000/year (Custom pricing available).
Suped hard sell incoming!
Still not satisfied with Valimail or InboxMonster?