What are the best alternatives to Validity for inbox deliverability services and reporting?
Matthew Whittaker
Co-founder & CTO, Suped
Published 5 May 2025
Updated 17 Aug 2025
7 min read
When managing email campaigns, ensuring your messages reach the inbox is paramount. Validity, through products like Everest and its legacy from Return Path and 250ok, has been a significant player in providing email deliverability services and reporting. Their offerings often include inbox placement insights, reputation monitoring, and sophisticated analytics. However, the landscape of email deliverability is broad and constantly evolving, leading many to seek alternatives that might better fit specific needs, budgets, or technological stacks.
The search for alternatives often stems from a desire for more focused functionalities, a different pricing model, or a deeper integration with existing systems. Many providers have emerged, specializing in different facets of email deliverability, from pre-send testing to ongoing monitoring and strategic consultation.
This exploration isn't just about finding a replacement, it's about optimizing your email program for maximum inbox reach and engagement. I'll walk you through some of the best alternatives available and how they can help you achieve your deliverability goals.
Comprehensive deliverability platforms
Several platforms offer comprehensive suites of tools that rival the capabilities of Validity’s Everest, providing detailed inbox placement reports, reputation scores, and DMARC analytics. These platforms are designed for marketers and technical teams who need a holistic view of their email performance.
One such alternative is Folderly, which aims to be an all-in-one deliverability solution, not just diagnosing issues but also helping to fix them. They offer AI-powered analysis to identify problems and provide recommendations for improving inbox placement, sender reputation, and overall email performance. This platform focuses on providing actionable insights to boost deliverability rates.
Another strong contender is ZeroBounce, widely recognized for its email validation capabilities, which directly impact deliverability by ensuring lists are clean. Beyond validation, ZeroBounce offers inbox placement testing, blocklist monitoring, and DMARC monitoring. This comprehensive approach helps ensure emails reach their intended recipients while protecting sender reputation.
Additionally, GlockApps is a popular choice for deliverability testing, offering inbox placement tests, DMARC analytics, and uptime monitoring. It provides detailed reports on where your emails land, whether in the inbox, spam folder, or promotions tab. This granular insight can be invaluable for diagnosing and resolving deliverability issues. Each of these tools provides a robust set of features, making them viable alternatives for businesses seeking detailed deliverability insights and comprehensive reporting.
Choosing the right platform
Consider your needs: Do you need just inbox placement testing, or a full suite including reputation and DMARC monitoring? Your specific requirements will guide your choice.
Integration capabilities: Evaluate how well a platform integrates with your existing email service provider (ESP) or marketing automation system. Seamless integration streamlines your workflow.
Scalability: Choose a solution that can grow with your email volume and business needs, ensuring long-term compatibility.
Specialized tools for specific needs
Beyond comprehensive platforms, several specialized tools address particular aspects of email deliverability with high precision. These can be used independently or in conjunction with broader solutions to fine-tune your email strategy.
For email list hygiene and validation, services like Kickbox (though recently shut down, it was a prominent player, highlighting the importance of this category) and Bouncer are critical. They help remove invalid, risky, and unengaged email addresses, which significantly reduces bounce rates and protects sender reputation. Maintaining a clean list is one of the most effective ways to ensure strong deliverability.
For technical diagnostics, MxToolbox offers a suite of free tools for checking DNS, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, as well as checking if your IP or domain is on a blocklist (or blacklist). These tools are essential for troubleshooting authentication issues or identifying why your emails might be hitting a blocklist (or blacklist). Monitoring your domain and IP reputation is a proactive way to avoid potential deliverability problems.
Furthermore, Google Postmaster Tools (GPT) is a free and invaluable resource for anyone sending to Gmail users. It provides data on delivery errors, spam rates, sender reputation, feedback loops, and authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) performance. While it doesn't offer testing or active monitoring like commercial tools, it provides crucial insights directly from Google. Understanding Google Postmaster Tools is essential for optimizing your email program.
Troubleshooting authentication failures and blacklisting (or blocklisting) issues.
ISP-specific Tools
Provides direct data from mailbox providers on deliverability and reputation.
Monitoring performance specifically with major providers like Google and Outlook.
Key factors in email deliverability
While tools provide data and insights, the core of email deliverability lies in adhering to fundamental best practices. These practices are universal, regardless of which reporting service you use, and they significantly influence your inbox placement. Understanding these factors will help you make the most of any deliverability tool you choose.
Firstly, robust email authentication is non-negotiable. Implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is crucial for proving your identity to mailbox providers and preventing spoofing. A simple guide to DMARC, SPF, and DKIM can help you ensure these are correctly configured, which is a foundational step in good deliverability. Without proper authentication, your emails are more likely to be flagged as spam, regardless of your content or sender reputation.
Secondly, maintaining a healthy sender reputation is paramount. This involves consistent sending volume, low complaint rates, and avoiding common pitfalls like sending to unengaged users or triggering spam traps. Regular email deliverability tests help identify potential issues before they escalate. Email reputation is built over time through consistent positive sending behavior and adherence to best practices.
Finally, content quality and list management play a crucial role. Engaging content, clear calls to action, and audience segmentation reduce spam complaints. Regular list cleaning removes inactive or invalid addresses, which can otherwise harm your sender score and lead to blocklisting. Avoiding spam triggers in your email content is also a critical consideration.
Proactive measures
Authentication: Set up and regularly verify SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to authenticate your sending domain.
List hygiene: Implement double opt-in and regularly clean your email lists to remove inactive or invalid addresses.
Content review: Optimize email content to avoid spam triggers and maintain a healthy text-to-image ratio.
Reactive troubleshooting
Inbox testing: Use seed list testing to identify where your emails are landing across various mailbox providers.
Choosing the best alternative to Validity (Everest) involves assessing your specific needs and budget. Whether you opt for a comprehensive platform, specialized tools, or a combination, the goal remains the same: ensuring your emails consistently reach the inbox.
The key is to leverage the data and insights provided by these tools to continuously refine your email sending practices, maintain a strong sender reputation, and ultimately, maximize the impact of your email campaigns. By understanding the core principles of email deliverability and utilizing the right tools, you can navigate the complex email ecosystem effectively.
Remember, good deliverability is an ongoing process that requires vigilance and adaptation to evolving mailbox provider rules and user behaviors. The right set of tools can make this process manageable and highly effective.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Actively monitor your sender reputation using free tools like Google Postmaster Tools for crucial insights.
Regularly clean your email lists by removing unengaged subscribers and invalid addresses to improve deliverability.
Implement and verify SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to ensure your emails are properly authenticated.
Common pitfalls
Neglecting email list hygiene, which leads to high bounce rates and spam trap hits.
Ignoring DMARC reports, missing critical authentication failures that impact deliverability.
Sending to unengaged subscribers, harming sender reputation and increasing the likelihood of being flagged as spam.
Expert tips
Use multiple data sources, including DMARC reports and ISP feedback loops, for a complete picture of your deliverability.
Focus on engagement metrics like opens and clicks, as mailbox providers increasingly prioritize user interaction.
Continuously test your email content and sending practices to adapt to changes in deliverability algorithms.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says consider exploring eDataSource, GlockApps, Mail Monitor, Inboxable, and Postmastery as alternatives to Validity for deliverability monitoring.
2021-03-05 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says Kickbox is a good tool to consider for deliverability.
Gmail users. It provides data on delivery errors, spam rates, sender reputation, feedback loops, and authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) performance. While it doesn't offer testing or active monitoring like commercial tools, it provides crucial insights directly from 
Google. Understanding Google Postmaster Tools is essential for optimizing your email program.
