What are good alternatives to Validity certification for email deliverability?
Matthew Whittaker
Co-founder & CTO, Suped
Published 12 May 2025
Updated 17 Aug 2025
9 min read
It’s common for email senders to seek every possible advantage to ensure their messages land in the inbox. For many years, services like Validity's Sender Certification were seen as a premium stamp of approval, promising enhanced deliverability and a smoother path to the inbox. However, with increasing costs and evolving email ecosystems, many are now questioning whether these certifications offer a worthwhile return on investment.
Clients often come to me asking about alternatives to Validity certification, seeking a more cost-effective way to achieve high deliverability. The perception can be that a 'certification' automatically solves all deliverability woes. While there might be some nuanced benefits with certain mailbox providers, it's crucial to understand that true, sustainable deliverability stems from a robust adherence to fundamental email sending best practices.
The reality is that a certification badge, while it might offer a slight edge in specific scenarios, is not a magic bullet. Many top-performing senders achieve excellent inbox placement without relying on such programs. Instead, their success is built on a foundation of diligent practices that govern every aspect of their email program, from list acquisition to content creation and technical configuration.
The true value of email certification
When discussing email certifications, it's important to distinguish between perceived and actual benefits. Often, the value attributed to certification programs lies less in the 'sticker' itself and more in the rigorous internal cleanup processes they necessitate. By enforcing strict adherence to best practices in areas like data acquisition and list hygiene, certification programs can inadvertently drive significant improvements. This means many of these benefits can be achieved independently, without the ongoing financial commitment to a certification service. For instance, you might ask, is Return Path certification worth it for email deliverability for my specific sending needs?
However, it's also true that certain certifications can offer tangible, albeit sometimes slight, advantages with specific mailbox providers. For example, some certifications may grant benefits like being less susceptible to the often-erratic behavior of Microsoft filters, or increasing the number of concurrent connections per IP to providers like Orange. These benefits can translate into faster delivery speeds, especially for high-volume senders, even with a smaller number of IPs. The question then becomes whether these incremental gains justify the high fees associated with the programs, which depends entirely on a sender's scale and business model.
Beyond a simple 'whitelist' status, some certifications, particularly Validity's, have been noted for providing valuable data insights. These might include daily performance reports, aggregated data points, and exclusive data feeds like Microsoft SRD (Sender Reputation Data). Such data can offer a behind-the-scenes look at how participating mailbox providers are treating your traffic. While this data can be beneficial, many senders can also glean critical insights from other publicly available tools and diligent internal monitoring to achieve similar visibility into their email program's health. Understanding how important is IP certification for overall deliverability will help weigh its true impact.
Benefits of certification
For some, certification may offer a slight uplift in inbox placement with specific mailbox providers, particularly large consumer ISPs like Outlook. It can also potentially increase concurrent connections and delivery speed at certain providers, which is valuable for high-volume senders. Additionally, access to proprietary data feeds like Microsoft SRD can provide deeper insights into sender reputation.
Foundational deliverability best practices
The most effective alternative to certification is not another certification, but rather a steadfast commitment to foundational email deliverability best practices. These practices are the bedrock of strong sender reputation and consistent inbox placement. Neglecting these fundamentals, regardless of any certification, will inevitably lead to deliverability challenges. It's about building trust with mailbox providers organically.
At the core of these best practices is robust email authentication. Implementing DMARC, SPF, and DKIM is non-negotiable for proving sender legitimacy and preventing spoofing. Beyond technical setup, maintaining a clean and engaged email list is paramount. Regularly removing inactive contacts and avoiding spam traps helps signal to ISPs that you are a responsible sender. You can find out more about how spam traps work and how to avoid them.
Content quality and recipient engagement also play a critical role. Emails should be relevant, personalized, and offer clear value to recipients. High engagement rates (opens, clicks, replies) positively influence your sender reputation, while high complaint or bounce rates can swiftly land you on a blocklist (or blacklist). Consistent sending volume and IP warming are also vital, especially for new sending infrastructure, to gradually build a positive sending history with mailbox providers. Following these practices helps build trust and improve your deliverability.
Email authentication: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to verify your sending domain and prevent unauthorized use.
List hygiene: Regularly clean your email list by removing invalid, inactive, or unengaged subscribers. This helps avoid bounces and spam traps.
Engagement monitoring: Focus on sending relevant content that encourages opens and clicks to demonstrate positive sender behavior.
Content quality: Avoid spammy keywords, excessive links, or poorly formatted emails that might trigger spam filters.
IP and domain warming: Gradually increase sending volume from new IPs or domains to build a positive reputation.
Proactive monitoring and issue resolution
Effective email deliverability isn't a set-it-and-forget-it task; it requires constant vigilance and proactive monitoring. This means regularly checking your sender reputation, monitoring for any blocklist (blacklist) appearances, and analyzing your DMARC reports. Tools designed for this purpose can provide a holistic view of your email program's health and alert you to potential issues before they escalate into major deliverability problems. Staying ahead of problems is key to consistent inbox placement.
Leveraging free postmaster tools offered by major mailbox providers, such as Google Postmaster Tools, can provide invaluable insights into your sender reputation, spam rates, and DMARC authentication results. Supplementing this with regular checks of major blocklists (or blacklists) is crucial, as being listed can severely impact your deliverability. Understanding what happens when your domain is on an email blacklist is a critical step in managing your sending health.
When deliverability issues arise, prompt and informed action is necessary. This might involve investigating SMTP errors, analyzing bounce messages, or submitting delisting requests if your IP or domain finds itself on a blocklist (or blacklist). For complex issues, professional deliverability consulting can provide expert guidance to identify root causes and implement effective solutions. While certification programs might offer some level of support, a strong internal monitoring process combined with the ability to swiftly resolve issues is often more impactful.
Monitoring aspect
Self-managed approach
Consultant-assisted approach
Data insights
Utilize free tools like Google Postmaster Tools and analyze DMARC reports for sender reputation, spam complaints, and authentication failures.
Gain access to advanced proprietary data, often more granular, from various mailbox providers and industry sources.
Benefit from continuous, automated monitoring across a wide array of public and private blocklists (or blacklists).
Issue resolution
Rely on in-house expertise or public documentation to diagnose and resolve deliverability problems.
Receive direct advocacy and mediation with mailbox providers, often leading to quicker resolution of complex issues.
Direct alternatives and strategic approaches
While direct certification programs offering similar benefits to Validity are few, there are other reputable services that provide an alternative path to deliverability excellence. One notable alternative, positioned as a direct competitor to Validity and its predecessor Return Path, is ISIPP SuretyMail. Operating since 2005, ISIPP's program also involves cultivating trusted, long-term relationships with mailbox providers and offers advocacy for senders facing deliverability issues. They are considered one of the few true certification alternatives due to their established credibility with receivers.
Beyond direct certification, the strongest alternatives lie in adopting a comprehensive, proactive deliverability strategy supported by specialized services. Email validation services are critical for maintaining a clean list and reducing bounce rates. By regularly validating email addresses, senders can identify and remove invalid or risky contacts, including potential spam traps, which significantly improves overall sender reputation. This proactive approach helps reduce the risk of being placed on a blocklist (or blacklist).
Email warm-up services can also serve as a crucial component of an alternative strategy, particularly for new sending IPs or domains. These services help build a positive sending history by gradually increasing email volume, mimicking organic sending patterns. Furthermore, engaging with independent email deliverability consultants offers tailored expertise and actionable insights. Unlike a certification service, a consultant can provide personalized guidance, diagnose specific issues, and help implement customized strategies to optimize your email program, often proving to be a more cost-effective solution in the long run. Learn more about alternatives to Validity for deliverability data.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Actively manage your sender reputation by consistently monitoring engagement metrics.
Prioritize strict adherence to email best practices starting from list acquisition.
Regularly clean your email list and remove unengaged contacts to maintain quality.
Ensure all technical authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is correctly configured and monitored.
Invest in professional deliverability services for expert guidance and issue resolution.
Common pitfalls
Believing certification is a substitute for fundamental email best practices.
Ignoring the nuanced benefits of certification for specific mailbox providers.
Not monitoring for blocklist appearances or managing your domain reputation.
Failing to adapt email strategies to evolving mailbox provider requirements.
Underestimating the importance of strong, trusted relationships with mailbox providers.
Expert tips
Certifications may offer a slight benefit at some large consumer ISPs, but the primary gain comes from the process of cleaning up your operations.
The data provided by some certification services, such as Microsoft SRD, can be very valuable for understanding deliverability.
Certifications like Validity's require strong, trusted, long-term relationships with mailbox providers, which is difficult for new entrants to build quickly.
Even with certification, poor sender reputation data rates can jeopardize inbox placement without clear reasons, especially at Microsoft.
A comprehensive deliverability strategy focused on best practices can often outweigh the benefits of an expensive ongoing certification.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says following all best practices will provide the best results and is the most cost-effective alternative to certification.
2024-03-07 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that some certifications provide a slight positive benefit depending on geographical location or recipient demographics, and the process of becoming compliant can have a significant positive impact.
2024-03-07 - Email Geeks
Embracing a comprehensive deliverability strategy
While Validity certification and similar programs offer specific benefits, particularly regarding unique data insights and relationships with mailbox providers, direct alternatives in the exact same vein are limited. The most robust and cost-effective alternative to relying on such certifications is to cultivate a strong, in-house deliverability strategy built on fundamental best practices.
This involves diligent list management, impeccable email authentication, engaging content, and continuous monitoring of your sender reputation and DMARC reports. By consistently adhering to these principles, senders can often achieve excellent inbox placement without incurring the significant costs of third-party certification programs. Remember, the ultimate goal is not a certification badge, but reliable inbox delivery.
Microsoft filters, or increasing the number of concurrent connections per IP to providers like 
Orange. These benefits can translate into faster delivery speeds, especially for high-volume senders, even with a smaller number of IPs. The question then becomes whether these incremental gains justify the high fees associated with the programs, which depends entirely on a sender's scale and business model.
Outlook. It can also potentially increase concurrent connections and delivery speed at certain providers, which is valuable for high-volume senders. Additionally, access to proprietary data feeds like Microsoft SRD can provide deeper insights into sender reputation.
