Score the whole email,not just the words.
Most spam checkers grade a word list and call it a day. This one reads the entire message — subject, body, punctuation, links, caps, and structure — the way a real filter does, then hands you a 0 to 100 deliverability score and the exact triggers dragging you toward the spam folder.
Your email
Paste the real subject and body. The checker scores the whole message — words, caps, punctuation, links, and structure — the way a filter does.
The score
Spam score
F
Signal by signal
17 spam phrases (−30)
Found: free, guarantee, winner, congratulations, prize, gift, act now, limited time…. Each trigger word adds weight. Strip the flyer vocabulary and write it like a person would say it.
10 exclamation marks (−12)
Pile-ups of '!' read as desperation to filters and humans. One exclamation mark, maximum.
Shouting in CAPS (−10)
Your subject is mostly capital letters. That screams at the filter. Use sentence case.
Money symbols (−6)
Rows of dollar signs are flagged on sight. Quote one specific number in plain text if you must.
4 links (−8)
Three or more links reads as a blast, not a note. Cut to one clear link in a real sentence.
Your move
A clean score gets you in the door. I make them reply.
Your email scored 34/100 (F) — Headed for spam.
Passing the filter is step one. The email still has to land, get opened, and earn the answer. I write cold and lifecycle email that reaches the inbox and actually converts — and I'll set up the SPF, DKIM, and DMARC behind it. Send me a sequence that's getting silence and I'll show you, free, where it's leaking.
Plain English
Filters don't read your email. They scan it.
A spam filter never asks whether your offer is good. It tallies signals. Trigger words, shouting capitals, exclamation pile-ups, money symbols, a wall of links, a subject that screams — each one nudges a score. Cross the line and your carefully written email lands in spam, unseen, no bounce, no warning. You just get silence.
The score is a composite. SpamAssassin and the inbox providers that inherited its logic weigh dozens of these signals together: a single 'free' won't sink you, but 'FREE!!! act now, limited time, 100% risk-free' stacked in a short, link-heavy body absolutely will. Subject and body are scored as one message, because that's how a filter sees them.
This checker mirrors that math. It scans your subject and body against the phrases, punctuation, capitalization, and link patterns filters actually weigh, subtracts a penalty for each, and shows you the running total plus every triggered signal. The goal isn't a perfect score for its own sake — it's an email that reads like a one-to-one note from a human, because that's the email that reaches the inbox.
The formula
Score = 100 − Σ(phrase, caps, punctuation, symbol, link & structure penalties), clamped 0–100
Start at 100. Subject 'FREE GIFT!!! ACT NOW' costs you the all-caps hit (−10), the exclamation pile-up (−4), two spam phrases (−6). Body crammed with 'risk-free guarantee, click here, buy now' and five links sheds another ~25. You land in the 50s — an F, headed straight to spam. Rewrite it as a plain note and you're back above 90.
What the score means for the inbox
There's no public 'spam score' a provider hands you, so this is a practical proxy built from the signals SpamAssassin and the major inbox filters are known to weigh. Roughly, where you land maps to where you land:
| Score | Likely outcome |
|---|---|
| 90–100 | Inbox |
| 70–89 | Inbox / Promotions |
| 60–69 | Promotions / risky |
| <60 | Spam folder |
Source: Compiled from Mailchimp & SpamAssassin signal guidance · 2025
Your score came back low. Here's what to cut.
Trigger words everywhere.
'Free,' 'guarantee,' 'act now,' 'risk-free,' 'click here' — each one is a small tax, and they stack. Strip the sales-flyer vocabulary and write the sentence a person would actually say out loud.
Shouting subject or body.
ALL-CAPS words and walls of exclamation marks read as desperation to filters and humans alike. One exclamation mark, max. Sentence case wins. Let the message do the work, not the punctuation.
Link-heavy or link-only body.
Three or more links — or a body that's basically a button — looks like a blast, not a note. Cut to one link. If the body is shorter than the disclaimer, it's too thin to trust.
Money symbols and price screaming.
'$$$,' 'lowest price,' 'save big,' 'why pay more' are flagged on sight. Talk about value in plain language; quote a specific number once if you must, not a row of dollar signs.
How to write an email that reaches the inbox
01Write it like a 1:1 note
The single best deliverability move: make it read like an email a human would send one person. Filters are tuned to spot broadcasts. A plain, personal note doesn't trip them.
02Kill the trigger vocabulary
'Free,' 'guarantee,' 'act now,' 'limited time' are classic SpamAssassin flags. Say the same thing without the flyer words and the score climbs on its own.
03One exclamation mark, tops
Pile-ups of '!!!' are a loud spam signal. Strong copy doesn't need to shout. Let a calm, specific sentence carry the weight.
04Sentence case, not CAPS
ALL-CAPS words and a mostly-caps subject scream at the filter. Write the subject like a headline a person would read, not a billboard.
05Trim links to one
Three or more links — or an image-and-button body with almost no text — reads as a campaign blast. One clear link in a real sentence is safer and converts better.
06Keep the subject under 60 characters
Long subjects get truncated on mobile and weigh slightly worse with filters. Front-load the point in the first 40 characters.
07Give the body real substance
A body under ~20 words looks like a link wrapper. Write enough genuine text that the message stands on its own without the link.
08Lose the emoji-stuffed subject
A subject with three or more emoji reads as promotional clutter. One, occasionally, if it's truly natural. Zero is never wrong for cold outreach.
09Never write 'this is not spam'
Defensive phrases like 'this is not spam' or 'remove me' in the wrong place are themselves classic spam markers. If you have to insist, the copy is the problem.
10Fix authentication too
Copy is half the battle. Without SPF, DKIM, and DMARC set up, even a perfect message can be filtered. Pair this check with proper DNS records.
The vocabulary
- Spam score
- A composite of weighted signals (words, caps, links, symbols, structure) that filters use to decide inbox vs. spam. Higher trigger weight, worse placement.
- SpamAssassin
- The open-source rules engine whose scoring logic underpins much of how mail is filtered. It assigns points to known spam signals and sums them.
- Trigger word
- A word or phrase ('free,' 'guarantee,' 'act now') statistically associated with spam, which adds weight to the filter's score.
- Deliverability
- Whether your email actually reaches the inbox. Distinct from delivery — a message can be 'delivered' to spam and never seen.
- Promotions tab
- Gmail's middle ground: not spam, but not the primary inbox. Bulk-styled mail lands here, where open rates fall off a cliff.
- Cold email
- An unsolicited first-touch email to a prospect. The format most punished by filters, so it must read most like a personal note.
Spam score questions, straight answers
Almost always one of two things: the copy trips filters, or your authentication is broken. On the copy side it's trigger words, ALL-CAPS, exclamation pile-ups, too many links, or a body so thin it looks like a link wrapper. This checker scores all of that. On the technical side, missing SPF, DKIM, or DMARC will filter even a perfect message — pair this with the DNS record tools.
Keep going
A calculator tells you what. A call tells you what to do about it.
Send me the account behind these numbers. I'll tell you straight where the money's leaking and what I'd fix first — free, and you keep it whether you hire me or not.