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What is Sender Score?

By Mailneo Team|

Sender Score is a reputation metric provided by Validity (formerly Return Path) that rates your email-sending IP address on a scale of 0 to 100. Higher scores mean better deliverability. It's one of the most widely referenced benchmarks for email sender health.

Why It Matters

Your Sender Score is like a public report card for your IP address. Many ISPs and email security tools reference Validity's data when making filtering decisions. A score above 80 generally means you'll have good inbox placement. Drop below 70, and you'll start seeing more emails land in spam. Below 50, and many providers will block you outright.

How It Works

Validity calculates your score based on data collected from a network of mailbox providers covering billions of messages. The main factors include complaint rates, unknown user rates (bounces), spam trap hits, and overall sending infrastructure quality. The score updates on a rolling 30-day window, so recent behavior weighs more heavily than something from months ago.

Quick Tips

  • Check your score at senderscore.org — it's free to look up any IP.
  • If you're on a dedicated IP, the score reflects your behavior alone. On a shared IP, everyone's behavior counts.
  • Don't obsess over daily fluctuations. Track the trend over weeks instead.
  • A score isn't everything — some ISPs rely more on their own internal reputation data than third-party scores.

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