What it reads
The DNS lookups your SPF record triggers (the limit is 10) and the ones that resolve to nothing (the limit is 2).
Check 2 of 54 · Email authentication
SPF lookup limit, explained.
SPF silently stops working past ten DNS lookups. This catches a record that has gone over.
Engine 1.57.0, read 25 October 2026
Free checkScoredReliability: Definitive
Can someone send email as you?
What the check does, and where it stops.
Why it matters
Each service you add to SPF uses lookups. Go past ten and receivers stop reading your SPF at all, so a record that looks fine on paper protects nothing.
What a failure looks like
A failure is a finding in your result. The check is scored, so it can lower your score, and the Full Report gives every finding its severity and a fix. If the check cannot finish, it is recorded as unknown: it carries no penalty, and it is never a pass.
Where its limits are
The count of empty lookups is a floor, so it never over-reports. With no SPF record there is nothing to count, so it is not graded.
ReliabilityDefinitive: reads a published value
Check 2 is one of 16 in Email authentication. See it in its row on the scanner page, beside the rest of Email authentication.
Run this check on any domain. Free, with no account.
The SPF checker runs it on its own. It reads the record that lists the servers allowed to send email as you, and counts the DNS lookups it costs.
See how your domain does.
The free check includes this one and takes about 30 seconds. No account. Nothing to install.