Spam word checker: test your email before you send it

What this checker looks at

It reads your subject and email for the signals spam filters and tired readers react to, and gives each problem one sentence and one fix.

• The subject: empty, over 70 characters, all capitals, runs of symbols such as !!! or $$$, spam phrases, and a fake Re: or Fwd: on a new email.
• The wording: 65 listed phrases (the whole list is below), words in capitals, runs of symbols, and emails over 500 words.
• Links: 6 or more links, URL shorteners, bare IP addresses, plain http://, and link text that shows a different site from where it goes, which is how phishing works.
• Images: an email that is mostly pictures with few words.
• Personal touches: whether there is a merge field such as {{first_name|there}} at all. Identical emails are how bulk mail looks.

Why words matter less than you think

A spam filter doesn’t add up bad words and block you at a total. Google’s guidance for senders talks about authentication, spam reports, unsubscribing and sending patterns; it publishes no list of banned words. Plenty of honest emails say “free” or “discount”, and they arrive.

So treat a hit as something worth a second look, never a verdict. The words matter for a simpler reason as well: an email packed with “act now” and “100% free” reads like an advert, and readers who feel that way press Report spam. Those reports are what really hurt.

How the score works

Your email starts at 100. Each problem and each warning takes points off. Problems cost more, and a link that points at a bare IP address, or shows a different site from where it goes, is among the costliest. 80 and above reads as Looks good, 55 and above as Could be better, and anything lower as Likely to be filtered.

One or two mild words in the body of a personal email don’t move the score at all: there, mild words count only from four together. A subject line is held to more: two are enough. The classic giveaways count on their own.

Three rewrites

Each rewrite says what is actually inside, and the reader can tell in a second whether it is for them. The numbers and names above are only examples: use your own, and only true ones.

The phrases it looks for

Matched as whole words, in any case, with merge fields ignored. This list is deliberately short: each is a real giveaway, not a word that merely sounds salesy.

Classic giveaways (44)

100% free100% guaranteedact nowall naturalas seen onbuy nowcash bonuscheap medsclick belowclick herecongratulationscredit card requireddear frienddouble your incomeearn extra cashearn money fasteliminate debtextra incomefast cashfree accessfree giftfree moneyget paidget richguaranteed incomeincredible deallimited time onlylowest pricemake money fastmiracleno credit checkno obligationno strings attachedonce in a lifetimeorder nowrisk freesave bigthis is not spamurgent responseviagrayou have been selectedyou are a winneryou wonwinner

Fine alone, pushy in numbers (21)

amazingapply nowbargainbest pricebonuscashdealdiscountexclusive offerfreeguaranteehurryinstantlast chancelimited offeroffer expirespromotionspecial promotiontoday onlyurgentwhat are you waiting for

What it can’t tell you

No checker can promise the inbox. This one sees only your words. It doesn’t know whether your domain is set up to be trusted (check your SPF, DKIM and DMARC), whether the people on your list expect to hear from you, or how they have reacted to you before. Those matter more than anything on this page.

Your words stay in your browser

The check is code that runs on your own device. The page makes no request with what you type, stores nothing, and keeps nothing when you close it. You can check that yourself: open your browser’s network panel, or switch off your connection after the page has loaded and press the button.