Instant SPF: The smarter way to manage Sender Policy Framework (SPF)

Email authentication can get complex. If you’ve ever needed to manage multiple services in your SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record, you know this. An endless number of “include” statements, an unknown number of DNS lookups, and a lack of clarity around how many other “includes” your email service provider platform may “include” itself, beneath the covers.

Will you hit the 10 DNS lookup limit? And if you go through the complex work to make sure you’re safe today, what about tomorrow, when a service provider or sending platform makes an update? These challenges all coalesce to remind us that SPF DNS records are tricky things to get right.

That’s why we built Instant SPF®, our patented solution that makes SPF dynamic, accurate, and scalable.

What is SPF?

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is an email authentication standard that tells receiving mail servers which IP addresses and services are authorized to send on behalf of your domain. Think of it as a guest list for your email program. If the sender isn’t on the list, the message may get rejected or land in spam.

An SPF record lives in DNS, and like any guest list, it needs to stay accurate. Add a new service? Update DNS. Retire an old vendor? Update DNS. Get too many services? You may run into the dreaded 10 DNS lookup limit.

The problem with overstuffed SPF records

SPF records have limits, and the standard caps SPF at 10 DNS lookups. Once you go over, thanks to too many services or too many includes, you go out of spec. Lookups can fail, and messages end up unauthenticated, leading to problems with wanted-but-undelivered email.

Overstuffing that SPF DNS TXT record also makes things harder to manage and easier to misconfigure.

Curious how many SPF records your domain has? Use our free SPF checker to instantly find out if you’re in danger of having a risky SPF record:

SPF flattening vs. Instant SPF

One common workaround is SPF flattening. Flattening takes all the IPs from your services, then writes them into a single “flattened” DNS record. It works in the short term, but it’s brittle. Flattened records are static, which means they can go out of date the moment your provider changes IPs. They’re also hard to scale, requiring constant manual re-flattening and DNS updates as you add services. And because the flattened record grows larger and more complex with every addition, it remains fragile and at constant risk of hitting DNS length limits or outright failure.

Now compare that to Valimail Instant SPF. Instead of being static, it’s dynamic. We use SPF macros, part of the official SPF specification, to return the right SPF response at the right time, every time. This makes it accurate in real time, even when providers change their sending infrastructure. It also bypasses the 10 DNS lookup ceiling entirely, allowing you to use as many services as you need without breakage. Instead of piling every possible service into one record, Valimail responds per email, per sender. If a DNS query for your legitimate email sends indicates that a message is originating from Mailchimp, we return only Mailchimp in the SPF response. Nothing more, nothing less.

What are SPF macros?

An SPF macro is just a placeholder, like a fill-in-the-blank, that gets swapped out with real information when an email is being checked. Instead of hard-coding every possible IP or domain into a record, macros allow us to tailor an SPF response based on live details from the connection, like the sender’s IP address or domain name. 

Why Instant SPF is the smart solution

Rated the most valued feature by our users, Valimail’s patented technology simplifies SPF management by dynamically generating the correct SPF record in real time, per email and sender. Our smarter approach to SPF management eliminates the risks of SPF failure caused by SPF Flattening, manual DNS lookup limits, outdated IPs, or misconfigured records.

It ensures every message is authenticated accurately and automatically, no matter how many services your organization uses.

With Instant SPF, you get unlimited flexibility without any of the DNS limitations. You can authorize as many services as your organization needs, and you’ll never have to worry about hitting lookup limits or breaking your record. The setup is equally simple: point your SPF record to Valimail once, then manage services directly in our platform. No manual DNS edits. No propagation delays. Just a single, clean point of control.

There’s also a security benefit. Because Valimail responds dynamically, your full list of senders isn’t exposed in public DNS. That makes it harder for attackers to map your environment and target specific services. The end result is an SPF approach that’s not just powerful, but clean, automated, and future-proof.

What are the benefits of Instant SPF?

Marketing teams see an immediate win. No more waiting on IT to push DNS updates while a campaign deadline looms. With Instant SPF, every authorized service is instantly reflected in DNS responses, ensuring that messages are authenticated and deliverability stays strong.

IT teams benefit just as much. Instead of babysitting SPF records and firefighting DNS issues, they can manage sender authorizations with a few clicks. That means fewer tickets, fewer errors, and far less wasted time, freeing IT to focus on real priorities.

Our SPF technology offers:

• Unlimited SPF record: Most SPF records break when using more than 10 services. Valimail’s patented approach sidesteps this limit entirely by responding in real time per email, ensuring full compliance and accuracy, no matter how many senders you use.
• Dynamic, real-time SPF management: Unlike SPF flattening, dynamic Sender IP updates keep your SPF record accurate in real time. Changes to your sending infrastructure are instantly reflected, ensuring legitimate emails pass authentication without manual updates or deliverability risk.
• Fully automated and risk-free: Forget manual SPF record updates. Just point your SPF to Valimail and select the services you want to authorize. That’s it. No flattening, no IP monitoring, no risk of misconfiguration.
• Built-in protection: By managing data behind the scenes, individual services stay hidden from public DNS records. This prevents bad actors from identifying and targeting specific services, adding a discreet layer of security to protect your infrastructure and brand.

How Valimail compares

When it comes to SPF management, not all solutions are created equal. Many vendors rely on outdated methods like prebuilt lists or SPF flattening, which introduce fragility, require constant upkeep, and often fail to scale. Valimail takes a fundamentally different approach—delivering real-time updates, seamless scalability, and precise per-service accuracy without the manual headaches.

Here’s how Valimail stacks up against both other vendors and SPF flattening:

Learn more about Valimail’s SPF macro

SPF flattening is static, brittle, and easily out of date. Valimail Instant SPF is dynamic, reliable, and automatic. If you want SPF that just works, with no lookup limits, no delays, no manual updates, it’s time to see what Instant SPF can do for you.

Experience the power of Instant SPF today and elevate your email authentication to new heights. Schedule a demo with one of our DMARC experts and see how Instant SPF can revolutionize your email sending.