Email Auth – DKIM, SPF, DMARC, Bounce Address, From Address
by Brandon Fowler · Email & Marketing
Also makes 1 other plugin · 300+ installs across the portfolio →
Enable email authentication/validation for the default WordPress PHPMailer.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
A 85/100
Few reviews
Active installs
200+
≈250 estimated
Momentum
+23%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “bounce”, “auth” and “phpmailer” to your wp.org tags. You rank #5, #6 and #7 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 1 listed these are the slots worth spending.
85 health vs 66 average across 2,121 Email & Marketing plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →6.7%
of downloads still active
At least 200 of 3K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Email & Marketing plugin keeps 0.9%, across 1,295 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Email & Marketing plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
This plugin shipped 1 release in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Well optimized
Most to gain: Listing tuning
Updated 98 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 4 reviews, smoothed to 4.17★ and held back under 25 reviews
1 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Only 1 tag — use the full 5 relevant tags so search matches more queries.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
35
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.6
Velocity
places per keyword, 27d
13%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 27d
-0.2
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| dmarc | #1 | #3 | 0 |
| spf | #2 | #6 | 0 |
| dkim | #2 | #5 | 0 |
| bounce | #5 | #16 | 0 |
| auth | #6 | #15 | up 1 |
| from address | #9 | #13 | up 2 |
| phpmailer | #7 | #11 | up 1 |
| email authentication | #19 | #23 | down 1 |
| email bounce | #8 | #18 | down 1 |
| email address validation | #17 | #20 | — |
| from email address | #24 | #23 | — |
| email from address | #24 | #23 | 0 |
| email your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
20 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 12 listed. 8 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 1 of its tags isn't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Add “bounce”, “auth” and “phpmailer” to your wp.org tags. You rank #5, #6 and #7 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 1 listed these are the slots worth spending.
Daily downloads
Since 16 Jan 2025 · 654 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 337 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #11,300 to #12,900, alongside the other plugins at 200+ installs. Plugins with the same install count swap places between wp.org requests, so this is where most of them sit. Checked monthly, last on 21 Oct 2026.
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
1
releases in the last 12 months
3mo ago
latest release · v1.5.1 · 26 Jul 2026
11
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 100% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “200+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 6 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 47% of the way through.
Install history since 16 Jan 2025
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ nigelpentland11mo ago
Needs a little prior knowledge about what you are trying to achieve. That said, it’s a brilliant plug-in and not only does it DKIM sign, it’s creates and signs using a 2048 bit key pair. The interface is quietly elegant and has a beautiful simplicity to it. Thank you so much. I’ve just installed on WordPress 6.9 and it’s working a treat.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ epicdean1.1y ago
I’ve been struggling for weeks trying to get my sites formmail to send and be received in the inbox and not go straight to spam. I’ve tried multiple plugins all promising to fix this problem but it was this plugin which did the job. Not only does it show you the state of each test (DKIM/SPF) but it shows you the server responses and allows the creation of new DKIM keys and the actual TXT details to be added to DNS. It did take a few hours of playing but then it just worked and emails being sent from my website are now arriving in the correct email inbox with the correct headers.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ cpoakl1.4y ago
Great plugin that allows signing emails sent by your website (e.g. contact forms) and also assists in the configuration of SPF/DKIM/DMARC (even though much simplified with the plugin, the overall topic is not dead simple and will require you delving a bit into it) to make sure they are delivered to major email providers (otherwise emails may simply never reach the recipient, not even in the spam folder).Backend operations are performed locally on your WordPress instance, which is great privacy-wise.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ the.mnbvcx1.6y ago
Finally a really simple way to use DKIM on my site’s emails. Took me a moment to understand that I had to create my own DKIM selector in the plugin and add it to my DNS records (where I already had a “default” DKIM configured for every mail going through my SMTP server); once that was done the rest worked automagically. Sure, the other option would have been to export my private “default” DKIM key and import it into the plugin. My only remaining gripe is that this plugin somehow does not yet play well with ContactForm 7. This topic was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by the.mnbvcx. Reason: added CF7
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.8.1
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 1 language, 0 at 90% or more
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
3 of 8 pass · checked 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Enable email authentication/validation for the default WordPress PHPMailer."
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 7 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,693 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 1 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-05-15 100+ → 200+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-05-14 200+ → 100+ down after 18 days in tier
- 2026-04-26 100+ → 200+ up after 159 days in tier
- 2025-11-18 90+ → 100+ up after 9 days in tier
- 2025-11-09 80+ → 90+ up after 21 days in tier
- 2025-10-19 70+ → 80+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2025-10-16 60+ → 70+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2025-10-15 70+ → 60+ down after 3 days in tier
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A -
WP Mail Logging 300K+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
Mailchimp for WooCommerce 200K+ installs · 4.0★ · 1 shared tag B -
Email Deliverability – SMTP Replacement, Email API Deliverability & Email Log 200K+ installs · 3.1★ · 1 shared tag B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Email Auth – DKIM, SPF, DMARC, Bounce Address, From Address into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/email-auth" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Email Auth – DKIM, SPF, DMARC, Bounce Address, From Address — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Email Auth – DKIM, SPF, DMARC, Bounce Address, From Address: 200+ active installs, 5.0★ (4 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/email-auth
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