Domain Reputation Checker — WHOIS, SPF, DMARC & DNSBL Score

No single public database assigns universal domain trust scores. Our model synthesizes signals operators already check manually during onboarding: how long the domain has existed, whether basic email authentication records exist, and whether domain DNSBLs flag the hostname. Each factor adjusts a baseline score of fifty with documented reasons in the factors array.

High scores suggest established domains with authentication and clean blocklist status. Low scores highlight young registrations, missing DMARC, or active DNSBL listings — not automatic fraud verdicts.

Domains registered within the last three months incur a twenty-point penalty reflecting elevated phishing and scam prevalence on fresh names. Domains older than two years receive a fifteen-point bonus suggesting sustained operational history. Missing created dates from RDAP produce a neutral factor note rather than arbitrary penalties.

Registrar name appears in results for vendor verification — compare against expected corporate registrar patterns during supply chain reviews.

Valid SPF publication adds ten points — legitimate businesses invest in mail authentication even when web-only brands sometimes omit it. DMARC presence adds another ten points as a signal of mail security maturity. These checks detect record existence and basic validity, not full alignment or enforcement policy strength.

Pair with spf-dkim-dmarc-checker when you need detailed alignment analysis beyond presence scoring. A domain can score fairly here while still failing strict DMARC enforcement.

Any listing on checked DBL, URIBL, or ZRD zones applies a thirty-five-point penalty — the largest single deduction in the model. Blocklist presence strongly correlates with abuse in receiver heuristics even when the listing cause was historical.

Full per-list dnsbl breakdown appears in results so you know which zone triggered the penalty. Run domain blacklist checker when you need listing-focused detail without score synthesis.

reputationScore seventy-five or above maps to good grade — generally suitable for deeper manual review rather than automatic rejection. Fifty to seventy-four is fair — investigate factors before trusting sensitive transactions. Below fifty is poor — elevated scrutiny warranted, especially combined with phishing heuristics from our phishing domain checker.

Grades are relative heuristics. A poor-scoring domain may be a legitimate startup; a good-scoring domain can still host compromised content undetected by DNS signals alone.

A record resolution lists IPv4 addresses currently serving the domain. Cross-reference those IPs with malware IP checker and ip-reputation-checker when score penalties include DNSBL or when fraud models require egress reputation.

CDN and proxy fronts may show edge IPs unrelated to mail sending infrastructure — mail reputation may diverge from web resolution.

Procurement teams score supplier portal domains before granting SSO integration. Affiliate networks review publisher domains for age and authentication before payout approval. The factors array exports cleanly into ticket systems as structured rationale.

Document created and expires dates alongside score when renewing contracts — domain transfers reset some signals while preserving age if registration continuity maintained.

Phishing domain checker analyzes hostname patterns — punycode, suspicious keywords, risky TLDs — without WHOIS or DNSBL scoring. Domain reputation checker ignores keyword heuristics but includes age and authentication.

Run both on suspicious links. Keyword hits with poor reputation score compound concern. Clean keyword analysis with fair score may indicate legitimate new business.

Domains with fair or poor scores often correlate with deliverability friction — young age plus missing DMARC triggers receiver suspicion independent of our score. Use email deliverability checker for full MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation beyond reputation scoring.

Improving authentication and waiting for domain age maturation raises score organically on recheck.

WHOIS and DNS queries use public data for domains you submit. Use results for authorized vendor review, security triage, and compliance documentation — not for competitive harassment.

Reputation scores combine public signals — they are not consumer credit scores or legal risk assessments.