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    Chapter · SPF for Mailchimp
    Revised 17 Jun 2026
    Guide · SPF · Mailchimp

    How to set up SPF for Mailchimp.

    Mailchimp (Intuit) is primarily a marketing ESP. Domain authentication is required as of 2024 to send to Gmail and Yahoo at any volume.

    Afsan Rahmatullah
    Afsan RahmatullahMailerMonk

    SPF (Sender Policy Framework, RFC 7208) authorizes specific servers to send mail for your domain. When you start sending through Mailchimp, you must publish a single SPF record at your domain apex that includes Mailchimp's sending infrastructure — otherwise the messages will fail SPF, your DMARC checks will fail, and your mail will land in spam or be rejected outright.

    If you already publish SPF for another sender (Google Workspace for inbound, a marketing tool, your CRM), do not publish a second record. Merge the new include into the existing record. RFC 7208 §3 forbids multiple SPF records on the same name and receivers MUST return permerror when they see one.

    Publish these DNS records

    Add the following record(s) to your domain's DNS zone. Most registrars (Cloudflare, Route 53, Namecheap, GoDaddy) accept values exactly as shown.

    Record · TXT
    Type
    TXT
    Host
    @
    Value
    v=spf1 include:servers.mcsv.net ~all
    Why this matters
    • Mailchimp also issues per-account CNAMEs for click tracking — those are separate from SPF and not required for deliverability.

    Where in Mailchimp

    The SPF configuration lives in Mailchimp → Account → Domains → Authenticate.

    Verify the records

    Once published, run the SPF Checker on your domain to verify the lookup chain expands cleanly and stays under the 10-DNS-lookup limit.

    From a terminal
    dig +short TXT your-domain.com
    Run the free SPF checker

    Common pitfalls

    Pitfall
    • Mailchimp's authentication wizard sometimes verifies CNAMEs against their non-authoritative resolver, which can lag. If verification fails after publishing, wait an hour and retry rather than re-publishing.
    • If you exported a list from another tool that included unsubscribed addresses, Mailchimp's import will silently skip them. Don't assume your list size in Mailchimp matches the source.
    After you publish

    Want to know if it actually keeps working?

    MailerMonk continuously watches your SPF record, aggregate DMARC reports, and inbox placement — and pings you the moment something drifts. Free for the first domain.

    Start free trial

    About the author

    Afsan Rahmatullah
    Afsan Rahmatullah
    MailerMonk

    Building tools that keep cold email out of spam. Writes about deliverability, DMARC, and what actually moves inbox placement.

    Related · Mailchimp

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