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Warmerly Smartlead
One-to-one · Inbox placement testing

Inbox placement testing

One row, in depth: what each tool does, the verified numbers, and who each suits.

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Smartlead details read from its pricing page, home page and help centre on 17 and 19 October 2026.

Warmerly

Placement test, limited accuracy (no dedicated Gmail or Outlook seed list yet)

Smartlead

SmartDelivery add-on, from $49 a month

The short answer

Inbox placement testing, in one look.

Warmerly has a placement test that runs daily, but in production it sends to our own warmup mailboxes because we have no dedicated Gmail or Outlook seed list yet, so the result is labelled limited accuracy and is not a measurement of how Gmail or Outlook treat you. Smartlead is ahead here. Its SmartDelivery add-on (from $49 a month) runs placement tests against a seed list its help articles put at over 50 addresses across providers, with a SpamAssassin spam score, link checking, SPF, DKIM and DMARC checks, blocklist monitoring and daily or weekly automated tests. Last checked 19 October 2026.

Warmerly

Placement test, limited accuracy (no dedicated Gmail or Outlook seed list yet)

Smartlead

SmartDelivery add-on, from $49 a month

The picture

Drawn side by side.

Inside one test, and across a week

When the answer arrives and how often a test runs

WarmerlySmartlead

Warmerly, in seconds

45 to 60 s 0 s30 s60 s90 s 123
  1. 1Send one message to up to 4 targets
  2. 2On demand: wait 30 seconds, then check INBOX, Promotions, Spam and Junk
  3. 3Daily sweep: wait 90 seconds, then check. The shaded band is how long an on-demand run takes, about 45 to 60 seconds

Smartlead, in minutes (scale not published)

within minutes 12
  1. 1Test starts: your copy goes to the seed list of over 50 addresses
  2. 2Report completes 'within minutes', says its help FAQ. No exact time is published
The two lanes use different scales. Warmerly waits 30 seconds (on demand) or 90 seconds (daily sweep), then reads each target over IMAP. Smartlead's manual and automatic tests are described as finishing within minutes.
Timing of one placement test
ProductStepTiming
WarmerlyWait before checking, on demand30 seconds
WarmerlyWait before checking, daily sweep90 seconds
WarmerlyWhole on-demand runabout 45 to 60 seconds
SmartleadTest completionwithin minutes, exact time not published
Warmerly's daily sweep tests up to 5 mailboxes per run and skips any mailbox tested in the last 24 hours. Smartlead's automatic test help article offers Daily or Weekly, with a start date and an end date, and lets you stop a test at any time.
Automatic test schedule
ProductScheduleDetail
WarmerlyDaily sweepup to 5 mailboxes per sweep, skips any tested in the last 24 hours
SmartleadDaily or weeklystart date and end date, can be stopped at any time

How Warmerly scores a test

Pick where each message landed and watch the score

WarmerlySmartlead

Smartlead: a SpamAssassin-based score with recommendations. The scale is not published, so we do not draw one.

Warmerly scores each target (inbox 100, promotions 60, spam 10, missing 0) and averages them. Average for the picks above: 100. In production today every target is one of our own mailboxes, which accept almost everything, so the real number sits near 100 whatever the sender does. That is why the product marks it limited accuracy and keeps it out of health scores.
Warmerly placement scoring
ResultScore
Inbox100
Promotions60
Spam10
Missing0

How far each add-on or sweep reaches

Drag to the number of mailboxes you run

WarmerlySmartlead
Warmerly

24 days

for the daily sweep to test each mailbox once (up to 5 mailboxes per sweep). Or test one mailbox at a time on demand from its Health tab. Included in every plan.

Targets are our own mailboxes, so this is not a Gmail or Outlook measurement.

Smartlead

Pro, $174 a month

The smallest tier that tests that many sender accounts in one test.

Growth

$49 a month

Up to 50 sender accounts per test, 120 tests

0 tests

Pro

$174 a month

Up to 200 sender accounts per test, unlimited tests

0 tests

Expert

$599 a month

Up to 500 sender accounts per test, unlimited tests

0 tests

Arithmetic from published limits: sender accounts per test (50, 200, 500), 5 mailboxes per Warmerly sweep. Check plan limits with each company before you decide.

SmartDelivery add-on tiers
TierPrice a monthTestsSender accounts per test
Growth$49120 campaign sequence testsup to 50
Pro$174unlimitedup to 200
Expert$599unlimitedup to 500

What each report covers

Read across: where Smartlead is ahead, where we are, and where it is even

WarmerlySmartlead
What each placement report covers
RowWarmerlySmartlead
Placement at real Gmail and OutlookSmartlead aheadPartly. Not yet: our own mailboxes, limited accuracyYes. Seed list of over 50 addresses across providers
Where the message landedYes. Inbox, Promotions, Spam, Junk, missingYes. Inbox, tabs (Promotions, Updates), spam
Spam-filter score on your copySmartlead aheadPartly. No placement score; a launch warning on spam-style copyYes. SpamAssassin-based score with recommendations
Blocklist checksYes. 6 domain and 10 IP lists, every 6 hoursYes. 400+ blacklists, per its page
Scheduled testsYes. Daily sweep, up to 5 mailboxesYes. Daily or weekly, with start and end dates
Mailboxes in one testSmartlead aheadPartly. 1 mailbox per testYes. Up to 50, 200 or 500 sender accounts, by tier
PriceWarmerly aheadYes. Included in every planPartly. Add-on: $49, $174 or $599 a month
How Warmerly does it

Warmerly, in detail.

A placement test exists and runs daily, but today it is a degraded test against our own mailboxes, not a measurement of Gmail or Outlook placement. We say so in the product.

01

What a test does

It sends one message from the mailbox's own SMTP to up to 4 targets (2 same provider, 2 other). After a wait (30 seconds on demand, 90 in the daily sweep) it checks INBOX, Promotions, Spam and Junk over IMAP and scores each result: inbox 100, promotions 60, spam 10, missing 0, then averages.

Warmerly product, checked 19 October 2026

02

No dedicated seed list yet

Real measurement needs seed mailboxes at Gmail, Outlook or Yahoo in the placement_seeds table. The doc's check on 2026-10-15 found that table has never held a real row in production, so every test falls back to our own warmup-pool mailboxes. The 57 non-degraded rows are demo-workspace seed data, not real runs.

Warmerly product, checked 19 October 2026

03

Why a degraded result is not a measurement

Our own mailboxes accept essentially everything, so the score is about 100 whatever the sender's real performance. In code a degraded run never writes health, is excluded from the spam score and the warmup quota, and the account page shows a 'Limited accuracy' note. A trend is only shown when the two latest tests are the same kind.

Warmerly product, checked 19 October 2026

04

Real-mailbox seeds are built but off

PLACEMENT_REAL_SEEDS defaults to off. When on, targets would be consenting Gmail or Outlook mailboxes of other customers in the warmup network, found by Message-ID only, never reading subject or body. The doc says this has not been run against production or a live Gmail or Outlook mailbox.

Warmerly product, checked 19 October 2026

05

Where it runs

On demand from the mailbox Health tab (about 45 to 60 seconds), and daily for up to 5 mailboxes per sweep, skipping any tested in the last 24 hours. DNS checks are a separate sweep every six hours.

Warmerly product, checked 19 October 2026

06

Blocklist checks are separate and run on a schedule

Warmerly queries 6 domain blocklists and 10 IP blocklists by plain DNS lookup, in a DNS and blocklist sweep that runs every six hours. Zones that return a refusal are classed as errors, never as a listing. Several well known zones are left out on purpose, such as pay-to-delist ones.

Warmerly product, checked 19 October 2026

07

Copy checks happen at launch, not in a placement test

Before a campaign starts, a content-quality warning fires on a spam-word score of 25 or more, shouting or repeated punctuation in a subject, more than 5 links or 3 images. It is a heuristic warning you can acknowledge, not a spam-filter score and not tied to a placement test.

Warmerly product, checked 19 October 2026

08

Placement is kept out of automatic stops

Warmerly's reputation job pauses sending on bounce rate (7 per cent) and undeliverable rate (30 per cent), each after at least 25 sends. It does not use placement, because the only placement signal available is the seed test and those seeds have been unreliable in production.

Warmerly product, checked 19 October 2026

How Smartlead does it

Smartlead, in detail.

SmartDelivery is a separate add-on that tests inbox, tab and spam placement on a seed list its help articles say holds over 50 addresses, scores content with SpamAssassin, checks links, authentication and blocklists, and can run tests automatically every day or week. Its marketing page and pricing page differ on test limits.

01

Three SmartDelivery tiers

The pricing page lists SmartDelivery Growth at $49 a month (120 campaign sequence tests, up to 50 sender accounts per test), Pro at $174 a month (unlimited tests, up to 200 sender accounts per test, Placement Optimised Copy, Campaign Copy Warmup, Full API Access and Full Whitelabel Access) and Expert at $599 a month (unlimited tests, up to 500 sender accounts per test, same extras).

smartlead.ai/pricing · read 19 October 2026

02

What the page says it tests

The SmartDelivery page says you can run tests across Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo and more to see whether mail reaches the primary inbox, the promotions tab or spam, with 'curated seed lists'. It also scans subject, body and links for spam triggers with a score and recommendations, and says it checks 400+ blacklists. It does not say how many seed accounts there are.

smartlead.ai/smartdelivery · read 19 October 2026

03

The report

The help centre report article shows inbox placement, tab placement (Promotions and Updates named as examples) and spam rates in an IP reputation table, blocklist listings, rDNS status, a SpamAssassin-based spam score and a Domain Analytics section for SPF and DKIM. It shows a seedlist section, 'a list of test emails used for the deliverability check', without saying who supplies it. You can filter by sender account.

helpcenter.smartlead.ai/en/articles/239-understanding-your-deliverability-report-in-smartdelivery · read 19 October 2026

05

The API reference is access-gated

The API reference for creating an automated test says 'Contact support@smartlead.ai for access and API details'. Its example shows a weekly schedule (every_days 7). It lists no allowed frequencies, providers or sender limits.

api.smartlead.ai/api-reference/smart-delivery/create-automated-test.md · read 19 October 2026

06

Seed list and manual test steps

The manual test help article says the seed list 'contains over 50 email addresses from multiple providers', that you can change providers with Modify Email Providers (it recommends selecting all), and that the test runs through SpamAssassin. You can switch on a Link Checker (the unsubscribe link is excluded) and choose a sending throttle. The number of sender accounts you can test depends on your plan. Its FAQ says a test completes 'within minutes'.

helpcenter.smartlead.ai/en/articles/236-how-to-run-a-manual-deliverability-test-using-smartdelivery · read 19 October 2026

09

Authentication, reputation and reporting

The SmartDelivery page says it checks SPF, DKIM and DMARC, shows DMARC reports of who sends for your domain, tracks sender reputation over time, and gives reports you can export and share with a team or client. Its FAQ names SpamAssassin, Google's filters and Barracuda as the filters tests run against.

smartlead.ai/smartdelivery · read 19 October 2026

What Smartlead does not say

We looked, and found no statement on these. That is about its published pages only, not about the product.

  • Which providers make up the seed list beyond Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo 'and more', and how many addresses sit at each. The help articles say 'over 50' in one place and 'around 50+' in another.
  • How the placement rate and spam score are calculated, the scale of the score, and which blocklists make up the 400+.
  • How alerts are configured. The SmartDelivery page says you get notifications, but the automatic test help article does not describe them.

Watch: Smartlead in its own words

Videos from Smartlead's own channel. They load from YouTube only when you press play.

Open on YouTube · Title and channel confirmed through YouTube oEmbed on 2026-10-19; we have not watched it.
Open on YouTube · Title and channel confirmed through YouTube oEmbed on 2026-10-19; we have not watched it.
The numbers

Only what we could verify.

Inbox placement testing: Warmerly and Smartlead side by side. Warmerly is in the first column.
MeasureWarmerlySmartlead
Inbox placement testingPlacement test, limited accuracy (no dedicated Gmail or Outlook seed list yet)SmartDelivery add-on, from $49 a month
Real Gmail and Outlook measurement todayNo: tests go to our own mailboxes, labelled limited accuracyYes, via a seed list of over 50 addresses per its help articles
Targets per testUp to 4 (2 same provider, 2 other)Over 50 seed addresses, providers adjustable
Providers coveredOur own pool mailboxes; real seeds not liveGmail, Outlook, Yahoo and more
Placement outcomes shownInbox, Promotions, Spam, Junk, missingInbox, tabs (Promotions, Updates), spam
Score scaleInbox 100, promotions 60, spam 10, missing 0, averagedSpamAssassin-based spam score; scale not published
Scheduled testsDaily sweep, up to 5 mailboxes per sweepAutomatic tests, daily or weekly, with start and end dates
Mailboxes per test1 mailbox per testUp to 50, 200 or 500 sender accounts, by tier
Content and spam scoringNo placement spam score; a launch warning on spam-style copyYes, SpamAssassin-based score and copy checks
Blocklist checks6 domain lists and 10 IP lists, every 6 hours'400+ blacklists' on the SmartDelivery page
PriceIncluded in every planAdd-on: $49, $174 or $599 a month
Tests per monthOn demand plus the daily sweep120 on Growth; unlimited on Pro and Expert per the pricing page
Free allowanceIncluded in every plan7 free manual placement tests for non-connected mailboxes
In practice

What it means for you.

Our reading of the facts above. Not a promise, and not the only reasonable reading.

1

Our reading: Smartlead is ahead on this feature

If you need to know where mail lands at Gmail and Outlook before a send, SmartDelivery is a purpose-built tool and Warmerly's current test is not. We would not use our placement score to make that decision.

2

Our reading: a 100 from our test says little

Our own mailboxes accept almost everything, which is why we label the result limited accuracy and keep it out of health scores. A high number is not proof of good placement.

3

Our reading: you can pair tools

Some people run Warmerly for warmup and DNS monitoring and use a dedicated placement tool for inbox tests. That is a fair way to use both.

4

Our reading: check SmartDelivery's limits before you rely on 'unlimited'

The pricing page ties unlimited tests to Pro and Expert, while Growth has 120 sequence tests. Read the tier you would actually buy.

5

Our reading: a test of 4 targets and a test of over 50 are different things

Warmerly's score averages up to 4 results from our own mailboxes. SmartDelivery's report draws on a seed list of over 50 addresses across providers. We would not set the two numbers side by side.

6

Our reading: fleet size decides the SmartDelivery tier

The three tiers cap sender accounts per test at 50, 200 and 500. A fleet of 120 mailboxes needs Pro to test them in one go, or three Growth tests. Check this arithmetic against your own mailbox count.

Who it suits

Pick the one that fits.

Warmerly

Warmerly is the better fit if

  • You want a quick on-demand check and a daily record included in the plan, and you understand it is not a Gmail or Outlook measurement yet.
  • You want placement-style checks without a separate add-on bill.
  • You are happy to use a separate tool for real seed-list testing.
Smartlead

Smartlead is the better fit if

  • You want placement tested against Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo seed accounts before and during campaigns.
  • You want spam scoring, blocklist checks and scheduled tests in one report, and will pay for the add-on.
  • You run large fleets and want up to 200 or 500 sender accounts per test, or white-label reports, on the higher tiers.
Questions
Does Warmerly measure Gmail and Outlook placement?

Not today. Its test sends to up to 4 of our own warmup mailboxes, so the result is labelled limited accuracy.

What does Smartlead SmartDelivery test?

Placement across Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo and more, using a seed list its help articles put at over 50 addresses, with a SpamAssassin spam score and SPF, DKIM and DMARC checks.

How often can tests run?

Warmerly runs a daily sweep of up to 5 mailboxes. Smartlead offers automatic tests, daily or weekly, with start and end dates.

How does each score a result?

Warmerly scores inbox 100, promotions 60, spam 10 and missing 0, then averages. Smartlead's spam score is SpamAssassin based, and its scale is not published.

Sources

Smartlead pages were read on 19 October 2026. Plans and wording change, so check the vendor's own page before you decide. Warmerly details come from the product as it runs today.

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