# Email Provider & DNS Checker (MX, SPF, DMARC) (`joseph_cloud/email-dns-checker`) Actor

Find if a company uses Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or another mail host, plus SPF, DMARC, DKIM, MTA-STS and BIMI status for bulk domains. DNS only, no scraping.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/joseph\_cloud/email-dns-checker.md
- **Developed by:** [Abdülkadir Tekin](https://apify.com/joseph_cloud) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$7.00 / 1,000 domain checkeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Email Provider & DNS Checker

Find out **which email provider a company uses** — Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Zoho, IONOS, STRATO and 25+ others — and check its **email authentication setup** (SPF, DMARC, DKIM, MTA-STS, BIMI) for a whole list of domains at once.

It only reads public DNS records. No website scraping, no login, no proxy, no personal data.

### What you get for each domain

| Field | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `provider` | `Microsoft 365` | Mail host detected from the MX records |
| `mailboxProviderBehindGateway` | `Google Workspace` | If the MX points to a security gateway (Proofpoint, Mimecast, ...), the real mailbox host taken from SPF |
| `mxHosts` | `["sap-com.mail.protection.outlook.com"]` | MX records, by priority |
| `spf`, `spfIncludes` | `v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all` | SPF record and its includes |
| `dmarc`, `dmarcPolicy` | `reject` | DMARC record and policy (`none`, `quarantine`, `reject`) |
| `dkimFound` | `["selector1","selector2"]` | Common DKIM selectors that exist |
| `mtaSts`, `bimi` | `true` | MTA-STS and BIMI records present |
| `error` | `Domain does not exist` | Set when the domain cannot be checked |

### Use cases

- **Cold email & lead lists:** split prospects by Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 before outreach — the two need different sending and warm-up setups.
- **Sales intelligence:** a company on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace is a signal for selling add-ons, migrations or security tools.
- **Deliverability & security audits:** find domains without DMARC, with `p=none`, without MTA-STS, or without SPF.
- **AI agents:** works as a tool through the Apify MCP server — give it domains, get structured JSON back.

### Input

```json
{
  "domains": ["apify.com", "https://www.sap.com/about", "info@zalando.de"],
  "checkDkim": true
}
```

URLs and email addresses are accepted; the domain is extracted, `www.` and duplicates are removed.

### Pricing

Pay per event: you pay only for domains that were checked successfully. Domains that do not exist or fail to resolve are **free**. There is no extra charge per run.

### Notes and limits

- DKIM selectors are not public. The Actor probes about 15 common selectors, so an empty `dkimFound` does not prove that DKIM is missing.
- Provider detection uses MX hostnames. Domains with their own mail servers show `Other / self-hosted`.
- Results reflect DNS at the time of the run.

### Support

Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab. Issues are answered within 24 hours.

*This Actor was built and is maintained with the help of AI.*

# Actor input Schema

## `domains` (type: `array`):

Domains or URLs to check (e.g. apify.com or https://www.example.com/page). Duplicates and www. are removed.

## `checkDkim` (type: `boolean`):

Looks up about 15 common DKIM selectors (google, selector1, selector2, k1, ...). DKIM selectors are not public, so 'not found' does not prove DKIM is missing.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "domains": [
    "apify.com",
    "shopify.com",
    "github.com",
    "stripe.com",
    "zoom.us",
    "hubspot.com",
    "zalando.de",
    "sap.com",
    "dropbox.com",
    "atlassian.com"
  ],
  "checkDkim": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One item per domain: provider, MX hosts, SPF, DMARC, DKIM, MTA-STS, BIMI.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "domains": [
        "apify.com",
        "shopify.com",
        "github.com",
        "stripe.com",
        "zoom.us",
        "hubspot.com",
        "zalando.de",
        "sap.com",
        "dropbox.com",
        "atlassian.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("joseph_cloud/email-dns-checker").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "domains": [
        "apify.com",
        "shopify.com",
        "github.com",
        "stripe.com",
        "zoom.us",
        "hubspot.com",
        "zalando.de",
        "sap.com",
        "dropbox.com",
        "atlassian.com",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("joseph_cloud/email-dns-checker").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "domains": [
    "apify.com",
    "shopify.com",
    "github.com",
    "stripe.com",
    "zoom.us",
    "hubspot.com",
    "zalando.de",
    "sap.com",
    "dropbox.com",
    "atlassian.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call joseph_cloud/email-dns-checker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,joseph_cloud/email-dns-checker"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/fOsEPmCQ0yaP26iHi/builds/JG5zS6vTFBLnMHZ24/openapi.json