How to Create an SPF Record for Mailchimp

Mailchimp is one of the most popular email marketing platforms for small and mid-sized businesses. Whether you're sending newsletters, promotional campaigns, or automated drip sequences, your emails need to pass authentication checks to reach the inbox. That starts with an SPF record.

Without SPF, receiving mail servers have no way to verify that Mailchimp is authorized to send email on behalf of your domain. The result? Your carefully crafted campaigns end up in spam folders -- or get rejected entirely. This guide walks you through creating the right SPF record for Mailchimp, step by step.

The SPF Include Value for Mailchimp

Here's the key piece of information you need:

include:spf.mandrillapp.com

You might be wondering why the include says "Mandrill" instead of "Mailchimp." According to Mailchimp's domain authentication guide, Mailchimp uses Mandrill -- its transactional email infrastructure -- as the backend for sending all email. Whether you're using standard Mailchimp campaigns or Mailchimp Transactional (which was formerly branded as Mandrill), the SPF include is the same. A complete SPF record with only Mailchimp looks like this:

v=spf1 include:spf.mandrillapp.com -all

Step-by-Step: Creating Your Mailchimp SPF Record

Common SPF Record Combinations With Mailchimp

Most businesses use Mailchimp alongside another email provider for day-to-day team communication. Here are the most common combinations:

Verifying Your Mailchimp SPF Record

Once your DNS changes have propagated, verify that everything is working correctly.

Go to SPF Record Check and enter your domain. The tool will show your published SPF record, validate the syntax, check for duplicate records, and count DNS lookups. Confirm that include:spf.mandrillapp.com appears in the record and that no errors are flagged.

You can also send a test campaign from Mailchimp and check the email headers on the receiving end. Look for Authentication-Results: spf=pass to confirm that Mailchimp's sending servers are authorized by your SPF record.

Common Mailchimp SPF Mistakes

Using the Wrong Include Value

The correct include is spf.mandrillapp.com -- not mailchimp.com, mcsv.net, or servers.mcsv.net. These other domains are related to Mailchimp's tracking and older infrastructure, but they are not the right SPF include. Using the wrong value means Mailchimp's actual sending servers won't be authorized, and your emails will fail SPF checks.

Creating a Second SPF Record

If you already have an SPF record for another provider (like Google Workspace), don't add a separate TXT record for Mailchimp. Two SPF records cause a permerror per RFC 7208 that breaks SPF entirely. Instead, edit the existing record and add the Mailchimp include alongside your other providers.

Forgetting About Mailchimp Transactional

If you use both standard Mailchimp and Mailchimp Transactional (formerly Mandrill) for different types of email, don't worry -- they share the same SPF include. You only need spf.mandrillapp.com once in your record to cover both services.

Not Authenticating Your Domain in Mailchimp

Adding the SPF record to DNS is only half the setup. You also need to verify and authenticate your sending domain inside Mailchimp's settings. Without this step, Mailchimp may still send from a shared domain instead of your custom domain, which means your SPF record won't apply to those messages.

Complete Your Email Authentication

SPF tells receiving servers which IP addresses can send email for your domain, but it's only one layer of protection. For full email authentication, you need all three protocols working together:

• DKIM adds a cryptographic signature to each outgoing message. Mailchimp supports custom DKIM via CNAME records that you add to your DNS. Use DKIM Creator to generate your DKIM configuration.
• DMARC ties SPF and DKIM together and tells receiving servers what to do when a message fails authentication. Use DMARC Creator to build your DMARC policy.

Setting up all three protocols is the best way to protect your domain from spoofing and maximize your inbox placement rates.