Cold email checker: length, reading grade, links, the ask and spam rules
In short: Checks one cold email's word count, reading time and grade, long sentences, links and shorteners, the question it ends on, merge tags without fallbacks, the opt-out line and SpamAssassin rules. Limit: It reads the copy only; it can't see your domain's reputation, authentication or how recipients engage.
A cold email checker reads one email the way a busy prospect and a spam filter would. Paste the subject and body: it counts words and reading time, works out the Flesch-Kincaid reading grade, flags long sentences, extra links, shorteners, missing questions, broken merge tags, a missing opt-out line and SpamAssassin phrase rules, each with its source.
Price: this tool is free. Checking a whole email list is from $9/mo, and the first 100 checks are free with Google, no card. See pricing
Checked in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere. A signature after a "--" line isn't counted.
Sample result
103 words and grade 7.3, but a bit.ly link, a 36-word sentence and no opt-out line.
- Cold email
- 103 words
- Reading grade
- 7.3
- Reading time
- 25 s
What this means for you
Swap the shortener, split the long sentence and add a one-line opt-out before it goes in a sequence.
- Words, reading time and grade
- Links, shorteners and images
- Question, opt-out and merge tags
- SpamAssassin and Google rules
- Cold email
- Copy
- Pre-send
By SimpleVerifier Team · Last updated · Runs in your browser; nothing you paste is sent to us
How do I check a cold email before sending it?
- Paste the subject line, then the body as plain text or HTML. Leave merge tags such as {{first_name}} as you wrote them.
- Put your signature under a line with two dashes (--) so it isn't counted as copy, or leave it out.
- Press Check the email. Rows marked Fix or Check come first, then what passed, each with the rule behind it.
- Edit the email in your sending tool, paste it again and re-check until nothing is left to fix.
Example
- You enter
- The subject
Quick question about {{company}}'s onboardingand a 6-paragraph body with{{first_name}}and{{company}}tags, onehttps://bit.ly/link, a 36-word sentence, one closing question and a signature under--. - You get
- 103 words, about 25 seconds to read, reading grade 7.3. Fix: 1 shortened link. Check: 1 sentence over 25 words (longest 36), "I/we" 5 times against "you" 4, 2 merge tags without a fallback, and no way to opt out. Pass: one question, one link, a 6-word, 45-character subject. No total score.
- Limits
- Runs in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
How long should a cold email be?
Most cold email advice lands on 50 to 125 words for a first email, short enough to read on a phone without scrolling. At the average silent reading rate of 238 words a minute, measured across 190 studies by Brysbaert (2019), 125 words is about 30 seconds. The checker shows the count and reading time, and flags paragraphs over 60 words and sentences over 25.
The reading grade is the Flesch-Kincaid formula: 0.39 × words per sentence + 11.8 × syllables per word − 15.59. Grade 8 or under reads quickly. It only counts words and syllables, so a short email can score well and still say nothing; use it as a nudge to cut long sentences, not a target. The cold email template generator builds first drafts in that range.
What makes a cold email look like spam?
Less than people think, as far as words go. The checker runs the same SpamAssassin phrase rules and Google sender guideline checks as the spam words checker, and adds the things that make a first email look like a campaign: more than one link, link shorteners, images, and a broken merge tag that sends "Hi {{first_name" to a real person.
It also looks for an opt-out line. The FTC's CAN-SPAM guide says the law covers business-to-business email too and asks for a clear way to opt out and a valid postal address. A sentence such as "Not relevant? Reply 'no' and I won't follow up" is a common way to give the opt-out in plain text.
Copy is the smaller lever. Bounces, spam complaints and the sending domain's reputation decide placement far more than any phrase, which is why the next step after the copy is checking the list.
How is this different from the spam words checker?
| Cold email checker | Spam words checker | |
|---|---|---|
| SpamAssassin and Google rules | Yes | Yes, with every match highlighted |
| Length, reading time and grade | Yes | No |
| Links, shorteners, images | Yes | Shorteners only |
| The question, "you" vs "I/we", opt-out line | Yes | No |
| Merge tags without fallbacks | Yes | No |
Who uses this tool, and for what?
- Cold emailers
- Check a new first-touch email before loading it into a sequence of hundreds of leads.
- Agencies
- Run a client's copy through the same checklist every time, with the rule behind each note.
- Founders
- Cut a first draft down to a phone-length email with one clear question.
What can’t this tool tell you?
- It reads the copy only; it can't see your domain's reputation, authentication or how recipients engage.
- Length, link and reading-grade guidance is common practice, not a filter rule.
- The reading grade formula is built for English; other languages score unreliably.
- Merge tags are checked as written; it doesn't know which fields each lead has.
Common questions
- Does this give my cold email a score?
- No. Each check is shown on its own with where the rule comes from. Spam filters combine content with reputation, authentication and engagement this page can't see, so a single score would claim more than it knows.
- How many links should a cold email have?
- One or none in a first email is common advice. Each linked domain is looked up by filters, and a plain email with no links reads like a note from a person. Never use a link shortener: Google's sender guidelines ask for links whose destination is visible.
- Does a cold email need an unsubscribe link?
- CAN-SPAM asks for a clear way to opt out, which can be a reply-based line rather than a link, plus a valid postal address. Other countries' rules differ; Canada, the UK and the EU are stricter about emailing people without consent.
- What reading grade should a cold email be?
- Grade 8 or under on the Flesch-Kincaid scale reads quickly on a phone. Shorter sentences and plainer words bring it down. The formula only counts sentence length and syllables, so treat it as a guide.
- Is my email sent anywhere?
- No. Every check runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded.
Sources
Authentication and capacity are half of deliverability.
The other half is who you send to. Every hard bounce counts against the domain and inboxes you are sending from, and nothing in DNS can tell you which addresses on your list are dead.
- Bulk verification with real SMTP mailbox checks
- Hard bounces removed before a send, not discovered after
- Catch-all, disposable and role detection on every row
Plans from $9 a month, cancel anytime, no contract. Sign in with Google and your first 100 email checks are free, no card. The free tools stay free either way.