Free tool
Free bounce rate calculator
Your rate, the band it falls into, and what receivers do about it.
How this works
Bounce rate is bounced divided by sent. The number on its own is not the useful part — what matters is which band it falls into, because receivers treat those bands very differently.
Below 2% is where a maintained list sits. Between 2% and 5%, filtering increases and inbox placement drops. Above 5%, mail is filtered as a matter of course and most email service providers begin suspending accounts.
The expensive part is not the campaign that bounced — it is the weeks afterwards. Sender reputation takes far longer to rebuild than to damage, so mail that would have reached the inbox goes to spam long after the send that caused it.
Questions, answered.
What is a good email bounce rate?
Below 2%. Between 2% and 5% receivers begin filtering more aggressively. Above 5% is where mail gets filtered as a matter of course and most email service providers start suspending accounts.
How do I calculate bounce rate?
Divide bounced emails by emails sent, then multiply by 100. A campaign of 10,000 with 420 bounces has a 4.2% bounce rate.
What is the difference between a hard and a soft bounce?
A hard bounce is permanent — the mailbox does not exist. A soft bounce is temporary: a full inbox, a server that was down, a greylist. Hard bounces damage reputation far more, and they are the ones verification prevents.
How do I reduce my bounce rate?
Verify the list before sending, remove addresses that hard-bounced immediately rather than retrying them, and stop buying lists. Verification is the largest single lever because most bounces on a cold list are simply addresses that no longer exist.
Does a high bounce rate affect future campaigns?
Yes, and that is the expensive part. Sender reputation is built over weeks and damaged in one send. Mail that would have reached the inbox goes to spam for a period long after the campaign that caused it.