Email Spam Words Checker by lemlist Review
Introduction
You’ve spent hours crafting the perfect cold email — only to watch reply rates stay flat. The culprit? Your message never reached the primary inbox. According to industry benchmarks, up to 20% of commercial emails land in spam by default — and trigger words are a top cause.
lemlist’s Email Spam Words Checker is a no-cost, real-time diagnostic that scans your subject line and body copy for high-risk phrases — helping you preemptively fix red flags before sending. In this hands-on review, we test its detection accuracy, usability, and impact on deliverability hygiene.
What Is the Spam Words Checker?
This is a lightweight, client-side text analyzer that flags words and phrases commonly associated with spam filters (e.g., Gmail, Outlook, SpamAssassin). As shown on the tool page, it highlights problematic terms like:
- Urgent
- Free access
- Once-in-a-lifetime
- Act now
- Thousands a day
- Don’t miss
The interface is split:
- ✍️ Left panel: Paste your full email (subject + body)
- 🔴 Right panel: Real-time list of detected spam words — with green ✅ “No spam words found!” when clean
It does not use AI or external APIs — just a curated database of known filter triggers, updated regularly by lemlist’s deliverability team.
Key Features
- ✅ 100% Free — Unlimited Use — No signup, no rate limits
- ✅ Instant Highlighting — Visual feedback as you type or paste
- ✅ No Data Storage — All scanning happens in-browser
- ✅ Mobile & Desktop Friendly — Works on any device
- ✅ Clear Action Guidance — Edit flagged phrases → recheck until clean
Note: It does not analyze tone, structure, or HTML formatting — focus is strictly on lexical risk.
How to Use It (Step-by-Step)
- Visit https://www.lemlist.com/free-tools/email-spam-words-checker
- Paste your full cold email (including subject line) into the left text box
- Wait 1–2 seconds — detected words appear on the right
- Edit or rephrase highlighted phrases (e.g., change “Urgent!” → “Following up”)
- Re-paste revised copy → repeat until ✅ No spam words found! appears
💡 Pro Tip: Run both subject line and first 2 sentences — many filters prioritize the email “above the fold.”
Use Cases / Who Should Use This Tool
- 📩 Cold emailers pre-validating sequences
- 🎯 Sales reps personalizing outreach at scale
- 🧑💻 Freelancers pitching without triggering spam
- 🎨 Copywriters stress-testing high-converting templates
- 🧪 Growth teams A/B testing subject line variants
Especially valuable for high-volume senders, where even small deliverability dips compound into major list fatigue.
Pros and Cons
✅ Pros | ❌ Cons |
✔️ Zero friction — paste and go | ✖️ No scoring system (e.g., spam “risk %”) |
✔️ Transparent, explainable output | ✖️ No suggestions for safer alternatives (e.g., synonym recommendations) |
✔️ Encourages cleaner, human-sounding copy | ✖️ Doesn’t detect image-only emails or hidden text abuse |
✔️ Complements lemlist’s Deliverability Checker for full-stack hygiene | ✖️ Not a substitute for full inbox placement testing (e.g., GlockApps) |
Is It Free?
Yes — 100% free, with no limits or branding. Use it before every campaign.
Alternatives
- Mail-Tester.com — comprehensive (HTML, spam score, blacklist), but requires sending a test email
- Hemingway App — improves readability, not spam risk
- Phrasee / Copy.ai — AI writers with “spam-safe” modes (paid only)
lemlist’s tool wins for speed, focus, and zero-barrier access — ideal for rapid iteration.
Final Verdict
⭐ 4.6 / 5 — A remarkably effective preventive tool that promotes disciplined, high-deliverability copywriting. By making spam triggers visible and editable, it turns abstract “best practices” into actionable edits — especially helpful for new cold emailers overusing hype language. Pair it with lemlist’s Email Checker and Deliverability Setup Checker for a complete pre-send hygiene stack.
Highly recommended as a standard QA step before any outbound sequence launch.
FAQ
Q1: Does it guarantee inbox placement?
A: No tool can — but avoiding known spam words significantly reduces filter risk. Combine with proper domain auth (SPF/DKIM/DMARC) for best results.
Q2: What spam filters does it reference?
A: Based on aggregated industry data (SpamAssassin, Gmail heuristics, Microsoft SmartScreen), updated quarterly by lemlist’s deliverability team.
Q3: Can I check LinkedIn or SMS copy?
A: Yes — while built for email, many flagged phrases overlap with SMS/LinkedIn spam filters (e.g., “Act now!”).
Q4: Are all highlighted words always bad?
A: Context matters — e.g., “free trial” may be okay in SaaS, but “free access” often triggers filters. When in doubt, rephrase.
Q5: Does it work offline?
A: Yes — the word list is loaded client-side, so no internet needed after initial page load.
