Sender IP
Warm-Up Plan Generator
Enter your IPs, target volume and provider mix. Get a day-by-day sending schedule with the audience to target in each phase, warnings when the ramp is too steep, and exports for your spreadsheet or calendar.
Each IP builds its own reputation. Volume is split evenly across them.
Total across all IPs once the warm-up is finished.
Sending days, not calendar days. The Standard profile suggests 30.
Contacts who opened or clicked in the last 90 days. We flag any day the plan outgrows them.
Sender IP Warm-Up Plan
2 IP(s) · target 250,000/day · Gmail 60% / Microsoft 25% / Yahoo 10% / Other 5% · start 2026-08-28 · 30 ramp days · skip weekends · standard profile
Send only to contacts who opened or clicked in the last 30 days.
Widen to contacts engaged in the last 60 days.
Widen to contacts engaged in the last 90 days.
Full engaged list at target volume.
The link carries every input and every manual override. Nothing is stored on our servers.
| Day | Date | Phase | Per IP | Total | Gmail | Microsoft | Yahoo | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2026-08-28Fri | Foundation | 100 | 120 | 50 | 20 | 10 | |
| 2 | 2026-08-31Mon | Foundation | 128 | 153 | 64 | 26 | 13 | |
| 3 | 2026-09-01Tue | Foundation | 164 | 197 | 82 | 33 | 16 | |
| 4 | 2026-09-02Wed | Foundation | 209 | 251 | 104 | 42 | 21 | |
| 5 | 2026-09-03Thu | Foundation | 267 | 320 | 134 | 53 | 27 | |
| 6 | 2026-09-04Fri | Foundation | 342 | 410 | 171 | 69 | 34 | |
| 7 | 2026-09-07Mon | Expansion | 437 | 524 | 219 | 87 | 44 | |
| 8 | 2026-09-08Tue | Expansion | 559 | 671 | 279 | 112 | 56 | |
| 9 | 2026-09-09Wed | Expansion | 715 | 858 | 358 | 143 | 71 | |
| 10 | 2026-09-10Thu | Expansion | 914 | 1,097 | 457 | 183 | 91 | |
| 11 | 2026-09-11Fri | Expansion | 1,169 | 1,403 | 584 | 234 | 117 | |
| 12 | 2026-09-14Mon | Expansion | 1,495 | 1,794 | 748 | 299 | 149 | |
| 13 | 2026-09-15Tue | Expansion | 1,912 | 2,295 | 956 | 382 | 191 | |
| 14 | 2026-09-16Wed | Expansion | 2,445 | 2,934 | 1,223 | 489 | 244 | |
| 15 | 2026-09-17Thu | Expansion | 3,127 | 3,752 | 1,564 | 625 | 313 | |
| 16 | 2026-09-18Fri | Scale | 3,998 | 4,798 | 1,999 | 799 | 400 | |
| 17 | 2026-09-21Mon | Scale | 5,113 | 6,136 | 2,556 | 1,023 | 511 | |
| 18 | 2026-09-22Tue | Scale | 6,538 | 7,846 | 3,269 | 1,307 | 654 | |
| 19 | 2026-09-23Wed | Scale | 8,360 | 10,032 | 4,180 | 1,672 | 836 | |
| 20 | 2026-09-24Thu | Scale | 10,691 | 12,829 | 5,346 | 2,138 | 1,069 | |
| 21 | 2026-09-25Fri | Scale | 13,671 | 16,405 | 6,836 | 2,734 | 1,367 | |
| 22 | 2026-09-28Mon | Scale | 17,482 | 20,979 | 8,741 | 3,496 | 1,748 | |
| 23 | 2026-09-29Tue | Scale | 22,355 | 26,826 | 11,178 | 4,471 | 2,235 | |
| 24 | 2026-09-30Wed | Scale | 28,587 | 34,304 | 14,294 | 5,717 | 2,859 | |
| 25 | 2026-10-01Thu | Scale | 36,556 | 43,867 | 18,278 | 7,311 | 3,656 | |
| 26 | 2026-10-02Fri | Scale | 46,747 | 56,096 | 23,374 | 9,349 | 4,675 | |
| 27 | 2026-10-05Mon | Plateau | 59,778 | 71,734 | 29,889 | 11,955 | 5,978 | |
| 28 | 2026-10-06Tue | Plateau | 76,442 | 91,730 | 38,221 | 15,289 | 7,644 | |
| 29 | 2026-10-07Wed | Plateau | 97,751 | 117,301 | 48,876 | 19,550 | 9,775 | |
| 30 | 2026-10-08Thu | Plateau | 125,000 | 150,000 | 62,500 | 25,000 | 12,500 |
How this plan is calculated
Your target daily volume is divided evenly across your fresh IPs to get a per-IP target. The plan then grows from a small starting volume to that per-IP target along a geometric curve, so each day is the same multiple of the day before rather than the same fixed increase. That matters because mailbox providers judge rate of change, not absolute numbers.
Each day's volume is then split across Gmail, Microsoft, Yahoo and everything else using the provider mix you entered, and every day is checked against per-provider growth limits. Weekends are skipped, halved or sent in full depending on the mode you pick.
Acting on that provider mix requires segmenting your list by recipient domain, so you can hold Microsoft back while Gmail ramps ahead rather than sending every provider the same blended volume.
Ramp profiles
| Profile | Starts at | Max growth/day | Suggested days | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 50/IP | 1.35x | 45 | Slowest ramp, lowest risk. Use when the list has not been mailed in months, when Microsoft is a large share of the audience, or when a previous warm-up was throttled. |
| Standard | 100/IP | 1.60x | 30 | The default for a healthy, recently mailed list with clean authentication. Roughly six weeks of calendar time when weekends are skipped. |
| Aggressive | 250/IP | 2.00x | 21 | Fastest ramp. Only viable with a large, highly engaged audience and daily monitoring. Expect to pause the ramp at least once. |
Why each provider gets its own limits
Mailbox providers do not tolerate the same ramp. These are the thresholds this tool flags against, applied per IP:
Gmail
max 2.00x/day · day 1 ≤ 500/IPGmail tolerates a faster start than most, but it weighs engagement heavily from the first send.
Microsoft
max 1.40x/day · day 1 ≤ 200/IPMicrosoft forms reputation slowly and throttles new senders hard. It is almost always the provider that fails first.
Yahoo
max 1.60x/day · day 1 ≤ 300/IPYahoo and AOL share filtering and react quickly to complaint spikes.
Other
max 2.00x/day · day 1 ≤ 500/IPCorporate and regional providers vary widely. Treat this as a rough ceiling.
The four phases of a warm-up
Volume is only half the plan. Who you send to matters more. Every warm-up that fails, fails because someone hit their target volume by mailing people who did not want the email. The plan above assigns each day to one of these phases.
Foundation
Send only to contacts who opened or clicked in the last 30 days.
- Confirm SPF, DKIM and DMARC all pass before the first send.
- Enrol in Google Postmaster Tools, Microsoft SNDS and Microsoft JMRP before day 1, not after.
- Send at the same time each day so providers see a predictable pattern.
- Ship one-click list-unsubscribe (RFC 8058) and a DMARC record before day 1 — Gmail and Yahoo require both from bulk senders.
Expansion
Widen to contacts engaged in the last 60 days.
- Check the complaint rate every day. Hold the ramp flat if it exceeds 0.1%.
- Check the hard bounce rate every day. Hold the ramp flat if it exceeds 2%.
- Watch Google Postmaster domain and IP reputation move from Low to Medium.
Scale
Widen to contacts engaged in the last 90 days.
- Layer triggered and transactional mail onto the same IPs so volume looks organic.
- Start seeding inbox placement tests across Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo.
- Expect Microsoft to lag Gmail by a week or more. That is normal.
Plateau
Full engaged list at target volume.
- Hold at target for 5 to 7 days before introducing any unengaged contacts.
- Reintroduce unengaged segments in small, separate sends, never mixed into the main campaign.
- Keep sending daily. A cold IP loses reputation faster than it gained it.
What to monitor while warming
A warm-up plan is a hypothesis. These four tools tell you whether it is holding. Sign up for all of them before your first send — several take days to start reporting data.
Google Postmaster Tools
Domain and IP reputation, spam rate, authentication pass rates and delivery errors for Gmail. Enrol before day 1; data only appears once you send meaningful volume.
Microsoft SNDS
Per-IP complaint rates, trap hits and filter status for Outlook, Hotmail and Live. The only real visibility you get into Microsoft.
Microsoft JMRP
The Junk Mail Reporting Program feedback loop. Sends you a copy of every message a Microsoft user marks as junk so you can suppress them.
Yahoo Complaint Feedback Loop
Yahoo and AOL complaint feedback. Requires a DKIM signing domain to register.
When to pause the ramp
| Metric | Keep it | If it slips |
|---|---|---|
| Spam complaint rate | Under 0.1% | Hold volume flat and narrow to your most engaged segment. |
| Hard bounce rate | Under 2% | Stop and clean the list before sending again. |
| Soft bounce / deferral rate | Under 5% | You are being throttled. Hold at the last good volume for 3 to 5 days. |
| Google Postmaster IP reputation | Medium or High by phase 3 | If still Low, stop ramping and audit content and list quality. |
| Open rate versus your baseline | Within 20% of normal | A sharp drop usually means spam-folder placement. Pause the ramp. |
| Google Postmaster spam rate | Under 0.10%, never above 0.30% | Google enforces at 0.30%. Above 0.10%, hold the ramp; approaching 0.30%, cut back to your most engaged segment immediately. |
Holding volume flat is almost always the right response. Dropping to zero and restarting later wastes the reputation you have already built, and doubling down on a failing ramp turns a throttle into a block.
Frequently asked questions
How long does IP warm-up take?
Four to six weeks for most senders. A conservative ramp to a high daily volume can take eight weeks or more. Anything under two weeks rarely builds enough reputation at Microsoft to hold up under full volume.
How many emails should I send on day one?
Between 50 and 250 per IP, depending on how engaged your audience is. Send to your most engaged contacts only. The absolute number matters far less than the engagement rate those first sends produce.
Should I warm up my domain and my IP at the same time?
Yes, and it is unavoidable if both are new. Just be aware that a new domain on a new IP is the slowest possible start, so choose the conservative profile and expect the ramp to take longer than the calculator suggests.
Why does Microsoft need a slower ramp than Gmail?
Microsoft builds sender reputation on a longer window and throttles unknown senders aggressively, returning deferrals rather than rejections. Gmail reacts faster in both directions. This tool flags days where your Microsoft volume grows faster than roughly 1.4x day over day.
What do I do if deliverability drops mid-warm-up?
Hold the volume flat, do not reduce it to zero and do not keep climbing. Stay at the last good volume for three to five days, cut back to your most engaged segment, and only resume the ramp once complaint and bounce rates return to normal.
Do I need a separate IP for transactional and marketing mail?
If you send meaningful volume of both, yes. Transactional mail earns high engagement and marketing mail earns complaints; mixing them on one IP means your password resets inherit your newsletter reputation.
Is this warm-up plan tied to Octeth?
No. The plan is a schedule of volumes and audience segments. It works with any sending platform or MTA. Octeth can execute it directly, but the tool is free and requires no account.
Running the Warm-Up on Your Own Infrastructure?
Octeth is self-hosted email marketing software with per-IP sending controls, engagement segmentation and built-in deliverability monitoring. Own the infrastructure your reputation is built on.