Kestrel is the fast, modern alternative to Blastwell — built around newsletter growth and revenue, not bulk email.
Make the switchHere's Tidewave's story
Marisol Vane
@tidewave
On Kestrel we redesigned the whole issue in an afternoon, launched a referral program, and started getting real engagement out of one-tap reader polls.
Marisol Vane
@tidewave
We launched Tidewave on Blastwell back in 2021 and worked out fairly quickly that it wasn't a long-term home. Everything took three tools and a spreadsheet to accomplish.
On Kestrel you get the same publishing stack the largest independent newsletters run on — without stitching six subscriptions together.
| Kestrel | Blastwell | |
| Get started | ||
| Monthly pricing | ||
| Monthly email sends | Unlimited | 12,000 |
| Free plan up to 2,500 subscribers | — | |
| Up to 10,000 subscribers | $94 | $148 |
| Up to 100,000 subscribers | $284 | $980 |
| Take rate on paid subscriptions | 0% | 0% |
| Usage | ||
| Unlimited team seats | ||
| Metered email sends | ||
| Published web posts | — | |
| Get started | ||
| Website | ||
| Hosted reader site | — | |
| Signup forms | ||
| Advanced email capture | ||
| Custom domain | — | |
| Source tracking | — | |
| Newsletter | ||
| Drag-and-drop issue builder | ||
| Subject-line A/B testing | — | |
| Reader polls | — | |
| Scheduled sends | ||
| Get started | ||
| Growth | ||
| Built-in referral engine | — | |
| Cross-recommendation network | — | |
| Magic sign-in links | — | |
| External signup sources | ||
| Revenue | ||
| Paid subscriptions | — | |
| Sponsor marketplace | — | |
| Advertiser reporting | — | |
| Analytics | ||
| Campaign analytics | ||
| Per-reader history | ||
| Cohort segmentation | — | |
| Revenue attribution | — | |
| Platform & support | ||
| Public API and webhooks | ||
| Two-factor authentication | ||
| SSO for teams | — | |
| Hands-on migration help | — | |
| Get started | ||
Moorland
“We started Moorland on Kestrel with an empty list, crossed 184,000 readers, and sold the whole thing inside eleven months. That is how much leverage this is.”
Devan Rao
Founder of Moorland
Take the free migration guide with you
Export a CSV from your current tool and drop it straight into Kestrel. Suppression lists come across too.
Estimated time: 2 minutes
Paste your archive URL into the import tool and we rebuild every back issue, images and all.
Estimated time: 4 minutes
Nobody gets an awkward email. Payment method, billing date and price stay exactly as they were — and you keep 100% of it.
Estimated time: 2 minutes
Saltwater Review / Inside the Baltic
Written by Ilme Sarapuu & Marek Tamm
The inside read on Baltic shipping, currency swings and the winter games.
Necessary, Not Urgent
Powered by Perri Vance
A weekly look at all things science: from climate to agriculture, ethical AI to public health.
Creator Spotlight
Noor Haddad, author of The Long Set
Talking with the founder of the largest independent strength-training publication in the world.