What is Kestrel Mail?
A Mac mail client built around three things: speed, an elegant interface that gets out of your way, and a hard line on privacy — AI summaries run on your Mac, not in the cloud. It works with any IMAP account, not just one provider.
How is it different from Apple Mail?
Kestrel is designed to be noticeably faster — it caches aggressively and updates the UI instantly instead of waiting on the server. The interface is cleaner and more focused, with keyboard shortcuts for nearly everything.
On the privacy side, Kestrel offers on-device AI summaries, built-in email tracker blocking, and zero telemetry. There's no analytics, no crash reporting, and no data sent anywhere except your mail servers. It also gives you a consistent experience across every email provider, not just iCloud.
Which accounts does it support?
Gmail, Microsoft 365, iCloud, and most other email providers. If your provider supports IMAP (most do), Kestrel can connect to it — including corporate servers and self-hosted setups. Gmail and Microsoft 365 have dedicated sign-in flows; everything else connects with your email and password.
Does it support multiple accounts?
Yes. You can add as many accounts as you need, each with its own folders. There's also a Unified Inbox that shows messages from all your accounts in one view.
What version of macOS does it require?
macOS 26 or later.
Does it work offline?
Mostly, yes. Messages and drafts are cached locally, so you can keep reading and writing even without a connection. Actions like archive or delete get queued and sync back to the server once you're online again.
How do summaries work, and are they private?
Kestrel can summarize individual messages and entire conversation threads. Summaries show up as a short list of highlights — the key points from a message, or a per-sender breakdown for longer threads.
Everything runs on your Mac through Apple Intelligence. Your email content never leaves your device for this — no cloud AI is involved. There's also an optional model pack you can download in Settings for better results on longer threads. It's a one-time download that lives on your Mac.
Why "Kestrel"?
Kestrels are fast, light, and agile — everything you'd want in a mail app. They also happen to be adorable. We couldn't ask for a better mascot to represent the spirit of the mail app we set out to build.
How do I get Kestrel Mail?
Kestrel Mail is still in development and not available for download yet. Check back here for updates as we get closer to launch.