Design philosophy #

Stello is not your typical newsletter software and you'll find it different in sometimes surprising but often delightful ways.

Balancing security and convenience #

Stello tries to strike a balance between security and convenience. For example, you can only use Stello on one device but this also means all your private data stays with you and not us. And Stello security is not as strong as the best end-to-end encrypted apps out there, but your recipients also don't need to install anything or remember any passwords.

The best of all worlds #

Stello has borrowed concepts from social media and major websites and has brought them to revolutionize newsletters, making them both interactive and more secure. We only take the good bits though... We call this new type of newsletter "webletters". As there is so much more that's possible with webpages than is possible with email, like slideshows, videos that play without opening a new window, commenting and reacting, opening pages, etc.

Less is more #

Less is more — for writers #

Stello is unashamedly simple when it comes to its formatting options. You can’t change font type, size, or colour! You are limited to a handful of options like heading/list/highlight/quote. In other words you tell Stello what your content is rather than how it should look. Stello takes care of all of the look so you can just focus on what your message is, the content that is.

While some writers will find this slightly frustrating, in the end it is better for everyone. Stello makes sure the letter will always be easily readable no matter how bad the writer’s design skills are, and the writer will spend far less time fiddling with their newsletters and more time doing actual work.

Sorry not sorry 😉

Less is more — for readers #

You’ll usually have a variety of readers for newsletters. Some are very short on time or don’t know you that well, and just want a quick update - headlines only. Others are interested in particular parts of your work but not all of it. And others want to know every detail about your life.

Traditional newsletters can never cater for all three. Write too much and some people will switch off. Write too little and others will not know enough about your work. Some people try to get around this by putting a summary at the top for those short on time, but what about those who want the detail on some points but not others?

Stello’s pages are finally an answer to this. You get the headlines straight away like a news site, so the short on time know what’s new and don’t have to read any further. Those interested in only certain topics can just click and read the articles/pages they are interested in (just like a news website). And those interested in it all can read it all.