Alternatives
Reedsy Book Editor alternatives
Reedsy Book Editor is free, and that is not a caveat to argue around — it is the first fact about it and the reason so many books start there. What it is not is unlimited: a small set of templates, a browser, and someone else's servers.
People look for an alternative when they hit a specific wall. Below are the walls authors actually report, what each option does about them, and the case for ours.
Why authors look past Reedsy Book Editor
- A small set of templates, with no custom fonts and limited control over typographic detail.
- No print-production tooling — spine width, gutter minimums by page count and store pre-flight are all left to you.
- It is a web editor, so it needs a connection and your manuscript lives on Reedsy's servers rather than your disk.
None of that makes Reedsy Book Editor a bad tool. Free, with no export charge. What it is, in short: Free and browser-based, with a small set of templates, editor collaboration built in, and no print-production tooling.
The alternatives
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Alhora
A desktop book-formatting studio for macOS, Windows, Linux and ChromeOS. Import a finished manuscript, typeset the interior, and export a retail-ready EPUB and a print-ready PDF.
Free to format and preview — a plan unlocks export. £8.99 a month, £89.99 a year, or £139.99 once.
In short: A production tool for a finished manuscript, on every desktop platform — free to format and preview a whole book, with a plan unlocking export.
Download Alhora free · Compare it with Reedsy Book Editor in detail
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Atticus
A browser-based writing and formatting tool sold as a one-off purchase. Because it runs in a browser it works on Windows, macOS, Linux and Chromebooks, and it offers an offline mode.
$147 — One-off. Ebook and print formatting, and the writing tools.
In short: A browser tool covering drafting as well as formatting, bought outright, with the manuscript kept in the cloud.
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Vellum
A macOS-only formatting app, sold as a one-off purchase in two editions: Vellum Ebooks, and Vellum Press which adds paperback and hardcover PDFs. It is the tool most indie authors mean when they say their book “looks professionally typeset”.
$199.99 — One-off. Ebook formats only.
$249.99 — One-off. Adds paperback and hardcover PDFs.In short: macOS only, bought outright in two editions, and concentrated on typesetting rather than on print production.
Reedsy Book Editor, Atticus, Vellum capabilities and prices as publicly documented by each vendor, checked 2026-08-08. Products change — check the vendor's own site before you buy. Corrections: [email protected].
Side by side
| Feature | Alhora | Reedsy Book Editor | Atticus | Vellum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform & access | ||||
| Operating systems | macOS, Windows, Linux, ChromeOS | Any desktop OS, in a browser | Any desktop OS, in a browser | macOS only — a Mac is required |
| Installed app or browser | Installed desktop app | Browser app | Browser app, with an offline mode | Installed Mac app |
| Works with no internet connection | Yes — after activation, editing and export are local | No — it is a web editor | Offline mode available; syncs when reconnected | Yes — a local Mac app |
| Where your manuscript is stored | On your own machine | In the cloud | In the cloud, cached locally for offline use | On your own Mac |
| Pricing | ||||
| Pricing model | Free to format and preview; a plan unlocks export. Monthly, annual, or one-off Lifetime. | Free | One-off purchase | One-off purchase, per edition of the app |
| Lifetime option | Yes — Lifetime licence, one payment | Not applicable — free | Yes — the purchase is the licence | Yes — the purchase is the licence |
| Subscription option | Yes — monthly or annual, if you would rather not pay up front | No | No | No |
| Try before paying | Format and preview an entire book free; export is what a plan unlocks | Free throughout | No free tier; 30-day refund policy published | Yes — build the book and preview it; you pay to generate the files |
| Export | ||||
| EPUB | EPUB 3.0, with Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo and generic variants | Yes | Yes | Yes, with retailer-specific builds |
| Print-ready PDF | Yes — bleed, crop marks and an embedded ICC profile | Yes | Yes | Yes, in the edition that includes print |
| Trim sizes | 23 presets across mass-market, novel, B-format, full-size and large print, plus fully custom | A small fixed set | A fixed set of standard sizes | A fixed set of standard sizes |
| Hardcover | Yes — case-wrap dimensions are calculated, and flagged as estimates to check against your printer's template | Not documented | Not documented | Yes, in the edition that includes print |
| Publishing | ||||
| Kindle Direct Publishing | Yes — files built to KDP's ebook and print requirements, checked before you upload | Yes | Yes | Yes — a long-standing KDP workflow |
| IngramSpark | Yes — IngramSpark's own spine formula (pages ÷ PPI) and cover template, not KDP's applied twice | Not documented | Yes — print PDFs suitable for IngramSpark | Yes — print PDFs suitable for IngramSpark |
| Draft2Digital | Yes — EPUB built to the generic retail profile D2D distributes | Yes — a standard EPUB can be uploaded | Yes — a standard EPUB can be uploaded | Yes — a standard EPUB can be uploaded |
| Pre-flight against store requirements | Yes — runs offline before upload and names the store rule each finding breaks | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Spine width and cover template | Calculated live from the real page count, per printer | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Print cost and royalty estimate | Yes, from the page count and paper stock | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
Reedsy Book Editor, Atticus, Vellum capabilities and prices as publicly documented by each vendor, checked 2026-08-08. Products change — check the vendor's own site before you buy. Corrections: [email protected].
Moving your book across
Whatever you switch to, the thing that travels is the manuscript, not the formatting. No formatting tool reads another's project file, and none of them publish the format, so the route is always the same: get the text back out as a Word document, import that, and re-choose the styling.
That sounds worse than it is. The styling is the part that takes minutes — it is picking a look from a list. What you must not lose is the structure: export from wherever the manuscript actually lives, with your heading styles intact, so chapters arrive as chapters rather than as one long stream of paragraphs you have to split by hand.
If your manuscript is still in Scrivener, import the
.scriv project into Alhora directly rather than compiling to
Word first — the binder structure becomes the book structure, so you keep
your parts and chapters exactly as you arranged them.
What authors say
I thoroughly appreciate the thought and care that has been put into Alhora. It's becoming a one-stop shop for everything, from the writing process, to the styling, to the formatting and export. The more you dig, the more you discover how much control of the writing and formatting process the author has. I've yet to find a platform designed specifically for indie authors that can do everything that Alhora can do. This is worth its weight in gold!
Alhora is a great new formatting software that answers a lot of problems that other softwares currently are failing in. It's very nice to use with nice graphics and the developer is amazingly considerate and responsive in fixing things that make it easier to use. A great new tool and I can't wait to keep discovering more about everything it can do!
I have always struggled with formatting my books. It’s been a constant battle with things moving around whenever I uploaded them to KDP. I would literally spend weeks trying to get everything lined up properly, and I was never in a position to buy other formatting software. So, when I was offered the opportunity to use Alhora, I knew I couldn’t miss it. Honestly, it has reduced my formatting time to hours, and my book looks so much more professional. I love all the little details I can add to my books and if there is something I want and it's not an option James will try to add it.
Questions, answered
Is Reedsy Book Editor good enough?
It produces a clean EPUB and a respectable print PDF at no cost, and plenty of published books have gone out through it — so the question is really what your book asks for beyond that. Most people who look for an alternative have hit one specific wall rather than concluded it is bad: a template that will not do what the book needs, print production that stops at the PDF, or a manuscript they would rather keep on their own disk.
What can't Reedsy Book Editor do?
The limits authors actually report: a small set of templates with no custom fonts and limited typographic control; no print-production tooling — no spine calculation, no gutter checking by page count, no pre-flight; and it needs a connection, because it is a web editor with your book on Reedsy's servers.
Is there another free alternative?
Alhora is free to format and preview an entire book, with payment unlocking export — so you can do all the work and see every page before deciding. Calibre is free and converts between ebook formats but does not typeset. Beyond those, the alternatives are paid.
Do I lose my manuscript if I leave?
No. Export to .docx first — you keep the rights to your text and it is yours to take. Export a copy regularly regardless of which web tool you use, because custody and ownership are different things.
Can I still work with my Reedsy editor if I format elsewhere?
Yes, and it is the usual arrangement: keep editing where your editor already is, then export to .docx and format downstream. Alhora re-imports a revised manuscript chapter by chapter, so the formatting work survives each editing round.
Is paying for a formatter worth it over a free tool?
It depends entirely on what you are hitting, and the honest test is time rather than features: if you want design control, are printing through IngramSpark as well as KDP, or are maintaining a series, a free tool keeps charging you in hours instead of pounds. Alhora is free to format and preview a whole book, so you can measure that against your own manuscript before paying anything.
Do all the work before you pay anything
Alhora is free to format and preview a whole book — import your manuscript, style it, and look at every page. A plan unlocks export, so you can compare it against what you have now for nothing.
Download Alhora free See pricing
macOS, Windows, Linux and ChromeOS. No card needed to format and preview.