The Best Book Formatting Software in 2026: 11 Tools, Honestly Compared

There are more good book formatting tools for indie authors in 2026 than ever, and they've split into clear camps: desktop apps you buy once, browser tools, free options, and professional design software. This guide covers all eleven worth knowing about, with what each one actually costs and who it suits.

Two notes before we start. First, I make Koberger, which is on this list. I've tried to be as fair to the others as I'd want them to be to us, and I'll tell you where they're the better choice. Second, every price and platform here was checked on each tool's own website on 29 September 2026. Prices are in US dollars before tax unless I say otherwise.

The quick answer

At a glance

Vellum

Vellum has been the formatter indie authors recommend for years, and it's earned it. The output is beautiful, the styles are well judged, and it's quick to learn.

Price: $199.99 for ebooks only, or $249.99 for Vellum Press, which adds paperback and hardcover. Both are one-time purchases. You can build and preview for free and pay when you want to generate files.

The catch: it only runs on a Mac (macOS 13 or newer). There's no Windows version, and that's the single biggest reason people look for alternatives. If that's you, see Vellum for Windows: your real options.

Best for: Mac owners who want polished results and are happy to pay once.

Atticus

Atticus is the best-known Vellum alternative for Windows, and it does a lot: it's a writing app and a formatter in one, runs in a browser, and installs as an app on Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebook, with offline use.

Price: $147, one-time, with free updates and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Exports: EPUB, print PDF and DOCX.

Best for: authors who want to write and format in the same place, on any computer, and pay once. There's a full comparison in Koberger vs Atticus.

Lacuna

Lacuna is newer, made by an author and a developer (siblings Melissa Erin Jackson and Corey Jackson), and it's impressively complete. It's a desktop app, works fully offline, and has a lot of print depth.

Price: $149 one-time for one machine ($239 for two, $339 for three), with lifetime updates. You can use every feature free for as long as you like and only pay to export, but sales are final.

Worth knowing: 31 premade styles, 18 trim sizes plus custom sizes, CMYK colour print PDFs, store-specific EPUBs for Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Google, and previews on seven simulated devices.

Best for: authors who want a dedicated formatter they own outright and use offline. See Koberger vs Lacuna.

Cambric

Cambric is a desktop app for writing and formatting, with a manuscript binder for parts, chapters and front and back matter, and your projects kept on your own computer.

Price: $199, one-time, with updates included within the major version you buy. There's no free trial, but there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Runs on: Windows (64-bit) and Mac. No Linux or Chromebook.

Best for: authors who want one local app for drafting and formatting. See Koberger vs Cambric.

Koberger

Koberger is a browser-based formatter: you bring a finished manuscript as a Word file, choose from 23 designs, change anything you like, and read every page as it'll appear on a Kindle, a phone and in print. It doesn't try to be a writing app.

Price: free to import, design and preview your whole book. Exporting needs Pro: $9.99 a month or $59.94 a year (£7.99 and £47.94 in the UK), cancel any time.

Worth knowing: exports EPUB, print PDF and DOCX; every EPUB is checked with EPUBCheck, the validator the stores use, before you download it; private preview links for editors and beta readers; and it's built for authors with several books, with reusable pages, series tools and bulk export.

The catch: it's a subscription once you export, so if you'll format for years on one computer, a one-time tool will eventually cost less. It also needs an internet connection.

Best for: authors who want to work in a browser on any computer, try everything before paying, or publish regularly and want their pages and designs to carry from book to book.

Reedsy Studio

Reedsy's free writing and formatting tool (it used to be called the Reedsy Book Editor) runs in your browser and exports an EPUB and a print-ready PDF.

Price: free. Paid add-ons cover writing extras, not formatting.

The catch: three templates and four trim sizes, and no offline use. You'll get a clean, professional book, but not much control over how it looks.

Best for: a first novel on no budget where a simple, clean design is fine.

Draft2Digital

Draft2Digital is a distributor, but its formatting tool is free and, usefully, you can download the EPUB and print PDF and use them anywhere, without publishing through Draft2Digital.

Price: free, with a free account.

The catch: it's template-driven, so it's quick but limited in how far you can shape the design.

Best for: authors who want fast, free files, especially if they're distributing wide through Draft2Digital anyway.

Kindle Create

Amazon's free desktop tool for Windows and Mac. It's simple, it's free, and for an Amazon-only novel it's perfectly adequate.

The catch: its main output is a KPF file that only KDP uses, there's no print PDF, and Amazon lists publishing outside Kindle as unsupported. For paperbacks, Amazon says it doesn't support tables, footnotes, endnotes or images that bleed to the edge, and margins and fonts can't be changed. Its four themes can't be edited.

Best for: KDP-only authors with a straightforward novel. More in Koberger vs Kindle Create.

Scrivener

Scrivener is a much-loved writing app, and its Compile feature can produce an EPUB, a PDF, a Word file and more.

Price: $59.99, one-time, for Mac or Windows (a separate iPad and iPhone version is $23.99).

The catch: formatting isn't its strength. Compile is powerful but fiddly, and getting a print interior that looks professionally set takes real effort. Plenty of authors write in Scrivener and format elsewhere. See Koberger vs Scrivener.

Best for: drafting long, complicated books.

Adobe InDesign

The professional standard for book design. Anything is possible, and it's what publishers' designers use.

Price: $22.99 a month in the US, or £21.98 a month including VAT in the UK, on an annual plan billed monthly.

The catch: a steep learning curve, a monthly cost that never stops, and it's far more than most novels need. See Koberger vs Adobe InDesign.

Best for: designers, and heavily illustrated or complex non-fiction.

Affinity

The big change of the past year: Affinity, now owned by Canva, is free for individuals. The separate Affinity Publisher has been folded into one app that covers layout, vector and photo work, on Windows and Mac.

The catch: it's a design tool, not a book formatter. You'd be building your own templates, margins and styles from scratch, which is a lot of work for a novel.

Best for: DIY designers who want InDesign-level layout without paying for it.

How to choose

Four questions will narrow it down fast:

1. What computer do you use? Mac opens up Vellum. A Chromebook means a browser tool: Atticus, Koberger, Reedsy Studio or Draft2Digital.
2. Pay once, or pay as you go? One-time tools (Vellum, Atticus, Lacuna, Cambric) win if you'll format for years. A subscription usually costs less for one or two books. Koberger, Vellum and Lacuna all let you see your finished book before paying.
3. Where are you publishing? If it's anywhere beyond Amazon, avoid Kindle Create and make sure you get a real EPUB and a print PDF.
4. How many books? If you're building a catalogue, tools that remember your pages and designs between books will save you hours on every release after the first.

Most of these let you try before you buy, so the best test is simple: put your own first chapter through two or three of them and compare the pages.