Resources Comparisons
Koberger vs Kindle Create: Is Amazon's Free Tool Enough?
Kindle Create is free, but it only really works for Amazon and it has real paperback limits. An honest comparison with Koberger, and when the free option is all you need.
Kindle Create is Amazon's free formatting tool, and for plenty of authors it's genuinely all they need. It's also more limited than most people realise until they're halfway through a paperback. Here's where the line falls, and how it compares with Koberger.
I make Koberger, so read this with that in mind. The Kindle Create details come from Amazon's own KDP help pages, checked on 29 September 2026.
The short version
Kindle Create is enough if you're publishing only on Amazon, your book is a simple novel, and one of its four themes looks right to you.
You'll want something else if you plan to publish anywhere other than Amazon, want your paperback through IngramSpark, need footnotes or tables in print, or want to choose your own margins and fonts.
At a glance
| Koberger | Kindle Create | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free to build and preview. $9.99/month or $59.94/year to export | Free |
| Runs on | Any modern browser, including Chromebook | Desktop app: Windows and Mac |
| Ebook file | EPUB for every store, Kindle included | KPF for KDP; EPUB for reflowable books only |
| Print file | Print-ready PDF for KDP, IngramSpark and other printers | No PDF; paperback uploaded to KDP as KPF |
| Publishing outside Amazon | Yes | Listed as unsupported by Amazon |
| Designs | 23 designs, every element adjustable | 4 themes, not editable |
| Margins, font, line spacing in print | Yours to choose | Can't be customised |
| Footnotes and tables in print | Yes | Not supported for paperbacks |
| Images to the edge of the page | Yes | Not supported for paperbacks |
What Kindle Create does well
It's free. No trial, no tiers, nothing to pay.
It's made by Amazon for Amazon. KPF is the format KDP prefers, and Kindle Create supports all the Kindle formatting features, including a previewer for tablets, phones and e-readers.
It's simple. Import a Word file, it finds your chapters and builds the contents, pick a theme, and you're done. For a straightforward novel going only to Amazon, that's a perfectly sensible choice.
Where it runs out
It's really only for Amazon. The file you publish is a KPF, which only KDP uses. There's an EPUB export for reflowable books, but Amazon lists publishing outside Kindle as unsupported, and there's no print PDF at all. So if you ever want to sell through Kobo, Apple Books or IngramSpark, you'll be formatting the book again.
The paperback limits are real. In Amazon's own words, Kindle Create doesn't support paperbacks with tables, footnotes or endnotes, or images that bleed to the edge. You can't customise the margins, the font, the font size or the line spacing, and you only see the paperback preview after uploading to KDP.
Four themes, and that's it. The themes can't be edited, so if none of them suits your genre, there's no way round it.
Your project lives on one computer. Amazon doesn't keep a copy, so you have to back up the project folder yourself.
What Koberger adds
Koberger gives you files you can take anywhere: an EPUB for every store, including Kindle, and a print-ready PDF for KDP, IngramSpark or any other printer. Every EPUB is checked with EPUBCheck, the validator the stores use, before you download it.
You choose from 23 designs and can change the fonts, chapter headings, spacing and ornaments. Footnotes land at the foot of the right page in print, tables and edge-to-edge images work, and you can read every page as the printed book before you upload anything.
The trade-off is cost. Koberger is free to build and preview, but exporting needs Pro, at $9.99 a month or $59.94 a year.
My honest take
If you're Amazon-only with a simple novel, start with Kindle Create. It's free and it'll do the job. If you want to publish wide, print through IngramSpark, or have a book with footnotes, tables or full-page images, you'll outgrow it, and it's easier to format once in a tool that makes files you can use anywhere.
For the other free options, see the best free book formatting software, and for the whole field, the best book formatting software in 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is Kindle Create free?
Yes. Kindle Create is Amazon's free desktop app for Windows and Mac. It produces a KPF file you upload to KDP, for both the Kindle ebook and the paperback.
Can I use Kindle Create files outside Amazon?
Not really. Kindle Create's main output is a KPF file, which only KDP uses. It can also export an EPUB for reflowable books, but Amazon lists publishing outside Kindle as unsupported. There's no print-ready PDF, so you can't take its paperback to IngramSpark.
What can't Kindle Create do for paperbacks?
Amazon's own help pages say Kindle Create doesn't support paperbacks with tables, footnotes or endnotes, or images that bleed to the edge, and that you can't customise the margins, font, font size or line spacing. Its four themes can't be edited.
When is Kindle Create the right choice?
If you're publishing only on Amazon, your book is a straightforward novel without tables, footnotes or edge-to-edge images, and you're happy with one of its four themes, Kindle Create is free and perfectly good. If you want to publish wide, use IngramSpark, or control how your book looks, you'll need something else.