What is the best ARC service for indie authors?
The list above ranks them by the Author Score. For reaching new reviewers, BookSirens and Booksprout are built for indie authors; for sending copies to your own team, BookFunnel and StoryOrigin.
ARC Review Services and Reader Magnets
Services that put advance review copies in front of readers before launch, deliver free books in exchange for email sign-ups, and run group promotions with other authors. Each has a BookBird Author Score from what its own site confirms, what it costs and how many people search for it.
Prices and data checked October 7, 2026 · Author Score computed by a published formula, not paid for
The short answer
- StoryOrigin 8.4 Free plan; paid from $50 a year
Authors building a mailing list and review team on a small budget - BookSirens 8.0 Free plan; paid from $10 one-time
Authors who want pay-per-reader ARC promotion or free private ARC delivery - Prolific Works 7.8 Free plan; paid from $20 a month
Authors growing a mailing list through free and group giveaways - Booksprout 7.1 Free plan; paid from $9 a month
Authors running regular ARC campaigns who want reminders and reviewer tracking - BookFunnel 6.6 $30 a year
Indie authors delivering reader magnets, review copies and direct-sale ebooks
All ARC and reader services, scored
9 of 9 shown · How the Author Score works
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1
StoryOrigin
Author marketing platform for reader magnets, review copies and newsletter swaps
ARC reviews & reader building
8.46/7 author jobsFree plan; paid from $50 a yearFree plan + paid plans1K+20%searches a monthweb -
2
BookSirens
ARC service promoting review copies to 51,000+ reviewers, plus free private ARCs
ARC reviews & reader building
8.05/7 author jobsFree plan; paid from $10 one-timeSeveral ways to pay, one-time option4.4K+31%searches a monthweb -
3
Prolific Works
Ebook giveaway platform for reader magnets, ARCs and group giveaways
ARC reviews & reader building
7.86/7 author jobsFree plan; paid from $20 a monthFree plan + paid plans260−36%searches a monthweb -
4
Booksprout
ARC platform sending review copies to its reviewer community, with review tracking
ARC reviews & reader building
7.14/7 author jobsFree plan; paid from $9 a monthSubscription4.4K+0%searches a monthweb -
5
BookFunnel
Ebook and audiobook delivery service for reader magnets, ARCs and direct sales
ARC reviews & reader building
6.66/7 author jobs$30 a yearSubscription12K−18%searches a monthweb -
6
NetGalley
Digital review-copy platform connecting publishers and authors with reviewers and librarians
ARC reviews & reader building
5.12/7 author jobsNot confirmed in USDSubscription74K+30%searches a monthweb -
7
Voracious Readers Only
Matches novels with readers who request copies and are asked to review
ARC reviews & reader building
4.82/7 author jobsFree plan; paid from $30 a monthSeveral ways to pay110−46%searches a monthweb -
8
Hidden Gems Books
Pay-per-reader ARC program that sends books to a genre-matched reviewer list
ARC reviews & reader building
4.73/7 author jobs$20 one-timeOne-time licence390+15%searches a monthweb -
9
BookBub Partners
BookBub's paid and free promotion tools for authors and publishers
ARC reviews & reader building
4.51/7 author jobsFree planSeveral ways to pay720−23%searches a monthweb
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Prices in USD from each vendor’s own site, checked October 7, 2026. Searches: US Google searches a month for the product’s name, with the change over 12 months. Score out of 10, by one published formula; nobody pays to be listed.
How to choose an ARC service
Do you need reviewers, or a way to deliver files?
Some services bring readers to you. Booksprout, BookSirens, NetGalley, Voracious Readers Only and Hidden Gems list your book where reviewers browse and request it. Others deliver the files to readers you already have: BookFunnel and StoryOrigin send ebooks and audiobooks to your own ARC team or newsletter, and handle the download problems readers run into. Most authors with a list use one of each.
Growing an email list
A reader magnet is a free book or story in exchange for an email address. BookFunnel, StoryOrigin and Prolific Works deliver it and connect to email providers such as MailerLite and Kit, and all three run group promotions where authors in the same genre share each other’s offers.
What it costs
StoryOrigin, Booksprout, BookSirens, Prolific Works and Voracious Readers Only have free tiers. BookFunnel starts at $30 a year. Hidden Gems charges per reader, with a $20 deposit, and NetGalley sends its prices only after a request form. BookBub’s Featured Deals are paid placements in its email to readers, priced by category; its price table did not load for our check.
Reviews and Amazon’s rules
Amazon allows reviews of books from readers who got a free advance copy, as long as nothing is paid for the review and it is not required to be positive. The services that vet reviewers (StoryOrigin, Booksprout, BookSirens, NetGalley and Hidden Gems state that they do) help keep a launch inside those rules. Our book launch checklist puts the ARC steps in order.
How the BookBird Author Score works
Built for self-published authors, from facts anyone can check: each vendor’s own pages, read on October 7, 2026, and US Google search volumes (Google Ads data via DataForSEO). Nobody pays to be listed, and no score is adjusted by hand. We did not test the apps by writing a book in them; the score measures what they do for an author, what they cost and how widely they are used.
- Author jobs, 50 points. Each category has a list of jobs an author needs that kind of software to do. A job counts only when the vendor’s own pages say the product does it; a job they do not mention earns nothing, and the product page says which ones.
- ARC reviews & reader building: sends advance copies to reviewers, delivers a free book for email sign-ups, connects to your email provider, reviewers are screened, protects the files, group promotions and clear price per book or plan.
- Cost, 25 points. What one year costs a single author on the cheapest plan with a USD price. A one-time licence is spread over 3 years. A free plan, or a platform that takes no upfront fee, earns all 25; the dearest product in the category keeps 5.
- Adoption, 25 points. How many people in the US search Google for the product by name each month: 20 points on a log scale against the most searched product in the category, and 5 for the trend, comparing the last three months with the first three of the year.
The score is the points earned divided by the points that could be checked, on a 10-point scale. A part with no data (no USD price, no search volume) is left out rather than guessed. How long a product has existed is not scored: few vendors state it. Review sites are not used: for most of these products the profiles rate the whole company or hold a handful of reviews.
| ARC reviews & reader building | Author jobs /50 | Cost /25 | Adoption /25 | Score /10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| StoryOrigin | 42.9 | 25 | 15.8 | 8.4 |
| BookSirens | 35.7 | 25 | 19 | 8.0 |
| Prolific Works | 42.9 | 25 | 10.6 | 7.8 |
| Booksprout | 28.6 | 25 | 17.5 | 7.1 |
| BookFunnel | 42.9 | 5 | 18.4 | 6.6 |
| NetGalley | 14.3 | — | 24 | 5.1 |
| Voracious Readers Only | 14.3 | 25 | 8.6 | 4.8 |
| Hidden Gems Books | 21.4 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 4.7 |
| BookBub Partners | 7.1 | 25 | 13.1 | 4.5 |
Questions
How many ARC readers do I need?
There is no fixed number. Many authors aim for enough early reviews that the book does not launch with none; not every reader who takes a copy leaves a review, so services report how many did.
Is there a free ARC service?
StoryOrigin, Booksprout, BookSirens and Prolific Works have free plans, and Voracious Readers Only starts with a free giveaway to 20 readers.