The short version
- If you use Windows, Linux or a Chromebook: Atticus. Vellum runs only on a Mac.
- If you want ebook and print for less: Atticus, by $102.99.
- If you’re on a Mac and want box sets or store-specific ebooks: Vellum, which builds both.
On the BookBird Author Score for formatting software, Atticus scores 8.9 and Vellum 8.6. Both confirm every formatting job on our list, so the gap comes from cost and search interest: Atticus costs less and more people search for it.
Atticus vs Vellum, side by side
| Atticus | Vellum | |
|---|---|---|
| Author Score | 8.9 | 8.6 |
| Author jobs | 50 / 50 | 50 / 50 |
| Cost | 21.7 / 25 | 20.5 / 25 |
| Adoption | 17.6 / 25 | 15.7 / 25 |
| Plans (USD) |
|
|
| Pricing | One-time licence | One-time licence |
| Free trial | None stated | Free download to build and preview; pay to export |
| Platforms | Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook, web, iOS, Android | Mac |
| Exports | EPUB, PDF, DOCX | EPUB 3, EPUB 2, MOBI (ARCs), PDF (print, PDF/X-1a) |
| EPUB for ebook stores | Yes | Yes |
| Print-ready PDF in KDP trim sizes | Yes | Yes |
| Ready-made book designs | Yes | Yes |
| Device and print preview | Yes | Yes |
| Imports a Word file | Yes | Yes |
| Front and back matter | Yes | Yes |
| Full-bleed images | Yes | Yes |
| Several editions from one file | Yes | Yes |
| US searches a month | 1,000 | 320 |
| Full details | Atticus: price and features | Vellum: price and features |
Prices in USD as shown on each vendor’s site on October 7, 2026.
Price: $147 against $199.99 or $249.99
Atticus sells one plan, $147 for ebook and print with all future updates included. Vellum has two.
Its Ebooks license costs $199.99 and makes no paperbacks, while Press costs $249.99 and does both, and neither price includes tax.
Starting on Ebooks and upgrading later costs $69.99, which brings Vellum to $269.98, about $20 more than buying Press outright. If a paperback is even a possibility, buy Press first.
Platforms: Mac only, or almost anything
Vellum is a Mac app, and for Windows users the vendor suggests renting a cloud Mac.
Atticus runs on Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebook, and in a browser. Renting a Mac by the hour to run a $249.99 app is the long way round, so on any other computer, buy Atticus.
Export formats
Atticus exports EPUB, a print-ready PDF and DOCX, and one project produces both the EPUB and the PDF.
Vellum exports EPUB 3 and EPUB 2, MOBI for advance review copies, and print PDF in the PDF/X-1a standard, and it can build a separate ebook file for each of Kindle, Kobo and Apple Books. DOCX isn’t on its list. If you need a Word file of the finished book, pick Atticus; if you want store-specific ebook files, pick Vellum.
Before you export, check which stores accept EPUB, MOBI, AZW3 or PDF.
Design and layout
Atticus comes with 17 chapter themes plus a builder for your own.
Vellum’s book styles add drop caps, ornaments and embedded fonts, for paperback, hardcover or large print. Margins, page numbers, headers and widows are set for you, and a finished series can go out as one box set.
Design won’t decide between them. If you’re setting fonts and margins yourself, pick them from the typography choices for self-published books before you upload to KDP.
Writing in the same app
Atticus is also a writing editor, so you can draft in it and format without importing, and it allows unlimited books and pen names. Vellum doesn’t draft: it imports a finished .docx, including one saved from Scrivener or Pages. If you want one app for both jobs, that’s Atticus; see how it compares with drafting apps in the book writing software ranking.
Buy Atticus, unless you’re on a Mac and need box sets
Vellum is a free download that lets you build, style and preview the whole book, and you pay only when you generate the files. Atticus gives you a 30-day money-back guarantee instead.
If your computer and the box sets haven’t settled it, buy Atticus.
If you publish only on Amazon and don’t want to spend anything, try Kindle Create and the other free tools in the book formatting software ranking before either.
Other formatting software we score
| Software | Score | Price from | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Draft2Digital Formatter | 9.0 | Free plan | Authors wanting free EPUB and paperback PDF, publishing wide or not |
| Kindle Create | 8.6 | Free | KDP authors wanting free, simple formatting for text-heavy books |
| Bookow | 7.4 | $80 one-time | Authors wanting a typeset KDP-ready interior per book, no software |
| Reedsy Studio | 6.9 | Free plan; paid from $52.99 a year (add-on) | Authors wanting free typesetting and real-time editor collaboration |
| Kotobee Author | 6.7 | Free plan; paid from $150 one-time | Authors of interactive or illustrated ebooks wanting a free desktop tool |
| Affinity | 6.5 | Free | Authors laying out print books by hand at no cost |
| Calibre | 6.4 | Free | Authors converting a DOCX or EPUB between ebook formats for free |
| Sigil | 5.4 | Free | Authors hand-editing EPUB files on Windows, Mac or Linux |
| Designrr | 5.4 | $297 a year | Authors wanting a web-based ebook layout tool, billed monthly or yearly |
| Adobe InDesign | 5.3 | Not confirmed in USD | Authors or designers wanting full manual control over book layout |
| KDP Builder | 5.0 | $190 a year | Authors who want one web app to draft a nonfiction, journal, coloring or puzzle book and export the KDP upload files |
Once the interior is formatted, get the spine width and full cover size for your page count from the free cover calculator.
How the BookBird Author Score works
Each score adds up the author jobs in the table above, what a year costs and how many people search for the product by name. The formula, and what it leaves out, is on how we score software.