Sigil on the BookBird Author Score
Author Score · book formatting · #9 of 10
Best for: Authors hand-editing EPUB files on Windows, Mac or Linux
54.1 of 100 points = 5.4 out of 10. How this score is calculated
Author jobs, from Sigil’s own pages
- Yes: EPUB for ebook stores
- No: Print-ready PDF in KDP trim sizes (no)
- Not stated: Ready-made book designs (not stated)
- Not stated: Device and print preview (not stated)
- Not stated: Imports a Word file (not stated)
- Yes: Front and back matter
- No: Full-bleed images (no)
- No: Several editions from one file (no)
Sigil pricing
Free. There is a free plan. The plans as Sigil’s own site listed them on October 7, 2026, in US dollars:
- Sigil: Free (GPLv3)
Free and open source, maintained by volunteers.
What Sigil offers
From Sigil’s own pages, checked on October 7, 2026:
- EPUB 2 and EPUB 3 editing
- Code View and Preview View
- Multi-level table of contents generator
- Metadata editor
- Spell checking with user dictionaries
- Regex find and replace
- Imports EPUB, HTML, images and stylesheets
- Plugins and checkpoint snapshots
Runs on: Windows, Mac and Linux. Exports: EPUB 2 and EPUB 3. Launched: 2009.
Who Sigil suits, and what its pages do not say
Best for: Authors hand-editing EPUB files on Windows, Mac or Linux.
Not confirmed on Sigil’s pages when we checked: print-ready PDF in KDP trim sizes, ready-made book designs, device and print preview, imports a Word file, full-bleed images and several editions from one file. That is what the vendor states, not a test; a feature can exist without being described, and the score only credits what is.
About 590 people a month search Google in the US for “sigil epub editor”, up 27% over the past year (Google Ads data via DataForSEO).
Sigil alternatives
| Software | Score | Price from | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Draft2Digital | 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 |
| Atticus | 7.8 | $147 one-time | Self-publishers who write and format in one app, any OS |
| Vellum | 7.1 | $199.99 one-time | Mac-based authors formatting many books for a one-time price |
| Reedsy Studio | 6.9 | Free plan; paid from $52.99 a year (add-on) | Authors wanting free typesetting and real-time editor collaboration |
Compare: All book formatting · All software for authors
Sigil questions
How much does Sigil cost?
Free.
What does Sigil run on?
Windows, Mac and Linux, according to its own site.
What file formats can Sigil export?
EPUB 2 and EPUB 3, according to its own site.
How the score is computed: the formula, step by step. Prices and features were read from Sigil’s own site on October 7, 2026; nobody pays to be listed.