The Best Ebook Creation Software in 2026: 16 Options Compared

The right ebook tool depends almost entirely on what you are making. A novel needs clean, reflowable text with good chapter headings, and almost every tool here can produce that. A picture book, a cookbook or a workbook needs text and images locked together on the page, and only a handful can. Then there is your computer: the most recommended tool for novels runs only on a Mac.

So rather than a single ranking, this guide groups sixteen tools by the job, with what each costs and what it can export. We checked prices and formats on each vendor’s own pages in October 2026. Where a vendor did not publish something we could confirm, we leave the number out.

First, the formats the stores want

Amazon KDP accepts DOCX, EPUB and KPF, Kindle Create’s own format. It stopped accepting MOBI for reflowable books in 2021 and for fixed-layout books in March 2025. Apple Books takes EPUB 3 and supports the current EPUB 3.3 standard. Draft2Digital, which distributes to Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, libraries and more, accepts Word, RTF, ODT and plain text as well as EPUB. EPUB is the format that works everywhere, and a Word file is often all you need to start.

Quick picks

For novels and text-led nonfiction

1. Vellum: the reference for Mac users

Vellum is the tool many self-published novelists use, and the reason is that it makes good-looking books with very little effort. You import a Word file, pick a style, and Vellum produces validated EPUB files for Kindle, Kobo, Apple and the rest, with accessibility checks passed. It also exports advance copies for beta readers. Vellum Ebooks costs $199.99 once; Vellum Press, at $249.99, adds print PDFs for paperbacks and hardcovers in 24 trim sizes. It needs macOS 13 or later, has no Windows version, and is not built for fixed-layout books.

2. Atticus: the cross-platform alternative

Atticus does a similar job on Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebooks, or in a browser, and works offline. It imports Word files and exports EPUB, PDF and DOCX. It costs $147 once with future updates included and a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you are on Windows and want what Vellum offers, this is the first one to try.

3. Reedsy Studio: free, in the browser

Reedsy Studio, formerly the Reedsy Book Editor, lets you write and format a book in the browser and export EPUB 3 and both a print-ready and a digital PDF, free. Optional writing add-ons cost extra, but you do not need them to export. There is no offline mode, and no fixed layout; Reedsy itself suggests a designer for illustrated books.

4. Draft2Digital: free formatting, with distribution

Draft2Digital turns a Word, RTF, ODT or text file into an EPUB and a print PDF, and lets you download both free even if you never distribute through it. If you do, it reaches Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, library services such as OverDrive and Hoopla, and more, for about 10% of the retail price per sale. New accounts pay a one-time $20 activation fee. Its templates are automated, so you trade control for speed.

5. Kindle Create: Amazon’s own tool

If you are publishing only on Amazon, Kindle Create is the shortest path. It turns a Word file into a reflowable book, a PDF into a print replica for textbooks, cookbooks and travel guides, and PDFs or images into comics and children’s books with Guided View. It saves KPF for KDP, and reflowable projects can also export EPUB. It runs on Windows 10 and later and on Macs.

6. Scrivener: for writing the book first

Scrivener is a writing tool before it is a formatting tool. It is built for drafting and reorganising a long manuscript in pieces. It can compile the result for publishing, but many authors write in Scrivener and format in Vellum or Atticus. There is a 30-day free trial and a one-time licence; the iOS version is $23.99.

Using what you already have

7. Microsoft Word: the universal starting point

Word has no EPUB export, but it barely needs one: KDP and Draft2Digital both accept DOCX directly, and Vellum, Atticus and Kindle Create all import it. Use Word’s built-in heading styles for chapter titles and the conversion tools will find your chapters.

8. Google Docs: free, with caveats

Google Docs can download any document as an EPUB Publication. It works for simple text, but testers report losing the table of contents and some formatting. Check the result in an ebook reader, or download a DOCX and run it through Kindle Create or Draft2Digital instead.

9. Apple Pages: free, and it does fixed layout

Pages on Mac, iPad and iPhone exports EPUB from File, Export To. A word-processing document can be exported as reflowable or fixed layout, and a page-layout document as fixed layout. That makes it one of the very few free routes to a fixed-layout picture book or cookbook. It can also publish straight to Apple Books.

For picture books, cookbooks and designed layouts

10. Adobe InDesign: the professional option

InDesign exports both reflowable and fixed-layout EPUB, and fixed-layout EPUB 3 can include audio, video and interactive elements. It is what professional book designers use, it is a subscription, and it has a learning curve to match. Choose it if layout is the point of the book.

11. Jutoh: one-time price, both layouts

Jutoh is a less well-known tool that covers more than most: EPUB 2 and 3 and Kindle output, reflowable and fixed layout, on Windows, Mac and Linux. It can also export ODT for making PDFs, and CBZ for comics. Jutoh 3 Standard costs $45 and Plus $90, with no subscription and a 30-day refund.

For textbooks, training and interactive books

12. Pressbooks: built for textbooks

Pressbooks is a web platform used widely for textbooks and open educational resources. It exports EPUB, digital and print-ready PDF, and formats used by course software. The Single Author plan is $12 a month or $120 a year per book, with a 7-day trial. It takes no royalties and does not sell your book for you.

13. Kotobee Author: interactive and education ebooks

Kotobee is aimed at interactive and training material. It exports EPUB, PDF, web and app versions, and SCORM for learning platforms, on Windows, Mac and Ubuntu. There is a free tier; paid lifetime licences start at $150.

For PDF ebooks and lead magnets

14. Canva: design-led PDFs

For a short, designed PDF, such as a guide you give away for an email sign-up, Canva’s templates make a polished result quickly. It exports standard and print PDFs. We found no EPUB export, so it is the wrong tool for a book sold in ebook stores.

15. Designrr: repurposing content you already have

Designrr turns existing material, such as blog posts from a URL, Word files or Google Docs, into a formatted ebook. Every plan exports PDF and a flipbook; EPUB and Kindle export start at the Pro plan, $39 a month. Standard is $29 a month. It suits marketers turning content into lead magnets. For a novel, the one-time tools above are better value.

For converting and fixing files

16. Calibre and Sigil: free and indispensable

Calibre is a free ebook manager that converts between around 30 input formats and outputs EPUB, AZW3, DOCX, PDF and many more, with an editor for EPUB and Kindle files. Version 9.16 was released in October 2026. Sigil is a free, open-source EPUB 2 and 3 editor for working directly with a book’s HTML and CSS. Neither designs a book for you, but between them they fix almost any problem with an existing file.

After you have made it

Two checks before you upload. Read the EPUB in an actual ebook reader, not just the tool that made it: Apple Books, the Kindle Previewer or Calibre’s viewer will show broken chapter breaks or missing images that the editor hid. Our EPUB reader opens a book in your browser without uploading it, for a quick look on any computer. And check the length. Our word counter gives the word count and reading time that store listings and editors ask for.

If you need a quick PDF of an EPUB’s text, for proofreading on paper or sending to someone without an ebook reader, our EPUB to PDF converter does it in your browser. It carries the text over, not the book’s design, so use Calibre when the layout matters. Our guide to reflowable EPUB versus fixed PDF goes deeper on choosing between them.

For a draft you want to read on an e-reader or send to beta readers, our Word to EPUB and text to EPUB converters make a simple EPUB 3 file in your browser. They carry the text only, without images, bold or tables, so use one of the tools above for the version you publish.