Publishing · alternatives
Alternatives to Kobo
20 publishing tools sit alongside Kobo in this directory. Below is what separates each from Kobo on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 20
- With a free tier
- 13
- Cheaper to start
- -
- Kobo starts at
- Free
Why people look past Kobo
Nothing on the record flags a reason to move. Kobo has a free tier. People still switch over fit and workflow, and those are not things a catalogue entry can measure, which is what the comparisons below are for.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Rakuten Kobo self-publishing platform paying a 70% royalty with no delivery fee deduction and no upper price cap, a materially different structure from Amazon KDP
- Sold on a Free to publish; Kobo earns a royalty share rather than a fee model rather than Free store and app; hardware sold separately; optional subscription.
Free ebook and audiobook app from OverDrive, gated entirely on an active public library card
- Sold on a Free with a participating library card, no subscription model rather than Free store and app; hardware sold separately; optional subscription.
- 1 tier to Kobo's 2.
Unlimited ebook, audiobook, magazine and sheet music subscription, the consumer reading service formerly called Scribd
- No free tier, where Kobo has one.
- Publishes an entry price of $11.99/month, where Kobo does not.
- Sold on a Per user per month, unlimited model rather than Free store and app; hardware sold separately; optional subscription.
- 1 tier to Kobo's 2.
Amazon self-publishing platform that is free to use, earning Amazon a royalty cut instead of a fee, with a hard price band and per-megabyte delivery cost governing the 70% rate
- Sold on a Free to publish; Amazon earns a royalty share rather than a fee model rather than Free store and app; hardware sold separately; optional subscription.
Amazon-owned book cataloguing, review and recommendation app
- Sold on a Free, no subscription or in-app purchases; funded by Amazon as a commerce and data feeder model rather than Free store and app; hardware sold separately; optional subscription.
- 1 tier to Kobo's 2.
Ebook distribution aggregator that moved from a royalty-share model to flat-fee subscription pricing, so authors now keep 100% of the store royalty rather than splitting it with the platform
- Sold on a Flat-fee subscription, no commission on paid plans model rather than Free store and app; hardware sold separately; optional subscription.
Every Kobo alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kobo (this page) | Free | Free store and app; hardware sold separately; optional subscription | 2 | |
| Kobo Writing LifeIf you are an author or publisher looking to distribute books into the Kobo store, not a reader buying them | Free | Free to publish; Kobo earns a royalty share rather than a fee | 2 | vs Kobo |
| LibbyIf you want free library borrowing without buying a dedicated e-reader device | Free | Free with a participating library card, no subscription | 1 | vs Kobo |
| EverandIf you want an unlimited subscription across ebooks, audiobooks and magazines rather than a per-title store | $11.99/month | Per user per month, unlimited | 1 | vs Kobo |
| Kindle Direct Publishing | Free | Free to publish; Amazon earns a royalty share rather than a fee | 2 | vs Kobo |
| Goodreads | Free | Free, no subscription or in-app purchases; funded by Amazon as a commerce and data feeder | 1 | vs Kobo |
| PublishDrive | Free | Flat-fee subscription, no commission on paid plans | 2 | vs Kobo |
| Moon Reader | Free, then $4.99/one-time | One-time purchase, free ad-supported version available | 2 | vs Kobo |
| Wattpad | Free | Free with ads; paid ad-free subscription and optional in-app coin purchases | 2 | vs Kobo |
| Webtoon | Free | Free to read on a delay; Webtoon Coins purchased to unlock early chapter access | 2 | vs Kobo |
| Kotobee | Free | Per licence per year | 1 | vs Kobo |
| Affinity Publisher | Free | Free, no licence fee | 1 | vs Kobo |
| Draft2Digital | Free | 10% of retail list price, no upfront fee | 1 | vs Kobo |
| Reedsy | Free | Free tools; freelancers quote per project | 1 | vs Kobo |
| BookBaby | On request | One-time purchase per project | 3 | vs Kobo |
| Storytel | $14.99/month | Per user per month, unlimited | 1 | vs Kobo |
| Libro.fm | $14.99/month | Per credit per month, credits never expire | 1 | vs Kobo |
| Scrivener | On request | One-time purchase | 3 | vs Kobo |
| Atticus | $147/one-time | One-time purchase | 1 | vs Kobo |
| IngramSpark | On request | Free title setup, then per-unit print cost and revision fees | 1 | vs Kobo |
| Kindle | Free | Free app, revenue from book purchases and optional subscription | 2 | vs Kobo |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Kobo badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (13)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Kobo Writing Life , Free
- Libby , Free
- Kindle Direct Publishing , Free
- Goodreads , Free
- PublishDrive , Free
- Moon Reader , Free, then $4.99/one-time
- Wattpad , Free
- Webtoon , Free
What you would be giving up
Kobo is most often brought in for a reader who wants dedicated e-ink hardware instead of reading on a backlit phone or tablet, someone who borrows heavily from a public library and wants overdrive integration built directly into the device, a reader outside the amazon ecosystem who wants an open epub-based alternative to kindle, someone who wants the option of both buying individual ebooks and an unlimited subscription from one store. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Kobo is broadly right and the question is cost, the Kobo pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Publishing category lists everything the directory holds, and best publishing tools ranks them.
Kobo runs on ios, android, web, kobo e-readers. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Kobo alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Kobo?
- 20 other publishing tools are listed in this directory, led by Kobo Writing Life, Libby, Everand, Kindle Direct Publishing. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Kobo?
- 13 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Kobo Writing Life, Libby, Kindle Direct Publishing, Goodreads, PublishDrive.
- Is there a reason to switch away from Kobo?
- Nothing in the data flags one. Kobo has a free tier. Fit and workflow are the usual reasons to move, and those are not things this record can measure.
- What would I give up by switching from Kobo?
- Kobo is most often brought in for a reader who wants dedicated e-ink hardware instead of reading on a backlit phone or tablet, someone who borrows heavily from a public library and wants overdrive integration built directly into the device, a reader outside the amazon ecosystem who wants an open epub-based alternative to kindle, someone who wants the option of both buying individual ebooks and an unlimited subscription from one store. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Kobo?
- None of the publishing tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Kobo alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Publishing, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Kobo against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Kobo covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every publishing tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Publishing category, 20 tools beside Kobo. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.