Publishing · alternatives
Alternatives to Lulu
24 publishing tools sit alongside Lulu in this directory. Below is what separates each from Lulu on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 24
- With a free tier
- 16
- Cheaper to start
- -
- Lulu starts at
- On request
Why people look past Lulu
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Lulu entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is no free tier
The record for Lulu carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 16 of the 24 alternatives below can be used without paying.
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.
Free and open-source image editor
- Can be used without paying; Lulu cannot.
- Sold on a open-source model rather than usage-based.
The most trusted ecommerce platform to start, grow, and scale your business
- Publishes an entry price of $24/month, where Lulu does not.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than usage-based.
Visual storytelling through print-on-demand books and wall art
- Publishes an entry price of $3.99/unit, where Lulu does not.
Web-based design and publishing for brand templates
- Can be used without paying; Lulu cannot.
- Publishes an entry price of $10/month, where Lulu does not.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than usage-based.
Amazon-owned book cataloguing, review and recommendation app
- Can be used without paying; Lulu cannot.
- Sold on a Free, no subscription or in-app purchases; funded by Amazon as a commerce and data feeder model rather than usage-based.
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
- Can be used without paying; Lulu cannot.
- Sold on a Free to publish; Amazon earns a royalty share rather than a fee model rather than usage-based.
Every Lulu 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lulu (this page) | On request | Usage-based | - | |
| GIMPFree and open-source image editor | Free | Open-source | - | vs Lulu |
| ShopifyThe most trusted ecommerce platform to start, grow, and scale your business | $24/month | Subscription | 4 | vs Lulu |
| BlurbVisual storytelling through print-on-demand books and wall art | $3.99/unit | Usage-based | 4 | vs Lulu |
| MarqWeb-based design and publishing for brand templates | Free, then $10/month | Freemium | 4 | vs Lulu |
| Goodreads | Free | Free, no subscription or in-app purchases; funded by Amazon as a commerce and data feeder | 1 | vs Lulu |
| Kindle Direct Publishing | Free | Free to publish; Amazon earns a royalty share rather than a fee | 2 | vs Lulu |
| Kobo Writing Life | Free | Free to publish; Kobo earns a royalty share rather than a fee | 2 | vs Lulu |
| PublishDrive | Free | Flat-fee subscription, no commission on paid plans | 2 | vs Lulu |
| Wattpad | Free | Free with ads; paid ad-free subscription and optional in-app coin purchases | 2 | vs Lulu |
| Webtoon | Free | Free to read on a delay; Webtoon Coins purchased to unlock early chapter access | 2 | vs Lulu |
| Moon Reader | Free, then $4.99/one-time | One-time purchase, free ad-supported version available | 2 | vs Lulu |
| Kotobee | Free | Per licence per year | 1 | vs Lulu |
| Affinity Publisher | Free | Free, no licence fee | 1 | vs Lulu |
| Draft2Digital | Free | 10% of retail list price, no upfront fee | 1 | vs Lulu |
| Reedsy | Free | Free tools; freelancers quote per project | 1 | vs Lulu |
| Pressbooks | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Lulu |
| BookBaby | On request | One-time purchase per project | 3 | vs Lulu |
| Libro.fm | $14.99/month | Per credit per month, credits never expire | 1 | vs Lulu |
| Everand | $11.99/month | Per user per month, unlimited | 1 | vs Lulu |
| Storytel | $14.99/month | Per user per month, unlimited | 1 | vs Lulu |
| Scrivener | On request | One-time purchase | 3 | vs Lulu |
| IngramSpark | On request | Free title setup, then per-unit print cost and revision fees | 1 | vs Lulu |
| Kindle | Free | Free app, revenue from book purchases and optional subscription | 2 | vs Lulu |
| Kobo | Free | Free store and app; hardware sold separately; optional subscription | 2 | vs Lulu |
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 Lulu badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (16)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- GIMP , Free
- Marq , Free, then $10/month
- Goodreads , Free
- Kindle Direct Publishing , Free
- Kobo Writing Life , Free
- PublishDrive , Free
- Wattpad , Free
- Webtoon , Free
What you would be giving up
Lulu is most often brought in for self-publishing novels without traditional publishing, producing print-on-demand photo books without inventory, creating photo books for preserving memories, accessing 40,000+ global book retailers. 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 Lulu is broadly right and the question is cost, the Lulu 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.
Lulu runs on not recorded. 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 Lulu alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Lulu?
- 24 other publishing tools are listed in this directory, led by GIMP, Shopify, Blurb, Marq. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Lulu?
- 16 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: GIMP, Marq, Goodreads, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kobo Writing Life.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Lulu?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is no free tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Lulu?
- Lulu is most often brought in for self-publishing novels without traditional publishing, producing print-on-demand photo books without inventory, creating photo books for preserving memories, accessing 40,000+ global book retailers. 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 Lulu?
- GIMP is recorded with an open-source licence model.
- How were these Lulu 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 Lulu against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Lulu 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, 24 tools beside Lulu. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.