Softwr

Publishing · head to head

Draft2Digital vs Kindle Direct Publishing

Draft2Digital logo

Draft2Digital

Publishing

Ebook and print distribution aggregator that takes a percentage instead of a fee

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Kindle Direct Publishing logo

Kindle Direct Publishing

Publishing

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Draft2Digital the 10% cut is taken from the list price of every copy for as long as the title stays in the channel, so on a backlist that sells for years it costs far more than a one-off formatting or distribution fee would have.; Kindle Direct Publishing the 70% royalty band has hard edges: pricing even one cent outside $2.99-$12.99 drops the royalty to 35%, which is a cliff, not a gradual scale, and easy to trigger by accident when adjusting price for a promotion.
  • They diverge on capability: Draft2Digital covers One-upload distribution, Kindle Direct Publishing covers Free publishing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Draft2Digital and Kindle Direct Publishing actually diverge.

Attributes where Draft2Digital and Kindle Direct Publishing differ
AttributeDraft2DigitalKindle Direct Publishing
Pricing model10% of retail list price, no upfront feeFree to publish; Amazon earns a royalty share rather than a fee

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Publishing).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Draft2Digital

  • One-upload distribution
  • Free conversion
  • Books2Read universal links
  • Print distribution
  • Free ISBN option
  • Series and back-matter automation

Only in Kindle Direct Publishing

  • Free publishing
  • 70%/35% royalty tiers
  • Print-on-demand
  • KDP Select
  • Delivery fee deduction
  • Pre-order and release tools

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Draft2Digital

  • An author with a growing backlist who does not want to maintain accounts at eight separate retailers and reupload corrected files to each onenot Kindle Direct Publishing
  • A writer who wants library distribution through OverDrive and Bibliotheca without meeting the requirements those platforms set for direct suppliersnot Kindle Direct Publishing
  • Anyone publishing outside the United States who wants Tolino and other regional European stores reached without local accountsnot Kindle Direct Publishing
  • A publisher of series fiction that benefits from automated end-matter linking across every store editionnot Kindle Direct Publishing

Kindle Direct Publishing

  • A self-published author wanting free, no-fee distribution to the largest single ebook and print-on-demand marketnot Draft2Digital
  • An author pricing a book between $2.99 and $12.99 to qualify for the 70% royalty tier rather than 35%not Draft2Digital
  • A publisher considering KDP Select exclusivity to earn Kindle Unlimited page-read royalties, trading away distribution on other retailers for the enrollment periodnot Draft2Digital
  • An author with a large, image-heavy ebook file who needs to understand the per-megabyte delivery fee before setting a pricenot Draft2Digital

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Draft2Digital

  • The 10% cut is taken from the list price of every copy for as long as the title stays in the channel, so on a backlist that sells for years it costs far more than a one-off formatting or distribution fee would have.
  • Moving a title to direct distribution later means unpublishing and republishing at each store, which usually resets reviews, rankings and pre-order history at that retailer.
  • The free ISBN names Draft2Digital as publisher of record, which weakens the case that the book is independently published when dealing with libraries, bookshops or awards that check the imprint.
  • You lose the merchandising and promotional tools retailers give direct suppliers, including Kobo price promotion tools and Apple promotional scheduling, which are among the few levers indie authors actually have.
  • Payments wait on retailer reporting, so revenue arrives later than a direct account would pay it, and reconciling a discrepancy means the aggregator has to raise it with the store on your behalf.

Kindle Direct Publishing

  • The 70% royalty band has hard edges: pricing even one cent outside $2.99-$12.99 drops the royalty to 35%, which is a cliff, not a gradual scale, and easy to trigger by accident when adjusting price for a promotion.
  • The delivery fee, roughly $0.15 per megabyte, is deducted on every sale under the 70% tier, so image-heavy or long ebooks lose meaningfully more revenue per sale than a plain-text book at the same list price.
  • KDP Select exclusivity, while optional, is the only route to Kindle Unlimited page-read royalties, so authors face a real trade-off between Amazon-only reach with page-read income and wider distribution without it.
  • Public domain or primarily public-domain content is capped at the 35% royalty regardless of price, so that category of publisher cannot access the higher rate at all.
  • As a single-retailer platform, an author relying solely on KDP is concentrated in one sales channel controlled entirely by Amazon policy, which has changed royalty terms before (the July 2026 price band expansion is itself an example) and can do so again.

Pricing, plan by plan

Draft2Digital

Free
  • Draft2Digital$undefined/month
    • No setup, subscription or conversion fees
    • Draft2Digital retains 10% of the retail list price of each sale
    • Free ISBN available, or supply your own

Kindle Direct Publishing

Free
  • 70% royalty tierFree
    • Applies to ebooks priced $2.99-$12.99 (expanded from $9.99 ceiling in July 2026)
    • In-copyright works only
    • Delivery fee of roughly $0.15/MB deducted per sale
  • 35% royalty tierFree
    • Applies below $2.99, above $12.99, or for public domain content
    • No delivery fee deducted
    • Applies automatically outside eligible territories for the 70% tier

Which should you pick?

Choose Draft2Digital if

  • You need one-upload distribution.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want free conversion.
Draft2Digital review

Choose Kindle Direct Publishing if

  • You need free publishing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want 70%/35% royalty tiers.
Kindle Direct Publishing review

Questions people ask

Is Draft2Digital or Kindle Direct Publishing better?
Neither clearly leads. Draft2Digital starts at Free and Kindle Direct Publishing at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Draft2Digital or Kindle Direct Publishing?
Draft2Digital starts at Free and Kindle Direct Publishing at Free.
Does Draft2Digital or Kindle Direct Publishing run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Draft2Digital for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Draft2Digital best used for?
Draft2Digital is most often used for an author with a growing backlist who does not want to maintain accounts at eight separate retailers and reupload corrected files to each one, a writer who wants library distribution through overdrive and bibliotheca without meeting the requirements those platforms set for direct suppliers, anyone publishing outside the united states who wants tolino and other regional european stores reached without local accounts, a publisher of series fiction that benefits from automated end-matter linking across every store edition. Of those, an author with a growing backlist who does not want to maintain accounts at eight separate retailers and reupload corrected files to each one and a writer who wants library distribution through overdrive and bibliotheca without meeting the requirements those platforms set for direct suppliers are not what Kindle Direct Publishing is typically brought in for.
What can Draft2Digital do that Kindle Direct Publishing cannot?
Draft2Digital covers One-upload distribution, Free conversion, Books2Read universal links, Print distribution. Kindle Direct Publishing covers Free publishing, 70%/35% royalty tiers, Print-on-demand, KDP Select.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Draft2Digital: Should I distribute to Amazon through Draft2Digital?

Usually not. Amazon accounts are free and paying an aggregator a percentage on your largest sales channel is difficult to justify unless you have a specific reason to avoid a direct account.

Kindle Direct Publishing: Does KDP cost anything to use?

No signup or listing fee. Amazon earns revenue through the royalty share (65% or 30% of the list price after territory and delivery-fee adjustments) rather than a subscription or fee.

Draft2Digital: Can I use my own ISBN?

Yes, and you should if you want the imprint on record to be yours. The free ISBN is convenient but lists Draft2Digital as publisher.

Kindle Direct Publishing: What is the current 70% royalty price band?

As of July 2026, $2.99 to $12.99, expanded from the previous $2.99 to $9.99 ceiling that had been unchanged since 2007.

Draft2Digital: What happened to Smashwords?

Draft2Digital acquired it in 2022. The Smashwords store continues, and the two distribution operations were brought under one company, which reduced the number of independent aggregators to choose between.

Kindle Direct Publishing: What is the delivery fee?

Roughly $0.15 per megabyte of file size, deducted per sale only on the 70% royalty tier, calculated from the delivered file size.

Share

Related pages

More on Draft2Digital

More on Kindle Direct Publishing

Keep looking

Other head to heads