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Publishing · head to head

IngramSpark vs Kindle Direct Publishing

IngramSpark logo

IngramSpark

Publishing

Print-on-demand and distribution into the wholesale catalogue that bookshops order from

From
On request
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

  • Only Kindle Direct Publishing has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: IngramSpark you must buy your own ISBN for every format, which is a real upfront cost in territories such as the United States where the national agency charges over a hundred dollars for a single number.; 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: IngramSpark covers Ingram catalogue 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 IngramSpark and Kindle Direct Publishing actually diverge.

Attributes where IngramSpark and Kindle Direct Publishing differ
AttributeIngramSparkKindle Direct Publishing
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelFree title setup, then per-unit print cost and revision feesFree to publish; Amazon earns a royalty share rather than a fee
Free tierNoYes

Identical on both: 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 IngramSpark

  • Ingram catalogue distribution
  • Global print on demand
  • Discount and returns settings
  • Hardback and colour printing
  • Ebook distribution
  • Author copies at cost

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.

IngramSpark

  • An author who wants independent bookshops and libraries to be able to order the book on normal trade terms rather than only through Amazonnot Kindle Direct Publishing
  • A small press that needs hardback and colour formats printed on demand without holding stocknot Kindle Direct Publishing
  • A non-fiction author selling at conferences and events who wants author copies at print cost and trade distribution from the same title recordnot Kindle Direct Publishing
  • A publisher printing for international readers who needs local manufacturing in the UK or Australia to avoid shipping costs killing the marginnot 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 IngramSpark
  • An author pricing a book between $2.99 and $12.99 to qualify for the 70% royalty tier rather than 35%not IngramSpark
  • A publisher considering KDP Select exclusivity to earn Kindle Unlimited page-read royalties, trading away distribution on other retailers for the enrollment periodnot IngramSpark
  • An author with a large, image-heavy ebook file who needs to understand the per-megabyte delivery fee before setting a pricenot IngramSpark

Where each one falls short

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

IngramSpark

  • You must buy your own ISBN for every format, which is a real upfront cost in territories such as the United States where the national agency charges over a hundred dollars for a single number.
  • Setting the 55% wholesale discount and returns flag that bookshops expect can reduce net revenue on a modestly priced paperback to near nothing once print cost is deducted.
  • Enabling returns exposes you to charge-backs for unsold copies that are returned and destroyed, which turns a bookshop order that looked like a sale into a cost months later.
  • Print quality varies between plants and print runs, colour reproduction in particular, and resolving a complaint about a misprinted batch is slow because you are dealing with a distributor and not a printer you can telephone.
  • File revisions after publication carry a fee each time, so correcting an error found by an early reader costs money and takes days to propagate through the retail listings.

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

IngramSpark

On request
  • IngramSpark$undefined/month
    • No title setup fee
    • File revisions after publication charged per title, around twenty-five dollars
    • Print cost deducted per unit from the wholesale payment

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 IngramSpark if

  • You need ingram catalogue distribution.
  • You also want global print on demand.
IngramSpark 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 IngramSpark or Kindle Direct Publishing better?
Neither clearly leads. IngramSpark starts at On request and Kindle Direct Publishing at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, IngramSpark or Kindle Direct Publishing?
Kindle Direct Publishing has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for IngramSpark and Free for Kindle Direct Publishing.
Does IngramSpark 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 Kindle Direct Publishing for free?
Yes. Kindle Direct Publishing has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. IngramSpark starts at On request.
What is IngramSpark best used for?
IngramSpark is most often used for an author who wants independent bookshops and libraries to be able to order the book on normal trade terms rather than only through amazon, a small press that needs hardback and colour formats printed on demand without holding stock, a non-fiction author selling at conferences and events who wants author copies at print cost and trade distribution from the same title record, a publisher printing for international readers who needs local manufacturing in the uk or australia to avoid shipping costs killing the margin. Of those, an author who wants independent bookshops and libraries to be able to order the book on normal trade terms rather than only through amazon and a small press that needs hardback and colour formats printed on demand without holding stock are not what Kindle Direct Publishing is typically brought in for.
What can IngramSpark do that Kindle Direct Publishing cannot?
IngramSpark covers Ingram catalogue distribution, Global print on demand, Discount and returns settings, Hardback and colour printing. Kindle Direct Publishing covers Free publishing, 70%/35% royalty tiers, Print-on-demand, KDP Select.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

IngramSpark: Does IngramSpark give me a free ISBN?

No. You supply your own, one for each format. That is a cost, and it is also why the publisher of record on the book is your imprint rather than theirs.

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.

IngramSpark: Will bookshops actually stock my book?

They can order it, which is a precondition, not a guarantee. Being in the catalogue on trade terms, discounted and returnable, is what makes stocking possible; convincing a shop to do it is still your job.

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.

IngramSpark: Should I use IngramSpark and Amazon print together?

Many authors do, using Amazon for Amazon sales and IngramSpark for everyone else. Watch for duplicate listings and check which edition Amazon shows as the buy option.

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.

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