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Publishing · head to head

Kindle Direct Publishing vs Kotobee

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
Kotobee logo

Kotobee

Publishing

Interactive EPUB authoring that also exports native mobile apps and hosted libraries

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Kotobee interactive EPUB 3 features degrade or disappear in mainstream retail readers, Kindle in particular, so a book built around widgets and quizzes cannot simply be resold through ordinary retail channels later.
  • They diverge on capability: Kindle Direct Publishing covers Free publishing, Kotobee covers Interactive EPUB 3.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Kindle Direct Publishing and Kotobee differ
AttributeKindle Direct PublishingKotobee
Pricing modelFree to publish; Amazon earns a royalty share rather than a feePer licence per year
PlatformsWebWindows, macOS, Web, iOS, Android

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Kindle Direct Publishing

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

Only in Kotobee

  • Interactive EPUB 3
  • Quizzes and question banks
  • Native app export
  • Kotobee Cloud
  • DRM and access control
  • Kotobee Reader

What people use each for

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

Kindle Direct Publishing

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

Kotobee

  • An education publisher whose distribution channel is a branded app installed by schools rather than a retail ebook storenot Kindle Direct Publishing
  • A training department delivering interactive course material with embedded assessment to a known set of employeesnot Kindle Direct Publishing
  • A publisher in a market where regional retail ebook channels are weak and direct institutional sales dominatenot Kindle Direct Publishing
  • An organisation that needs access control and device limits on material it cannot distribute openlynot Kindle Direct Publishing

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Kotobee

  • Interactive EPUB 3 features degrade or disappear in mainstream retail readers, Kindle in particular, so a book built around widgets and quizzes cannot simply be resold through ordinary retail channels later.
  • Exporting a native app does not remove the app store obligations: you need Apple and Google developer accounts, you handle review submissions, and you own every rejection and update cycle.
  • There is no print workflow at all, so a title that also needs a paperback edition requires a separate layout tool and a duplicated production process.
  • It is a small vendor with a limited partner and integration ecosystem, which is a genuine concern for an institution embedding it in a multi-year curriculum programme.
  • Cloud hosting, DRM and user management are priced separately from the authoring licence, so the recurring cost of delivery, rather than the software purchase, is what the budget has to carry.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Kotobee

Free
  • Kotobee Author$undefined/year
    • A free tier with limited export options
    • Paid licence tiers unlock app export and advanced widgets
    • Kotobee Cloud hosting and DRM billed separately

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Kotobee if

  • You need interactive epub 3.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want quizzes and question banks.
Kotobee review

Questions people ask

Is Kindle Direct Publishing or Kotobee better?
Neither clearly leads. Kindle Direct Publishing starts at Free and Kotobee at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Kindle Direct Publishing or Kotobee?
Kindle Direct Publishing starts at Free and Kotobee at Free.
Does Kindle Direct Publishing or Kotobee run on more platforms?
Kindle Direct Publishing runs on Web. Kotobee runs on Windows, macOS, Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Kindle Direct Publishing for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Kindle Direct Publishing best used for?
Kindle Direct Publishing is most often used for a self-published author wanting free, no-fee distribution to the largest single ebook and print-on-demand market, an author pricing a book between $2.99 and $12.99 to qualify for the 70% royalty tier rather than 35%, a publisher considering kdp select exclusivity to earn kindle unlimited page-read royalties, trading away distribution on other retailers for the enrollment period, an author with a large, image-heavy ebook file who needs to understand the per-megabyte delivery fee before setting a price. Of those, a self-published author wanting free, no-fee distribution to the largest single ebook and print-on-demand market and an author pricing a book between $2.99 and $12.99 to qualify for the 70% royalty tier rather than 35% are not what Kotobee is typically brought in for.
What can Kindle Direct Publishing do that Kotobee cannot?
Kindle Direct Publishing covers Free publishing, 70%/35% royalty tiers, Print-on-demand, KDP Select. Kotobee covers Interactive EPUB 3, Quizzes and question banks, Native app export, Kotobee Cloud.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Kotobee: Can I sell a Kotobee book on Amazon?

You can sell a stripped-down EPUB, but the interactive content that justified the tool will not render. Treat retail as a separate, simpler edition.

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.

Kotobee: Does Kotobee publish the app to the stores for me?

No. It generates the application; you supply the developer accounts and go through Apple and Google review yourself, including every subsequent update.

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.

Kotobee: Is it suitable for a trade fiction publisher?

No. It is built for education, training and reference material where interactivity and controlled access are the point.

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