Publishing · pricing
Kobo Writing Life pricing
Kobo Writing Life publishes 2 tiers. Below is each one, what it adds over the tier beneath it, and where the ladder stops being worth climbing for most people.
As of 1 September 2026, Kobo Writing Life pricing is free across 2 published tiers. Figures are the vendor's list prices as recorded on this page's last check; the vendor's site is the final word.
- Entry price
- Free
- Model
- Free to publish; Kobo earns a royalty share rather than a fee
- Tiers
- 2
- Free tier
- Yes
Kobo Writing Life plans, side by side
Every published tier in ascending order of price, with the number of features each one lists. An absence here means the record does not itemise it, not that the tier lacks it.
| Plan | Price | Features listed | Step up from the tier below |
|---|---|---|---|
| 70% royalty tier | Free | 3 | Entry tier |
| 45% royalty tier | Free | 2 | +$0/month, 2 more features |
What each tier adds
The set difference between each tier's feature list and the one beneath it. Where a tier lists nothing new, the vendor has either stopped repeating the inherited list or the tier raises limits rather than adding capability, the record does not distinguish the two, so this page does not either.
70% royalty tier
FreeThe entry tier. It covers applies from $2.99 usd (or currency equivalent) with no upper price cap, no delivery fee deducted, full 70% kept, ebook must be priced at least 20% below any physical edition list price.
45% royalty tier
FreeOver 70% royalty tier, this tier adds:
- Applies below the $2.99 threshold
- No delivery fee deducted
Where Kobo Writing Life stops being free
70% royalty tier, Free
- Applies from $2.99 USD (or currency equivalent) with no upper price cap
- No delivery fee deducted, full 70% kept
- Ebook must be priced at least 20% below any physical edition list price
No paid tier on record
Kobo Writing Life lists a free tier and no priced tier above it in the record we hold.
What the product covers
The full Kobo Writing Life feature record, grouped as the catalogue groups it. This is the product as a whole; the record does not map every feature onto a specific tier.
Other
- Free publishing
- 70% royalty, no price ceiling
- No delivery fee
- Automatic price matching
- International reach
- Direct payment threshold
People bring Kobo Writing Life in for an author with a long or image-heavy ebook wanting to avoid the delivery fee that would apply on kdp at the same price, an author pricing a book above $9.99 who wants the 70% royalty without hitting the price ceiling that would apply on amazon before its july 2026 expansion, a wide-distribution author targeting canadian, uk or other international markets where kobo has stronger relative reach than in the us, an author who wants to understand that price-matching to other retailers may automatically change their kobo price without a manual update. If that is not the job you are buying for, the alternatives to Kobo Writing Life are worth a look before you commit to a tier.
How that compares in Publishing
Too few publishing tools in this directory publish a starting price to quote a meaningful median, so the table below is a like-for-like list rather than a ranking.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Rated | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kobo Writing Life (this page) | Free | Free to publish; Kobo earns a royalty share rather than a fee | - | |
| Everand | $11.99/month | Per user per month, unlimited | - | vs Kobo Writing Life |
| Scrivener | On request | One-time purchase | - | vs Kobo Writing Life |
| PublishDrive | Free | Flat-fee subscription, no commission on paid plans | - | vs Kobo Writing Life |
| BookBaby | On request | One-time purchase per project | - | vs Kobo Writing Life |
| Kindle | Free | Free app, revenue from book purchases and optional subscription | - | vs Kobo Writing Life |
| Wattpad | Free | Free with ads; paid ad-free subscription and optional in-app coin purchases | - | vs Kobo Writing Life |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry, they are not reviews hosted on Softwr. How each figure is used is set out on the Kobo Writing Life badges page.
Before you pay for Kobo Writing Life
Three things this page cannot tell you, and all three change the bill. The record carries a price and a billing period but not the unit - per-seat and flat-rate pricing are indistinguishable in this data, so a five-person team may be looking at five times the figure above. It carries no annual rate, so any discount for paying yearly is not something this page can quote. And it carries no trial length.
What it can tell you is the shape of the ladder: 2 tiers between Free and Free, with the jump itemised above. Because there is a free tier, the cheapest way to answer the rest is to use it before paying anything.
Kobo Writing Life runs on web, and is published by Rakuten Kobo of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The full record is on the Kobo Writing Life review, and the rest of the category is under best publishing tools.
Kobo Writing Life pricing questions
- How much does Kobo Writing Life cost?
- Kobo Writing Life publishes 2 tiers, from Free for 70% royalty tier up to Free for 45% royalty tier. The entry tier costs nothing.
- Does Kobo Writing Life have a free plan?
- Yes. The 70% royalty tier tier costs nothing and covers applies from $2.99 usd (or currency equivalent) with no upper price cap, no delivery fee deducted, full 70% kept, ebook must be priced at least 20% below any physical edition list price.
- What is the difference between 70% royalty tier and 45% royalty tier on Kobo Writing Life?
- 45% royalty tier costs Free against Free, and adds applies below the $2.99 threshold, no delivery fee deducted.
- Which publishing tools can I use without paying?
- 5 of the 8 publishing tools listed alongside Kobo Writing Life have a free tier: PublishDrive, Kindle, Wattpad, Webtoon, Goodreads.
- What am I actually paying for with Kobo Writing Life?
- The record lists 6 features across 1 area: other. In practice it is brought in for an author with a long or image-heavy ebook wanting to avoid the delivery fee that would apply on kdp at the same price, an author pricing a book above $9.99 who wants the 70% royalty without hitting the price ceiling that would apply on amazon before its july 2026 expansion, a wide-distribution author targeting canadian, uk or other international markets where kobo has stronger relative reach than in the us.
- Does Kobo Writing Life charge per user?
- The record carries a price and a billing period for each of its 2 tiers, but not the unit that price is charged in. Per-seat and flat-rate billing look identical in this data, so check the vendor's page before budgeting for a team.
- Are these Kobo Writing Life prices current?
- They are what the catalogue entry holds, refreshed when the entry is. Vendors change pricing without notice and nobody at Softwr re-verifies each tier by hand, so treat this as a structured summary and the vendor's own pricing page as the authority.
- What should I compare Kobo Writing Life against before paying?
- The closest publishing tools in this directory are Everand, Scrivener, PublishDrive, BookBaby. Each has a side-by-side comparison with Kobo Writing Life covering price, platforms and features.