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An honest, detailed comparison of the most popular book selling and publishing platforms. See exactly where Books.by excels — and where others fall short.
Most publishing platforms are marketplaces or distributors — they sit between you and your readers, taking a cut of every sale. Books.by is different. It's your own storefront: you set the price, own the customer relationship, and pay no Books.by platform commission on direct sales. Print, shipping, and card costs still apply. Here's how that plays out feature by feature.
| Feature | Books.by | Amazon KDP | IngramSpark | Shopify | Lulu |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform Type | Direct-to-reader storefront | Marketplace | Distributor | General e-commerce | Print & marketplace |
| Annual Cost | $99/yr | Free | $49/title setup | $348+/year | Free |
| Platform commission | 0% print, shipping & card costs apply |
30–70% | 45–60% | 100% | 50–90% |
| Payout Frequency | Stripe-powered | 60 days | 90 days | Daily | Monthly |
| Print-on-Demand | ✓ Built in | ✓ Built in | ✓ Built in | ✗ 3rd-party app required | ✓ Built in |
| Custom Storefront | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Customer Data | ✓ Full details | ✗ Anonymous | ✗ Anonymous | ✓ Full details | ✗ Limited |
| ISBN support | ✓ Eligible Books.by books | ✗ ASIN only | ✗ BYO required | ✗ | ✗ BYO required |
| Cover Builder | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Sales Notifications | ✓ Real-time | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Global Printing | ✓ USA, UK, EU, AU | ✓ USA, UK, EU | ✓ 40,000+ retailers | ✗ | ✓ USA, EU |
| Transaction Fees | Card costs apply | None | None | 0.5–2% | None |
| Built for Books | ✓ Purpose-built | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ General commerce | ✓ |
| Money-Back Guarantee | ✓ 100 days | N/A (free) | ✗ | ✗ | N/A (free) |
Enter your book specs and see exactly what you'd earn on each platform. All calculations use official, publicly available pricing data.
Books.by assumes recommended $5 customer shipping. KDP rates from official Amazon documentation. IngramSpark assumes standard 55% wholesale discount with IngramSpark's published print rates.
The world's largest book marketplace — unmatched for organic discovery. But you give up 30–65% of every sale, wait 60 days for payouts, and never learn who bought your book.
Best strategy: Use both. Amazon for organic discovery, Books.by for all your personal traffic — social, email, website, events.
Powerful distribution to 40,000+ retailers and libraries. But the 55% wholesale discount, per-title fees, and 90-day payouts leave authors with very little per sale.
Best strategy: IngramSpark for wide retail distribution and library access. Books.by for direct sales where you keep everything.
The gold standard for e-commerce — but built for everything, not books. No print-on-demand, no ISBNs, no cover builder. The basic plan costs $348+/year plus transaction fees and app subscriptions.
Best strategy: Use Shopify if you sell merchandise beyond books. Use Books.by if books are your product — everything's built in at a third of the price.
Free print-on-demand with a marketplace. But royalties vary (50–90%), payouts are monthly, and you don't get a custom storefront or full customer data. Limited organic traffic compared to Amazon.
Best strategy: Lulu as another free marketplace listing. Books.by for branded direct sales, Stripe-powered payouts, and no Books.by platform commission after print, shipping, and card costs.
All-in-one publishing packages with editing, design, and distribution. But upfront costs of $399–$1,999 plus wholesale distribution discounts make it one of the most expensive options per book sold.
Best strategy: If you want hands-off publishing, hire freelancers individually for a fraction of BookBaby's packages. Use Books.by for distribution and direct sales.
Excellent for wide ebook distribution across Apple Books, Kobo, B&N, and more. But D2D takes 10% on top of retailer cuts, and their print offering is distribution-only — no direct sales storefront.
Best strategy: Use D2D for wide ebook distribution to retailers you can't reach directly. Use Books.by for direct print sales now, and Books.by Pro eBooks where relevant, with no Books.by platform commission after card costs.
*Royalty comparisons based on a 200-page black & white paperback priced at $19.99. Actual earnings vary by book specs.
In-depth, side-by-side breakdowns of Books.by against every major publishing platform — plus our interactive cost calculator.
Honest comparisons of major publishing platforms — not just Books.by vs others.
Join 50,000+ authors who chose Books.by for direct-to-reader sales.
Start Your Bookstore →