Amazon KDP vs Kobo Writing Life Comparison 2026
Amazon KDP puts a book in the Kindle store for free, with a 70 percent royalty between $2.99 and $12.99, in exchange for exclusivity if you join KDP Select. Kobo Writing Life is also free and pays up to 70 percent, but asks for nothing in return: publish here and everywhere else at once, stated on the page rather than buried in terms. The real pairing is not either-or. It is whether KDP Select's exclusivity is worth giving up the free second shelf Kobo offers.
Self-publish to Kindle and keep 70 percent
Publish to Kobo and keep your rights
At a glance
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Amazon KDP | Kobo Writing Life | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | Free |
| Pricing model | Free | Free |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export |
Amazon KDP
Self-publish to Kindle and keep 70 percent
Kindle Direct Publishing is the shortest route from a finished manuscript to a book somebody can buy, and the audience on the other side of it is the reason most self-published authors start here. Publishing costs nothing. The royalty band is the thing to read before setting a price, because it changes what you earn by half.
Our note
The price band is the decision, not the cover. Pricing at $14.99 instead of $12.99 cuts the royalty rate in half, and a lot of first books are priced into the wrong side of it by accident.
Only on this side
- Covers digital products & storefronts
Kobo Writing Life
Publish to Kobo and keep your rights
Kobo Writing Life puts a book in front of Rakuten Kobo's readers, and through OverDrive into public libraries, without asking for exclusivity in return. Publishing costs nothing and the author sets the price. For anybody whose first shelf is Amazon this is the obvious second one, and the library route is the part Amazon has no answer to.
Why people weigh these two
- Kobo Writing Life instead of Amazon KDP
- Kobo Writing Life is the same direct publishing model on the Kobo store, free, and you keep your rights.
- Amazon KDP instead of Kobo Writing Life
- Amazon KDP reaches the biggest ebook audience there is and pays up to 70 percent in royalties, free to publish the same way Kobo Writing Life is.
Which one should you pick
Stay KDP-only, with Select turned on, if the Kindle Unlimited page-read money matters more than a second store. Exclusivity is the price of admission. Select cannot run alongside any other retailer, Kobo included.
Add Kobo Writing Life the moment Select is off the table, because it costs nothing, keeps the same up to 70 percent royalty band, and reaches Rakuten Kobo's readers plus public libraries through OverDrive, a route Amazon does not offer at all. Most authors who are not chasing page reads should treat this as a free second channel rather than a decision between the two.
Common questions
- Can I publish on Amazon KDP and Kobo Writing Life at the same time?
- Yes, as long as KDP Select is off. Select requires exclusivity to Amazon in exchange for Kindle Unlimited page reads, and Kobo Writing Life asks for nothing in return, stating plainly that you can publish here and anywhere else at once.
- Does Kobo pay better than Amazon?
- Both advertise up to 70 percent. On Kobo the band depends on where you set the list price, the same way KDP's rate depends on staying between $2.99 and $12.99. Neither publishes a flat number without a condition attached to it.
- What does Kobo Writing Life do that Amazon KDP does not?
- Library distribution through OverDrive, which reaches public libraries and has no equivalent on Amazon's side. It also sells audiobooks alongside ebooks from the same dashboard, and asks for no exclusivity at all.
- Is Kobo Writing Life worth using if most readers are on Kindle?
- Yes. It costs nothing and takes about an hour to set up. The reader numbers will still favour Amazon, but Kobo Writing Life is a free second shelf, not a replacement, so there is little reason to skip it once a book is already formatted for KDP.
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