Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover self-publishing and digital products & storefronts. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Amazon KDP | PublishDrive | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | From $13.99 |
| Pricing model | Free | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Usage-based | Annual only |
| Free trial | Not stated | None |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | 30% of what you earn | None |
| Runs on | Not stated | Web |
| Covers | Self-Publishing, Digital Products & Storefronts | Self-Publishing, Digital Products & Storefronts |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
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.
Ebook distribution with no cut of royalties
PublishDrive charges a subscription and then takes nothing from sales, which inverts the usual aggregator deal and pays off the moment a book sells steadily. One upload reaches over 50 retailers and a library network most authors never get near. Plans are capped by title count, so a back catalogue costs more than a single book does.
Our note
Draft2Digital takes 10 percent and costs nothing up front, so it wins on a book that barely sells and loses on one that does. Work out your annual royalties before choosing: the crossover for the Starter plan is somewhere around $1,700 a year in sales.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.