Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover self-publishing. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Atticus | PublishDrive | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $147 | From $13.99 |
| Pricing model | One-time purchase | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Billing | One-time purchase | Annual only |
| Free trial | Not stated | None |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Everything, in an open format | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | None |
| Runs on | Web, macOS, Windows, Linux | Web |
| Covers | Self-Publishing, Writing & Scripts | 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 |
Write and typeset a book for one payment
Atticus is a writing app and a book formatter in one, which is the pairing self-published authors otherwise buy twice. It runs in a browser and offline, so a manuscript is not stranded by a bad connection, and it exports files the retailers accept. One payment covers unlimited books and there is no subscription behind it.
Our note
The comparison people actually make is against Vellum, which costs more and is Mac only. If you are on Windows this is the answer by default; on a Mac the question is whether Vellum's output is worth roughly twice the money to you.
Only on this side
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.
Only on this side
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.