Atticus vs Vellum Comparison 2026
Both cover self-publishing. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
Write and typeset a book for one payment
Typeset a book that looks professionally made
At a glance
- Atticus starts cheaper, at $147.
- Neither has a free tier.
Side by side
Atticus | Vellum | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $147 | From $199.99 |
| Pricing model | One-time purchase | One-time purchase |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing | One-time purchase | One-time purchase |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Everything, in an open format | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on (they differ) | Web, macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS |
| Covers | Self-Publishing, Writing & Scripts |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
Atticus
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
- Covers writing & scripts
Vellum
Typeset a book that looks professionally made
Vellum does one thing: it turns a finished manuscript into ebook and print files that look like a publisher made them, with chapter headings, drop caps and ornaments that are already correct rather than waiting to be designed. Authors buy it the week they realise their own formatting looks amateur next to what is on the shelf. It runs on macOS only, which is a genuine barrier and the single most common reason people end up elsewhere.
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.