Making the work
Growing an audience
Running the business
BookFunnel and SendOwl both deliver a digital file after it changes hands, and both avoid taking a cut of the sale, but they meter completely different things. BookFunnel prices itself by downloads a month, from $30 a year for 500, which suits an author giving books away to build a list regardless of what, if anything, sells. SendOwl prices itself by orders, revenue and bandwidth together, from $32.50 a month billed annually for 5,000 orders and $10,000 in sales a year, which suits somebody actually selling a small number of pricier digital products.
Ebook delivery and reader magnets for authors
Digital delivery billed flat, with no cut of sales
BookFunnel | SendOwl | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $2.50 | From $32.50 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Paid subscription | Free trial, then paid |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing (they differ) | Annual only | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Yes |
Ebook delivery and reader magnets for authors
BookFunnel solves the unglamorous half of giving a book away: getting the file onto a stranger's e-reader without a support email, and adding them to a mailing list on the way. Group promotions with other authors are built in and are where most of its users find readers. Everything is priced by downloads a month rather than by titles.
Only on this side
Digital delivery billed flat, with no cut of sales
SendOwl delivers digital files after payment and prices that on volume rather than on a share of the sale, which is the difference that matters to anybody selling a high-priced product. Every feature is on every plan, so the tier only decides how many orders, how much revenue and how much bandwidth are covered. Products and storage are uncapped at all levels. The flat fee is worse than a percentage for somebody selling very little, and better for everybody above that crossover.
Our note
Work out where the flat fee beats a percentage on your own numbers, because the crossover against a platform charging 5 to 10 percent arrives at a few hundred dollars of monthly sales. Watch the revenue ceiling rather than the order count, since a dear product hits the sales cap long before the order cap.
Buy BookFunnel if the job is getting an ebook or audiobook onto a stranger's device and their email onto your list, especially through group promotions with other authors. Its $30-a-year entry tier covers 500 downloads a month with no regard to revenue, which fits giveaways better than a tool built around orders and sales totals.
Buy SendOwl if you are selling a small number of higher-priced digital products and want a flat fee rather than a percentage. Launch is $32.50 a month billed annually for 5,000 orders, $10,000 in sales and 10 GB of bandwidth, with unlimited products and storage even at that tier. Watch the sales-dollar ceiling rather than the order count: a pricier product hits it first.
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.
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
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| Their cut | Not stated | None |
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| Runs on | Web | Web |
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| Covers | Self-Publishing, Digital Products & Storefronts | Digital Products & Storefronts |
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| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
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| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
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| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
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| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
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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.