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.
| Dabble | PublishDrive | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $19 | From $13.99 |
| Pricing model | Free trial, then paid | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Annual only |
| Free trial | 14 days | None |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Everything, in an open format | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | None |
| Runs on | Web, iOS, Android | 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 |
A novel manuscript, its plot grid beside it
Dabble holds a manuscript, its outline and its story notes in one place, with a plot grid you can open alongside the chapter you are writing. It syncs to a phone, which matters more than it sounds when the useful idea arrives away from the desk. Everything you wrote stays readable and exportable after you stop paying.
Our note
Dabble is the pick if you outline before you draft, because the plot grid is genuinely good and genuinely central. Novlr is cheaper and has a free plan; Plottr does the planning better and does not want to be your editor.
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.