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.
| Draft2Digital | Lulu | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $20 | Free |
| Pricing model | One-time purchase | Free |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Billing | One-time purchase | Usage-based |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Yes |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | 10% of what you earn | Not stated |
| Runs on | Not stated | Web |
| Covers | Self-Publishing, Digital Products & Storefronts | Self-Publishing, Merch & Print on Demand |
| 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 |
One upload, every ebook store
Draft2Digital takes one manuscript and lists it at Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Amazon and a long tail of libraries, which is the alternative to keeping an account at each. Its formatting and print-on-demand are included rather than sold. The commission is on top of whatever the store already takes.
Our note
Going wide through Draft2Digital and staying in KDP Select are mutually exclusive, and that is the actual decision. Select pays page reads from Kindle Unlimited; wide distribution pays from stores Amazon does not own. Do not start both.
Only on this side
Print and sell a book with no minimum order
Lulu prints one copy at a time and will drop-ship it under your own branding, so a creator can sell a workbook from their own site without holding stock or handing Amazon the customer. An API connects it to Shopify or a custom checkout. Print costs come out of your margin, and a colour interior turns a cheap book into an expensive one.
Our note
Choose Lulu over Amazon KDP when you want to sell direct and keep the buyer's email address, and KDP when you want to be found by people already shopping for books. Plenty of creators do both with the same file.
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.