Draft2Digital vs Vellum Comparison 2026
Both cover self-publishing. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
At a glance
- Draft2Digital starts cheaper, at $20.
- Neither has a free tier.
Side by side
Draft2Digital | Vellum | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $20 | 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 | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | 10% of what you earn | Not stated |
| Runs on | Not stated | macOS |
| Covers | Self-Publishing, Digital Products & Storefronts | Self-Publishing |
| Works with |
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.
Draft2Digital
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
- Covers digital products & storefronts
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.