Scrivener vs Vellum Comparison 2026
Both cover self-publishing. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
A book-length manuscript that stays navigable
Typeset a book that looks professionally made
At a glance
- Scrivener starts cheaper, at $59.99.
- Neither has a free tier.
Side by side
Scrivener | Vellum | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $59.99 | From $199.99 |
| Pricing model | One-time purchase | One-time purchase |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing | One-time purchase | One-time purchase |
| Free trial | 30 days | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on (they differ) | macOS, Windows, iOS | macOS |
| Covers | Self-Publishing, Writing & Scripts | Self-Publishing |
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.
Scrivener
A book-length manuscript that stays navigable
Scrivener treats a manuscript as a stack of pieces rather than one long file, which is why people who have abandoned a novel in a word processor keep coming back to it. Research, notes and drafts live in the same project, scenes reorder by dragging, and the compile step turns the whole thing into an ebook or a print file at the end. The learning curve is real and front-loaded. It is bought once, per platform.
Our note
The learning curve is real, front-loaded, and the single most common reason people bounce off it. Give the trial a genuine week on a real project rather than an evening of poking, because almost nobody likes Scrivener on day one and most long-form writers who persist keep it for a decade.
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.