Kindle Create vs Vellum: Free Tool or Paid Upgrade?

The Verdict

Stay with Kindle Create if you are publishing a simple book on Amazon only, have no budget for software and are happy with its themes. Upgrade to Vellum if you work on a Mac and want a more polished interior, plan to sell outside Amazon, or will publish several books.

This is not really a contest between equals, and that is useful to know before comparing features. Kindle Create is Amazon's free tool for getting a book onto KDP. Vellum is paid software built to produce professional-looking books for every store. The question is whether your book needs what Vellum adds.

Side by Side

What Kindle Create Does Well

Kindle Create is genuinely useful, especially for a first book. You import a Word or RTF file, it detects your chapters, and you choose a theme. It creates a linked table of contents and, for paperbacks, sets margins automatically from your trim size and page count.

Because it comes from Amazon, its files are built for KDP. For a straightforward novel or nonfiction book sold only on Amazon, it can produce a clean, readable result at no cost. It is also a low-risk way to learn how ebook formatting works before you invest in anything more advanced.

Where Kindle Create Holds You Back

• Amazon only. Its KPF files work on KDP and nowhere else. To sell on Apple Books, Kobo or through IngramSpark, you need standard EPUB and PDF files from another tool.
• Limited design. A handful of themes and few settings make it hard to create a distinctive look or match a series brand.
• Complex content. Tables, lists, footnotes and image-heavy pages are hard to manage.
• No box sets. Combining a finished series into one ebook is awkward and largely manual.

What You Gain With Vellum

Vellum's reputation comes from how polished its books look with very little effort. You import a manuscript, pick a style and chapter openings, drop caps, headings and ornaments all change together.

• Files for every store. Vellum generates ebooks tailored to Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books and other stores.
• Professional print. Vellum Press adds print layouts with margins, page numbers, headers and footers set automatically for your trim size.
• Box sets. Combine finished books in a series into a single box set in a few steps.
• Unlimited books. One license formats as many books as you write, with no per-book fees or subscription.

The main limitation is the platform. Vellum runs only on a Mac, so Windows users usually look at cross-platform tools instead. Our comparison of Kindle Create, Atticus and Vellum covers the Windows-friendly option alongside these two.

The Differences Readers Actually Notice

Most readers never think about formatting until something looks wrong. The differences between a basic and a polished interior show up in small moments:

• Chapter openings. A styled opening with a drop cap or a decorative heading signals a professionally produced book from the first page.
• Scene breaks. A clear ornament between scenes helps readers follow time and point-of-view changes, especially when a break falls at the top of a page.
• Consistency. Even spacing, matching headings and tidy front matter make a book feel trustworthy.
• The sample. Shoppers often read the store preview before buying, so the first pages carry extra weight.

Kindle Create produces a clean, readable book. Vellum adds the finishing touches that make a self-published book look like it came from an established publisher.

Print Interiors Compared

Both tools can produce a paperback interior for KDP, but the experience differs. Kindle Create sets margins automatically from your trim size and page count, with limited control over fonts and layout. The result is serviceable for a simple book.

Vellum Press also sets margins, headers, footers and page numbers automatically, and applies the same styles you chose for the ebook, so the print and digital editions look like a matched pair. Its print PDFs can be uploaded to KDP and to other print-on-demand services, while Kindle Create's output stays on KDP.

A First-Book Plan That Uses Both

Some authors start free and upgrade only when it pays. Format your first book in Kindle Create to learn the process and get it on Amazon. If it sells, or you start a second book, rebuild it in a paid tool and upload the improved files. You lose a little time redoing the first book, but you only pay for software once you know you will use it.

Is the Upgrade Worth the Money?

Ask yourself how many books you will format and where they will sell. Vellum Press costs $249.99 once. Spread over five books, that is about $50 per book, which is less than most authors would pay for a single round of professional formatting.

One reasonable approach is to download Vellum and build your book in it before buying. Vellum lets you build, style and preview for free and only asks you to pay when you export, so you can see whether the result justifies the cost.

Moving a Book From Kindle Create to Vellum

If you published with Kindle Create and want to upgrade, the move is straightforward as long as you still have your manuscript:

1. Start from your clean, final Word manuscript rather than the Kindle Create project, with any later corrections applied.
2. Import it into Vellum and check that every chapter was detected correctly.
3. Choose a style and add your front and back matter, including the copyright page and an also-by list.
4. Preview the ebook on several device sizes and, with Vellum Press, the print layout at your chosen trim size.
5. Export new files and upload them to KDP as a new version of the same book, keeping the same edition details.
6. For a paperback, check that the page count still matches your cover's spine width, and update the cover if it changed.

When Neither Is the Right Tool

Both tools are built for text-led books. Cookbooks, workbooks, children's picture books and heavily illustrated nonfiction need page-by-page design, which calls for layout software or a designer. Our guide to Vellum vs InDesign explains where that line falls.

Frequently Asked Questions