Manutius vs Kindle Create
The short version
Choose Manutius if you want the book anywhere other than Amazon, if the print edition matters to you, or if the manuscript has notes, images, parts or any real typesetting in it. Manutius produces a print PDF for KDP or IngramSpark, an EPUB for every store, a Word manuscript and the cover, and you write the book in it rather than converting one.
Choose Kindle Create if you are publishing on Amazon only, your book is text without footnotes or tables, and you would rather not think about formatting. It is free, it is Amazon's own, and the ebook it makes will look fine on a Kindle.
Feature by feature
| Feature | Manutius | Kindle Create |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Mac | Windows and Mac |
| Price | $199 once (lifetime), or $15 / month, $99 / year | Free |
| What it is for | Writing the book on typeset pages and exporting for any printer or store | Converting a finished manuscript for KDP |
| Write in it | Yes | Light editing of an imported manuscript |
| Ebook output | YesEPUB for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo and every distributor | KPF, accepted by KDP only |
| Print PDF | Yesexact trim, fonts embedded, for KDP and IngramSpark | Paperback files for KDP, with restrictions |
| Custom margins, fonts, type size, leading | Yes | Nofor paperbacks, per KDP’s help |
| Footnotes and endnotes | Yespage-bottom footnotes or endnotes | Nonot in paperbacks |
| Tables | No | Nonot in paperbacks |
| Images to the edge (bleed) | Noimages sit inside the margins | No |
| Trim sizes | 7: 5×8 to 7×10 | Any KDP trim size |
| Hardcover | Yesinterior and cover wrap | Not stated |
| Large print | Yesone-click preset | No |
| Print cover with spine | Yes | NoKDP’s separate Cover Creator |
| Word import | Yes | Yes |
| Word export | Yes | No |
| Versions, comments, plan, proofing, read-aloud | Yes | No |
| AI | Optional Claude panel | No |
| Works offline | Yes | Yesdesktop app |
Kindle Create facts from KDP's help pages, checked 27 September 2026. Tell us if something has changed.
Where Manutius is better
Everywhere Kindle Create stops. The paperback restrictions on KDP's help page, no footnotes, no tables, no custom margins or type, are the things a printed book is made of; Manutius sets all of them and shows them on the page while you write. The EPUB it makes goes to Apple Books, Kobo and every distributor as well as Kindle. The print PDF is accepted by IngramSpark, which puts the book in front of bookshops and libraries. And the cover, with the spine computed from the page count, comes out of the same file.
Where Kindle Create is better
It is free and it is Amazon's. If you publish a plain-text ebook on Kindle and nowhere else, there is nothing to install beyond it, no format to learn, and the result goes straight into KDP. Its previewer shows the book on real Kindle models.
Questions
Can I sell a Kindle Create book on Apple Books or Kobo?
Not directly. Kindle Create outputs KPF, Amazon’s own format, which only KDP accepts. For other stores you need an EPUB, which Kindle Create does not make.
Can Kindle Create make a paperback?
Yes, with restrictions. KDP’s help page says paperbacks from Kindle Create cannot have tables, footnotes or endnotes, cannot have images that bleed to the edge, and cannot have their margins, fonts, type size or line spacing customised.
Does Kindle Create make covers?
No. KDP has a separate Cover Creator for that, with templates, or you upload your own cover PDF.
Is Kindle Create free?
Yes. It is a free download from KDP for Windows and Mac.