Vellum Alternatives for Windows Users in 2026

Ask in any indie author group which tool to use for formatting and someone will say Vellum within minutes. It deserves the reputation. Vellum makes it remarkably easy to turn a manuscript into a polished ebook and print book, and its templates are some of the best-looking around.

There’s just one catch, and if you’re reading this you’ve probably already hit it: Vellum only runs on a Mac. If you write on a Windows laptop, a Linux machine or an iPad, it isn’t an option at all, and even Mac users often hesitate at paying around $250 for a tool they’ll use a few times a year.

The good news is that you have real choices. Here are the strongest Vellum alternatives for Windows users, what each one is genuinely good at, and how to decide between them. In the interest of full disclosure, one of them is Libba, which I built, so weigh that part of my opinion accordingly.

What Vellum gets right, and where it falls short

It helps to be clear about what you’re trying to replace. Vellum’s appeal is simplicity: you import a Word document, choose a style, and get a clean, consistent book with very little fiddling. The output is reliable and the templates look professional with almost no effort.

Its limitations are just as clear. It’s a Mac-only desktop app, so your books live on one computer. The version that handles both ebooks and print costs around $250, with a cheaper ebook-only edition at around $200. And it imports Word documents but not existing EPUBs, so if your earlier books were made somewhere else, you start them again from scratch.

A good alternative should keep as much of that simplicity as possible while removing the restriction that matters most to you, whether that’s the platform, the price or the inability to import what you already have.

Libba

Libba is a browser-based EPUB formatter, which means it runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, an iPad or a phone without installing anything. It costs $39 a year, and after three years of subscribing it’s yours permanently; you can also pay $99 once for lifetime access.

It’s built entirely around the ebook. That focus shows in a few places that most tools treat as an afterthought: more than 300 scene-break ornaments grouped by genre, separate exports for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, Nook and Google Play that each contain only the store links that retailer allows, and a live preview that shows your book on simulated devices as you work. It also imports existing EPUB files, so you can bring books made in Vellum or Atticus across and keep editing them.

The honest limitation is that Libba doesn’t make print PDFs. If you need a paperback interior, you’ll need a separate print tool alongside it. Libba suits authors who publish digitally first and want a professional ebook without buying a Mac.

Atticus

Atticus is the most direct all-in-one alternative to Vellum. It’s a web-based app that works on Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebooks, it handles both ebooks and print PDFs from the same project, and it includes a writing environment, so some authors use it from first draft to finished book. It costs $147 as a one-time purchase.

If you need print and ebook together and like the idea of writing and formatting in one place, Atticus is the obvious first stop. Some authors find it less polished than Vellum in places, so it’s worth trying it with a real manuscript before committing.

Reedsy Book Editor

Reedsy’s book editor is completely free and runs in the browser. You write or paste your book in, choose from a small set of templates, and export an EPUB and a print-ready PDF. The interface is clean and pleasant to use.

The trade-off is control. There are only a handful of designs and very few ways to customise them, so books made in Reedsy tend to look alike. It’s a good choice if your budget is zero and you want something tidy and straightforward, less so if you care about a distinctive look.

Draft2Digital

Draft2Digital is primarily a distribution service: you upload your book once and it publishes to many retailers for you, in exchange for a share of each sale. Its formatting tool is free and turns a Word document into an EPUB, with a handful of simple templates.

It makes the most sense if you already plan to distribute through Draft2Digital, since the formatting comes bundled with that service. If you’d rather upload to each store yourself and keep the full royalty, the formatting tool on its own is fairly basic.

Calibre

Calibre is free, open source and runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. It’s genuinely powerful: it can convert between ebook formats, and its built-in editor lets you change anything inside an EPUB. But it’s a tool for working on ebook files, not a book designer. There are no templates, and anything beyond simple changes means editing HTML and CSS directly.

If you’re comfortable with code and want total control for free, Calibre is excellent. For most authors it’s best kept as a utility for inspecting or converting files, not as the place you design a book.

Side by side

	Vellum	Libba	Atticus	Reedsy	Draft2Digital
Price	~$250	$39/year or $99 lifetime	$147 one-time	Free	Free (share of sales if you distribute)
Runs on	Mac only	Any browser	Any browser	Any browser	Any browser
Ebook (EPUB)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Print PDF	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Imports existing EPUBs	No	Yes	No	No	No
Separate exports per store	No	Yes	No	No	No

Which one should you choose?

Start with what your books actually need. If you need a print edition now and want ebook and paperback from one project, Atticus is the closest thing to Vellum on Windows. If your budget is truly zero and you’re happy with a simple look, Reedsy will get you a tidy, readable book for nothing. If you’re planning to distribute through Draft2Digital anyway, its built-in formatting is the path of least resistance.

If you publish ebooks first, want your books to look distinctive, and have older titles you’d like to bring across and keep updating, that’s exactly the author Libba was built for. And if you’re technical and enjoy working with code, Calibre gives you complete control at no cost.

Many authors also combine tools: Libba for the ebook editions they update often, and a print-focused tool for a paperback interior they rarely change.

What about just buying a Mac?

It’s a fair question, and some authors do exactly that. But the numbers rarely work out. The cheapest new Mac costs around $600, and adding Vellum brings the total to roughly $850 before you’ve formatted a page. Unless you want a Mac for other reasons, that’s a lot to spend on something a browser-based tool can do on the computer you already own.

Common questions

Can I run Vellum on Windows using a virtual machine? In theory, but it isn’t practical for most people. Running macOS on non-Apple hardware breaks Apple’s licence terms, performance tends to be poor, and setting it up is fiddly.

What if I already have books formatted in Vellum? Export them from Vellum as EPUBs, then import those into a tool that accepts EPUB files, such as Libba, and continue editing from there. The text, chapters and headings come across; the cover and any images inside the book are re-added afterwards, and your chosen Libba style replaces the old formatting.

Will an alternative look as good as Vellum? For ebooks, a well-designed template in a good tool can look every bit as professional. Where Vellum still shines is print layout, which is why authors who need paperbacks often look at Atticus or a dedicated print tool.

Can I use more than one tool? Yes, and plenty of authors do: one tool for the ebook and another for print.

The bottom line

Vellum is excellent if you have a Mac and don’t mind the price. If you don’t, you’re not stuck. For an ebook-first author on Windows, Libba gives you professional EPUBs in the browser for a fraction of the cost. If you need print too, Atticus is the strongest all-in-one option, and if you’re starting with no budget at all, Reedsy is a sensible free place to begin.

For a shorter, more direct answer to whether Vellum runs on Windows at all, see Vellum for Windows: What to Use Instead. And when you’re ready to publish, How to Format an EPUB for Amazon KDP walks through the process, or browse every guide in the EPUB Formatting Hub.