What is the cheapest way to format a book?

By upfront cash, a free tool like Draft2Digital's formatter or formatting in Word is the cheapest, at zero dollars. A DIY template is a small one-time cost. Formatting software is a larger one-time cost, about 147 dollars for Atticus or 249.99 dollars for Vellum, that gets cheaper per book the more you publish. A done-for-you service such as BookDesigner.ai is 99.99 dollars per book. The truly cheapest option depends on whether you value cash or hours more, and how many books you will make.

Should I hire a freelance formatter or use software?

If you publish many books and enjoy the craft, software amortizes and gives you instant control. A freelance designer makes sense for illustrated or specialty interiors that templates and tools cannot handle, though quotes commonly run several hundred to several thousand dollars and the best designers book weeks or months out. For one or two standard books, a per-book done-for-you service often lands between the two on cost and removes the learning curve entirely.

Which formatting method is right for me?

Match the method to your volume, platform, budget, and skill. Software fits prolific do-it-yourselfers. A DIY template fits authors who want a professional look and are comfortable in Word. A freelancer fits complex or illustrated books. A done-for-you service fits authors with one or two books who want the interior, and often the cover and marketing too, handled without operating an app. This page lays out the trade-offs and links to a full review of each route.

Author Guides · Tools · Decision guide

The four ways to format a book in 2026: software, templates, freelancers, or done-for-you

By Tracy Atkins, founder of BookDesigner.ai and BookDesignTemplates.com · 15+ years of print files, 70,000+ authors · Updated July 11, 2026

The short answer: there are four honest ways to turn a manuscript into publishable files, and none of them is best for everyone. Formatting software you buy once and operate. A professional template you drop your text into and control yourself. A freelance designer you hire for the project. Or a done-for-you service you pay per book to handle it. The right choice depends on four things: how much cash versus time you want to spend, your platform, the complexity of your interior, and how many books you will publish. This page is the map, with a full review linked for each route.

Full disclosure: We make BookDesigner.ai, which is the done-for-you route below. This guide is our honest best effort, and we point you to the other three routes plainly whenever one of them fits you better.

The four paths at a glance

Path	Typical cost	Your time	Design control	Skill needed
Software (Vellum, Atticus)	About $147 to $249.99 one-time	Real; you learn and operate it	High within the app's styles	Moderate
DIY template	Small one-time cost per template	Moderate; you place your text	High, within the template	Comfort in Word
Freelance designer	Commonly quoted several hundred to several thousand dollars	Low; briefing and revisions	Highest; bespoke	Low, but you manage the project
Done-for-you (BookDesigner.ai)	$99.99 per book (bundles from $149.99)	Minimal; upload and receive	Pick a design; the service executes	None

Software and freelance figures reflect publicly reported and commonly quoted information as of July 2026 and can change; confirm current details before you buy. BookDesigner.ai prices are our own current published prices. A free option also exists: Draft2Digital's formatter and formatting in Word both cost nothing, covered below.

Path 1: Formatting software

You buy an app once and format your own books forever. The two names authors weigh most are Vellum and Atticus. Vellum produces beautiful, stable interiors and is a one-time purchase of about $249.99, but it is Mac-only and does not design covers. Atticus is cross-platform and about $147, doubles as a writing app, and trades a little stability for the lower price and Windows support. Both share the defining property of this whole category: the work, the learning, and the responsibility for hitting printer specs stay with you. Software is the smart economics for a prolific author who enjoys the craft, because the per-book cost keeps falling.

Go deeper: our Vellum review, our Atticus review, and the head-to-head Vellum vs Atticus vs hiring it done.

Path 2: The DIY template (the middle path)

A professional template is the honest middle ground between free tools and paying someone. You buy a designer-built template, drop your manuscript into it in Word, and keep full control while standing on someone else's typography and layout decisions. It costs a small one-time fee per template, needs only ordinary comfort with Word, and produces a genuinely professional look when you follow the setup. It is the right call for authors who want to keep their hands on the work without learning a whole new app or paying per book. Our own library lives at BookDesignTemplates.com, and if you would rather format from scratch, our guide to formatting a book in Word covers the free route end to end.

Path 3: A freelance designer

Hiring a human designer buys bespoke work and the lowest time commitment on your end, and it is the right answer for genuinely complex or illustrated interiors that tools and templates cannot do well. The honest trade is cost and scheduling. Custom interior and cover work is commonly quoted from several hundred to several thousand dollars depending on complexity, professional covers alone average around $880 per industry data, and the best designers are often booked weeks or months out. For a standard novel or non-fiction interior, a freelancer is usually more than the book requires; for a cookbook, a children's picture book, or a heavily illustrated title, it is frequently the only route that does the job justice. Our guide to what a book cover really costs breaks down the freelance and premade numbers in detail.

Path 4: Done-for-you

You pay per book and receive finished files without operating anything. This is where BookDesigner.ai sits. You upload your manuscript in the browser, pick from 16 professional designs across 9 trim sizes, and Cantos, our book-design AI, returns a press-ready print PDF, a reflowable ePub, and an editable DOCX master you fully own. Pricing is per book: each component is $99.99, the interior-plus-cover bundle is $149.99, and the complete Full Package with cover and marketing kit is $249.99. There is nothing to install, so platform is a non-issue, and because we are responsible for the specs, a printer rejection is our problem to fix. It is the right fit for an author with one or two books who wants the interior, and often the cover and marketing, handled without becoming a formatter. Honest caveat: it is built for novels, memoirs, and most non-fiction, not for cookbooks or children's picture books, where a specialist is the better path.

Compare it directly: BookDesigner.ai vs Vellum and BookDesigner.ai vs Atticus. And if a simple free ebook is all you need, read our honest Draft2Digital formatting review first, because sometimes the free tool is the correct answer.

How to choose, in four questions

How many books will you publish? Many and you enjoy it, lean software or a template. One or two, lean done-for-you or a freelancer.
What is your platform? On Windows, Vellum is off the table; Atticus, a template, or a browser-based service fit.
How complex is your interior? Standard text, any path works. Illustrated or specialty, favor a freelancer.
Cash or hours? If your time is scarce, paying per book to skip the learning curve is often the lower true cost, not the higher one.

The one-line verdict

Software for the prolific do-it-yourselfer, a template for the hands-on author who wants a professional look, a freelancer for complex or illustrated books, and done-for-you for the author who just wants a finished book without operating an app. Match the path to your answers above, not to a sticker price alone.

Not sure which path fits your book?

The fastest way to decide is to see your own manuscript typeset. BookDesignerAI is done-for-you interior formatting at $99.99 per book, nothing to install and no platform to worry about. You get a press-ready print PDF, a reflowable ePub, and an editable DOCX you fully own, in one of 16 professional designs by Cantos, our book-design AI, plus optional cover and marketing kit. Upload your manuscript for a free 30-page professionally typeset preview of your own book. No credit card, and nothing is ever trained on your work.

Get the Free Preview

Prices and quoted figures reflect publicly reported and commonly quoted information as of July 2026 and can change; confirm current details with each vendor. Reviews in this series: Vellum review · Atticus review · Vellum vs Atticus vs hiring it done · BookDesigner.ai vs Vellum · BookDesigner.ai vs Atticus · Draft2Digital formatting review · All author guides