Atticus or Reedsy Studio: Which Should You Use to Format Your Book?

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I use Atticus, and I tell authors to use it too. Reedsy Studio is free and does the job for a text-only novel or simple nonfiction, but it gives you little say over the design. This post compares the two, says when each one fits, and covers what to do when a formatted book has a problem.

What does each tool cost?

Reedsy says Studio’s “core writing and formatting features are completely free”, with paid plans for extras such as outlining and writing stats, and a 30-day free trial of those. Atticus is a one-time $147 for eBook and print, and it works on Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebooks. Both pages show no date; I checked them on 14-Nov-26.

Free matters when you are starting. It stops mattering when you spend a week fighting a tool that will not do what your book needs.

How do Atticus and Reedsy Studio compare?

The sources are Atticus, its help on images and its copyright page help, and Reedsy’s formatting options page (last updated 29-Aug-24). Features change, so check both before you choose.

When is Reedsy Studio enough?

If your book is words on a page, such as a novel or a simple nonfiction book, Reedsy Studio is fine. It makes a real EPUB and a print-ready PDF, and you pay nothing. I would not argue with an author who starts there.

Know what you give up. Reedsy’s own help page says you may pick small, medium or large text and a different font theme, but that it does “not offer any other size or style customization”. It also says images are all sized the same and cannot be adjusted.

When do I use Atticus instead?

I tell authors to use Atticus for anything with images, tables or worksheets, for a hardcover, or for a European trim size. In my experience Reedsy Studio does not handle those well, and I have not seen it list a hardcover option or the full range of trim sizes. Reedsy’s page mentions a trim size you can customize but does not list the sizes, so look at what it offers before you commit. In Atticus you pick the trim size in your theme settings, so you can see the full list before you buy.

Atticus also suits you if you plan to write more than one book. You learn it once and use it for each.

Should I fix a problem book in Atticus or rebuild it in Word?

Fix it in Atticus. When a formatted book has a problem, such as a gap on a page, a bad break or an image in the wrong place, the quickest repair is in the tool the book is already in. Moving the book to Word creates new problems, and I find Word harder to fix than Atticus. Look at the one setting that is wrong, change it, and export again.

If your files were rejected, how to format a book for KDP and IngramSpark lists what each one checks.

What if I would rather not format it myself?

Then pay a formatter. What book formatting costs lists what to expect, and my Reedsy review covers the rest of what Reedsy sells.

Not sure where formatting sits in the whole job? My free 12-step self-publishing checklist puts every step in order.

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