Storefronts and publishing services
Bookrata vs BookAuth
BookAuth is the nearest like-for-like competitor. It does more of the job in one dashboard, and it takes a cut.
BookAuth bundles an author site, ARC campaigns, a newsletter, a storefront, Lulu print and a reader side. It takes 5%, 3% or 2% of each sale depending on tier. It is also the only other platform here that touches content, through warnings each author sets for their own book.
Every BookAuth figure here is taken from BookAuth's own published pages, checked on , and pulled from the same source as the full comparison. Plans change, so verify before relying on any figure.
Two different products, side by side
The same summary cards that appear on the full comparison. Each one ends with what that product does not do, including Bookrata.
Bookrata
Every book measured across six content categories on a five-tier scale. Readers set comfort caps and browse what clears them. You're the merchant of record, keep 100%, and delivery, watermarking and a reading app come with every plan.
Doesn't doNewsletter swaps. Print-on-demand printing. ARC campaign tooling.
BookAuth
An ambitious all-in-one: author site, ARC campaigns, newsletter, storefront, Lulu print, and a reader side. Free/$12/$29 a month — and a 5%/3%/2% cut on every sale.
Worth checkingIts audiobook support is stated on some pages and not on others. Launched June 2026.
Audiobooks: BookAuth's own pages disagree
Its comparison pages list "Audiobook Distribution: Native (Direct Sales)", while its manuscript-upload help article says it supports ePub and PDF. We report both rather than pick one. Some older prose on /compare reads as a flat no; the table and the source note are the more careful record, so treat audiobook support as something to confirm with BookAuth directly.
The one near-miss, and why it isn't the same thing
BookAuth is the only other platform here that touches content at all. It offers author-set content warnings and a "Content Heat" indicator, and markets them as "Author-controlled — you set the warnings, not strangers" That's a reasonable feature, and it's better than nothing. But it's a label each author writes for their own book, which means two books carrying the same warning can be nothing alike, and a reader has no way to know. Bookrata's ratings run the other way round on purpose: the same yardstick, applied by someone who isn't selling the book. That's what makes a Tier 2 on one book mean the same as a Tier 2 on another — and it's the only version of this that a reader can actually filter by.
What each one takes
The platform's cut, what you pay before you sell anything, and who is the merchant of record, which decides who owns the customer and who carries the tax.
| Platform | Cut of each sale | What you pay | Merchant of record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bookrata | 0% | Free, or $65/yr Pro, $150/yr Premier Audiobook add-on $15/yr | You Your Stripe, your customer |
| BookAuth | 5% / 3% / 2% By tier — a cut even on paid plans | Free, $12/mo, or $29/mo Custom domain only on the $29 tier | You Your connected Stripe account |
Card processing is separate everywhere and goes to Stripe or the equivalent, typically around 2.9% plus 30¢. Where you are the merchant of record you keep the customer relationship and carry the tax obligation; where the platform is, it's the reverse. Neither is strictly better — but it's worth knowing which one you've signed up for.
Bookrata and BookAuth, row by row
Every row from the BookAuth column of the full comparison, next to Bookrata's. Where BookAuth publishes nothing on a point, it says "not documented" rather than guessing.
| Capability | Bookrata | BookAuth |
|---|---|---|
| Getting found | ||
| A reader audience grown from both sides | ✓Readers browse the rated catalogue bringing qualified buyers to your page | ~A reader side exists; no published size, launched June 2026 |
| Discovery by measured content | ✓Six categories, five tiers, one yardstick for every book | ~Author-set content warnings and a "Content Heat" mark — self-declared, so not comparable between books |
| Nothing gets pushed at readers | ✓No recommendation engine, no bestseller list, no "customers also bought", no sponsored shelf. A reader finds your book by filtering for what she wants, not by being told what's popular | –Documents "AI-powered personalized recommendations" on the reader side, delivered by an assistant you ask rather than an automated feed. No bestseller or trending list |
| Selling | ||
| Platform's cut of each sale | ✓0% on every plan | –5% / 3% / 2% by tier — a cut even when you're paying |
| You are the merchant of record | ✓Your Stripe, your customer, your money | ✓Its terms say the author is |
| Storefront on your own domain | ✓From $65/yr Pro | ~Only on the $29/mo Business tier |
| Signed print copies | ✓Author-fulfilled physical sales from Pro | ✓Signed copies alongside Lulu print-on-demand |
| The buyer's email belongs to you | ✓Consented purchaser capture on every plan, free one included; lead export and giveaway leads from Pro | ~Says "You keep the buyer's email", and subscriber lists export to CSV. Its published sales-CSV schema lists no buyer name or email column, and its subscriber help article does not list purchases as a subscription source |
| Campaign links you can attribute to sales | ✓Tagged links per campaign, tracked from click through visit, buy-click and purchase — so you learn which newsletter or post actually sold copies | –Not documented |
| How deep the analytics go | ✓15 panels on Premier — including a four-step conversion funnel, which Bookrata tags and filters surfaced your book, abandoned carts with real revenue, impressions against clicks per title, and reading completion | ~Sales, visitors, followers and reader demographics; the basic-versus-advanced line isn't published |
| Delivering | ||
| Per-buyer watermarking instead of DRM | ✓Every copy personalised to its buyer, on every plan | –States "No DRM — BookAuth does not apply DRM to your files"; uses signed, time-limited links. Watermarking is not published on its pages |
| The reader keeps it, forever, in a real app | ✓Browser reader and installable web-app, always re-downloadable | ~"My Library" with unlimited re-downloads, but no reader app — it points you to third-party ones |
| Audiobooks | ✓Sell on Premier or a $15/yr add-on — and the Guild will fund making oneComing in November | ~Its comparison pages list "Audiobook Distribution: Native (Direct Sales)"; its manuscript-upload help article says "BookAuth supports two manuscript formats for digital distribution: ePub and PDF." Both are BookAuth's own pages |
| Shipped in October 2026 | ||
| Readers can browse what's on sale | ✓An On Sale filter in the library. Set a sale price and readers browsing the catalogue can find it, with no placement fee and no application. Pro and Premier | –Has a catalogue; its visible sort options are Recommended, Newest, Title and Author, with no sale filter documented |
| Buy a book as a gift | ✓Free The recipient gets it by email and claims it into their own library | ✓Gift purchases with claim links |
| Your own discount codes and timed sales | ✓Pro+ Author-created codes plus scheduled sale prices per listing, so a launch week starts and ends without you at the keyboard. Pro and Premier | ~Discount codes, capped by tier at 3 / 10 / unlimited; scheduled sale pricing not documented |
| Sell a whole series as one bundle Live | ✓Pro+ Price the series you already organise; the buyer gets every book in it | ✓Already has book bundles |
| Readers can write to you, and you can write back Live | ✓Free Reader Notes: a verified owner sends a note, you heart it and reply once. A next-book discount code on the reply follows in a later phase | ~Reviews and author follows, but no verified-owner note with a bounded author reply |
| Cost before you sell anything | ✓$0 to start; $150/yr for everything | ~$0–$348/yr, but a percentage comes off every sale on top |
✓ Does this ~ Partly, or with a condition – Doesn't
Rows marked Coming in November describe the Bookrata Guild, which launches in November 2026. They are not counted as shipped.
BookAuth launched publicly on 3 June 2026 and publishes no user numbers. Its help centre is substantial — roughly 109 articles across 17 categories — though six of those categories currently show no articles, and its blog and changelog pages have not yet published an entry. None of that is a criticism of the product, which is ambitious and moving quickly; it is simply a different proposition from a platform with a longer track record, and worth weighing before moving a catalogue onto it.
Where BookAuth is the right answer
A comparison that finds nothing good in the other product is an advert. Here is where BookAuth genuinely does better, and you can keep using it alongside Bookrata. Nothing you upload here becomes exclusive.
BookAuth
One dashboard for more of the job
Site, ARCs, newsletter, storefront and print in a single tool is a real convenience, and content warnings at least acknowledge the problem Bookrata is built around. BookAuth also had gift purchases and book bundles before Bookrata matched them in October. The trade-offs are a cut on every sale and a short public track record, since it launched in June 2026.
Weighing more than one?
The full comparison puts all eight platforms in one place, with every table and source note.