Paperlight or Lacuna?
Lacuna is a desktop book formatter made by an indie author and a developer, sold for a one-time price with a trial that lets you format everything before you pay to export. Paperlight does a similar job in the browser, with nothing to install, a free ebook and $24 a year for print files.
Here’s Lacuna next to Paperlight and the other popular tools. The full comparison.
Compare with
| Feature | Paperlight | Lacuna | Vellum | Atticus | Reedsy Studio | Kindle Create | Draft2Digital |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Writing and ebook free; print $24 a year | $149 once | $249.99 once ($199.99 for ebooks only) | $147 once | Free | Free | Free; ~10% of ebook sales if you distribute with them |
| Try before paying | Everything free except the print files | Everything free until you export | Free to build and preview | 30-day money-back guarantee; no free trial | Free | Free | Free |
| Runs on | Any computer, in your browser | Windows, Mac, Linux, a download | Mac only (macOS 13 or newer) | Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook | In your browser | Windows or Mac, a download | In your browser |
| Account | None | Not stated by Lacuna | Not stated by Vellum | Required; online to sign in and export | Required | A KDP account to publish | Required |
| Writing your book | Yes, free: outline, goals, story bible, versions, focus mode | Import a .docx | An editor for changes, not built for drafting | A full writing app | A free writing app | Import a finished manuscript | Upload a finished manuscript |
| Book styles | 129, plus a full style editor with 540 drawn ornaments, 97 ornate letters in any colour and page frames | Premade styles, or customise your own | 26 | 17 templates, plus a theme builder | 3 | 4 ebook themes | Their set of templates |
| Trim sizes | 28, pocket to A4, square, landscape, plus custom | Not stated by Lacuna | 24, plus large print | Not stated by Atticus | 4, including pocket | Not stated by Kindle Create | A selection |
| Print files for | Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, B&N Press, Lulu, Bookvault | Print-ready PDFs for the major distributors | Print-ready PDF | Print PDF, made mainly for Amazon KDP | Print-ready PDF | Amazon KDP only (a KPF file, not a PDF) | Print-ready PDF for any print-on-demand service |
| IngramSpark PDF/X | Yes, converted in your browser (beta) | Not stated by Lacuna | Yes, PDF/X-1a | No | Yes, PDF/X-1a | No | Not stated by Draft2Digital |
| Large print, hardcover, colour | Yes, all three | Hardcover yes | Yes, all three | Not stated by Atticus | Not stated by Reedsy Studio | Hardcover yes; large print no | Not stated by Draft2Digital |
| Box sets | Yes, kept in step with their books | Not stated by Lacuna | Yes | Not stated by Atticus | Not stated by Reedsy Studio | Not stated by Kindle Create | Not stated by Draft2Digital |
| Where your book is kept | In your browser, and a folder you choose | On your computer, no cloud | On your Mac | Atticus cloud, synced between devices | Your Reedsy account | On your computer | Your Draft2Digital account |
— means the company doesn’t publish it and we couldn’t confirm it. Scroll sideways on a small screen.
Sources
- Lacuna, checked October 2026: lacuna.pub, ScribeCount: Lacuna review
- Vellum, checked October 2026: vellum.pub, Kindlepreneur: Atticus vs Vellum (Sep 2026)
- Atticus, checked October 2026: Written Word Media: Atticus review, Kindlepreneur: Atticus vs Vellum (Sep 2026), Kindlepreneur: Atticus review, Publishing.co.uk: Atticus review (Oct 2026), Vappingo: Atticus review (Sep 2026)
- Reedsy Studio, checked October 2026: reedsy.com/studio/format-a-book
- Kindle Create, checked October 2026: KDP help: Kindle Create, ebookpbook: Kindle Create for print books (May 2026)
- Draft2Digital, checked October 2026: Draft2Digital FAQ, draft2digital.com, Draft2Digital: automated layout for print
Products change, so check their sites for the latest.
Why authors choose Paperlight over Lacuna
- You want your ebook free, with nothing to download or install.
- You print with several printers and want the PDF checked against each.
- You want large-print, hardcover, colour or box-set editions from the same file.
- You’d like to write the book in the same place, free.
See your book free
Print files $24 a year.