Inkbound vs Scrivener. Where you draft, or the whole book?

The honest version

Literature & Latte describes Scrivener as made for long projects and focused on the first draft, and that is where it shines. The Binder, the Corkboard, the outliner, a research folder that takes any file, snapshots and word targets: if you plan on index cards and keep a research library inside your project, Scrivener does that well, and Inkbound does not try to copy it.

The difference shows at the end. In Scrivener, the finished look of your book is set in Compile, which overrides the formatting you see while you write. In a 2017 post on Literature & Latte's blog, Keith Blount wrote that Compile "seems to be a stumbling block for many users", and Scrivener 3 redesigned it. Covers are images you import, and on Mac, Scrivener includes a Vellum Export format: a .docx meant for Vellum, a separate formatting app. In Inkbound, the pages you check are facing pages shown as they will print, the cover wrap is sized from your real page count and paper, and Publish checks the book and your KDP listing before you export.

On price, compare like with like. As a one-time purchase, Scrivener is cheaper: $59.99 for Mac, against $129 for Inkbound Lifetime. Inkbound Lifetime includes every future version, for as long as we offer Inkbound. A Scrivener license covers the major version you buy, with point updates included, and a future major version would be a paid upgrade, offered to owners at a discount. Scrivener has no monthly plan. Inkbound Monthly is $1 for your first 7 days, then $14.99/month until you cancel, so the first week plus four months comes to $60.96, a little more than Scrivener for Mac. Inkbound's AI staff runs on pay-as-you-go AI credits, bought in the app from $9.99, and every new account includes 50 credits to try it. Every plan is on the Inkbound pricing page.

Pick Scrivener if

• You write on Windows, an Intel Mac, an iPad or an iPhone.
• You plan with index cards and outlines, and keep research files inside your project.
• You want to pay once, at the lowest price, for drafting.
• You want a writing app with no AI of its own.

Pick Inkbound if

• You write on an Apple Silicon Mac and want to finish and publish the book in the same app.
• You want a print interior, a full KDP cover wrap, an EPUB and a listing check without a second app.
• You want an AI writing assistant on hand when you are stuck, and a Story Bible it reads.

Scrivener plus Vellum, or one app?

Some Mac authors draft in Scrivener and lay out the book in Vellum, using Scrivener's Vellum Export format to move the text across. It works, and it means two apps and two purchases: Scrivener for Mac is $59.99 and Vellum Press, for eBooks and paperbacks, is $249.99. Together that is $309.98. Vellum Ebooks is $199.99 if you only need eBooks.

Neither one makes the full print cover wrap. Vellum's help pages say you upload the print cover to the print service as a separate file, and Scrivener documents no cover design tool, only a cover image you import. In Inkbound you draft, typeset, build the full KDP cover wrap and export in one Mac app: $129 once for Lifetime, or $1 for your first 7 days, then $14.99/month until you cancel. Finished-file downloads unlock with your first $14.99 month. AI credits are separate, from $9.99.

Atticus is another app that writes and formats in one place. It is $147 once and runs on Mac, Windows, Linux and Chromebook.

Formatting a KDP paperback from Scrivener

Scrivener can make the print PDF for a KDP paperback. The finished look is set in Compile, whose Page Settings hold the paper size and the margins. On Mac, the margins can be offset for facing pages, and the built-in Paperback formats come in 6 × 9 in and 5.06 × 7.81 in, both KDP trim sizes. For any other trim, you change the paper size yourself.

The margins are yours to enter too, and the inside margin, the gutter, is the one to watch. KDP asks for at least 0.375 in up to 150 pages and more as the book gets longer, so a gutter that fit your draft may not fit the final page count. Inkbound starts from KDP trim sizes, sizes the gutter from your page count and shows facing pages as they will print. For trim, margins and bleed step by step, see how to format a book for KDP.