Blurb BookWright vs Vivliostyle
Blurb BookWright
store.blurb.comVivliostyle
vivliostyle.orgSide by side
| Figure | Blurb BookWright | Vivliostyle |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 10 | 1 |
| Spec score · Book Layout Software | 9.5 (#1) | 8.2 (#10) |
| Integrations | BookWright supports importing photos from Adobe Lightroom, SmugMug, and Dropbox through Photo Manager. | Viewer can display HTML files hosted on GitHub or Gist, and it can be copied into a public directory on a web server for website use. |
| License | Blurb grants a royalty-free, nonexclusive, nontransferable internal-use copyright license for BookWright and retains proprietary rights in the software. | Vivliostyle Core, Viewer and CLI use the GNU AGPL version 3 license. |
| Purpose | BookWright is desktop bookmaking software for designing custom books. | Vivliostyle is an open-source typesetting project for digital and web publishing based on web standards. |
| Support | Blurb directs customers to its Help portal for answers and customer support contact. | The project directs users to documentation, GitHub contribution channels and a Slack development community. |
| Templates | The application includes professionally designed templates, layouts and one-click auto-layout suggestions. | The CLI includes Minimal, Basic, Documentation, Novel, Academic and Magazine project templates. |
| What it does | BookWright is Blurb’s free desktop application for designing and publishing books and other printed projects. | Vivliostyle is an open-source CSS typesetting ecosystem for producing paginated digital and print publications with web technologies. |
Plans
Blurb BookWright
- BookWright softwarePrice not published
- Softcover photo book$12 a month
- ImageWrap Hardcover photo book$32 a month
- Linen Hardcover with Dust Jacket photo book$32 a month
- Layflat photo book$60 a month
- BookWrightFree
- BookWrightFree
- Paperback book, Economy Color, 5×8 in$3.99, paid once
- Paperback book, Standard B&W, 5×8 in$4.99, paid once
- Premium Magazine$7, paid once
In their own words
Blurb BookWright
Blurb BookWright is desktop software for designing custom books, including photo books, paperbacks, hardcovers, magazines, notebooks, and wall art. It provides customizable templates, freestyle grids, typography and cover tools, bleed lines, and trim guides. Image tools support scaling, cropping, enhancement, and auto-retouching powered by Perfectly Clear by EyeQ. Text Flow fits text into frames and accepts Rich Text Format imports, while Photo Manager imports photos from Adobe Lightroom, SmugMug, and Dropbox. Users can work offline in the desktop software, but publishing requires an internet connection and a free Blurb account is needed for features and publishing options. Finished projects can be printed on demand, ordered in bulk, or purchased as PDFs. BookWright is free to use; users pay for a book when they send it to print. Listed requirements include Windows 7, 8, or 10, or macOS 10.13 or later, with 2GB RAM and 500MB storage. Books can be up to 440 pages.
Vivliostyle
Vivliostyle is an open-source typesetting project for digital and web publishing based on web standards. Vivliostyle Viewer presents HTML with CSS typesetting in a browser and can display EPUB files and web publications. The command-line tool typesets HTML and CSS and exports PDFs, including PDFs generated from EPUB files. For print production, its PRESS-READY option supports PDF/X-1a output and requires Ghostscript and Xpdf.
Vivliostyle Pub is a web application for editing text, Markdown, or HTML and previewing typesetting; its new version is in alpha. Themes are distributed as npm packages and applied through vivliostyle.config.js. Viewer can display HTML hosted on GitHub or Gist, or be copied into a public web-server directory. The CLI requires Node.js, and the installation tutorial lists macOS, Windows, and Linux. Vivliostyle uses AGPLv3, which allows modification and commercial use subject to reciprocal license terms. Its FAQ says publications made with the software need not publish their HTML or CSS source data. The project is maintained by Vivliostyle Foundation.