Folius vs Vivliostyle
Folius
usefolius.comVivliostyle
vivliostyle.orgSide by side
| Figure | Folius | Vivliostyle |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $8.25/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Book Layout Software | 8.0 (#13) | 8.2 (#10) |
| Integrations | The privacy policy says users may sign in with an identity provider such as Google and names Polar for membership purchases and management. | 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. |
| Purpose | Folius is a browser-based tool for formatting books for print and ebook. | Vivliostyle is an open-source typesetting project for digital and web publishing based on web standards. |
| Support | The maker lists Jamie Mill trading as Folius and provides an email contact for privacy requests and complaints. | The project directs users to documentation, GitHub contribution channels and a Slack development community. |
Plans
In their own words
Folius
Folius is a browser-based tool for formatting books for print and ebook. Authors can write in its editor or import a Word document, then review and adjust detected chapter breaks. Themes and controls cover type, spacing, chapter openings, headings, and running matter. Print settings include trim size, type size, margins, bleed, edges, and crop marks, with a paginated preview. Listed exports include print and screen PDFs, EPUB, static HTML, Markdown, and a Folius backup. The free plan offers unlimited books and chapters, browser editing, Word import, live print preview, and EPUB, Markdown, and backup exports. Membership is listed at $99 a year, billed annually at $8.25 per month; it adds PDFs, hosted images and cover uploads, static HTML export, collaboration, and public read-only sharing. The pricing note also lists paid plans from $12/mo. Members can invite editors to collaborate without those editors having a membership, but a membership is personal rather than an organization-wide licence. Users retain ownership of their book content.
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.