On this page
At a glance
Choose Vellum if
- you have a Mac and a finished draft to format
Choose InkSpine if
- you want to draft, plan and export from the same project
Feature by feature
| Feature | Vellum | InkSpine |
|---|---|---|
| What it actually is | A formatting and export tool — you draft the book somewhere else first, then bring it in to typeset | Draft, plan, and export from the same project — nothing to import |
| Platform | Mac only | Windows, macOS, and Linux |
| Writing the manuscript | Not part of it — Vellum starts after the draft is already finished | A distraction-free markdown editor is the starting point, not a later step |
| Characters & locations | No worldbuilding features — it is a typesetting step, not a writing tool | Structured, linked worldbuilding beside the manuscript |
Great typesetting. Nowhere to write.
Vellum makes a finished manuscript look like a real book — but it has no opinion about how you got a finished manuscript, and it only runs on a Mac. InkSpine writes, plots, and exports a validated EPUB and DOCX (InkSpine Core) from the same cross-platform project.
Writing on a PC? Vellum for Windows covers the version of this question where running Vellum isn’t an option at all.
If you're formatting in one app and writing in another, come do both in one.