Pressbooks review (2026): is it worth $12 a month, billed yearly?
Book publishing platform that exports EPUB, PDF and web books
Black Friday: is there a Pressbooks sale?
Pressbooks report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 12, 2026
Best for writing and publishing a book on the web
Pressbooks is a web tool for writing and publishing books, with export formats and web publishing. It charges per book, $12 a month for Single Author, and each book needs its own subscription. It has no sales tools, and we could not read its pricing page.
Who Pressbooks is for
- Fits if you publish a book or textbook online and export files
- Works for one author who accepts paying per book
Who Pressbooks is not for
- Pricey if you write several books, since each needs its own subscription
- Watch out: editing stops if the subscription lapses
- Watch out: there are no sales tools, and ISBNs are on you
- Tight if you add video, as media storage is 250 MB on Single Author
- Not for you if you want to run it yourself without managing a server
Why Pressbooks gets a 2.2
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for money$12 a book a month, or $120 yearly, near the dearer quarter of writing tools. Collaboration is $40 a book a month.
- CFree plan and trialA free 7-day trial for each new book. No free plan, and the listing doesn't say if a card is needed.
- CFeaturesWriting, import, cloning, exports, web publishing, accessibility, H5P and themes. There are no sales tools, and storage is 250 MB on Single Author.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record. You set up a book, a theme and exports.
- BPlatforms and integrationsA web platform with Google Docs, Hypothes.is and H5P. No desktop or phone app is listed.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Pressbooks's own pages on 12 November 2026. Its pricing page would not load when we re-checked it. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
Make Pressbooks? Put this grade on your site
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/pressbooks#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/pressbooks.svg" alt="Pressbooks: 2.2 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Pressbooks stands among writing tools
Pressbooks's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 23 of the 100 other writing tools we grade, and level with 15.
It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 51 of 100) and worst on features (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $12 a month, against a middle price of $8.33 for the category: 42 of the 62 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 26 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 101 writing tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Pressbooks’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 17 of 100, level with 35
- CFree plan and trialAbove 12 of 100, level with 55
- CFeaturesAbove 0 of 100, level with 63
- CEase of useAbove 5 of 100, level with 52
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 51 of 100, level with 41
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 79 writing tools. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Keep Pressbooks, or make your own?
Your call
A writing app at its plainest is a page that saves what you type.
You could make the core of Pressbooks for yourself: long-form writing. What you would give up is listed below. Whether that is worth the price is your call. It costs $144 a year. Pressbooks is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself.
What you could make
- Long-form writing: an app builder makes this well.
- It runs in a browser, which is where something home-made would run too.
What you could not
- Several people working in it at the same moment.
What this rests on. Pressbooks’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Pressbooks?
Pressbooks is a book-publishing system built on WordPress Multisite. Authors write or import content, organize it into parts and chapters, and export to EPUB, PDF and XML or publish on the web. It is sold as hosted monthly plans per book, as enterprise networks for institutions, or as free open-source software to host yourself.
Worth knowing
- Each book needs its own subscription, and editing stops if the subscription lapses, though openly licensed books stay hosted.
- Media storage is 250 MB on Single Author and 1 GB on Collaboration, with large video expected to be embedded from elsewhere.
- There are no sales or monetization tools: you export files and sell them yourself, and ISBNs are your responsibility.
- Whole-organization use is sold separately as Enterprise Networks; hosting the open-source software yourself means managing a server and its updates.
Key features
- Write, import and clone
- Write original content, import from sources such as Google Docs, or clone and adapt openly licensed books.
- Export formats
- Produces digital and print-ready PDFs, EPUB, XML, XHTML and Common Cartridge files.
- Web publishing
- Make all or part of a book public on the web and list it in the Pressbooks Directory.
- Accessibility
- The vendor says books can be published as fully accessible (WCAG 2.2 compliant) digital books.
- H5P and annotation
- Embed H5P quizzes and interactive activities on the Collaboration plan, and allow social annotation through Hypothes.is.
- Themes and custom CSS
- Choose from 20+ themes and add custom CSS to change how the web book, EPUB and PDF look.
Pressbooks pricing
As of Nov 12, 2026, Pressbooks is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $12 per book / month ($120 billed yearly).
- Starts at
- $12 per book / month ($120 billed yearly)
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- Free 7-day trial for each new book
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Single Author | $12per book / month, or $120 per year | One author, 250 MB of media storage, EPUB and PDF exports without watermarks, 20+ themes and custom CSS. |
| Collaboration | $40per book / month, or $400 per year | Unlimited collaborators, 1 GB of media storage, plus H5P quizzes and interactive activities. |
Read from dev.pressbooks.com on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Pressbooks before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Annual discountYearly billing: $120 or $400 a year
The plans page lists Single Author at $12 a month or $120 a year, and Collaboration at $40 a month or $400 a year.
Stated on dev.pressbooks.com
Works with
- Google Docs
- Hypothes.is
- H5P
Pressbooks alternatives
- Pressbooks vs Atticus
From $147 one-time
- Pressbooks vs Vellum
Free trial · from $199.99 one-time
- Pressbooks vs Reedsy Studio
Free plan · from $4.99/mo
- Pressbooks vs Scrivener
Free trial · from $23.99 one-time
Common questions
Does Pressbooks have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Pressbooks is listed for Web.
Does Pressbooks have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Pressbooks is listed for Web.
Is Pressbooks open source?
Yes. Pressbooks is open source, according to its own site. It can also be run on a server of your own.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026.