Introducing
The Slant team built an AI & it’s awesome
Find the best product instantly
Add to Chrome
Add to Edge
Add to Firefox
Add to Opera
Add to Brave
Add to Safari
Try it now
4.7 star rating
0
What is the best alternative to Amazon Kindle Store?
Ad
Ad
iBooks Store
All
5
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
2
Top
Pro
Self publishing
Users can self publish their own eBook via the iBooks store.
See More
Top
Con
iBooks uses its own DRM scheme called Fair Play on .epubs sold in the store
iBooks does use .epubs for its eBooks but sadly they are encrypted with their own proprietary DRM called Fair Play. This means any .epub that has Apples DRM purchased from iBooks will not be able to be used in other .epub eBook readers.
See More
Top
Pro
Send eBook as gift
iBooks recently updated their store to where users can send eBooks as gifts to their friends and family.
See More
Top
Con
Forced to use iTunes or an Apple product
There is no webpage for the iBooks Store which means there is no way to browse Apples eBook selection without using one of their device or installing iTunes.
See More
Top
Pro
Sells textbooks
iBooks has textbooks for sale with a store wide rule of offering them at lower prices then what is seen on college campuses.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
26
3
Waterstone's
All
5
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
3
Top
Pro
eBooks offered are Adobe Digital Editions compliant
Waterstone's eBook store sells .epubs that are encoded with Adobe Difgital Editions DRM. This allows the .epubs purchased to be used with the Adobe Digital Editions application that can then transfer purchased .epubs to ADE compliant eReaders.
See More
Top
Con
UK only store
Waterstone's is a UK only store, so those outside the region are out of luck purchasing from them.
See More
Top
Pro
Generally cheaper than WHSmith
For those that are stuck using UK eBook stores it woul appear as though Waterstone's has better prices than WHSmith.
See More
Top
Con
Some eBooks more expensive than paper books
Sadly Waterstone's does not have as much pull with publishers as Amazon so there are more high priced eBooks on their store.
See More
Top
Con
Sells Kindle devices but its eBook store is .epub only (which are incompatible)
Something of an odd predicament in that Waterstone's has a contract with Amazon to sell Kindle devices even though they only sell .epub eBooks on their Waterstone's branded eBook store.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
7
1
eBooks.com
All
6
Experiences
Pros
4
Cons
2
Top
Con
Store feels cluttered and unintuitve
The landing page for eBooks.com feels a bit cluttered and can be confusing to navigate to the users desired section.
See More
Top
Pro
Academic books
eBooks.com offers academic eBooks on their store that are claimed to be from the world's leading scholarly and academic book publishers.
See More
Top
Con
Difficult to download books and hard to get service
See More
Top
Pro
Free excerpts
eBooks.com offers free excerpts for their more popular eBooks. This way users can get a feel on how the title reads and what it's structure looks like.
See More
Top
Pro
Very intuitive site
The site is very easy to understand and navigate.
See More
Top
Pro
Send gift certificates
eBooks.com allows for users to purchase gift certificates online worth 10-100 dollars and will then e-mail said certificate to an e-mail address of the purchases choosing along with a customized message.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
48
7
Harlequin
All
4
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
2
Top
Pro
Books other than romance novels
Harlequin does offer eBooks that are not of the romance variety with a worldwide selection of action, suspense and adventure.
See More
Top
Con
High Prices
Averaging to about 85% of a hardcover price the eBooks on the Harlequin store a pretty pricey.
See More
Top
Pro
A self publishing of sorts
Harlequin use to offer self publishing under the name Harlequin Horizons but under criticism was spun off and renamed DellArte Press. So users can self publish with DellArte Press but it will not be under the moniker of Harlequin. Harlequin does still offer a way for anyone to submit their book to them but it is no guarantee it will be published.
See More
Top
Con
Limited to only Harlequin eBooks
The selection of eBooks on the Harlequin eBook store is limited to only Harlequin eBooks, which are mainly romance novels.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
17
3
Kobo Books
All
7
Experiences
Pros
4
Cons
3
Top
Con
Not all eBooks sold on the site are Adobe Digital Editions compatible (.epub)
For some reason not all the eBooks available on the Kobo eBook site are downloadable as .ascm files. Most likely Kobo leaves this up to the publisher, as Houghton Mifflin Harcourt does not have a single book on the Kobo store that offers a separate .ascm download. What most users are unaware of is that the Kobo store is not primarily an .epub bookstore. Kobo uses a proprietary format called .kepub that only works on their own Kobo branded devices. Many of the books they sell do offer a separate .ascm file download, but not all. What exacerbates this issue is that there is currently no way for a user to know if an .ascm will be offered until after purchase.
See More
Top
Pro
Offers separate Adobe Digital Editions downloads
The Kobo eBook store offers a separate file download (most of the time) from within a users browser. this file is called and .ascm file and is what is used to add an .epub to the Adobe Digital Edition software.
See More
Top
Con
Kobo randomly changes prices
Depending on whether a user is logged in, different prices will be shown on non agency eBooks. Non agency eBooks allow for Kobo to set the price of the title instead of the publisher and sadly it does appear as though Kobo has taken advantage of this to entice new users into thinking their books are priced lower than they actually are.
See More
Top
Pro
Send eBooks as gift
Kobo Books eBook store allows users to send eBooks as gifts to their friends and loved ones.
See More
Top
Con
Desktop app doesn't function
See More
Top
Pro
Self publish
Kobo offers a way for users to self publish their own eBooks with a service called Writing Life.
See More
Top
Pro
Many coupons
Kobo often offers a lot of coupons for their eBook store. Some being as high as 80% off coupons. Though most only work on non agency eBooks, so not that great if the user only reads the newest of releases.
See More
Hide
See All
Experiences
Get it
here
60
10
Books on Google Play
All
4
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Adobe Digital Editions compatible
All eBooks for sale on Books on Google Play are Adobe Digital editions compatible. Google provides an option to download an .acsm file for all eBook purchased on their site. This .acsm file can then be imported into Adobe Digital editions where it can be read as an .epub inside of the application or transferred to any Adobe Digital Editions compliant .epub eReader, such as a Kobo.
See More
Top
Con
Does not actually follow .css and HTML guidelines when displaying user uploaded .epubs
Upon close inspection Books on Google Play does not actually follow the normal standards when displaying user uploaded .epubs but rather has it's own secret method of how it handles the internal .css and HTML. This can result in display problems for user uploaded content.
See More
Top
Pro
Users can upload their own DRM free .epubs or PDFs
Goolge has built in a function to allow users to upload their own eBooks. Up to 1,000 files can be stored using this function as long as each title is below 50MB.
See More
Top
Pro
Accessible
It is the most accessible platform for an Android phone user. Convenient.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
28
6
Barnes & Noble NOOK Books
All
7
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
4
Top
Con
Uses a special DRM on their eBooks, any eBook purchased from B&N is not Adobe Digital Edition compliant
While B&N does use and read .epub on their devices, any eBook purchased from the B&N eBook store will not be able to be used in other .epub readers unless the DRM is stripped from said eBook.
See More
Top
Pro
Send eBooks as gift
The NOOK store allows users to send eBooks as gifts to their friends and family.
See More
Top
Con
No legacy Windows app or Mac app
While B&N use to offer a PC and Mac app for the desktop, they pulled support officially in 2013.
See More
Top
Pro
NOOK app
B&N offers a NOOK app for Android, iOS and Windows 8 in their respective stores. This allows user to shop and read their eBooks natively on those operating systems.
See More
Top
Con
Higher prices then competition
Part of the reason B&N is having so much trouble with the NOOK brand currently and most likely part of its decision to separate itself from it by spinning it into its own company is that since the demolishing of agency pricing they are unable to compete on prices.
See More
Top
Pro
Self publishing
B&N offers a way for users to self publish their eBooks to the NOOK eBook store, the service is called NOOK Press.
See More
Top
Con
B&N not confident in NOOK brand
B&N will be spinning its NOOK division into a separate company, which does not show much faith in their own brand. What's worse is that this show of uncertainty of wanting to separate from the failing device and it's eBook store will only just further distance the customers from the NOOK. Being that their eBooks have a special DRM scheme that does not allow their .epubs to work in other device, current users better hope this new company does not fold or they will be out of their entire NOOK eBook library.
See More
Hide
See All
Experiences
Get it
here
17
5
WHSmith
All
5
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
3
Top
Pro
Instant quality with Kobo eReaders, apps and eBooks store
Instead of developing their own eBook store, eReaders or reading apps WHSmith has the instant gratification of offering quality products with an established brand.
See More
Top
Con
Some titles not available on the store
While most mainstream books can be found easily, there are a few smaller titles that are just not on the store at all.
See More
Top
Pro
WHSmith and Kobo partnership create competition
A good thing about the WHSmith eBook store and its Kobo partnership is that it creates competition in the UK for eBook stores and devices. WIth competition comes better prices and innovation.
See More
Top
Con
Just a re-branded Kobo eBook store
WHSmith has entered a contract to where they are now partnered with Kobo. With this deal WHSmith has replaced their old eBook store with a Kobo powered alternative. Basically it is just a WHSmith skin over the Kobo eBook store.
See More
Top
Con
UK only store
eBooks are only priced in GBP.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
10
4
Built By the Slant team
Find the best product instantly.
4.7 star rating
Add to Chrome
Add to Edge
Add to Firefox
Add to Opera
Add to Brave
Add to Safari
Try it now - it's free
{}
undefined
url next
price drop