Kindle Alternative
Amazon KDP cut print royalties from 60% to 50% in June 2025 — with no author vote and no appeal. Qityol gives authors 80% of net sales, no exclusivity required, and payouts via M-Pesa for African creators.
For a $10 ebook: you earn $7.53 on Qityol vs. $5.60–$7.00 on KDP.
Start publishing freeSide-by-side comparison based on publicly available data as of 2025–2026.
| Feature | Qityol | Amazon KDP | Audible ACX |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author royalty rate | 80% of net sales | 35–70% (minus delivery fee) | 30–50% of net |
| Countries paying the top rate | Every country — one rate | 41 territories; 35% everywhere else | Rights holders in US/UK/CA/IE only |
| Top rate in Brazil, India, Japan, Mexico | 80% — no conditions | 70% only with KDP Select exclusivity | N/A |
| Exclusivity required | Never | KDP Select: 90-day lock-in | ACX exclusive: 90-day min., one-time switch |
| Promo discount funding | Platform absorbs it — creator earns full price | Author absorbs the discount | Author absorbs the discount |
| M-Pesa / mobile money payouts | Yes — Kenya, East Africa | No — bank transfer only | No — bank transfer only |
| PPP / local pricing for Africa | Yes — automatic, server-enforced | Limited / inconsistent | No |
| Unilateral royalty cuts | None to date | Cut print royalties 60→50% in June 2025 | Shifted to pool model in 2025 |
| African account terminations | None documented | Documented cases (Nigeria, Kenya) | Documented cases |
| Catalog size | Growing independent catalog | Millions of titles | 500,000+ titles |
KDP royalty data: Amazon KDP Help. ACX royalty data: ACX.com. Qityol data: creators.qityol.com/terms.
Print royalties dropped from 60% to 50% for books under $9.99 — effective June 10, 2025. No author vote. No appeal.
Amazon removed USB ebook downloads in Feb 2025. Readers can no longer back up books they paid for. Authors lose credibility for it.
Documented account terminations for Nigerian and Kenyan authors. Payment failures. Kindle app unavailable for download in some African countries.
Same book. Same price. Very different outcome.
Qityol
Amazon KDP (70% option)
Amazon’s 70% option applies inside a $2.99–$12.99 band, but only in 41 eligible territories — everywhere else is 35% regardless of price. A $10.00 title also sits above the old $9.99 ceiling, so 70% here requires the author to opt in by hand in Rights & Pricing; without that, the same sale earns $3.50. See the full territory breakdown.
On Qityol, authors keep 80% of the net sale amount (after Stripe processing fees) on sales of $3.10 and up. For a $10 ebook: Stripe takes $0.59, net is $9.41, author earns $7.53. Below $3.10 Qityol reduces its own cut instead of letting a fixed processing fee erode the author's share — see the royalty calculator for the exact number at any price. On Amazon KDP, the 70% royalty option applies a $0.15/MB delivery fee and only applies to books priced $2.99–$12.99 in its 41 eligible territories — effectively 35–68% of the cover price depending on file size and where the buyer is.
No. Qityol never requires exclusivity. You can publish the same ebook or audiobook on Qityol, Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, and your own website simultaneously. Amazon's KDP Select requires 90-day exclusive distribution to access Kindle Unlimited — Qityol has no such requirement.
Qityol funds its own promotional discounts (like the 15% referral program) from the platform's 20% share. Your earnings are always calculated on the original pre-discount price — the platform absorbs the cost. Amazon applies discounts directly to your royalty calculation.
Yes. Qityol supports payouts via Stripe Connect (international bank transfers) and IntaSend, which enables direct M-Pesa mobile money payouts for creators in Kenya and East Africa. Amazon KDP does not support M-Pesa and has documented payment failures and account terminations for Nigerian and Kenyan authors.
Yes — creating a Qityol Creators account is free. If your ebooks are in KDP Select, you need to wait until your 90-day exclusive window expires before publishing elsewhere. Non-Select KDP titles can be published on Qityol immediately.
Free to start. No exclusivity. 80% of every sale goes directly to you.