An Atticus Alternative, If the Book Isn’t Written Yet.
Atticus is book-formatting software: you pay $147 once and get EPUB and print files described as ready for KDP and IngramSpark. Shiro is a book-writing app that also formats, from first outline to finished file, and is free on your computer. If your manuscript is finished and a good-looking interior is all you need, Atticus may well be the better choice.
| Shiro | Atticus | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free on your computer. Cloud is optional, see the pricing page. | $147 once, with future updates included and a 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Platforms | Mac, Windows, Linux, and a web app for cloud projects. No phone app yet. | Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebook, as an installable web app. Its guides also cover iOS and Android, though they may be old. |
| Where your book lives | Plain Markdown files in a folder on your disk, or Shiro Cloud if you move a project there | On your device, backed up to its cloud |
| Works offline | Yes, with no account | Yes, but you reconnect to change projects or to format, according to its access guide |
| Print and e-book export | EPUB and PDF, plus Word, Markdown, HTML and plain text | EPUB, PDF and DOCX |
| Named for KDP | Presets for ebook, paperback and hardcover, page limits, and a 16-check list before upload | Files described as ready for KDP, with trim sizes colour-coded by availability |
| Named for IngramSpark | No. Print presets by trim size, and you check their spec yourself. | Yes, files and trim sizes |
| Built-in AI | Optional: local model, your own key or hosted. Can be turned off. | Not stated on their site |
Checked on the makers’ own websites in November 2026. Prices are in US dollars and change; tell us if we’ve fallen behind.
Choose Atticus If
- Your manuscript is finished, and a well-made interior is the only thing between you and publishing.
- You want one price paid once, with updates included and a month to change your mind.
- You print through IngramSpark and want trim sizes marked by what it offers.
- You work on a Chromebook, which Atticus names and Shiro’s desktop app doesn’t run on.
Choose Shiro If
- The book isn’t written yet, and you want the outline, the draft, the world and the formatting in one project.
- You want a late correction to mean changing a sentence and exporting again, with no second copy to update.
- You sell in several stores, and want one EPUB for each of Kindle, Kobo, Apple, Google and Barnes & Noble, plus box sets.
- You want your book as plain Markdown files on your own disk.
The Book Is Finished, or It Isn’t
If your manuscript is done and sitting in Word, edited and paid for, your problem is narrow: trim size, margins, chapter openings, and a file KDP won’t bounce. Atticus is built around that problem, and formatting is where its site spends its time. Installing a whole writing app to solve it makes about as much sense as moving house because you need a shelf.
If the book isn’t done, formatting is the last fortnight of a job that may take years. Shiro is for the years as well: the Board, Write, World or Research, and Publish at the far end of the same project. The practical gain turns up late. When a reader finds a wrong name in the proofs, you change it once and export again, with no second copy of the book to keep in step.
What Each One Makes
Atticus exports EPUB, PDF and DOCX, and describes its files as ready for major publishers, KDP and IngramSpark among them. Its trim sizes are colour-coded by whether KDP or IngramSpark offers them, a small mercy you appreciate most after ordering a proof in the wrong size.
Shiro’s Publish lens exports EPUB, PDF, Word, Markdown, HTML and plain text. It has Kindle presets for ebook, paperback and hardcover, general print presets, and presets for a submission manuscript and large print. There are six trim sizes: five from 5 x 8 to 6.14 x 9.21 inches, plus A5. It checks page limits, runs 16 checks before you upload to KDP, and has the answer ready for KDP’s AI question. For looks, there are seven book styles, about twenty open-licence font families, eight chapter openings and eight ornaments.
Two limits. Shiro’s presets are named for Kindle, and IngramSpark isn’t one of them, so you’d check its specification yourself. And you supply the cover: Shiro checks its size but doesn’t build a print wrap or a spine.
Where the Book Lives, and the AI Question
Atticus is a web app you install. It works online and offline and backs up to its cloud, though its access guide says you reconnect to change projects or to format. Shiro is a desktop app, and your book is a folder of Markdown files that works with no account.
Atticus’s site says nothing about AI, in either direction. We won’t read that as a promise. If an AI-free tool is what you’re after, ask them. Shiro has an optional AI, and formatting doesn’t involve it.
Where Atticus Is Ahead
Formatting is its main job, and Shiro’s is one lens among five. For someone who wants to pick a look, see the pages and be done, a tool built for that one task has an advantage we won’t argue with.
Its price is easy to reason about: one payment, updates included, thirty days to get your money back. It names IngramSpark. It names Chromebook, and its guides cover installing on iOS and Android, while Shiro has no phone app yet. And Shiro is new.
We haven’t set the same book in both, so we can’t tell you whose pages look better. That refund gives you a way to find out.
You Can Use Both
These two aren’t rivals in the way that two drafting apps are. Write in Shiro, export as Word, and format in Atticus if you like its pages better. We’d count that as a good outcome: the book got finished, and it looks right. Going the other way, Shiro has no importer for Atticus projects, but it imports the DOCX Atticus exports, with italics, comments and footnotes intact.
The Questions People Ask
Can Shiro format a book for KDP like Atticus?
Yes. Shiro has Kindle presets for ebook, paperback and hardcover, checks page limits and runs 16 checks before upload. You supply the cover and Shiro checks its size. It doesn’t build a print wrap or spine.
Does Atticus have AI?
Its site doesn’t mention AI either way, and we found no statement on training. So we can’t tell you, and you’d need to ask them if it matters to you.
Is Atticus a one-time purchase?
Yes. $147 once, with no monthly fees and future updates included, according to its site. Shiro’s desktop app is free on your computer. Its paid part is Cloud, which you don’t need in order to format a book.
Can I use both?
Yes. Write in Shiro, export as Word, and format wherever you prefer. Coming the other way, Shiro has no Atticus importer, but it imports the DOCX that Atticus exports.
Sources: Atticus home page, Installing Atticus, Accessing Atticus, Book formatting basics