---
title: "Galley as a Reedsy Studio alternative with real typographic control"
description: "Reedsy Studio is free book writing software with solid basic formatting. Galley costs €199 once and gives novelists trim-size drafting, a story bible, revision analytics, and full control of the interior."
source: https://usegalley.com/compare/reedsy-studio
---
# Galley as a Reedsy Studio alternative

Last reviewed July 2026

**The facts first:** Reedsy Studio is free, browser-based writing and
formatting software from the Reedsy marketplace; it produces EPUB and print PDF from a
set of house templates. Galley (€199 one-time) offers direct control instead of
templates (six trim sizes, thirty-five typefaces, custom ornaments, drafted on the real
page) plus a story bible, revision analytics, and version history. One is free inside
a marketplace; the other is paid and standalone.

Reedsy Studio deserves its popularity. It writes, it formats to its templates, it
exports EPUB and print PDF, and it costs nothing, because it's the front door to Reedsy's
marketplace of paid editors and designers. Nothing wrong with that model; just know that's
the model.

Where writers outgrow it is control and fiction depth. Template-based formatting means
the big decisions are made for you. Galley hands them back (six named trim sizes, 15
commercially licensed book typefaces, chapter ornaments and scene-break art) and shows
every one of those decisions on the page while you draft. Underneath the page sit the
tools a novel actually accumulates: characters with aliases, a timeline, a glossary that
builds its own back-matter page, version snapshots of every chapter.

| Feature | Galley | Reedsy Studio |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | €199 once | Free |
| Business model | You're the customer | Marketplace on-ramp |
| Draft on a true trim-size page | Yes, six trims, 35 typefaces | No, template preview |
| Interior control (ornaments, scene-break art) | Yes, book-wide | Template-defined |
| Story bible | Characters, locations, timeline, world notes | No |
| Revision analytics | Built in | No |
| Watermarked beta-reader copies | Per reader, file or link | No |
| KDP preflight | Yes | No |
| EPUB & print PDF export | Yes | Yes |

## Where writers outgrow the templates

Reedsy Studio is free and genuinely good, and for a first book on a standard layout it
may be all you need. The ceiling is control. Its formatting is template-based, which means
the interior decisions (trim, typeface, how a chapter opens, what a scene break looks
like) are largely made for you. That's a relief when you'd rather not think about them and
a wall the day you do.

Galley hands those decisions back: six named trim sizes, fifteen commercially licensed
book faces, your own chapter ornaments and scene-break art, all visible on the page as you
draft. Underneath sits the apparatus a novel accrues: characters with aliases, a timeline,
a glossary that builds its own back-matter page, a version snapshot of every chapter.

The other honest difference is the model. Reedsy Studio is the front door to a
marketplace of paid editors and designers; the software is free because the marketplace is
the business. Nothing wrong with that, but with Galley you're the customer, not the lead,
and the €199 is the whole relationship.

## Choose Reedsy Studio if…

- It's your first book and the budget is zero
- A standard, template-styled interior fits your book fine
- You plan to hire from Reedsy's marketplace anyway

## Choose Galley if…

- You want the interior to look like you chose it, because you did
- Your novel needs a story bible, revision analytics, and version history, not just a text box
- You'd rather be the customer than the lead

## Common questions

Reedsy Studio is free, so why pay €199 for Galley? If a standard layout on Reedsy’s templates fits your book, use it; free is free. Galley is for control and depth: six named trim sizes and 35 typefaces you draft in directly, in Latin, Arabic, Devanagari, Japanese and more, your own chapter ornaments, a story bible, name-consistency and overused-word analysis, per-chapter version history, watermarked beta drafts, and KDP preflight.

Is Reedsy Studio really free? Yes. Reedsy Studio costs nothing. Reedsy is a marketplace connecting authors with paid editors, designers, and marketers, and Studio is part of that ecosystem.

Can I move from Reedsy Studio to Galley? Export your manuscript as.docx and import it, and chapters split automatically on headings.

Competitor details checked July 2026. Verify at reedsy.com. I've
tried to be fair; if I've got something wrong, email me and I'll correct it.

Your trim, your typeface, your book. One payment.

[Launch Galley](https://app.usegalley.com)