The format that's right for your eBook depends on two things: what kind of content it is, and where you plan to sell or distribute it. For many creators, the answer isn't a choice between PDF and EPUB โ it's both, for different channels.
The Fundamental Difference in Reading Experience
PDF locks the layout. Whatever page size and design you created is what every reader sees โ same fonts, same spacing, same visual appearance. EPUB is reflowable: the text adapts to whatever screen the reader uses, and readers can change the font, font size, line spacing, and background color to their preference. On a small phone screen, EPUB text wraps to fill the display. A PDF on the same screen requires zooming and horizontal scrolling to read.
This single difference drives most of the format decision. If the reading experience on any screen size needs to be comfortable, EPUB wins. If the visual design and layout are integral to the content, PDF wins.
When PDF Is the Better Choice
PDF works best for content where the layout matters as much as the words. Cookbooks with recipe layouts. Workbooks with fill-in exercises. Design-heavy guides with charts, callout boxes, and visual hierarchies. Photography books. Illustrated children's books. Technical manuals with diagrams. In these cases, reflowing the text would break the relationship between content and design that makes the book work.
PDF is also the simpler choice for direct sales. If you're selling through your own website, Gumroad, Payhip, or a similar platform, PDF requires no conversion, no platform approval, and no formatting validation. Create the file, upload it, sell it. Buyers download and read it on their computer or tablet โ where fixed-layout PDFs work fine.
When EPUB Is the Better Choice
EPUB is the right format for text-heavy books: novels, memoirs, essays, business books, self-help, most non-fiction that doesn't depend on complex visual layout. It's also required for distribution through most major book platforms. Amazon KDP requires EPUB (or MOBI for older Kindle formats). Apple Books requires EPUB. Kobo, Barnes & Noble Nook, and Google Play Books all use EPUB as their primary format.
Readers on phones, dedicated e-readers like Kindle and Kobo, and tablets expect EPUB's reflowable experience. A PDF submitted to these platforms either gets rejected or converted automatically in ways that may not produce good results.
Distribution Channels by Format
For direct sales (your website, Gumroad, Payhip, Etsy): PDF works well. Buyers download a file and read it on their device. No platform intermediary, no format validation, no revenue share beyond the platform's standard fee.
For major book retailers (Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play): EPUB is required or strongly preferred. Amazon has its own ecosystem (KDP Select, Kindle Unlimited) that converts EPUB to their proprietary format. Apple Books requires EPUB 3. Submitting PDF to these platforms results in rejection or poor conversion quality.
Publishing Both: The Practical Approach
Many authors publish both formats. The PDF version is sold directly โ higher margin, full design fidelity, no platform dependency. The EPUB version is distributed through retailers โ wider reach, more discovery, lower margin. The same content serves different audiences and channels.
Converting from one format to the other requires some work. PDF to EPUB conversion often produces poor results for layout-heavy books โ the conversion loses the design and the reflowed text doesn't look right. Starting from the source document and exporting to both formats separately produces better results. Tools like Calibre (free) handle simple PDF-to-EPUB conversion, but for commercial-quality output, working from the original manuscript is cleaner.