Book Cover Maker 2027: Free and Paid Options for Print and Ebook

Which book cover maker should you use? For an ebook, you only need the front, and a free tool such as Canva's free plan will do. For a paperback, the printer needs one file with back cover, spine and front plus bleed, and the spine width depends on your page count and paper. Amazon's free KDP Cover Creator builds that wrap for you, but only for KDP. Bookfairy builds the whole wrap as a print PDF from your book details for $12.00100 tokens, with three drafts free; paid alternatives run from BookBrush at $149 a year to a designer contest on 99designs at US$299. Below are the options with US prices and sources, as of November 2026.

Ebook or paperback: what your cover maker has to deliver

Most cover makers handle the front well. The difference shows on the paperback: who works out the spine width, who builds the back, and whether you can take the file to any printer. How the full wrap is built, with KDP and IngramSpark measurements, is in our guide Book cover template.

Five book cover makers at a glance

Prices from each provider's own site, checked November 8, 2026, in US dollars; tax status as stated there.

Canva: free layouts, the wrap is up to you

Canva calls its tool a free book cover maker with hundreds of layouts. On the free plan you pay $0; Canva Pro costs $144 a year ($18 a month) for one person in the US, excluding tax, with a free trial. You can upload your own images, and Canva's stock library includes free and premium images.

For an ebook front that is all you need. For a paperback, you create a design with custom dimensions for the full wrap, work out the spine width yourself, lay out the back and place the barcode. The free spine width calculator and the KDP cover calculator give you the measurements. More on this in Canva vs. Bookfairy and alternatives to Canva for book covers.

KDP Cover Creator: free, for KDP only

Amazon's Cover Creator is free inside KDP. It uses the book details from your title setup, builds front, spine and back, and adds your ISBN to the barcode area on the back. The spine width follows the page count of your uploaded interior, and KDP allows text on the spine from 80 pages.

The limit is where you can use it: covers made with Cover Creator's stock images cannot be downloaded for use outside KDP. If you also want to print through IngramSpark or a local printer, you need a cover file of your own. IngramSpark provides a cover template with the measurements and leaves the design to you.

BookBrush and 99designs: paid tools and designers

• BookBrush is a design platform for authors. Its yearly plans cost $149 (Plus), $149 instead of $199 (Gold) and $246 (Platinum); each includes Cover Creator, unlimited image downloads, over 4 million stock photos and 250+ 3D cover templates. Gold adds instant mockups and a box set creator, Platinum a trailer creator.
• 99designs runs a contest in which designers send in concepts for your cover. The Bronze package costs US$299 excluding sales tax, and you get the full copyright of the winning design.

The whole cover from your book details: Bookfairy

The Bookfairy cover tool does not start from a blank canvas. You enter title, subtitle, author, genre, trim size and page count and look at three drafts for free. Then:

1. Pick and refine. Say in your own words what should change: colours, type, motif. The print PDF is rebuilt each time.
2. Measurements handled. The spine width comes from your page count and paper, the bleed is about 3 mm on every edge, and text stays inside the safe area.
3. Back and barcode. The back carries blurb, author line and publisher; enter your ISBN and the EAN-13 barcode is placed for you, upload your logo and it goes next to it.
4. Your files. Unlock the cover for $12.00100 tokens and download the full wrap as a print PDF plus the front for your ebook. The file is yours, for KDP, IngramSpark or any other printer.

If you like, name up to three bestsellers in your genre. Bookfairy picks up what works there, such as colour palette, imagery and layout, and designs an original cover; titles, fonts, characters and logos of other books are never taken over. Model books only guide style and market fit. Your result is your own original work.

After the cover, the cover workshop works on any finished cover from Bookfairy and on covers you upload, including one made in Canva:

• Translate the cover, exactly the same look in the other language (title, subtitle and back cover text): $4.8040 tokens
• New trim size, paper or page count, with the spine recalculated: $2.4020 tokens
• Audiobook cover, square 3,000 × 3,000 px: $2.4020 tokens
• Swap or remove the barcode and logo on the back: $1.2010 tokens
• Change a cover in your own words: $1.2010 tokens per change

The same account also does formatting, EPUB and the blurb for the back.

Which cover maker for which book?

Before you upload, check three things: the page count on the cover matches the final interior, all text sits inside the safe area, and the barcode scans. A printed proof copy shows what the screen hides.