Honest comparison
Squire Editor vs Vellum.
A local-first Vellum alternative for Mac
Vellum is a genuinely good, well-loved formatting app for Mac. If you have already bought it and you are happy, you do not need us. But if you are weighing the two, here is the honest picture: the biggest differences are price, a real free tier, and where your manuscript actually lives.
| Squire Editor | Vellum | |
|---|---|---|
| One-time price | $75 | $249.99 |
| Free tier that ships a finished book | Yes, no watermark | No |
| Your manuscript stays in plain files | Plain text files you own | Stored in a .vellum project file |
| Works fully offline | Yes | Yes |
| Paperback PDF and EPUB | Both, per book | Both |
| Live preview speed | Under a second | Fast |
| Import from Word, Google Docs, plain text | Yes | Yes |
| Platform | Mac (Windows planned) | Mac only |
| Years on the market | New, and priced like it | Established, years of trust |
Vellum details and pricing as of 2026. Check their site for the latest.
Vellum earned its reputation, and its output is lovely. We simply believe your book should stay in plain files you own, that a real free version should make a finished book, and that formatting software should cost less than your cover.