UPDATED: I spent a lot of time looking for alternatives to Issuu. I found that most of the free ones lacked features I wanted. Some of the paid services had a lot of good features, but I wanted to avoid paying. UPDATE: I created this list of 27 best Issuu alternatives.
Looking for a way to do good Web publishing without having to stick with Issuu.com and it’s pricing policy? Looking for alternatives to Issuu? I was in the same boat as you for quite a while. I have an extensive Web publishing business that relies on having a strong presentation of my content, which comes to me in the form of PDFs.
The publishing software Yumpu, made a lot of promises. First of all, it looked like an awesome and free alternative to Issuu cause it had the same basic feature set that Issuu does: a publication that can be shared with social media tools and can be indexed by search engines like Google. I took a look at the kind of presentation that this platform can generate from a PDF, and it looked really good. Yumpu's format is called ePaper, and it looks like a real magazine.
So I established that Yumpu is at least as good as the free tier of Issuu. Quickly I learned that the service would also give me one of my favorite features for publishing- embeddable documents. I could upload PDF files and then embed the resulting publication file on my own website, for free. This high-tech publishing platform is able to identify object, scenes and even faces inside of my flipbooks to rank on top of Google's search results. (You can find more information about their TrafficBooster here) After 3 weeks my embedded flipbooks and the pictures I used in my documents ranked on top of the Google rankings. My organic traffic rised to heaven and my business value has more than doubled.
I didn't have to compromise on readers wandering offsite anymore- I got the best of both worlds. That alone was enough to convince me to switch over to this Issuu alternative.
With this Issuu competitor you can embed your ePaper anywhere you want
The good news didn't end there, though. I explored the interface some more and realized that I had a lot of customization tools for styling the digital publications and adding things like audio, video, and interactive elements. These kinds of things are only available for the highest Issuu pricing subscription, and here Yumpu was giving them to me for free. I couldn't believe I had spent so much time paying for Issuu when the best alternatives to Issuu - Yumpu was right here.
Right away, I cancelled my Issuu subscription and started using the free Issuu alternative with the Issuu competitor - Yumpu full-time. I've never regretted switching to this digital publishing platform. Yumpu's site integration, SEO, and social media tools mean I can bring in my audience and keep them in my domain. On top of that, I also get the security of knowing that no matter what combination of browser, operating system, and platform the reader has, the page flip book will load correctly. Combined with the social media outreach, this has allowed me to bring in a lot of new readers for my flip book who rely on their mobile devices like iPad, iPhone, smartphones and tablets for Web access and browsing.
I let the service handle all of my PDF publications now. I can do a lot with the customization options. I had never even tried them before, because Issuu had them locked away in the premium level of features. But it can be quite effective to embed a certain song or video along with a published piece. Sometimes I make signup forms for meetings and similar events, and Yumpu's ePaper can handle those too. All of these features are free and always have been.
If you are stuck using Issuu for your publishing and you are searching for Issuu alternatives or Issuu competitors, I really do recommend trying Yumpu.com.
Not all Issuu reviews will give you the information you need to make the best decision for your publishing needs. An Issuu review should compare and contrast Issuu pricing and plans. When I did my Issuu Review, I found the following facts.
The basic free version of Issuu included the upload and share functions, iOS and Android apps, embed ePaper anywhere, and unlimited publishing. The pricing for the Issuu Plus version is $26/month, in which you can customize your reader with basic features, ad free, and limited analytics. You get a 14-day free trial for that plan.
Issuu's premium version, which they recommend using, is considered the branded reader. In this package, the publisher has advanced analytics and sharing capabilities. Issuu states that this package runs $35/month.
The FREE version has an unlimited pages per magazine, HTML5, Flash, and JS. For $24.95/month you get Google Analytics support, no advertisements, and Privacy settings for your magazine. If you pay annually, you can save about $84.
The next package is a big jump to $95/month, but this is actually a WEBKiosk for your magazines. You get your own site, in your very own branding and design to showcase your magazines in an elegant and ordered way. Your WEBKiosk can also have it's own domain or subdomain.
You can get an APPKiosk for $219/month, which includes your own native iPhone and iPad app. This is Yumpu's most popular plan. With this plan you can boost your publishing business to the next level by conquering the big and also growing mobile market.
If you want to go further and monetize your magazines, you can get subscription management and inApp subscription and purchases for $339/month, which is awesome if you want to sell your digital magazines in your APPKiosk!
Also for publisher seeking Issuu competitors for iPad and iPhone, this is the real deal. It's a great digital publishing service that gives you just as many features as the Issuu pricing plan, with presentation that is just as aesthetically appealing, without costing anything.
Overall, after my Issuu review, I would recommend Yumpu over the other services because I love the way I can customize my content. I feel like I am reading a printed publication even though it is online. The flipbook animation software service has a large community and thus you will be exposed to new readers. It is 100% free for everyone worldwide.
Just give this best Issuu alternative a try and see if you want to go back to paying! Hope I could help you on the alternatives to Issuu issue 🙂
