In 2025, ebooks aren’t just about the words, and they’re about how those words look and feel. Whether you’re selling a product, sharing research, or training your team, your ebook’s design decides if people stay or scroll away. And let’s face it, cluttered layouts and plain pages just don’t cut it anymore. Readers want ebooks that feel like modern apps, clean, smooth, and smart.
This is where the right tools matter. Whether you’re DIY-ing or hiring expert ebook design services, using the right platform helps your content look sharp, stay on-brand, and meet today’s digital standards.
Let’s break down the top ebook design tools that are helping creators lead the pack in 2025.
Canva: Easy Design for Everyone
Canva is great for beginners. It uses a drag-and-drop system, so you can pick what you want, move it around, and see your ebook come to life. You don’t need to know design rules or coding. If you work with an ebook design company, Canva lets you and your designer work together online. You can see changes live. It also comes with templates and images to save you time.
What’s New:
- Share your ebook with your team to work together
- Add your logo and colors to keep your brand strong
- Save your ebook as a PDF with the right settings
Canva is simple, but that’s why it’s powerful. In 2025, keeping things clean and clear is what works best.
Given that nearly 59% of global web traffic comes from mobile devices, Canva’s responsive design templates ensure your ebook looks great on any screen size.
Adobe InDesign: For Big, Complex Projects
InDesign is for professionals. It is the tool of the trade for a full-length book with its chapters, special layouts, and precise spacing. Adobe now has smart help for InDesign. AI generates layout tips, achieving excellent design in less time.
If you are a beginner, you might find InDesign a bit tricky; in that case, it does work quite well with other Adobe tools like Photoshop, great help while working with images or making detailed changes.
Prominent Features:
- Styles and templates to maintain the consistency of your ebook
- Export to various ebook formats like EPUB and Kindle
- Smart design tips for helping with layouts
InDesign will allow you to design an ebook that stands to be well structured with clear content for online recognition.
Affinity Publisher: Pro Tools Without the Monthly Bill
Affinity Publisher is like InDesign, but cheaper. You pay once and use it forever. There are no subscriptions or hidden fees—just one solid payment and full access to advanced design tools.
This tool is great for small businesses and indie authors who need flexibility without sacrificing quality. It has professional features like text styles, image frames, grid layouts, and master pages, which let you keep a consistent look throughout your ebook without starting from scratch.
It also integrates seamlessly with Affinity Photo and Designer, which makes editing graphics or images part of your flow instead of a separate process. You don’t need to juggle between tools. It’s streamlined, efficient, and fully offline, so you don’t need an internet connection once installed.
The only downside is that it hasn’t been exported to EPUB yet. You’ll need another tool to do that. But for designing the visual layout and print-ready pages, Affinity Publisher checks nearly every box. Still, it’s a good option if you’re on a budget but still want high-end capabilities.
Why People Like It:
- One-time cost
- Advanced tools for layout and design
- Works with Affinity Photo and Designer
- Smooth user experience without lag
- Strong support for image-heavy content
If you care about good SEO, make sure your content is easy to read and well-organized. Affinity helps you do that by letting you manage styles, spacing, and alignment with precision, making your ebook not just readable, but scan-friendly for both humans and search engines.
Visme: Great for Business Ebooks
Visme is made for marketers and teams. It helps you mix words with charts, graphs, and other visuals.
If your ebook is meant to explain data or teach ideas, Visme is a good fit. You can even track who reads your ebook and how they use it.
Best Uses:
- Teaching or explaining ideas visually
- Adding charts and infographics
- Seeing who reads your ebook
In 2025, SEO isn’t just about keywords. It’s about clearly answering real questions. Visme helps with that.
Designrr: Quick Ebook Builder
Already have a blog or social media content? Designer can turn it into an ebook fast. It pulls info from a web page or document and makes it ebook-ready.
It’s great for content marketers and teams that need ebooks quickly.
Why It’s Useful:
- Fast turnaround
- Easy export options
- Built-in tools for ebook covers
This is great for scaling up content. It also helps you reuse what you already have and give it a fresh shape.
Marq (formerly Lucidpress): Keep Everything On Brand
Marq is used by companies that need brand control. It lets teams create ebooks while keeping the company’s style the same. You can lock logos and colors so others don’t change them. That keeps everything looking professional.
Top Features:
- Online tool with no downloads
- Easy team sharing
- Locked branding options
If your ebook is part of a bigger marketing push, Marq keeps everything aligned. That matters for brand trust and SEO.
Kotobee: Interactive Learning Ebooks
Kotobee is different. It’s not just for reading, it’s for learning. You can add videos, quizzes, and other tools that help teach.
Schools, trainers, and online course creators love Kotobee. It turns plain ebooks into full learning tools.
What Makes It Special:
- Add tests and videos inside your ebook
- Share on websites or apps
- Works with online learning systems (LMS)
If your ebook teaches something, Kotobee is a smart choice. Interactive content also helps keep people engaged.
FlipHTML5: Make Your Ebook Look Like a Book
FlipHTML5 changes your ebook into a flipbook. That means readers can turn pages like a real book, online, using an animated interface that mimics the tactile experience of flipping through a physical publication.
It’s not made for creating content from scratch. You still need another tool to design your pages, like Canva or InDesign. But FlipHTML5 takes your completed PDF or ebook file and turns it into something more engaging.
You can also add clickable links, embedded videos, and audio, making it not just a book, but a digital experience. FlipHTML5 is cloud-based, so you can share your ebooks with a link and track viewer data.
Great For:
- Product books
- Magazines
- Interactive brochures
- Portfolio-style documents
- Lookbooks or catalogs
It’s more fun than a plain PDF. And fun content often gets shared more, which helps your SEO. By making your content more engaging, you increase time-on-page and reader interaction—two factors search engines pay attention to.
Google Docs: Simple, Fast, and Team-Friendly
Google Docs isn’t flashy. But it’s useful. You can write your ebook, share it with your team, and make changes together.
With a few add-ons, you can even style it a bit. It’s not a full design tool, but it’s great for first drafts or simple guides.
Good For:
- Team writing
- Basic layout
- Quick exports to PDF
For internal training or quick guides, Google Docs is the solution. It also helps speed up the process, which is key when keeping up with SEO trends.
Which Tool Should You Pick?
There’s no one right answer. Here’s a simple breakdown:
- Want total control and the best design? Try InDesign or Affinity.
- Need something fast and easy? Use Canva or Designer.
- Working with a team? Marq or Google Docs help.
- Want to wow readers with fun layouts? FlipHTML5 or Kotobee is for you.
Using professional ebook design services? These tools are often in their toolkit. Knowing how they work helps you ask better questions and get better results.
In 2025, search engines want helpful content. The right design tool helps you meet those needs.
So start simple. Pick a tool. Focus on what your readers need. Then design something that works, for them, for you, and for search engines.
The best part? You don’t need to be a pro to make something great. You just need the right tool, and now you know where to start.
