Disclosure. We make a competing tool.
Many Windows authors consider Atticus after finding that Vellum is macOS only. It is a one-time purchase of $147, and runs in a browser and as a desktop app on Windows, macOS, Linux and Chromebook. It bundles a writing environment with the formatter, so it competes with Scrivener and Vellum at once.
What it does well
One tool covers the whole path from blank page to uploadable file: you write, format and export ebook and print from the same document, with nothing to re-import between steps. For an author working alone, that continuity counts for more than any single feature.
The theme library is broad, the chapter openings are well drawn, and updates are free, which matters against tools that charge for major versions.
What its users complain about
User reviews mention two issues, both about the print PDF. Single lines are left alone at the tops and bottoms of pages. And print and ebook are kept as separate files when either needs manual fixes.
The second complaint describes a real tension rather than one tool's flaw. A printed page is fixed and an ebook reflows, and what makes one good does not make the other good. Any tool producing both from one document in one click chooses a compromise for you.
Where we differ
Atticus has far more themes. Torcul concentrates on checking the result:
- The files are checked against the published print requirements.
- The ebook is validated with EPUBCheck itself.
- Every result carries the date the rules were verified.
- Anything that cannot be checked is reported as unchecked.
- Print and ebook are set separately from one source.
Torcul also does less: three interior designs, no writing environment, no ornament library, no collaboration. For a place to write your book, Atticus is the better fit.
Which to choose
- One place to write and format. Atticus; Torcul does not do that.
- Several books a year, each looking different. Atticus, for the themes.
- An academic manuscript — footnotes, numbered headings, tables, cross-references. Torcul, whose reader was built for that structure.
- A rejection at upload you want explained. Torcul. The PDF checker also checks a file from any tool, Atticus included, at no cost.
Export the same chapter from both tools, print both, and compare them with a printed book you like.