Lanternbee vs Curios

Lanternbee as a Curios alternative

A store and marketplace for books, music and video, with its own reading and listening app. Its prices and features sit next to Lanternbee’s below, including where Curios does better.

Not open yet. We’re letting authors in from the waitlist, a few at a time.

What Curios is

Curios lets authors sell ebooks, audiobooks, print books and bundles from a profile on its marketplace. On its paid plans it keeps none of your price; buyers pay the card fees on top, and books open in the Curios app.

Who it suits

Authors who sell ebooks and audiobooks, want sales tax handled for them, and like the idea of a marketplace and app where readers can browse.

What Curios costs

US prices, checked against the sources at the bottom of this page.

Plan	Price	Fee on sales
Trial	Free	None on your first 25 sales, then 15% + $0.25 on each sale
Lite	$9 a month, or $7.50 a month paid yearly	None; buyers pay the card fee on top of your price
Plus	$29 a month, or $24.17 a month paid yearly	None; buyers pay the card fee on top of your price
Pro	$69 a month, or $57.50 a month paid yearly	None; buyers pay the card fee on top of your price

Curios and Lanternbee side by side

Curios and Lanternbee, feature by feature
What you need	Curios	Lanternbee
One book in several formats	YesEvery format of a book on one page.	Yes. Ebook, audiobook, paperback and hardcover live on one book page.
Series with a reading order	YesSeries are built in.	Yes, with the reading order you set.
Bundles and box sets	YesBundles, box sets and ebook-plus-paperback packs.	Yes. Readers who own book one pay less for the rest.
Ebook and audiobook delivery	YesBooks open in the Curios app and library.	Yes. Download links by email, and a reader library.
Send to Kindle	YesReaders can send books to Kindle, Kobo or NOOK.	Yes, from the reader library.
Print on demand for books	YesThrough a BookVault connection.	Partly. Printed formats are set up for BookVault or Lulu; sending orders to the printer is being built.
Your reader list	PartlyEvery buyer’s email; no newsletter tool.	Yes. Every buyer lands on your reader list, with tags.
Your own domain	NoIts pricing page says this is coming soon.	Yes. yourname.lanternbee.shop or shop.yourname.com.
Monthly cost	Trial: FreeLite: $9 a month, or $7.50 a month paid yearlyPlus: $29 a month, or $24.17 a month paid yearlyPro: $69 a month, or $57.50 a month paid yearly	Free: nothing a month. Author: $39 a month, or $29 paid yearly.
Fee on sales	Trial: None on your first 25 sales, then 15% + $0.25 on each saleLite: None; buyers pay the card fee on top of your pricePlus: None; buyers pay the card fee on top of your pricePro: None; buyers pay the card fee on top of your price	None, on every plan.

Curios prices in US dollars. “Not listed” means we could not find it on Curios’s own pages or in the sources below, so check with them. Rows we could not check at all are left out. Card fees apply everywhere; on Lanternbee they are Stripe’s, with nothing added.

What Curios does better

Fair reasons to stay where you are.

Curios is the merchant of record: it collects and pays sales tax and VAT around the world. On Lanternbee you are the seller, and you file the tax Stripe works out.
Its marketplace, apps and affiliate network can bring you readers who don’t know you yet.
Buyers pay the card fees, so on a paid plan you keep your whole list price.
It is open today. Lanternbee is still on a waitlist.

Moving from Curios

There’s no importer for Curios. Moving by hand takes these steps.

Add your books on Lanternbee: covers, blurbs, files and prices. Put every format of a book on one page and set your series order.
Keep your buyer emails from Curios in your email tool. Lanternbee cannot import a reader list from Curios yet.
Connect MailerLite or Klaviyo, so new Lanternbee buyers join the same list.
Swap your Curios links for your Lanternbee book links in your back matter, website and newsletter.

Questions about Curios and Lanternbee

Is Lanternbee a Curios alternative?

If you want your own store, at your own web address, it can be. Lanternbee puts every format of a book on one page, delivers ebooks and audiobooks, and lets readers send ebooks to their Kindle. Curios is a marketplace with its own app and handles tax for you, which Lanternbee does not do yet.

Who pays the card fees?

On Curios’s paid plans, buyers pay the card fee on top of your price. On Lanternbee you pay Stripe’s card fee from each sale, and Lanternbee adds nothing on any plan.

Can readers download their books?

On Curios, books open in its app, and downloads happen only if you allow them. On Lanternbee, readers get download links by email and keep their books in a reader library.