Leanpub

Leanpub

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Leanpub is aimed at technical authors who want to publish iteratively, take reader feedback early, and sell books or courses without managing their own storefront. It is a mainstream creator platform rather than an OSS-specific tool, but maintainers can use it to monetize books, manuals, and educational material around their projects.

You are viewing: Leanpub

Goal: Revenue. Model: Content. Status: Live.

Should you use this?

Best for
Maintainers with teachable expertise and an audience for books, courses, or paid updates.
Not ideal for
Projects whose users do not want educational or creator-style products.
Why choose it
Self-publishing platform for books and courses, including in-progress releases. Best for maintainers who can teach through long-form content.
Watch out for
Content revenue depends on distribution and consistent publishing.
Setup effort
Medium
Fees
Leanpub says authors earn 80% royalties on purchases of $7.99 or more, and 80% minus a $0.50 flat fee on lower-priced purchases.
Last verified
2026-03-15
Goal Revenue
Model Content
Tags
Publishing Marketplace
Official websiteVisit official website
VerificationUnverified
X@leanpub
OrganizationCorporation
Open source statusClosed source
Platform technologyClosed source self-publishing platform
Monetization modelSelf-publishing of books and courses
Payment methodsPayPal and Wise payouts
Platform feesLeanpub says authors earn 80% royalties on purchases of $7.99 or more, and 80% minus a $0.50 flat fee on lower-priced purchases.
User activityLeanpub says authors can earn up to 80% royalties and that the platform has paid out more than $14 million to authors.

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