Vellum only runs on macOS — there is no Windows version, so if you are not on a Mac, Vellum is not an option no matter how the formatting features compare. Even for Mac authors, Vellum is built for the last step: a finished manuscript ready for beautiful formatting. Gixo Folio works from any modern browser and fits earlier in the process: import your existing material, shape it into chapters, draft with AI when useful, review the manuscript, and export from the same workspace. Your own book downloads and proofs need no active plan, including books with AI-drafted chapters.
Folio keeps more than a draft: chapter edits, sources, reading coverage, reader suggestions and edition proofs remain attached to the book and its recorded revisions.
Write manually or request chapter prose. Continue and AI Write add text; Quick AI and Power Edit work on selections; Ask Folio proposes changes you review.
AI assistance can change meaning or invent details. Inspect saved versions and every proposed revision.
Attach readable sources, inspect extraction and passage coverage, run focused editorial passes and record claim/canon or reader-feedback decisions.
Bounded review and author approvals are not independent fact-checking. Changed inputs may make findings stale.
Freeze an edition, inspect the actual files, retain proof notes and prepare a handoff from the reviewed artifact.
Measured preflight is guidance. You own rights, final editing, platform requirements and the retailer upload.
Start blank, import and manually edit your own book. Its downloads and proofs do not need an active Folio subscription. New AI planning, drafting and editorial assistance need eligible access; translation and narration use separate edition conditions. Existing book view, comment and edit permissions apply.
Review the book workflow · Compare current Folio plans · Check supplied publishing details
Use the persistent book workspace when the outcome is a real guide, authority book, training manual, client asset, or exportable edition.
If your manuscript is already finished and you only need specialist formatting or a dedicated fiction system, a focused tool may be the simpler choice.
Do not compare formatting software to a manuscript workflow as if they solve the same problem.
Use this as a stage-of-work decision.
| Decision area | Gixo Folio | Vellum |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Any modern browser — Windows, Mac, or Linux | Mac only; no Windows version |
| Best when | The manuscript still needs import, structure, drafting, or review | The manuscript is finished and needs formatting |
| AI drafting | Built into paid monthly plans | Not the core product |
| Import workflow | Designed to turn existing material into a book workspace | Starts closer to formatting |
| Export | Own-book downloads; AI access separate | Formatting-first book files |
| Pricing shape | Monthly Folio plans for active projects | Formatting software purchase |
These pages help separate manuscript creation from formatting-only decisions.
Related book writing, publishing, and alternative pages.
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