Where to get DRM-free EPUB ebooks
Most ebooks from the big stores are copy-protected with DRM, which ties them to one app and means nobody can change them, not even to add a dedication. These are the places that give away or sell EPUBs without DRM, plus how to check a file you already have.
Updated October 2026
The short answer
For classics, Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks are free and DRM-free. For newer books, look for “DRM-free” on the listing at Kobo or Google Play Books, or buy from stores and publishers that never use DRM, such as Smashwords, Baen and Humble Bundle. Books bought in the Kindle store can't be downloaded as EPUB.
What DRM is, and why it matters
DRM (digital rights management) encrypts a book so that only the store's own app, or devices it approves, can open it. A DRM-free EPUB is an ordinary file: you can open it in any reading app, keep a backup, move it between devices, and add a dedication page to it.
DRM-free doesn't mean free of charge, and it doesn't mean free to share. The book is still under copyright; the publisher has simply chosen to trust you with the file.
Free classics
Books whose copyright has expired are in the public domain, and these sites offer them as clean, legal, DRM-free EPUBs.
- Project Gutenberg: over 75,000 free ebooks, from Austen and Dickens to Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. On a book's page, choose the EPUB3 download. Gutenberg follows US copyright law, so check that a book is also out of copyright where you live.
- Standard Ebooks: a smaller collection of public-domain books that volunteers have carefully proofread and typeset, with good covers. These are the nicest-looking free classics to give as a present.
- Wikisource: public-domain texts in many languages, including Croatian, German and French. Most works have an EPUB option in their download menu.
Stores and publishers without DRM
| Where | Books | DRM-free? |
|---|---|---|
| Kobo | New releases and bestsellers | Some titles; the publisher decides. Check the listing |
| Google Play Books | New releases and bestsellers | Some titles; the publisher decides |
| Smashwords | Self-published and indie fiction and non-fiction | Yes, everything |
| Baen Ebooks | Science fiction and fantasy | Yes, everything |
| Humble Bundle, StoryBundle | Pay-what-you-want ebook bundles | Yes, for book bundles |
| Tech publishers | Programming and technical books | Yes at Pragmatic Bookshelf, Manning, No Starch Press, Leanpub |
| Authors directly | Indie authors' own shops, Kickstarter rewards, newsletter gifts | Almost always |
Kobo
Kobo sells both protected and unprotected books. On the book's page, look in the eBook details: DRM-free titles say so under the download options. After buying, open your library on the Kobo website and download the EPUB file.
Google Play Books
Some publishers sell through Google Play without DRM. After buying, open the book's menu in Play Books on the web and choose to export it as EPUB. If you get a small .acsm file instead of an .epub, the book is protected (see below).
Smashwords and indie authors
Smashwords sells books by independent authors and small presses, all without DRM. Many self-published authors also sell EPUBs on their own websites or through shops like Payhip, Gumroad and Ko-fi, and often deliver them through BookFunnel. If you like an indie author, check their website first: buying direct usually gets you a plain EPUB and gives the author a bigger share.
Bundles and genre publishers
Humble Bundle and StoryBundle sell themed collections of ebooks for a price you choose, with DRM-free downloads. Baen, a science fiction and fantasy publisher, has sold all of its ebooks without DRM for years, and gives some away in its Free Library.
Where books are always locked
- The Kindle store: Kindle books are in Amazon's own format and can't be downloaded as EPUB, so they can't be used with Inscribe.
- Apple Books: purchases stay inside Apple's app and can't be exported as a plain EPUB.
- Library apps (Libby, OverDrive and borrowed books on Internet Archive or Open Library): loans are protected and expire, so they can't be edited or given away.
How to tell if an EPUB has DRM
- Look at the file name. A file ending in
.acsmisn't a book. It's a licence ticket for Adobe Digital Editions, and the book it unlocks is DRM-protected. - Open it in a reader that doesn't support DRM. The free Calibre viewer, for example, says when a book is locked by DRM. If the text shows up normally, the book is DRM-free.
- Look inside it (for the curious). An EPUB is a zip file. A
META-INF/rights.xmlfile inside means Adobe DRM. AMETA-INF/encryption.xmlfile on its own isn't proof: DRM-free books also use it to protect the fonts they include.
Can't I just remove the DRM?
We don't help with that. Removing DRM goes against the store's terms, and breaking copy protection is against copyright law in the EU, the UK and the US, even for a book you paid for. Our terms don't allow DRM-stripped or pirated files either. If you want a book you can edit and give, buy it from a DRM-free store, or ask the author or publisher whether they sell a DRM-free edition. Many will tell you.
Making an EPUB of your own writing
Writing a story, a poem collection or a family history as a gift? Most writing apps can save it as an EPUB, which you can then dedicate and give.
- Google Docs: File → Download → EPUB Publication (.epub).
- Apple Pages: File → Export To → EPUB.
- Microsoft Word: Word can't save as EPUB. Save as
.docx, add the file to Calibre, and use Convert books with EPUB as the output format. - Book-writing tools such as Reedsy Book Editor, Vellum and Atticus export EPUB directly.
Got a DRM-free EPUB? Add a dedication page to it in your browser, free. Need words? Browse our book dedication ideas.