ISBN Cost Calculator
How many ISBNs your books need, and the cheapest way to buy them from your national agency. Every price comes from the agency’s record in the Publishing Database, with the date it was last checked.
What it costs
You need 2 ISBNs: 1 book × 2 formats.
US$250.00
- Assigned now:
- 2 of 2
- Unit cost across 2 bought:
- US$125.00 / ISBN
- 2 × single ISBN
- US$250.00
- Effective cost per ISBN you need
- US$125.00
Or one pack of 10: US$295.00
US$45.00 more than the cheapest option, for 8 extra ISBNs to keep for future books: about US$5.63 each, against US$125.00 for a single ISBN bought later.
ISBNs from Bowker (US ISBN Agency): they never expire, so unused numbers carry over to later books.
Every price tier from Bowker (US ISBN Agency)
| ISBNs | Price | Each |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | US$125.00 | US$125.00 |
| 10 | US$295.00 | US$29.50 |
| 100 | US$575.00 | US$5.75 |
| 1,000 | US$1,500.00 | US$1.50 |
From the Bowker (US ISBN Agency) record, verified 15 October 2026. Prices are the agency’s, in its own currency.
How the count works
One ISBN identifies one format of one edition, so a novel in paperback, hardcover and ebook uses three. A Kindle ebook sold only on Amazon can use Amazon’s ASIN instead. Revised editions, new trim sizes and box sets need their own numbers too; add them as extra books. How many books can one ISBN cover?
Or take a platform’s free ISBN
These platforms issue an ISBN at no cost. The terms differ, so each is quoted from its record.
- Amazon KDP
- A free ISBN is offered for paperback and hardcover only; Kindle ebooks do not need one. The free ISBN cannot be used with another publisher or printer, and the imprint is registered in Bowker as "Independently published". Supplying your own ISBN lets you register a custom imprint name and reuse the identifier on other platforms.
- Barnes & Noble Press
- Print: B&N Press issues a free ISBN, registers it with Bowker’s Books In Print and shows “Barnes & Noble Press” as the publisher on the detail page. That ISBN is usable only on B&N Press for Barnes & Noble and bn.com, cannot be transferred, and is limited to five a week and ten a month. An ISBN you own is accepted only if it has never been submitted to any other retailer, bn.com included, and once used on B&N Press it cannot be used with another publisher. Ebooks: no ISBN is required — bn.com lists ebooks by EAN, and an ebook ISBN appears only in sales reporting.
- Draft2Digital
- An ISBN is assigned free of charge to any book published through the system.
- IngramSpark
- The free ISBN is owned by IngramSpark, cannot be transferred to another account, and cannot be used on other platforms. Any title using one must be placed in the wholesale distribution programme with pricing set for at least one market, and the publisher shown is IngramSpark's own "Indy Pub" imprint rather than your business name. Moving to an ISBN you own means republishing as a new title — the original cannot be converted.
- Lulu
- An ISBN is required for Global Distribution. The free Lulu ISBN is available only on distribution-eligible projects, and under the Lulu ISBN Agreement Lulu.com becomes publisher of record in every bibliographic feed and creator revenue on that ISBN is treated as a royalty reported to the IRS. With your own ISBN, your publisher name is listed and Lulu acts as a distribution agent. Projects sold only in the Lulu Bookstore need no ISBN.
- Voices by INaudio
- Leave the retail and library ISBN fields blank and Voices by INaudio supplies a complimentary ISBN after publication. It cannot be used outside the platform, so it will not carry over if you later publish the audiobook direct elsewhere. Digital Voice Narration titles are assigned an ISBN automatically. An ebook or print ISBN cannot be reused: each format needs its own.