KDP vs Merch by Amazon: Which One Should You Start With in 2026?

Two platforms. Both run by Amazon. Both let you upload creative work and earn royalties without touching inventory. But KDP and Merch by Amazon are very different businesses, and choosing the wrong one first can cost you months.

If you're trying to decide between KDP vs Merch by Amazon, this comparison covers everything that actually matters: how they work, what they pay, how hard they are to break into, and which one fits different types of creators.

How KDP Works

Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is Amazon's self-publishing platform for books. You upload a manuscript and cover, choose your pricing, and Amazon makes your book available as a Kindle ebook, paperback, or hardcover.

When someone buys your book, Amazon prints it on demand (for physical copies), ships it, handles customer service, and pays you a royalty. You keep creative control over pricing, content, and distribution choices.

KDP is open to everyone. No application process, no waitlist. You can have a book live on Amazon within 72 hours of uploading it. The barrier to entry is creating the book itself, not getting platform access.

For a detailed look at what you actually earn per sale, check out our KDP royalties breakdown.

How Merch by Amazon Works

Merch by Amazon is Amazon's print-on-demand platform for apparel and accessories. You upload artwork, Amazon puts it on t-shirts, hoodies, phone cases, PopSockets, tote bags, and other products. When someone buys, Amazon prints, ships, and handles everything.

The key difference from KDP: Merch by Amazon is invite-only. You apply, wait for approval (which can take weeks to months), and start at Tier 10, meaning you can only have 10 active designs. As your designs sell, you "tier up" to 25, 100, 500, and eventually thousands of slots.

This tiering system means your growth is artificially gated. Even if you have 500 great designs ready, you can only upload 10 until you prove yourself through sales.

The Money: Royalties Compared

KDP Royalties

Kindle ebooks at the 70% royalty tier (books priced $2.99 to $9.99) earn roughly $2.00 to $6.50 per sale after delivery fees.

Paperbacks typically earn $3.00 to $7.00 per sale depending on page count and pricing. A 200-page paperback priced at $14.99 nets you about $5.74.

The math is transparent and predictable. You set the price, Amazon tells you the printing cost, and you know your royalty before you publish. Our full royalty guide walks through every scenario.

Merch by Amazon Royalties

Merch royalties depend on the product type and your list price. For a standard t-shirt priced at $19.99, you earn roughly $5.23 per sale. Hoodies and premium shirts pay more per unit but sell less frequently.

On paper, Merch royalties per sale look comparable to KDP paperbacks. In practice, the volume dynamics are very different, which we'll get into below.

Getting Started: Barrier to Entry

This is where the two platforms diverge sharply.

KDP: Sign up today, upload a book tomorrow, have it live within 72 hours. Zero gatekeeping. The challenge is creating content worth buying, not getting permission to sell.

Merch by Amazon: Apply, wait an unpredictable amount of time for approval, start with only 10 design slots. Some people get approved in two weeks. Others wait six months. Some never get approved. Once in, the tier system throttles your growth for months regardless of your design quality.

If you're the type who wants to start immediately and iterate fast, KDP wins this category by a wide margin.

Discovery and Traffic

Both platforms benefit from Amazon's massive search traffic, but the discovery mechanics work differently.

KDP Discovery

Amazon's book search is keyword-driven. When someone types "anxiety workbook for teens" into Amazon, books optimized for those keywords appear. Your title, subtitle, and backend keywords directly influence whether your book shows up.

The Amazon BSR system rewards books with recent sales momentum. Strong early sales push your book higher in search results, which drives more sales, creating a flywheel effect. This means your launch strategy matters, but organic discovery is a real and reliable traffic source.

Books also benefit from Amazon's "customers also bought" recommendations, which can drive significant passive traffic once you have initial sales.

Merch by Amazon Discovery

Merch products compete in Amazon's general product search against both other POD sellers and traditional apparel brands. The search results mix Merch listings with Nike, Hanes, and thousands of other brands.

Standing out is harder. A t-shirt design needs to catch someone's eye in a sea of products, and your listing doesn't have the same keyword depth that a book listing offers. You're competing more on visual appeal and less on content depth.

Merch sellers who do well typically have either very niche designs that match specific search queries ("funny accounting t-shirt") or designs that go mildly viral through external traffic sources.

Content Creation: What You're Actually Making

For KDP

You're creating books. That means either:

High-content books: Written manuscripts with real informational or narrative content. These take the most effort to create but face less competition and command higher prices. A well-researched nonfiction book in the right niche can sell for years.

Low and medium-content books: Journals, planners, workbooks, activity books, logbooks. These require design skills more than writing skills. Production is faster, but competition in generic categories is brutal. Success depends almost entirely on picking the right niche.

For Merch by Amazon

You're creating graphic designs. T-shirt art, phone case designs, typography layouts. The skill set is visual: illustration, graphic design, or at minimum, strong typography sense.

Each design takes less time to create than a book, but you need volume. Successful Merch sellers typically have hundreds or thousands of active designs. The hit rate is low. Most designs sell little or nothing. A small percentage of designs generate the majority of revenue.

Scaling: How Growth Works

KDP Scaling

There's no artificial limit on how many books you can publish. Your catalog grows as fast as you can create quality content. Each new book is a new asset generating its own stream of income.

The compounding effect is powerful. A catalog of 50 well-positioned books across 3-5 related niches creates a portfolio of passive income sources. Some books will outperform, some will underperform, and the aggregate tends to grow over time as the catalog expands.

You can also create series and content clusters. A pillar book links to companion workbooks, which link to quick-reference guides. Each product supports the others' discoverability.

Merch by Amazon Scaling

Growth is gated by the tier system. You start at 10 slots and must sell enough to tier up. Moving from Tier 10 to Tier 100 can take months of consistent sales. Moving to Tier 500 or Tier 1000 takes longer.

This isn't necessarily bad. The tier system forces you to learn what sells before you scale. But it means you can't build a large catalog quickly, even if you have the designs ready.

Once you reach higher tiers (1,000+), the math starts working. With 1,000 active designs and even a modest sell-through rate, monthly income can be significant. Getting there is the grind.

Competition Landscape in 2026

KDP Competition

The KDP market is large but segmented. Broad categories (self-help, cookbooks, romance) are fiercely competitive. Specific sub-niches ("meal prep for shift workers," "anxiety journal for college freshmen") often have real demand with manageable competition.

The key skill is niche research. Authors who systematically identify underserved niches before creating content consistently outperform those who guess. Our niche research guide covers the exact process.

AI-generated books have flooded some categories, which makes quality differentiation more important than ever. Books with genuine expertise, thoughtful structure, and professional presentation stand out more now than they did two years ago.

Merch by Amazon Competition

Merch competition is intense across popular design themes. Anything trending on social media gets hundreds of copycat designs within days. Generic motivational quotes, holiday themes, and pop culture references are oversaturated.

What works: highly specific niche designs that target small but passionate audiences. "Funny respiratory therapist gifts" has less competition than "funny nurse shirts" and the people searching for it are ready to buy.

Which Should You Choose?

Choose KDP if:

• •You enjoy writing or creating informational content
• •You want to start immediately with no approval wait
• •You prefer building a catalog of assets that compound over time
• •You're willing to invest in niche research upfront
• •You want transparent, predictable royalty math
• •You like the idea of creating something with lasting value

Choose Merch by Amazon if:

• •You're a graphic designer or illustrator first
• •You're comfortable waiting for approval and the tier-up grind
• •You prefer creating visual art over written content
• •You already have an audience or external traffic source
• •You want to diversify beyond books into physical products

Choose both if:

• •You have the bandwidth to manage two platforms
• •Your niche works across formats (a "funny accountant" brand could have books AND t-shirts)
• •You're building a brand rather than just publishing products

The Honest Recommendation

For most people reading this in 2026, KDP is the better starting point. The zero-barrier entry means you can test ideas immediately. The niche research process is more systematic and data-driven than Merch design selection. The compounding catalog effect is stronger. And the income per hour invested tends to be higher, especially in the first year when Merch sellers are stuck in low tiers.

That said, if you're genuinely a designer who doesn't want to write anything, Merch makes more sense for your skills. Just go in with realistic expectations about the timeline. The first six months will feel slow.

The one thing that's true for both platforms: niche selection matters more than almost anything else. Whether you're choosing a book topic or a t-shirt design theme, the research you do before creating determines whether the product sells or sits.