ARC sites compared: cost, review rates, and who each platform is for
There is no best ARC platform. There's a platform that fits your genre, your budget, and whether you're optimising for review volume or review credibility - and those pull in different directions often enough that the question "which one should I use?" usually has a two-part answer.
Below is the comparison, with a note on how much to trust each number. We've flagged which figures we checked against the vendor's own published page and which come from third-party roundups, because ARC platform pricing changes quietly and often.
The comparison
| Platform | Typical cost | Review completion | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| BookSirens | $10 setup per ARC + $2 per reader they find; or $100/year for unlimited ARCs across 2 pen names | ~75% site-wide (their figure) | Budget-conscious consumer reviews across most commercial genres |
| NetGalley | $575 for a six-month solo listing; co-op listings through publishers and author associations cost considerably less | ~41% in one measured campaign | Librarians, booksellers, trade reviewers; strong long-tail reviews |
| Hidden Gems | $20 deposit covering the first 10 readers, then $3 per additional reader; flat $400 MAX option for everyone who reserves | ~60% in one measured campaign | Genre-matched reader teams, Amazon-focused reviews |
| Booksprout | $9–59/month across four tiers (Growing, Pro, Bestselling, Publisher); about 17% off billed yearly. The free account is for setup only - campaigns need a paid plan | 38.4% organic / 50% invited in one measured campaign | High-volume genres, deadline enforcement built in |
| StoryOrigin | Free Basic plan; Standard is $10/month or $100/year and adds reviewer vetting history and automated follow-up | No published rate | Starting free; review copies alongside newsletter swaps and group promos |
| BookFunnel | Secure ARC Delivery starts at $200/year or $20/month (Mid-List Author); the $30/year plan does not include it | Not a reader marketplace - it delivers to readers you bring | Getting the file onto every device for a list you already have |
| Edelweiss+ | $200/year plus $90 per title uploaded | Trade-focused; consumer review rates not comparable | Retail buyers, wholesalers, library selectors - not consumer reviews |
Pricing taken from each vendor's own published rates: BookSirens and Booksprout checked November 2026, StoryOrigin and BookFunnel October 2026, the rest July 2026BookSirens pricingBooksproutStoryOriginBookFunnelHidden GemsEdelweiss - except NetGalley, which does not publish a public price page; its $575 six-month rate is quoted directlyNetGalley. Edelweiss+ rates have applied since 1 February 2025 and Hidden Gems' since September 2018. Confirm pricing with any vendor before you commit money. Per-platform completion rates other than BookSirens' come from a single documented campaignIllene - one book, one genre, one author's list.
How to read those completion rates
Four of the completion figures above come from the same source: a six-week romantasy launch that ran across all of them simultaneously.Illene That's unusually useful, because same-book-same-window comparisons remove the variables that make most platform claims incomparable. It's also a sample of one. A thriller or a business book would produce a different ranking.
The one number that isn't from that campaign is BookSirens' site-wide 75%, which is the platform's own published average across its reader community - and they state plainly that individual books range from over 90% down to below 50%.BookSirens Treat it as a well-run platform's ceiling, not a promise.
We go deeper into which denominator each of these percentages uses - and why that's where most arguments about ARC review rates come from - in what the data actually says about ARC review rates.
Consumer platforms vs trade platforms
The single most common expensive mistake is buying a trade platform when you wanted consumer reviews.
NetGalley and Edelweiss+ are trade tools. Their audiences are librarians, booksellers, retail buyers, wholesalers, and reviewers - people making stocking and selection decisions.NetGalleyEdelweiss The feedback they generate is valuable, but it's not primarily a pile of Amazon star ratings, and if that's what you thought you were buying, a several-hundred-dollar listing fee will feel like a poor trade. What a listing costs, including the cheaper co-op route, is in NetGalley for indie authors.
BookSirens, Booksprout, and Hidden Gems are consumer tools. Their audiences are readers who will post on Amazon and Goodreads. For a self-published commercial novel that needs star ratings live on launch day, this is almost always the right category. The two that authors weigh against each other most often are covered head to head in Booksprout vs BookSirens.
StoryOrigin and BookFunnel sit to one side of both. StoryOrigin is a marketing suite whose review copies come with newsletter swaps and group promos, and it is the only one here you can start on for free.StoryOrigin BookFunnel finds no readers at all: it delivers files to a list you already have, and its ARC delivery starts on the $200-a-year plan.BookFunnel We compare the two in BookFunnel vs StoryOrigin for ARCs.
You are buying readers, not reviews
This distinction is the one that catches people out, and Hidden Gems states it more plainly than anyone: it does not guarantee how many readers will review, will not refund the gap between readers and reviews, and does not guarantee a star rating.Hidden Gems That isn't evasiveness. Guaranteeing reviews or ratings in exchange for payment would breach Amazon's terms and several review platforms' rules, so a service promising it is a service to walk away from.
The practical consequence is that every price in the table above is a price per reader. To get a price per review, multiply by a completion rate - and completion is the one number you don't control at purchase.
| Illustrative order | Cost | At the measured rate | Rough cost per review |
|---|---|---|---|
| BookSirens, 50 readers | $110 | 72% organic → ~36 reviews | ~$3 |
| Hidden Gems, 50 readers | $140 | ~60% → ~30 reviews | ~$4.70 |
| Booksprout, Pro tier for a month | $19 | 38.4% organic, volume uncapped | Falls with every extra reader |
Arithmetic on published pricesBookSirens pricingHidden GemsBooksprout combined with completion rates from a single campaignIllene. Illustrative only - your completion rate is the variable, and it is the one nobody will guarantee you.
Two structural details worth knowing before you order. Hidden Gems bills only for readers who actually sign up - in increments of five, and with the $20 deposit covering your first ten - so a campaign that under-fills costs you less rather than leaving you holding an unused minimum.Hidden Gems Booksprout, being a flat monthly subscription, gets cheaper per review the more you run through it, which is why it suits high-volume genres.
Picking one
- Commercial fiction, reviews needed fast and cheap: start with BookSirens or Hidden Gems.
- Series fiction with a Kindle+ (formerly Kindle Unlimited) strategy: add Booksprout for volume; its deadline enforcement suits genres where readers move quickly.
- Nonfiction, business, or literary: a handful of credible names beats raw volume. NetGalley, or a private list run through a delivery tool, will serve you better than a high-volume consumer platform.
- Aiming at bookstores and libraries: that's what Edelweiss+ and NetGalley's trade audience are for.Above the Treeline
Our fuller breakdown by category is in the ARC playbook by genre. If you're weighing one of these against running your own team, see how ArcRoster compares with NetGalley, BookSirens, Booksprout, and Hidden Gems.
ARC platforms for children's and picture books
Children's books change the maths. The child isn't the reviewer - an adult is - so batches are small: Hidden Gems quotes 5–15 readers for books aimed at young children and 5–10 for middle grade.Hidden Gems Which platform is worth paying for depends on whether you need parents, teachers, or librarians. We cover each one in the best ARC platforms for children's and middle grade books.
The thing every platform leaves you holding
Whichever you choose, the platform's job ends at its own boundary. Reader identities don't reconcile across services - the same person is a different handle on NetGalley, BookSirens, Goodreads, and Amazon. A reader who ghosted you on one platform can request on another next launch and you'd never know. And when the campaign closes, the relationship generally stays with the platform rather than with you.
That's the gap ArcRoster is built for: one roster you own that survives the campaign, a reliability score that follows each reader across launches regardless of where you found them, and per-copy fingerprinting so a leaked file can be traced to the reader it was issued to. Most authors pair it with a discovery platform rather than replacing one - find readers there, keep them here. There's a fuller version of that argument in our Booksprout vs StoryOrigin comparison, and the delivery side is covered in BookFunnel vs StoryOrigin.
Sources
- Pricing Plans - BookSirens, Checked November 2026.Vendor-reported
Promote plan: $10 per ARC plus $2 per reader BookSirens finds, promoted for 3 months; readers you invite are not billed. Author plan: $100/year for unlimited ARCs across 2 pen names. Books must be accepted. Site-wide, about 75% of downloads result in a review.
- What is the expected review rate? - BookSirens Support, Checked July 2026.Vendor-reported
BookSirens' own site-wide figure. They state explicitly that individual books range from above 90% to below 50%.
- Pricing - Booksprout, Checked November 2026.Vendor-reported
Four monthly tiers - Growing Author $9 (1 active campaign, 25 copies each), Pro Author $19 (3 campaigns, 50 copies), Bestselling Author $29 (10 campaigns, unlimited copies), Publisher and Review Service $59 - with 17% off billed yearly. A free account exists for setup, but running a review campaign needs a paid plan. No free trial; 30-day money-back guarantee. Booksprout says authors can expect about 8 reviews for every 10 participants.
- Pricing - StoryOrigin, Checked November 2026.Vendor-reported
Basic plan free; Standard $10/month or $100/year adds vetting review history and completion and automated reviewer follow-up. Extra pen-name accounts 50% off on yearly billing.
- Pricing - BookFunnel, Checked November 2026.Vendor-reported
First-Time Author $30/year (no Secure ARC Delivery); Mid-List Author $200/year or $20/month, up to 4 pen names; Bestseller $300/year or $30/month, up to 6 pen names. Secure ARC Delivery on Mid-List and Bestseller.
- Brutally Honest ARC Campaign Results - Susan Illene, September 2025.Field report
One romantasy launch (Oaths & Vengeance), six-week window, 622 requests across five platforms plus a direct list. A single campaign, not an industry average.
- How It Works - NetGalley, Checked November 2026.Vendor-reported
- How It Works - NetGalley, Rate current as of July 2026.Vendor-reported
NetGalley does not maintain a public pricing page; the $575 six-month solo listing rate is quoted directly by NetGalley. Confirm with them before committing.
- Review Copies - Edelweiss+ (Above the Treeline), Rates effective 1 February 2025.Vendor-reported
Standard review-copy rates: $200 annual fee plus $90 per title uploaded.
- Setting Book Sales in Motion with Digital Review Copies - Above the Treeline, Checked July 2026.Vendor-reported