Comparison

Amazon Ads tools for authors compared

What the main author ad tools do, what they cost, and the question that matters most for KU series: do they judge your ads on page reads and read-through, or only on ACoS?

By Michael Cortez · Updated November 8, 2026

Tool	Price	What it does	Series / KU aware?
Kindle Author Ads Analyzer (this site)	Free	Search term report analysis: negatives, bid changes, harvest list, judged on series profit	Yes: KENP plus read-through in every decision
Publisher Champ	$16.99 / $21.99 / $29.99 per month	Royalty and ads dashboard, series stats, profitable ACoS target, ROI by book	Yes for reporting; no keyword-level recommendations
Merch Jar	$300/mo monthly or $199/mo annual (includes $7.5k ad spend)	Sponsored Products automation with blended KENP metrics and a read-through multiplier	Yes, priced for sellers and agencies
Publishing Performance	$39/mo or $348/yr	Automated bids and keywords for campaigns created in its platform	Judges on ACoS, not series value
Publisher Rocket	$199 one-time	Keyword and category research, ad keyword lists	No (research tool)
BookBeam	From about $29/mo	Keyword research, ad keyword generator, browser extension	No
ScribeCount	$5.99 to $34.99/mo by income	Royalty tracking across 40+ stores with ad spend	Royalties and KU yes; no ad decisions
Book Report	Free under $1k/mo royalties, then $19 / $29 / $49	KDP royalty dashboard	Royalties only

Prices as listed on vendor sites or cited reviews, November 2026. Check each vendor for current pricing.

Three kinds of tool

Dashboards (Publisher Champ, ScribeCount, Book Report) show what happened: royalties, page reads, ad spend, often by series. They don't tell you which keyword to cut.
Automation (Merch Jar, Publishing Performance) changes bids for you. Check whether it judges on ACoS or on series value; for a KU series that difference decides whether it cuts your best keywords.
Research (Publisher Rocket, BookBeam) finds keywords and categories before you advertise.

Where the free analyzer fits

It sits between dashboards and automation: you bring the search term report, it tells you exactly what to change and why, judged on series profit, and you stay in control of the account. It works alongside any of the tools above. Read how it compares with Publisher Champ.

Run your own report through the Kindle Author Ads Analyzer

Free, runs in your browser, no signup. See which terms to negate, which bids to move and which keywords pay across the series.

Analyze my report

Questions

Which Amazon Ads tool is best for Kindle Unlimited authors?

It depends on the job. For reporting across your catalog, a royalty dashboard like Publisher Champ or ScribeCount. For automated bidding, Merch Jar (if the price fits) or Publishing Performance. For deciding what to change in your ads based on series profit, start with the free analyzer here.

Do I need a paid tool to run Amazon Ads?

No. The Amazon Ads console has everything you need to run ads. Tools save time and add the series view the console lacks.

Are these prices current?

They're as listed on each vendor's site (or a cited review) in November 2026. Prices change; check the vendor before buying.