EPUB (Electronic Publication)
- Widely accepted open standard for e-books
- Compatible with most devices including smartphones, tablets, and e-readers
- Supports reflowable text, multimedia, and interactive elements
- Ideal for responsive reading across screen sizes
- Commonly used in publishing, education, and self-publishing platforms
PDF (Portable Document Format)
- Maintains fixed layout across all devices
- Supports text, images, hyperlinks, and annotations
- Ideal for academic, reference, and graphic-rich books
- Not reflowable, which may reduce readability on smaller screens
- Universally accessible with standard PDF readers
MOBI (Mobipocket)
- Designed specifically for mobile devices and older Kindle models
- Lightweight format suitable for basic e-book features
- Limited multimedia or interactive capability
- No longer widely supported except for legacy Kindle use
- Often replaced by AZW or EPUB in modern applications
AZW and AZW3 (Amazon Kindle formats)
- Proprietary formats used by Amazon Kindle devices
- Supports DRM protection, bookmarks, and annotations
- Based on MOBI with extended features in AZW3
- Compatible only with Kindle apps and devices
- Used for Kindle e-book purchases and subscriptions
IBA (iBooks Author format)
- Developed by Apple for use with iBooks on iOS and macOS
- Supports interactive textbooks and media-rich content
- Not compatible outside the Apple ecosystem
- Primarily used in digital education and multimedia publishing
- Less flexible in distribution compared to open formats