Instead of Adobe InDesign
Page layout for print: books, magazines, brochures.
Keep paying
Scribus is the only open-source page layout tool and it has not kept up. If print is your living, this is the one to keep paying for.
You lose: The professional print workflow, the plugins and the printer's confidence.
Start here
Scribus
Real page layout with CMYK and PDF/X export. Years behind InDesign, and still the only option.
github.com/scribusproject/scribusscribus.net
A database, object storage or mail config, plus backups.
One alternative is all there is, and it is a stretch. That is what this verdict means.
Facts checked 8 November 2026. Licences, activity and archive status come from each project's own repository; the verdict and the cost lines are the desk's.