Flipsnack vs Publuu vs Heyzine: Pick the Right One for Your Business

Digital flipbooks are an excellent way to transform static PDFs into dynamic, interactive publications that captivate readers. 

But when it comes to transforming static PDFs into dynamic digital flipbooks, businesses have a variety of platforms to choose from. 

For organizations with complex needs, the choice often comes down to robust features like advanced interactivity, collaboration tools, and enterprise-grade security. 

This detailed comparison of Flipsnack vs Publuu vs Heyzine will help you decide which platform is the best fit for your specific requirements.

💡TLDR for fast decisions

• Pick Flipsnack if you need advanced interactivity in one editor, secure sharing, role based workspaces, white label and custom domain, bookshelves, in-depth analytics, and feed based catalog automation with SKU detection.
• Pick Publuu if you want a quick PDF to flipbook with simple branding, bookshelf, and basic flipbook stats.
• Pick Heyzine if you prefer to wire external widgets and are fine with maintaining embeds. You get a bookshelf and basic analytics.

Key Features: Flipsnack vs. Publuu vs. Heyzine

Criteria	Flipsnack	Publuu	Heyzine
Interactive Features	Rich: links, video, audio, forms, charts, slideshows, product tags, shoppable lists	Basic: links, video, images, GIFs, product tags, wishlists	Basic: links, video, audio, embedded forms, lead forms
Sharing Options	Public/private links, email, QR, embed, virtual bookshelf, custom domains	Links, embed, virtual bookshelf, custom domains	Links, embed, QR, bookshelf
Privacy Features	Password, private sharing, domain restriction, SSO, reader access control	Password, domain allow list, disable download/print	Password, domain restricted embed, disable indexing
Collaboration & Team	Advanced: multi-workspaces, roles/permissions, activity logs, locked templates	Limited: single account use	Basic: multiple users per plan, no granular roles
Branding	White label viewer, custom domain, branded bookshelves/emails	Custom domains on higher tiers, branded bookshelf	Custom subdomains, CNAME for full custom domain
Analytics	Detailed: built-in stats, trackable links, GA/GTM integration	Basic: views, page stats, interactions, tracking links, GA	Basic: visitor stats, GA integration
Integrations	Extensive: Zapier, API, SSO, GA/GTM, Shopify	Limited: GA, embeds, forms. No public API	Moderate: API, Zapier, Shopify
Catalog Automation	Advanced: feed-based automation (CSV/Sheets), SKU detection, shopping lists, API for PIM/ERP	Manual: no feeds or SKU detection; basic product tags	Manual: no feed mapping; automates via API/Zapier

*Features verified on September 10, 2025

Now, let’s dive deeper into these differences one by one.

1. Interactive features

One of the biggest advantages of digital flipbooks is the ability to enrich content with interactive media. Interactivity invites exploration, catches attention and helps readers dive deeper. The result is longer time on page, better comprehension, and more page turns.

Here’s what these platforms offer.

Flipsnack

Flipsnack leads in this category with a far wider range of interactive features than either Publuu or Heyzine. 

Thanks to Flipsnack’s integrated Design Studio, users can easily design and customize content within the platform and add interactive elements beyond simple links. This is a clear advantage in the Publuu vs Flipsnack and Heyzine vs Flipsnack debate, as both Publuu and Heyzine have more limited native interactivity. 

For example, with Flipsnack you can add:

• videos (from YouTube/Vimeo) 
• audio tracks 
• photo slideshows 
• GIFs
• interactive charts 
• hyperlinks 
• quizzes
• lead capture forms
• shopping product tags
• shop area & shop button
• embed
• caption
• maps

All of this can be done without needing third-party tools, which means you can turn a static PDF into an engaging, trackable experience (e.g. product catalogs with video demos and add-to-cart lists, interactive brochures with quiz questions, etc.)

Publuu

Publuu also allows adding multimedia to your flipbooks, but in a more limited fashion. You can add:

• videos 
• audio
• photo pop-ups 
• slideshows
• GIFs 
• clickable links and “animated hotspots” 
• Google Forms

These hotspots are interactive icons or highlights that can display extra info when clicked. This covers the basics but Publuu does not offer more complex interactive tools since its focus is on quick conversion of PDFs with a few enrichments. 

Heyzine

Heyzine’s editor lets you add interactive elements such as videos, audio, images/GIFs, and links. It also allows embedding external web content via iframes – so you can insert things like Google Maps, calendars, web forms, even payment widgets into your flipbook pages.

This means that with Heyzine you can achieve interactivity (for example, embedding a Typeform survey or a Google Form directly in a magazine) by leveraging external tools. On the flip side, any complex interactions rely on external integrations.

Verdict

Flipsnack is the clear leader on interactivity. You add rich elements natively in one editor. Publuu and Heyzine stop at basics or depend on embeds.

Why it matters

Deeper engagement with less setup. More time on page and more page turns. Fewer moving parts to maintain.

2. Sharing and distribution

All three platforms make it easy to share your flipbook once it’s created, but there are some differences in distribution options and how content can be accessed by your audience.

Flipsnack

Flipsnack allows users to publish flipbooks either publicly or privately, then share them via a variety of channels. 

For public sharing

You can simply copy a direct link to the flipbook (hosted on Flipsnack’s cloud) and share it anywhere – via email, on social media, or in chats.

There’s also an embed code provided for each publication, so you can embed the flipbook on your website or intranet; the embedded viewer is mobile-friendly and retains all interactivity. Additionally, Flipsnack supports generating a QR code for your flipbook link, which is handy for events, menus, print materials or presentations. 

For private sharing

One useful aspect for internal use is that Flipsnack lets you choose between making a flipbook public (indexed and visible to anyone) or unlisted/private (only people with the link, or those given access, can view). There are different ways of sharing your work in a private way:

• Keep it unlisted and share it only with a few people
• Password-protect your private information
• Share flipbooks with a one-time passcode via email
• Protect your work and use a Single Sign-On system

This gives flexibility if you want some brochures to be broadly accessible and others to be confidential.

Publuu

Publuu similarly offers multiple sharing options. Once your PDF is converted, you can 

• share it through a direct link 
• use a QR code
• post it to social media
• embed the flipbook on a webpage

Publuu emphasizes its virtual feature, which is essentially a customizable bookshelf or library page where all your publications can be displayed together.

You can brand this bookshelf with a logo and background and share one link to let viewers browse all your flipbooks – useful if you have a collection (e.g. a series of magazines). 

Heyzine

Heyzine also covers the fundamentals of sharing. 

It automatically generates a QR code or shareable link for each flipbook, and when you post that link on social networks, it will show a preview with the cover thanks to the platform’s link preview generation.

Like the others, you can embed Heyzine flipbooks on your website easily with provided code. Heyzine also offers a digital bookshelf (sharing page to group multiple flipbooks) similar to Publuu’s newsstand.

Verdict

All three share well. Flipsnack gives more options and stricter control on who sees what.

Why it matters

You can reach public audiences and still protect private docs.

3. Privacy and security features

When publishing digital content, especially for business or internal use, privacy and security controls are crucial. Flipsnack distinguishes itself by offering enterprise-grade security features that the other two platforms do not match.

Flipsnack

With Flipsnack, you can make a flipbook private and protect it with a password if needed, or even more powerfully, restrict access to it via your organization’s Single Sign-On (SSO) system. There are two options when it comes to SSO:

• SSO for readers means that only users with authorized company credentials can view the content – ideal for internal documents like company reports or training manuals. 
• SSO for viewers is a secure sharing option that doesn’t require your employees to have a Flipsnack account.

Flipsnack also supports setting permissions at a granular level: you can decide which team members can view or edit certain flipbooks or folders, ensuring that sensitive content is only accessible to the right people. 

On the platform security side, Flipsnack accounts can be secured with two-factor authentication (2FA) for the team members logging in, adding an extra layer against unauthorized account access. Moreover, Flipsnack’s infrastructure complies with industry standards like ISO 27001 for information security management. 

All these features (SSO, 2FA, expiring links, role-based access) make Flipsnack a solution that companies can trust for sensitive content.

Publuu

Publuu offers a more basic set of privacy features appropriate for simpler needs. You can mark a flipbook as private and set a password on it through Publuu’s interface. Only people with the password can open the flipbook, while others will just see the cover. 

This is useful for things like private portfolios or sales brochures intended only for specific clients. Publuu also lets you disable options like downloading or printing the PDF, to keep viewers from easily saving a copy.

And if you embed a flipbook on a website, Publuu has embed protection settings to prevent the flipbook from being accessed outside of allowed domains.

These features ensure you have basic control over who can see and use your content.

In the Publuu vs Flipsnack discussion, Publuu offers basic password protection and embed restrictions, but it lacks the advanced SSO capabilities that IT departments often require, and there’s no concept of user roles or per-user access rights on the flipbooks. 

Heyzine

Heyzine also provides fundamental privacy features. By default, any flipbook you upload to Heyzine is private (unlisted), and the service states it never shares your content without consent.

Like Publuu, you can add a username/password gate on your flipbook if you want to restrict access to a select audience.

Additionally, Heyzine allows domain restriction for embedding: you can specify that a particular flipbook’s embed code will only work on certain websites, preventing others from hijacking your content by embedding it elsewhere. 

Heyzine vs Flipsnack comparison shows that Heyzine’s fundamental privacy features are sufficient for basic use but fall short of the robust, corporate-level security offered by Flipsnack. 

For most small-scale uses, the provided privacy (unlisted by default + optional password) is sufficient, and in practice similar to Publuu’s level of protection.

Verdict

In the Flipsnack vs Publuu vs Heyzine discussion, Flipsnack is better as it offers enterprise access control. The others rely on passwords and unlisted links.

Why it matters

IT will ask about SSO, 2FA, roles, and audit.

4. Collaboration and team capabilities

For individual creators, collaboration might not be a concern, but many businesses have multiple people working on content. Whether it’s marketers co-authoring a brochure or a designer and an editor refining a catalog, team features can significantly streamline the workflow. 

Here again, Flipsnack sets itself apart as a platform designed for teams, whereas Publuu and Heyzine are geared more toward single-user operation (with only minimal team support in Heyzine).

Flipsnack

Flipsnack offers a full-fledged collaborative workspace. You can invite team members and assign them different roles (e.g. Admin, Editor, Contributor, etc.).

For the highest level of control, you also have the activity logs & tracking options. 

With activity logs, you can monitor everything happening in your account and investigate changes when needed. 

• Tracking period: View teammate activity for up to 90 days.
• Filtering options: Filter by teammate, activity type, or select all teammates and all activities.
• Exporting data: Apply your filters and download the results as a CSV file for reporting or auditing.

Flipsnack also allows creating multiple workspaces or folders for different projects or departments from the same company.

For example, a company could have separate workspaces for Marketing, Sales, and HR, each with relevant team members and content segregated. 

Within the editor, one user can start designing a flipbook and another can take over or continue editing (with a check-in/check-out mechanism to avoid conflicts). They can also leave comments so they don’t have to use another platform for feedback.

There are also features like shared asset libraries and the ability to create and share locked, branded templates for the team to reuse. 

All of this is aimed at ensuring a large team can work efficiently and maintain consistency in their publications. Essentially, Flipsnack behaves like a collaborative content management system for flipbooks.

Publuu

Publuu, in contrast, lacks any dedicated collaboration features. There is no concept of multi-user accounts. Typically, only one user (the account owner) can log in to Publuu to create or edit flipbooks. If multiple people need to contribute, one would have to share the login credentials or work sequentially on the file, which is not ideal or secure. 

There’s also no role management or content sharing within the platform for teams. This is a significant limitation for businesses: if you foresee more than one person needing to collaborate on content, Publuu might become cumbersome. 

It’s best suited for a single content creator or a very small business where one person handles the flipbooks (or where collaboration is handled offline by sharing PDFs and then one person uploads to Publuu).

Heyzine

Heyzine does offer a tiny bit more than Publuu in this respect, but still far from Flipsnack. 

Heyzine has an option to add account teammates. Effectively, you can invite one or more people to your Heyzine account so they can also create, edit, or delete flipbooks on that account. However, all teammates share the same level of access (there’s no granular role distinction).

It’s essentially like a group of people sharing one workspace. This can work for a small team that trusts each other, but having multiple people in one undifferentiated space can create issues and chaos as the content library grows. 

There’s no fine permission control (e.g. you can’t prevent a teammate from deleting something by accident, because all teammates have edit/delete rights). So, Heyzine’s collaboration is basic at best – it’s a convenience for two co-workers to use one subscription, but not a robust teamwork solution.

Verdict

For a business that wants to “operationalize” their digital content creation with multiple contributors, Flipsnack clearly beats both Heyzine and Publuu in collaboration features

Why it matters

Roles, workspaces, and logs prevent mistakes and speed reviews.

5. Branding and customization

Branding is a critical concern for businesses. You want your published content to reflect your brand identity, not the software tool’s branding. This includes everything from using your logo and colors, to the URL that viewers see, to the look and feel of the flipbook player. 

Flipsnack offers the most extensive branding options among the three, enabling a fully white-labeled experience on its higher-tier plans.

Flipsnack

With Flipsnack, you can add your own branding, plus you can customize the flipbook viewer’s interface.

Here’s what you can customize or add:

• background color or image behind the flipbook
• color for the toolbar accents
• the icons to match your style guide
• custom domain or subdomain for your flipbooks and bookshelves
• white label viewer with no Flipsnack marks
• branded bookshelf and email notifications
• Brand Kit

Additionally, Flipsnack’s Design Studio enables you to create branded templates and lock certain brand elements (like logos, visuals) so that any team member creating a new flipbook starts on-brand and stays on-brand. This level of control is ideal for enterprises or agencies that manage strict brand consistency across many publications.

Publuu

On Publuu, you can apply your branding by:

• adding your company logo & favicon
• adding a name & description
• adding a custom URL
• customize the background of the viewer (e.g., use a background image or solid color behind the flipbook)
• show certain control buttons 
• other flipbook preferences for more customization

Heyzine

The Heyzine interface allows you to change the logo shown on the viewer, change the background, and adjust the control styles (icons, buttons) to some extent. 

You can also set a custom URL slug or use a Heyzine subdomain for your links.

So, small businesses using Heyzine will have very light Heyzine branding (or none) visible to viewers. 

In terms of customizing the look, Heyzine covers the basics but doesn’t have features like template locking or brand kits. It’s more about appearance than enforcing brand standards.

Verdict

Here, too, Flipsnack beats Publuu and Heyzine as it enables true white label with brand guardrails.

Why it matters

You keep control of the viewer, the domain, and the templates.

6. Analytics and performance tracking

Having insight into how readers engage with your flipbooks is valuable. Here’s where Flipsnack’s focus on data really shows. 

Flipsnack provides advanced analytics built into its dashboard, far beyond basic view counts. Meanwhile, Publuu and Heyzine supply more rudimentary stats natively, sometimes relying on Google Analytics for depth. In the Heyzine vs Publuu vs Flipsnack contest for analytics, Flipsnack provides the most comprehensive insights, which is essential for data-driven teams to prove ROI and optimize content.

Flipsnack

Flipsnack’s analytics lets you monitor nearly everything about your digital publications’ performance:

• Views & impressions: Assess audience reach and content visibility.
• Location insights: Understand audience demographics to refine distribution strategies.
• Average time spent: Identify high-performing content and optimize engagement.
• Devices used: Optimize content for mobile, desktop, and tablet users.
• Downloads & interactions: Monitor user engagement and identity key conversion drivers.
• Form responses: Track quiz results, individual questions, and contact form submissions.
• Page-level statistics: Show you how long people spend on each page, which pages they bounce off. 
• Individual level statistics: Analyze statistics from each person you shared a trackable link with.
• Popular products: If you have a product catalog, you can see which are the most popular products.
• Shopping cart orders: If your catalog has a shopping list added, you can access statistics about your Shopping cart orders. Then, you can also access detailed statistics for each order.

Bookshelf Analytics

For users publishing collections of content, Flipsnack’s Bookshelf Analytics aggregates data across all flipbooks on a shelf, useful for understanding engagement across a portfolio of documents. 

Additionally, Flipsnack shows you traffic sources – e.g., how many views came from an embedded instance on your website versus direct link, and what device types readers used. 

It can even break down views by geographic location (country/region). And if all that isn’t enough, Flipsnack integrates with Google Analytics so you can tie flipbook events into your broader web analytics and conversion funnels. The platform emphasizes data because teams often need these insights to prove ROI or refine their content strategy.

Publuu

Publuu’s analytics cover the fundamentals but are relatively limited in scope. In Publuu’s stats panel, you can track:

• views
• time spent on pages
• PDF downloads
• clicks on interactive elements
• individual statistics through unique links

It also can track any leads captured if you used a lead form in the flipbook. 

If you need more detailed analytics, Publuu allows integration with Google Analytics. By adding your GA code, you could then track visitor numbers, location data including city and country, and demographic insights about your readers.

But out-of-the-box, Publuu’s reporting is basic and high-level. For many small businesses, knowing total views and time spent might be enough. For data-driven teams, it might fall short.

Heyzine

Heyzine offers basic analytics as well, with a bit of a twist: it shows what links or media were clicked within the flipbook, which is quite useful. 

Heyzine’s built-in flipbook statistics feature can tell you:

• how many visits a flipbook got
• where those visitors came from (referring sites or general location)
• which pages are most viewed or which interactive elements got clicks

This is actually a bit more detailed than Publuu’s native stats. 

Heyzine’s native analytics help you understand which pages hold attention and which outbound links people follow, for instance. 

For deeper needs, Heyzine also leans on external analytics such as Google Analytics.

This means you can have Google Analytics collect data on flipbook views, just like a web page.

Verdict

Even though Heyzine has more detailed analytics than Publuu, when it comes to Flipsnack vs Heyzine, Flipsnack gives you a better view of how your flipbooks perform.

Why it matters

You can fix drop off pages and prove ROI.

7. Integrations and compatibility

Integration can refer to two things: integrating external content into your flipbooks, and integrating the flipbook platform with other software/services. We’ll touch on both. 

All three platforms do allow embedding of outside content in some way, but Flipsnack and Heyzine are particularly strong in broader integrations, whereas Publuu’s focus is narrower.

Flipsnack

Flipsnack enables a lot of content integration internally. As mentioned earlier, you can embed videos, music, maps, forms, and other widgets directly into your flipbook pages through Flipsnack’s editor.

On the platform integration side, Flipsnack has quite a few integrations:

• API 
• Adobe InDesign Plugin
• Zapier  
• HubSpot
• Google Analytics
• Google Tag Manager
• MLS
• Custom email provider
• PIM/ERM integration

In short, Flipsnack is built to slot into a company’s existing tech stack, from marketing to design to enterprise login systems (with SSO).

Publuu

Publuu is a bit more self-contained. It does support content embedding to an extent – you can add YouTube videos, etc., into your flipbook as we covered. Publuu does not heavily advertise integrations with external apps (aside from GA4 for analytics).

Another is the Mobile App Creator feature: while not an integration with another software, it leverages Google Play to distribute your content as an app. You could consider that an integration with the mobile ecosystem. 

Publuu’s website does not list an open API or Zapier connectors. If you need to integrate Publuu with, say, a CRM or email marketing tool, you might have to use workarounds (for example, capturing leads via Publuu’s form and exporting them manually). 

Publuu is more of a closed ecosystem with limited integration, focusing on doing its core job well with minimal complexity.

Heyzine

Heyzine, interestingly, punches above its weight in integrations. As we saw, Heyzine flipbooks can incorporate external content via iframes. This means you can integrate virtually any web-based tool inside your flipbook pages. 

On the external integration front, Heyzine has an API available, which is great for developers who want to automate flipbook creation or integrate it into a content pipeline.

Verdict

Once again, Flipsnack wins in the Flipsnack vs Publuu and Heyzine debate when it comes to integrations and compatibility. 

Why it matters

You can automate creation and measure results in one flow.

8. Catalog automation

If your prices, inventory, or specs change often, you need a pipeline, not a redesign every time.

Flipsnack

With Flipsnack, it’s easy to launch product catalogs as you can automate your catalog creation.

• Product catalog generator: upload your CSV, choose one of our branded templates, and generate a complete catalog
• API integration: Sync and import product data from your internal systems by connecting your ERP or PIM 
• SKU detection for PDFs: If you already have a print ready PDF, Flipsnack can detect SKUs on the page and auto overlay product data from your feed. That turns a static PDF into a shoppable catalog without rebuilding pages.

Publuu

Publuu focuses on manual interactivity. You add product tags and let readers build a wishlist they can email. There is no documented product feed, no autosync, and no SKU detection. It works for simple shoppable catalogs, but you will still update content by hand at scale. 

Heyzine

Heyzine lets you automate uploads, publishing, and lead capture through its API or Zapier. You can embed the catalog in Shopify and other sites. It does not document feed based product mapping into hotspots, so product data sync lives outside the flipbook.

Verdict

Flipsnack automates catalogs from data to page. Publuu and Heyzine are manual.

Why it matters

Up to date always. Faster creation. Fewer errors. One source updates every link and embed.

Conclusion: Why choose Flipsnack

If you are choosing between Flipsnack vs Publuu vs Heyzine, pick Flipsnack. It is built for teams and sensitive content. 

You get native interactivity in one editor, secure sharing with SSO, role based workspaces, white label on your domain, deep analytics, and catalog automation that keeps pricing current.

Publuu works for simple, personal use. Heyzine works if you rely on embeds and keep costs low. Neither matches Flipsnack on control, scale, and reliability.

FAQ: Flipsnack vs Publuu vs Heyzine