The AZW and AZW3 extensions are two proprietary EBook formats from Amazon and are exclusively used for Amazon Kindle devices.
Although it’s never been officially confirmed, AZW and AZW3 format are similar to the MOBI format, AZW format is adopted from Mobipocket EBook MOBI file format that has been DRM((Digital Right Management) protected and renamed from MOBI or PRC format. Android, IOS, and popular EBook management apps like Calibre and Alfa can read AZW and AZW3 format.
AZW is the first version of the two and was released in 2007 along with the first kindle, The eBooks with AZW format can store components like formatted text, bookmarks, annotations, last read position, page numbers that match up to the physical version of the book.
AZW3 format, known also as Kindle Format 8 (KF8), KF8 compiles the ePub files and generates a binary structure based on the PDB file format. it is the upgraded version of AZW EBook digital format which was introduced along with the Kindle Fire reader in 2011.AZW3 has more advanced features than AZW. It supports more styles, fonts, and layouts such as HTML5 and CSS3 which were not supported through the standard AZW format. The AZW3 file format has an internet media application/vnd.amazon.mobi8-ebook. AZW3 files can be converted to other file formats like AZW, EPUB, PDF, DOCX, and RTF.
Disadvantage – AZW and AZW3 formats do not support video and audio. Since AZW and AZW3 are proprietary formats they are not supported widely on EReaders as compare to EPUB and MOBI. NOOK and KOBO EReaders cannot read the AZW and AZW3 format.
Best AZW Converter: To read Kindle AZW books smoothly on other devices, you must have an AZW Converter Calibre is the best free AZW converter that will help you Convert AZW to PDF/EPUB/MOBI, However, there is an alternative Calibre which is Epubor Ultimate a much easier way to Use for AZW Converter.
About Calibre: Caliber is a free EBook manager that also works as an EBook converter to convert the EBook formats. Calibre is capable of decrypting EBooks with a DRM removal plug-in, including Kindle AZW / KFX / AZW3. Let’s find out how caliber works as an AZW converter.
Features of Calibre:
- Its totally free to use, no-cost incurred
- It is a multifunctional tool, work as an EBook management and also as an EBook format converter
- We must install Calibre DRM removal plugin to convert Kindle AZW eBook, it a tedious and a complicated process
- You cannot detect and load Kindle EBooks without adding them to Calibre.
- The tool interface is very complex.
Installation Step
- Download Calibre and DeDRM Plugin, and install the DeDRM Plugin to Calibre, It is an essential step to successfully decrypt Kindle AZW books.
- Download Kindle AZW eBooks to your computer via Kindle for PC/Mac.
- Add Kindle AZW EBooks to Calibre by clicking on the “Add books”. If you download the Kindle AZW EBooks to the PC via option Kindle for PC/Mac, you should add manually the Kindle EBooks to Calibre from the My Kindle Document folder.
- Now Convert Kindle AZW EBook to PDF, Epub, or Mobi by clicking on the “Convert books”.
- Once the conversion is completed, there will be two file formats displaying for this book.
About Epubor Ultimate: Epubor Ultimate is the best EBook converter and DRM removal, it is the most powerful and easy-to-use AZW converter tool apart from Calibre.
Features of Epubor Ultimate
- Can Convert Kindle AZW/AZW3/KFX to PDF/EPUB/MOBI without installing any DRM Removal Plugin.
- Automatically detect devices and load books.
- User-Friendly interface – Much easier to use than Calibre.
- Can edit metadata like title, author, publisher, introduction, and the book cover
Installation Step
- Download Epubor Ultimate, and install.
- Now download Kindle AZW EBooks to your computer.
- When you open Epubor Ultimate, it will automatically detect all the downloaded Kindle AZW EBooks from your PC and display the list on the application’s left side.
- You just need to drag and drop the Kindle AZW EBooks from the left to the right side of the application.
Calibre VS Epubor Ultimate
| AZW Converter | Calibre | Epubor ultimate |
| Automatically detect device and books | No | Yes |
| DRM removal function | Must install DeDRM Plugin to remove DRM | remove DRM with a click |
| Ease of use | Tedious to use | Easy to use |
| User-friendly interface | No | Yes |
| Customer service | No | 7/24 customer support |
| Price | free | $24.99 |
