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You probably don't need to buy a barcode for your book. If you publish through Amazon KDP or IngramSpark, both put one on your back cover for free. If you do need to buy a barcode on its own, Bowker sells a single one for $25 (checked 30 July 2026).
That's the answer most people are looking for. The rest of this page covers when the free option isn't enough, what the digits under the bars actually mean, and the exact size the barcode has to be printed.
Who gives you a barcode free
Amazon KDP. KDP's barcode help page says that if you use Cover Creator or don't supply your own barcode, "we'll automatically place one on your back cover," at no additional cost. You do not have to design it, buy it, or paste it in. You just leave room for it. (KDP barcodes)
IngramSpark / Lightning Source. Barcodes are mandatory on every IngramSpark cover, but you don't have to produce one. Their file creation guide says Lightning Source "will add/replace barcodes that are unscannable or incorrect" and will "add a generic barcode if the book does not have an ISBN assigned to it." If you can't supply one, leave a clear area of at least 1.75 inches wide by 1 inch high on the back cover. (IngramSpark File Creation Guide, PDF)
A free generator. If you already own an ISBN and just need the image, several free tools produce a print-ready EAN-13 from an ISBN-13 — Kindlepreneur's is one, and it doesn't ask for an email. A generator does not issue you an ISBN. It only draws the bars for an ISBN you already have.
When you actually have to pay
Buy a barcode when all three of these are true: you own your own ISBN (not a free KDP one), you're supplying a print-ready cover PDF to a printer that doesn't add barcodes, and you want a printed price encoded on the cover.
Bowker's prices, read from their pages on 30 July 2026:
| What | Price |
|---|---|
| 1 barcode | $25 |
| 1 ISBN | $125 |
| 10 ISBNs | $295 |
| 100 ISBNs | $575 |
| 1,000 ISBNs | $1,500 |
| 1 ISBN + 1 barcode | $150 |
| 10 ISBNs + 1 barcode | $320 |
Sources: Bowker barcodes and Bowker ISBNs. Bowker delivers the barcode as an EPS or PDF file, which you place into your cover design rather than open directly.
Bowker is the only official source of ISBNs in the United States and its territories — that's Bowker's own wording on the US ISBN Agency page. Other US resellers can legitimately sell you the barcode image for around the same $25, but an ISBN itself has to originate with Bowker if you're a US publisher.
Worth knowing before you spend $125: KDP will give you a free ISBN for a paperback or hardcover, but KDP's ISBN page says free KDP ISBNs "can only be used on KDP" and your imprint will show as "Independently published." Ebooks and low-content books don't need an ISBN at all. If you want your own imprint name or you plan to print elsewhere, buy the ISBN. If you don't, don't. Our ISBN cost breakdown goes into the trade-off in more detail.
What the numbers under the bars mean
A book barcode is a standard EAN-13 symbol carrying the 13-digit ISBN. The trade calls it Bookland EAN. Take 978-0-306-40615-7:
- 978 — the prefix element. GS1 set aside 978 (and later 979) for books, which is where "Bookland" comes from.
- 0 — the registration group. Roughly, the language area or country. 0 and 1 are English-speaking.
- 306 — the registrant. The publisher. Short registrant numbers mean the publisher registered early and bought a big block.
- 40615 — the publication element. This specific title, edition and format.
- 7 — the check digit.
The check digit is arithmetic, not a lookup. Multiply the first twelve digits alternately by 1 and 3, add them up, and subtract the total from the next multiple of ten. For 978030640615: 9+21+8+0+3+0+6+12+0+18+1+15 = 93, and 100 − 93 = 7. (ISBN structure and check digit)
Each format gets its own ISBN and therefore its own barcode. Paperback, hardcover and audiobook are three ISBNs, not one.
The small second barcode: the price add-on
The narrow five-digit block to the right of the main barcode is an EAN-5 add-on, and it encodes the retail price. The first digit is the currency: 5 for US dollars, 6 for Canadian dollars, 0 for British pounds. The remaining four digits are the price. So 51995 reads as $19.95 and 51050 reads as $10.50.
Two special values you'll see on real books:
- 90000 — no suggested retail price. The retailer sets the price in their own system. This is the safe default if you might change your price, and it's what most print-on-demand covers carry.
- 99991 — a complimentary copy, not for sale.
BISG's guidelines set the encodable range at $0.01 to $499.99. Prices from $0.01 to $99.98 use the 5-prefix range 50001–59998; prices from $100.00 to $499.99 use prefixes 10000–49999; and 59999 signals a price above $99.98. One quirk: $99.99 cannot be encoded. (BISG barcoding guidelines, BarcodeFAQ)
If you print a price in the barcode and then raise it, the barcode is wrong and you're reprinting covers. Use 90000 unless a retailer specifically asks for a priced code.
What size it has to be printed
| Spec | Requirement |
|---|---|
| BISG, 100% magnification (with price add-on) | 1 in high x 2-3/16 in wide |
| BISG magnification range | 80% to 200% |
| Bowker standard (92%) | reserve 2.00 in x 1.25 in |
| Bowker small (80%) | reserve 1.75 in x 1.00 in |
| KDP suggested | 2 in x 1.2 in (50.8 x 30.5 mm) |
| KDP minimum | 1.4 in x 0.8 in (35.56 x 20.3 mm) |
| IngramSpark clear area | 1.75 in x 1 in |
| Quiet zone (BISG) | 3/32 in clear on each side, no border |
Placement, per BISG: on Cover 4 (the back cover), with the bottom of the symbol 1/4 inch above the bottom edge. Rack-sized mass-market paperbacks carry a second barcode on Cover 2, 3/8 inch from the front edge, at 90% magnification or larger. KDP asks for at least 0.25 in (6.3 mm) of clearance from the spine and the trim edge.
Print it 100% black on a white box — that's IngramSpark's explicit instruction, and it's good practice everywhere. Not dark navy on cream. Scanners read contrast.
The mistakes that cost a reprint
- Shrinking the barcode to fit the design. Below 80% magnification it's out of spec and may fail at the register.
- Putting artwork or text inside the quiet zone. The 3/32-inch margin on each side has to be blank.
- A barcode that doesn't match the ISBN in your account. KDP requires the barcode's ISBN to match your book's ISBN exactly.
- Reusing one ISBN across formats. Each format needs its own.
- Printing a price you're not committed to. 90000 avoids this entirely.
Do ebooks need a barcode?
No. A barcode exists to be scanned at a physical point of sale. Ebooks and audiobooks sold through digital storefronts are identified by ISBN or ASIN in a database, with nothing to scan. KDP treats an ISBN itself as optional for ebooks and low-content books. If you're deciding between the two identifiers, see ISBN vs ASIN.
A note on 2D barcodes and "Sunrise 2027"
GS1 is running a global migration toward 2D barcodes (QR-style codes) at retail point of sale, with 2027 as the milestone year. GS1 US frames it as a transition rather than a hard mandate, and says it "is not necessary to implement all the capabilities of 2D by that date." Their Sunrise 2027 page is about retail products and does not mention ISBN barcodes or books. For a self-published author printing a cover this year, the EAN-13 Bookland barcode is still what you need. Nothing about Sunrise changes that today.
Steps, if you just want the sequence
- Get an ISBN. Free from KDP if you'll only publish on KDP; $125 from Bowker if you want your own imprint. (How to get an ISBN)
- Decide whether you need a barcode at all. Publishing only on KDP or IngramSpark? Skip to step 5.
- Generate or buy the barcode image. Free generator if you're comfortable placing an EPS; $25 from Bowker if you want it delivered.
- Use 90000 for the price add-on unless a retailer has asked for a specific priced code.
- Leave 2 in x 1.25 in of white space at the bottom right of the back cover, at least 0.25 in from the spine and trim, and don't put anything in it.
- Order a proof copy and scan the printed barcode with a phone before approving the print run.
