While trying to independently publish a book I became acquainted with two major vendors and had to compare them.

	CreateSpace	Lulu
book sizes	They allow custom formats up to /about/ A4. However restrictions apply if a distribution option is selected	Only a limited set of sizes is allowed. The limitation gets even narrower if distribution is requested.
minimum page count	24	48 for standard paperbacks 32 for premium paperbacks
book covers	paperbacks only	Variety of soft and hard cover options. The number of options decreases if sales and distribution options are selected.
cover design wizard	well usable with a wide assortment of themes and layouts	very limited possibilities
BW illustrations	better
color images		better if good quality paper is selected
distribution	primarily Amazon	various distribution options
revenue monitoring	sales and revenue is displayed on the user dashboard in near real time	revenue is reported periodically
user control	cannot delete	user can delete their own project
pagination	book can only include standard pagination from 1, 2, 3 ...etc. No deviations tolerated.	not enforced
editorial checking	CreateSpace performs a series of automatic checks, their manual review and approval and client proof review before a book is allowed to print. Sometimes helpful sometimes frustrating. !Cannot recall a project once it is submitted for approval!	Only routine automatic checks.
private prints	no - every book is issued an ISBN and is treated like an official publication to be sold	yes - options for private prints
modification of existing books	you have to go again through the approval process which (if successful) takes from hours to 2 days and during that time the book is unavailable for others to order.	No hassle, you just have to re-click through the whole process of book creation. If the book is already in distribution, a self-check on a physical print is required.
tolerance of PDF size	cuts off the extra area	resizes the pages
e-books	very little support for e-books, they only generate a cover file for Kindle derived from the paperback	lot of support for e-books
e-book distribution	none	Apple, Nook
printing location	U.S. only	multiple sites worldwide
in short	choose CreateSpace if you want...	choose Lulu if you want...
	quick and easy entry into Amazon	to print a book quickly in hours not days (without waiting for their approval )
	BW photos in your book	full color illustrations on better paper
	custom book size in paperback	to publish and distribute an e-book
		hard cover
		spiral binding
		to make frequent updates in your book
		use nonstandard pagination
		easy entry into Google Book Search
		if printing outside the U.S - e.g. in Europe - is good for you