An Ad Orbit (formerly MagHub) alternative for magazine publishers
MagHub is the earlier name of Ad Orbit, so a MagHub alternative and an Ad Orbit alternative are the same search. Whether your team still calls it MagHub or you are evaluating Ad Orbit for the first time, start with the sale your team handles every week. How does an advertiser's request become an agreed campaign, an issue booking and an invoice? RunMags is a publishing software alternative to evaluate through that complete workflow. There is no useful reason to move platforms merely because both products list CRM and billing. The question is whether your team can complete its actual work with clearer ownership and an acceptable total cost.
RunMags connects your magazine business from proposal to paid invoice, with Maggie built in. Plans scale by legal entities and brands. Explore the publishing software comparison hub. Comparing prices? See how much magazine management software costs. Want a direct head-to-head? Read RunMags vs MagHub (Ad Orbit). Shortlisting both? See Ad Orbit (MagHub) vs Mirabel Magazine Manager or Ad Orbit (MagHub) vs Lineup Adpoint side by side.
What Ad Orbit says about its product
Ad Orbit's vendor-claimed offering includes publisher CRM, product and inventory management with real-time inventory tracking, proposal workflows with e-signature, an advertiser portal for creative uploads and approvals, finance and billing with GL/ERP sync, and reporting. It describes advertising inventory across print, digital, newsletter and podcast formats, and lists publishers, associations, out-of-home, expos and events, and podcasters and radio among its industries. Source: Ad Orbit's homepage, read in a browser on . These are vendor claims, not independently tested results.
For buyers searching under the older MagHub name, Ad Orbit also retains MagHub-branded material on its official website, recorded in the same 2026-09-12 review. Confirm the product edition and commercial offer with the vendor when discussing an existing installation. A familiar brand name alone does not identify your current modules, integrations or contract.
Last published pricing we could read ()
This is a dated checkpoint, not a current price. On 2026-10-04 Ad Orbit's pricing page described a per-user model (“Pay per user. No platform fees.”) and published three editions, each with a 5-user minimum.
| Edition | Published price |
|---|---|
| Standard Edition | Starting at $76 per user, per month |
| Professional Edition | No public price; quote on request |
| Enterprise Edition | No public price; quote on request |
Source: Ad Orbit pricing and packages page, retrieved . Since then Ad Orbit's website has refused our automated checks (HTTP 403, most recently on 2026-10-15), and we do not work around that. The figure has therefore been neither re-confirmed nor shown to be out of date. Ask Ad Orbit for a current written quotation for your users and editions. For how per-user and per-plan pricing compare, read how much magazine management software costs. RunMags plans are priced by the legal entities and brands you run, not per user: see RunMags pricing.
Test one multi-issue advertising agreement
Choose a realistic advertiser: an organisation buying placements in two issues, with an agency contact and a separate billing contact. Prepare an example discount, artwork deadline and payment schedule. Ask both vendors to show the full sequence from first contact to proposal, contract and e-signature, booking, production handoff and invoice. Add one ordinary change, such as moving a placement to a later issue. Observe who can make the change and whether the downstream records remain clear.
In a RunMags evaluation, explore advertising sales, contract management and fulfilment, and flatplanning together. Contract management and e-signature are part of RunMags' product scope. Confirm the selected plan and demonstrate the exact agreement you use rather than treating a product description as confirmation of every signature policy or document format. Let someone from production review the booking as well as someone from sales.
Look closely at the exception, not just the happy path
The most useful demonstration often begins after the original order is agreed. Ask how your proposed process handles replacement artwork, a changed issue date, a disputed invoice or a renewal for a different title. Identify which record is authoritative and who receives the next task. Count the information that must be entered again and note where staff need another application. These observations tell you more about fit than an unsupported promise that one platform will save a fixed percentage of time.
RunMags' general integrations list includes Stripe, QuickBooks Online, Xero, Fortnox and WordPress. Use your existing accounting workflow to check the relevant connector and its plan entitlement. Specify whether your accounting system or publishing system should issue invoices, how customer identities are matched and where corrections are made. Do not assume that a connector name means every historical field or unusual billing arrangement is supported.
When a specialist ad system like Ad Orbit is the better fit
Ad Orbit is built around advertising revenue. It can be the better choice if one or more of these is central to how you sell (Ad Orbit statements from Ad Orbit's homepage, read ):
- Live inventory and availability. Ad Orbit describes real-time inventory tracking across print, digital, newsletter and podcast. RunMags has no inventory holds or double-booking guard.
- Advertiser creative and approvals. Ad Orbit describes an advertiser portal for creative uploads and approvals. RunMags advertisers accept contracts online, but RunMags does not route artwork proofs for approval or produce tear sheets.
- Advertising beyond the magazine. Ad Orbit lists out-of-home, expos and events, and podcasters and radio among its industries. RunMags is built around magazine issues, with subscriptions on the same customer record.
- Ad server connections. RunMags has no Google Ad Manager integration, so a team that books digital campaigns through an ad server should check that connection with each vendor.
RunMags is the better fit when you want advertising sales, contracts, the flatplan, advertiser invoicing and subscriptions on one customer record, prices by legal entity and brand rather than per user, and advertiser invoices synced to Fortnox, QuickBooks Online or Xero per legal entity. See how a contract becomes issue bookings in RunMags advertising sales.
Staying with your current setup is also a sound decision. If your team already uses its configured order workflows, advertiser portal and reports successfully, include that operational knowledge in the decision. A replacement has training and transition costs even when the software subscription is attractive. Stay if a RunMags evaluation does not resolve the specific problem you documented, or if a critical integration or control cannot be demonstrated. Capabilities not verified in this comparison should be discussed with each vendor; absence from a cited page is not evidence that a feature is missing.
Plan a bounded transition
Begin by reviewing exports of advertiser organisations and contacts. If subscriptions are in scope, include subscribers and subscription records. Agree field mapping, duplicate handling and a small validation sample before a wider import. Historical advertising orders, contract files, artwork and payment records require a separate scope decision. Retain necessary archives and check obligations under your existing agreement; there is no blanket promise that every item of MagHub or Ad Orbit history can move unchanged.
Compare current RunMags plans using your legal entities and brands, then request a quotation for any additional requirements. Onboarding includes four hours; additional assistance is EUR 125/hour. Ask how to allocate those hours between setup, training and import review. Keep the evaluation focused on a complete campaign your team can recognise.
For the multi-issue agreement in your evaluation, examine ad sales CRM for magazines to see how RunMags keeps advertiser and agency contacts connected to advertising contracts and invoices.
Frequently asked questions
Is RunMags an alternative to Ad Orbit (formerly MagHub)?
Yes, for magazine publishers that sell their own advertising. MagHub is the earlier name of Ad Orbit. RunMags covers advertiser records, contracts, issue bookings, the flatplan and advertiser invoicing in one system, together with subscriptions. Ad Orbit's homepage describes features RunMags does not have yet, such as real-time inventory tracking and an advertiser portal for creative uploads and approvals, so compare both against how your team sells.
When is Ad Orbit the better choice?
When live inventory availability, advertiser creative uploads and approvals, or advertising beyond the magazine, such as events, podcasts or out-of-home, sit at the centre of your sales. Ad Orbit's homepage, read on 2026-09-12, describes real-time inventory tracking, an advertiser portal for creative uploads and approvals, and those industries. RunMags has no inventory holds or double-booking guard, does not route artwork proofs for approval or produce tear sheets, and has no Google Ad Manager integration.
Can I move my data from MagHub or Ad Orbit to RunMags?
Start with a small validation sample of advertiser organisations and contacts, with field mapping and duplicate rules agreed first, and include subscribers and subscription records if subscriptions are in scope. Subscriber and subscription imports are part of RunMags onboarding. Historical ad orders, contract files, artwork and payment records need a separate scope decision, and not every item of history is promised to move unchanged. Onboarding includes four hours of help.
How is Ad Orbit pricing different from RunMags pricing?
Ad Orbit prices per user. On 2026-10-04 its pricing page listed the Standard Edition from $76 per user per month with a 5-user minimum, and Professional and Enterprise on quote. That is a dated figure, not a current price: Ad Orbit's website has refused automated checks since then (HTTP 403), so it has been neither re-confirmed nor disproven. Ask Ad Orbit for current terms. RunMags plans are priced by the number of legal entities and magazine brands you run, current prices are on the RunMags pricing page, and you can start a 14-day free trial without a credit card.
Does RunMags handle ad contracts, the flatplan and invoicing?
Yes. Sales reps build contracts from your product catalogues, and advertisers accept them online in the advertiser portal. Signed print bookings appear on the flatplan for their issue, and billing invoices the booked issues. RunMags does not yet produce tear sheets or route artwork proofs to advertisers for approval.
Which accounting systems does RunMags sync with?
Customers, advertiser invoices and their credit notes sync to Fortnox, QuickBooks Online or Xero, per legal entity. Subscription invoices are not part of that sync; they stay in RunMags. Ad Orbit's homepage describes GL/ERP sync, so if your finance team needs ledger mapping or revenue recognition inside the ad system, ask both vendors to show it with your own chart of accounts.
See the advertising workflow before deciding
Bring an example agreement, your number of titles and the accounting handoff you want to improve. Start a trial or arrange a guided demonstration.
