A Sesamy alternative: subscriptions, print and advertising on one record
Sesamy and RunMags start from different places. Sesamy describes itself as a subscription management and CRM platform for newspaper, magazine, podcast and B2B publishers in the Nordics, combining digital paywalls, print fulfilment, B2B contracts, analytics and customer self-service in one system. Source: Sesamy llms.txt, retrieved 2026-10-05. RunMags is a system for the whole publishing business: advertising sales, contracts, flatplan, billing and print and digital subscriptions, with the advertiser and the subscriber on the same customer record. This guide sets out where each one fits better, including where Sesamy documents more than RunMags does today. Explore the publishing software comparison hub.
Quick verdict
If reader revenue is your main business and you want a paywall, a Nordic checkout with Vipps, Swish and Klarna, automated dunning, a subscriber self-service portal and B2B seat licences, Sesamy documents all of them (sources below), and RunMags does not document a paywall, Nordic payment methods, scheduled automatic renewals or subscriber self-service today. If you also sell advertising and plan print issues, and want sales, production and billing to work from one record with advertiser invoices synced to Fortnox, QuickBooks or Xero, RunMags is worth evaluating. Neither choice is right for every publisher, so test the workflow that matters most to you.
Side by side: what each vendor documents
Supported means the capability is documented. Partial means part of it is documented. Not shown means we found no public evidence; it does not mean the product lacks it. Not available yet and Not documented describe RunMags today. Sesamy statuses are vendor claims from Sesamy's official pages, retrieved 2026-10-05. RunMags statuses come from our own capability review in October 2026. Neither column is an independent test.
| Capability | Sesamy (vendor-claimed) | RunMags |
|---|---|---|
| Paywall and checkout | Supported. Soft, hard, metered and dynamic login walls set per section, segment or campaign, with A/B tests, and a checkout with Vipps, Swish, Klarna, card and invoice. Sesamy features page | Not documented |
| Nordic payment methods | Supported. Vipps, Swish, Klarna, Apple Pay, Google Pay, card, OCR/KID, Bankgiro and Billogram invoices. Sesamy integrations page | Not available yet. Readers who subscribe online pay by card through your own connected Stripe account |
| Subscription plans and offers | Supported. Fixed, metered, bundled, trial, discount code and seasonal offers, with upgrades, downgrades and pauses. Sesamy features page | Partial. Print and digital subscriptions with issue-based or time-based terms, gifts and back issues |
| Renewals and failed payments | Supported. Automated dunning with retries, reminders and grace periods, plus a cancel flow with retention offers. Sesamy features page | Partial. Renewals are charged when your staff run the renewal batch; automatic scheduled renewal and failed-payment retries are not available yet |
| Subscriber self-service | Supported. My Pages lets readers update payment methods, addresses and preferences, and print readers can report a missing issue. Sesamy features page | Not documented |
| Print distribution | Supported. Distribution lists with routes and delivery schedules, native Helthjem and DI integrations, and FTP, REST or upload for other distributors. Sesamy print page | Partial. Issue-based terms and per-issue distribution batches you export for your printer; distributor integrations are not available yet |
| B2B and group subscriptions | Supported. Multi-seat licences managed by the buyer, email-domain access, and SSO with Okta, Microsoft Entra and Google Workspace. Sesamy B2B page | Not documented |
| Subscription reporting | Supported. MRR, churn, conversion, ARPU, cohort views, checkout funnel and article-level conversion. Sesamy features page | Partial. Owner dashboard and subscription finance views; reader cohort reports are not available yet |
| Accounting sync and EU VAT | Partial. EU OSS VAT handling, revenue reports and ledger exports; no named accounting integration such as Fortnox, Visma or Xero on the pages we checked. Sesamy features page | Partial. Advertiser invoices sync to Fortnox, QuickBooks or Xero, with EU VAT; subscription invoices are not part of the sync yet |
| Migration from another system | Supported. A five-step migration service, typically 2 to 4 weeks, with Vipps agreement takeover, Stripe card import and Klarna agreements kept. Sesamy migration page | Partial. Subscriber and subscription imports are part of onboarding; card-token continuity is not documented |
| Advertising sales, contracts and orders | Not shown on the pages we checked. Sesamy's integrations, features and llms.txt pages describe reader revenue: subscriptions, paywall, identity and analytics. Sesamy llms.txt | Supported |
| Flatplanning and issue production | Not shown on the pages we checked. Sesamy llms.txt | Supported. The flatplan is built from booked advertising orders |
Published pricing (checked )
Sesamy does not publish a price list. Its pricing address leads to the Sesamy contact page, which offers a 30-minute demo (source: Sesamy llms.txt, retrieved 2026-10-05), so ask Sesamy for a quote for your titles. Its features page says there are no long-term contracts and that subscriber data exports on demand. Source: Sesamy features page, retrieved 2026-10-05. See RunMags pricing.
Who should choose which
Choose or stay with Sesamy if
- Your readers expect to pay with Vipps, Swish, Klarna, card or invoice, and you want a paywall your team configures without developers. Source: Sesamy digital page, retrieved 2026-10-05.
- You want failed payments chased automatically. Sesamy documents automated dunning with retries, reminders and grace periods, a cancel flow with retention offers and a My Pages self-service portal. Source: Sesamy features page, retrieved 2026-10-05.
- You print and distribute in Norway or Sweden and want distributor integrations with Helthjem or DI and reader-reported missing issues in the same system. Source: Sesamy print page, retrieved 2026-10-05.
- You sell seat-based subscriptions to companies, government agencies, educational institutions or libraries and need SSO with Okta, Microsoft Entra or Google Workspace. Source: Sesamy B2B page, retrieved 2026-10-05.
- You are moving from a legacy subscription system and want a migration service that keeps existing Vipps, Stripe and Klarna payers paying. Source: Sesamy migration page, retrieved 2026-10-05.
If your Sesamy setup already does this work well, keeping it is a sensible decision. RunMags does not document a paywall, Nordic payment methods, subscriber self-service or B2B seat licences, and does not schedule automatic renewals or retry failed card payments yet.
Consider RunMags if
- You sell advertising and subscriptions, often to the same organisations. In RunMags, an organisation or contact keeps its advertising orders and its subscriptions on one record, in one CRM for magazines.
- Your sales team works from contracts with order rows per channel, and production plans each issue. The flatplan is built from booked advertising orders. See flatplanning.
- You sell print and digital subscriptions with issue-based or time-based terms, including renewals, back issues, gifts and credit notes, and you send per-issue distribution lists to your printer. See subscription sales and circulation management.
- You invoice advertisers through Fortnox, QuickBooks or Xero, with EU VAT, and readers who subscribe online pay by card through your own connected Stripe account. Subscription invoices are not part of the accounting sync yet.
The Sesamy pages we checked describe reader revenue and do not document advertising sales or flatplanning. That is not proof that Sesamy lacks them, so ask Sesamy directly if you need them. Source: Sesamy llms.txt, retrieved 2026-10-05.
Switching from Sesamy: a step-by-step plan
- List what you run on Sesamy today: paywall rules, plans and offers, payment methods, B2B contracts and seats, distribution lists, integrations and the CMS connection. Mark what you need on the first day.
- Check each need against the table above. If you rely on the paywall, Vipps, Swish or Klarna, automatic renewals and dunning, My Pages or B2B seats and SSO, decide how you will cover them before you move, or keep Sesamy for that part.
- Export a sample of your subscribers. Sesamy's features page says subscriber records, billing history and event logs export on demand in standard formats. Source: Sesamy features page, retrieved 2026-10-05.
- Ask the RunMags team to import the sample into a trial account; subscriber and subscription imports are part of onboarding. Compare plans, renewal dates and the next issue's distribution list with Sesamy.
- Agree how payments will move. Sesamy runs on your own Stripe account through Stripe Connect, and RunMags also takes subscriber card payments through your own connected Stripe account, but RunMags does not document card-token continuity or support Vipps, Swish or Klarna today, so plan this with the RunMags team before you set a date. Source: Sesamy features page, retrieved 2026-10-05.
- Keep Sesamy running until renewals, subscriber access and distribution lists match in RunMags.
Frequently asked questions
Does RunMags have a paywall and Nordic checkout like Sesamy?
RunMags does not document a paywall or Vipps, Swish or Klarna payments today; readers who subscribe online pay by card through your own connected Stripe account. Sesamy documents four paywall types and a checkout with Vipps, Swish, Klarna, card and invoice (source: sesamy.com/features, retrieved 2026-10-05). If that is what you need now, Sesamy is the better fit for that part.
Does RunMags renew subscriptions and chase failed payments automatically?
Not yet. In RunMags, renewals are charged when your staff run the renewal batch. RunMags does not schedule automatic renewals or retry failed card payments yet. Sesamy's features page documents automated dunning with retries, reminders and grace periods (source: sesamy.com/features, retrieved 2026-10-05).
How is Sesamy priced?
On 2026-10-05 Sesamy published no price list: its pricing address led to its contact page with a 30-minute demo (source: sesamy.com/pricing, checked 2026-10-05). Its features page says there are no long-term contracts (source: sesamy.com/features, retrieved 2026-10-05). Ask Sesamy for a quote, see the RunMags pricing page for RunMags plans, and compare quotes for your own setup.
Can I move my Sesamy subscribers into RunMags?
Yes, with help from the team: subscriber and subscription imports are part of RunMags onboarding. Sesamy's features page says subscriber data exports on demand (source: sesamy.com/features, retrieved 2026-10-05). Card-token continuity is not documented, and RunMags does not take Vipps, Swish or Klarna payments, so plan how existing payers will move before you switch.
Can I use Sesamy and RunMags together?
RunMags has no documented Sesamy integration. Using both would mean keeping readers in Sesamy and advertisers in RunMags, in separate systems. Ask the RunMags team what that split would mean for your billing and distribution lists.
Evaluate RunMags with your own publishing workflow
Bring one advertiser who also subscribes, one renewal and your next issue. Start a trial or book a walkthrough with the team.
