Magazine subscription management software

CRM is your playbook for winning with subscribers

To beat the competition you certainly need to create compelling content that subscribers want to consume, but it does not stop there. Consumers expect flawless delivery of their magazines and should something unexpected happen, they expect great service from you when they get in touch. Increasingly, consumers expect you to run a digitized operation where they can update their address or preferences, renew their subscription or simply get in touch with you.

RunMags will help you create and manage subscriber records along with relevant information such as activities, email, sales orders, subscriptions, invoices and more.

As a digital subscription platform for magazine publishers, RunMags keeps print and digital subscriptions on the same subscriber record, sells print, digital and print-plus-digital bundle products on your branded subscription page, and runs renewal reminders and invoicing from the system your team already uses for ad sales.

From subscriber record to renewal: how subscription management works in RunMags

RunMags covers the subscription workflow a magazine publisher runs for every issue, in one system:

1. Subscriber record. Each subscriber has one record with their subscriptions and subscription orders, invoices, activities and the emails you have sent. A subscriber can be linked to a contact or organisation, keep a temporary address with an end date, and have a separate ship-to address.
2. Subscription products and offers. Set up subscription products with a price, a length in issues or in time, ongoing or auto-renewing terms, postage zones, tax, and print or online delivery. Gift subscriptions keep the payer and the recipient as separate subscribers.
3. Order and payment. Service reps enter orders with the first and last issue of each subscription, and can choose payment by invoice. Each subscription order gets its invoice, with credit notes when something changes; read more about publisher billing and payments in RunMags.
4. Renewals and reminders. Reminder rules pick subscriptions by days to expiry or issues left, send email or print reminders, and cap how many reminders are sent and how often. When your team runs the renewal batch, auto-renewing subscriptions are charged to the subscriber's saved card.
5. Issue distribution lists. For each issue, RunMags builds a distribution list from active subscriptions. You can limit it to paid copies, add rules for advertiser copies, and export the list to Excel for your printer or mail house. Our guide to magazine circulation management covers the routines around it.
6. Subscriber changes. Readers update their own details, address and newsletter choices from a personal link, and subscribe or renew on your branded page; see subscriber portal software in RunMags. Your service team can make the same changes in RunMags, and renewals run when staff run the renewal batch. Subscriber self-service for card updates, invoices and cancellation is on the roadmap.

At a glance, service reps can easily understand how to best service the subscriber. Historical sales orders, past and current subscriptions as well as recent engagements with subscriber form an understanding on what's most important to maintain the subscriber. Since RunMags is one interconnected system, pricing automatically flows from subscription management to billing, ensuring that each subscriber is billed correctly.

Follow up renewals with email and print reminders

Set reminder rules that pick subscribers with only a few issues or days left, then generate the reminder batch and send the renewal notices by email or print. Since RunMags is cloud based with role-based user rights, you can also give an outside telemarketing team a restricted login to call subscribers about renewing. Step by step: how to send subscription renewal reminders in RunMags.

Magazine subscription renewals and the renewal batch

A subscription renewal in RunMags starts with your team: staff generate renewal notices from your reminder rules and send them by email or printed letter, and start the renewal batch when they choose. The renewal automation is in that batch: once staff start it, auto-renewing subscriptions are charged to the subscriber's saved card and each renewal order gets its invoice. Print, digital and print plus digital subscriptions are all subscription products on the same subscriber record. RunMags does not yet schedule renewals or send renewal notices on its own, and it does not retry failed card payments. For the reminder rhythm and the renewal decisions your team should keep, read how to reduce renewal churn.

Issue-based and time-based terms, gift subscriptions and print distribution lists

Three setup choices decide how a magazine subscription runs day to day: how long it lasts, who pays and who receives it, and who is on the mailing list for each issue. RunMags keeps all three on the subscriber record, so sales, service and fulfilment work from the same data.

• Issue-based and time-based terms. Every subscription product has a length in issues or in time. An issue-based subscription runs for a set number of issues, such as six; a time-based one runs for a period, such as twelve months. Each order records the first and last issue of the subscription, so you can see exactly which issues a subscriber is owed, and print and digital subscribers on either term type sit in the same subscriber list. Reminder rules follow the term: they pick subscriptions by issues left or by days to expiry, your team sends the reminders by email or print, and your team runs the renewal batch.
• Gift subscriptions. A gift subscription keeps the payer and the recipient as separate subscribers, so the person who buys it and the person who reads it are not mixed up on one record. When you turn on gift options for a subscription page, a reader can buy a subscription for someone else; see subscriber portal software in RunMags.
• Print distribution lists. For each issue you choose the issue and the subscription products to include, and RunMags builds a distribution list from the active subscriptions. Terms decide which subscriptions are active, a paid-only option leaves free subscriptions out, and distribution rules produce a separate batch of advertiser copies. You export each batch to Excel for your printer or mail house. RunMags builds the lists but does not certify circulation audits. The routines around the list are covered on magazine circulation management in RunMags.

Who RunMags subscription management software is for

• Magazine publishers that sell print and online subscriptions directly to readers, for one title or several.
• Publishers launching or relaunching subscriptions who want subscription products, renewals and billing in place from the first issue. Our guide on how to launch magazine subscriptions walks through the planning.
• Teams that also sell advertising and want subscribers and advertisers in the same CRM for magazine publishers, next to magazine advertising sales, production and billing.

RunMags gives you per-issue distribution lists and subscription reports, but it does not certify circulation audits. Plans start at €399/month excluding VAT, with tiers based on the number of legal entities and magazine brands. See RunMags pricing.

Subscription management for publishers who also sell advertising

If your magazine earns from readers and from advertisers, the subscriptions should not live in a separate system from the advertising. RunMags is built for publishers that run both: subscribers, renewals and issue distribution sit next to ad sales, production and billing, so your team works from one set of customer records.

• Print and digital subscribers. Subscription products can run for a number of issues or for a period of time, with print or online delivery, so print and digital subscribers, on issue-based or time-based terms, are kept as subscriber records in one system.
• More than one title. RunMags has plans for several magazine brands and legal entities, so publishers with one title or several can run their subscriptions in RunMags.
• Renewals your team runs. Reminder rules pick subscriptions by days to expiry or issues left and send email or print reminders. Renewals are charged when your team runs the renewal batch: subscriptions set to renew are then charged to the subscriber's saved card. RunMags does not yet schedule renewals automatically or retry failed card payments.
• Subscribers and advertisers on one customer record. A subscriber can be linked to a contact or organisation, so the same organisation or contact keeps its advertising orders and its subscriptions in one CRM for magazines.
• Lists for mailing and fulfilment. For each issue, RunMags builds a distribution list from active subscriptions, with rules for advertiser copies, and you export it to Excel for your printer or mail house. See how circulation management in RunMags handles subscriber records and print distribution lists.

Comparing RunMags with a dedicated subscription platform such as Pelcro? Pelcro describes itself as built around reader revenue, with metered and premium paywalls and a client portal where subscribers update payment methods and download invoices (Pelcro's own pages, retrieved 23 October 2026). RunMags does not claim a paywall or portal card updates and invoices yet, and it charges renewals when your team runs the batch, so if reader revenue is your main need, Pelcro may be the better fit. If the same team also sells advertising and wants subscribers, advertisers, production and billing in one system, RunMags is built for that. Read the RunMags vs Pelcro comparison, with a dated source for every Pelcro statement, or the Pelcro alternative guide. Comparing an audience data platform for B2B publishers such as Omeda? Read our Omeda alternative guide. Comparing a website and subscription suite such as ePublishing and Multipub? Read our ePublishing / Multipub alternative guide. Comparing an enterprise ad and circulation suite such as Naviga? Read our Naviga alternative guide. Comparing an enterprise subscription billing platform such as Zuora? Read our Zuora alternative guide.

Looking for a Magazine Manager or ChargeBrite alternative?

Magazine Manager is Mirabel's magazine CRM, and ChargeBrite is Mirabel's subscription billing product. If you are comparing them with RunMags, this is how RunMags handles the same work, including what it does not do yet:

• Ads and subscribers on one record. In RunMags, the same organisation or contact keeps its advertising orders and its subscriptions, in one CRM for magazines with production and billing.
• Renewals as a staff-run batch. Your team runs the renewal batch, and auto-renewing subscriptions are charged to the subscriber's saved card at that point. RunMags does not yet schedule automatic renewals or retry failed card payments, so if you need that today, check it in any system you compare.
• Accounting sync for advertiser invoices. Advertiser invoices sync to Fortnox, Xero or QuickBooks, with EU VAT. Subscription invoices are not part of the accounting sync yet. As of October 2026, Mirabel's public pages do not document a Fortnox integration or EU VAT handling.

See RunMags plans and pricing to compare what each plan includes.

Comparing a subscription and paywall platform such as Pelcro instead? Read our Pelcro alternative guide. Choosing between Pelcro and Piano? Read our Pelcro vs Piano comparison. Comparing a circulation manager such as SimpleCirc? Read our SimpleCirc alternative guide. Comparing a WordPress paywall and subscriber CRM such as Mocono? Read our Mocono alternative guide. Comparing a Nordic subscription platform such as Sesamy? Read our Sesamy alternative guide. Comparing an enterprise subscription and paywall platform such as Piano? Read our Piano alternative guide. Comparing a website, newsletter and membership platform such as Ghost? Read our Ghost alternative guide. Comparing a reader app and digital-edition platform such as Pugpig? Read our Pugpig alternative guide.