SimpleCirc
SimpleCirc is a cloud-based SaaS subscription management platform built for magazine, newspaper, trade, newsletter, and academic journal publishers, offering checkout, automated renewals, audit reporting, and integrations across the US, Canada, Australia, NZ, and UK.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersRochester, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What SimpleCirc does
SimpleCirc is a cloud-based SaaS subscription management platform purpose-built for publishers of magazines, newspapers, trade publications, newsletters, and academic journals. Founded in 2015 by publishers in Rochester, NY, the platform provides hosted checkout pages, a subscriber management dashboard, automated renewal email and whitemail letter series, one-click and auto-renewal workflows, BPA/AAM audit reporting, USPS address validation, and TaxJar-powered sales tax calculation. The technical architecture is a multi-tenant cloud SaaS with a REST API (v1.2) using Bearer-token authentication, HMAC SHA256-signed webhooks, and an invite-only Zapier connector, integrating with 25+ third-party services spanning payment gateways, digital magazine apps, marketing automation, ecommerce, postal presort, and transactional email delivery.
The company operates a two-tier subscription model: SimpleCirc Essentials at $99–$149/month for up to 2,500 active subscribers, and SimpleCirc Pro at $199–$799/month scaling to 80,000 active subscribers, plus $0.86-per-piece pricing for automated 4-color whitemail renewal letters. Distribution is product-led with a 100%-free-until-managing-subscribers trial, content marketing (case studies, blog, eBook), and demo scheduling. Geographic coverage spans the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and UK/Ireland, with localized currency, tax (GST/PST/QST), postal code, and privacy compliance per market. Customers are predominantly SMB publishers across diverse verticals, with no enterprise or large-anchor concentration disclosed.
SimpleCirc is a privately held, bootstrapped company with 1–10 employees and no disclosed external funding. The "hundreds" of publisher customers and 9-year operating history indicate a profitable, niche-leader posture, though the absence of funding, large enterprise wins, or AI capabilities caps the company's growth ceiling relative to venture-backed publishing-software competitors. Competitive positioning rests on domain specialization (built by publishers for publishers), integration breadth, and a 75% claimed expense reduction versus outsourcing or legacy installed software.
SimpleCirc firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- SimpleCirc
- Legal name
- SimpleCirc
- Website
- https://simplecirc.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- SimpleCirc is a cloud-based SaaS subscription management platform built for magazine, newspaper, trade, newsletter, and academic journal publishers, offering checkout, automated renewals, audit reporting, and integrations across the US, Canada, Australia, NZ, and UK.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
SimpleCirc industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Subscription Management Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (513210), Credit Bureaus (561450), Direct Mail Advertising (541860)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Low-Code/No-Code Application Platforms (HDAEAKAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- POS, SoftPOS & In-Person Acceptance Infrastructure (FSAGABAO)
Keywords
Where SimpleCirc is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Rochester
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
SimpleCirc business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Subscription Software Licensing: Monthly subscription fees based on active subscriber count and feature tier (Essentials vs Pro). Fees range from $99-799/month depending on tier and subscriber volume
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Essentials: $99/mo up to 2,500 active subscribers, $149/mo for additional subscribers |
| Subscription | Monthly | Pro: $199/mo up to 2,000, $249/mo up to 5,000, $349/mo up to 10,000, $499/mo up to 20,000, $649/mo up to 40,000, $799/mo up to 80,000 active subscribers |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Automated renewal letters: 86 cents per piece |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
SimpleCirc product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SimpleCirc is a cloud-based SaaS subscription management platform built for magazine, newspaper, trade publication, newsletter, and academic journal publishers. It handles subscriber ordering, renewals, payment processing, digital content delivery, USPS address validation, multi-currency/tax compliance, and BPA/AAM audit reporting. The platform offers two tiers (Essentials and Pro) with a freemium model that is 100% free until subscribers are successfully managed.
Product overview
SimpleCirc is a subscription management software platform designed for publishers of magazines, newspapers, newsletters, trade publications, and academic journals. The core offering consists of SimpleCirc Essentials (entry-level at $99/month) and SimpleCirc Pro (advanced automation tier at $199-799/month). The platform includes hosted checkout pages, subscriber portals, reporting dashboards, and various automation features including automated renewal emails/letters, auto-renewals, and one-click renewal links. Additional capabilities include digital content management, multi-currency and tax support, USPS address validation, and BPA/AAM audit reporting. The product integrates with major payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net, Braintree), digital magazine apps (Zinio, MAZ, BlueToad, eMagazines), marketing platforms (MailChimp, HubSpot, ActiveCampaign), ecommerce (Shopify), and provides a REST API and Webhooks for custom integrations.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- SimpleCirc Essentials: Entry-level subscription management software plan at $99/mo for up to 2,500 active subscribers, including core features like subscriber management, back issues, digital content, live support, and auto renewals.
- SimpleCirc Pro
Products and services
- SimpleCirc Essentials Entry-level subscription management software for publishers. Includes powerful subscriber management, unlimited expireds for marketing, back issues and merchandise sales, digital content access, live customer support, unlimited users, auto renewals, and USPS address validation. Priced at $99/month for up to 2,500 active subscribers.
- SimpleCirc Pro Advanced subscription management tier with automation features for publishers. Includes automated renewal emails via SendGrid, automated whitemail renewal letters (86 cents per piece), software integrations (digital magazine apps, marketing automation, paywalls), vanity URLs, and prospect/finder files. Priced at $199-$799/month based on subscriber count.
- SimpleCirc Checkout Pages Customizable hosted checkout pages for publishers to take new and renewal subscription orders online. Supports multiple postage types, upsells, promo codes, tracking pixels, and multi-currency pricing.
- SimpleCirc Dashboard & Reports Cloud-based subscriber management dashboard with critical data points, sales reports, accounting reports (earned/deferred income), audit reports (qualified subscribers, geographic breakout), demographic reports, and custom export capabilities.
- SimpleCirc API v1.2 REST API (v1.2) enabling third-party applications to create, retrieve, and update subscribers and subscriptions, manage addresses, and handle order information. Uses Basic Authentication with API token.
- SimpleCirc Webhooks Webhook technology for notifying external systems of events (new subscription, renewal, subscriber/subscription updates, merchandise purchased). Supports signature verification via HMAC SHA256.
- SimpleCirc Zapier App No-code integration via Zapier platform (invite-only). Enables creating subscribers, subscriptions, renewing subscriptions, and retrieving subscriber or subscription info by Account ID or email without direct API integration.
Quantifiable outcome
- Up to 50% increase in magazine circulation
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use SimpleCirc
Customer profileNamed customers22 records
Segments9 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
SimpleCirc technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration26 records
Feature14 records
SimpleCirc partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- StripecoreStripe is a primary payment gateway supported by SimpleCirc for processing credit card transactions. Publishers can enter Stripe credentials to start taking payments immediately. Stripe supports auto renewals.
- Authorize.netcoreAuthorize.net is a supported payment gateway for credit card transactions. Supports auto renewals for subscriber payments.
- PayPalcorePayPal button integration allows subscribers to checkout without credit card. Supports auto renewals for PayPal payments.
- BraintreecoreBraintree payment gateway support for credit card transactions including PayPal support.
- PayWaycorePayWay payment gateway support including auto renew capability.
- True Newspaper MailcoreOne-click integration with True Newspaper Mail for USPS reports and presort discounts. Publishers can send their mailing list directly from SimpleCirc.
- TaxJarcoreTaxJar API integration for real-time sales tax calculation on orders. Compares nexus addresses with subscriber mailing address to calculate correct state, local, and provincial taxes.
- SendGridcoreSendGrid is used to send automated renewal emails from SimpleCirc, ensuring high deliverability rates.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
SimpleCirc competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Stripe Billing: Stripe's native recurring billing product competes head-on with subscription management features (auto-renew, dunning, proration, tax) that SimpleCirc wraps into its publisher workflow.
- Recurly: Subscription management and recurring billing platform with publisher and digital media customers; overlaps with SimpleCirc on subscription lifecycle, auto-renewal and churn management.
- Zuora: Enterprise recurring billing and subscription management platform used across media and publishing; comparable as a horizontal competitor a publisher might choose instead of a vertical tool like SimpleCirc.
- Chargebee: Subscription billing and revenue management platform serving SaaS, media and digital publishers; competes for the same renewal, dunning and recurring-revenue workflows SimpleCirc handles for SMB publishers.
Emerging players
- Outseta: All-in-one membership, subscription billing and CRM platform targeting small publishers and SaaS businesses; competes for the same low-end customer SimpleCirc serves.
- CiviCRM: Open-source CRM with membership, subscription and event management capabilities widely adopted by nonprofits and small publishers; a lower-cost alternative path SimpleCirc customers could take.
- MemberMouse: WordPress-native membership and subscription management plugin used by publishers and content sites; comparable recurring billing and member lifecycle functionality.
- Memberful: Membership and paid subscription software for independent publishers and creators; overlaps on subscription billing, member management and digital access delivery used by SMB publishers.
- Subbly: All-in-one subscription ecommerce platform for SMBs and creators; adjacent competitor that could displace SimpleCirc for smaller publishers seeking bundled storefront + subscriptions.
Direct peers
- Magazine Manager: Long-standing subscription and advertising management software purpose-built for magazine publishers, offering circulation, renewals and reporting in a vertical SaaS model directly comparable to SimpleCirc.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
SimpleCirc social profiles
Digital presenceSimpleCirc financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
SimpleCirc leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
SimpleCirc funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
SimpleCirc M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about SimpleCirc
What does SimpleCirc do?
SimpleCirc is a cloud-based SaaS subscription management platform built for magazine, newspaper, trade publication, newsletter, and academic journal publishers. It handles subscriber ordering, renewals, payment processing, digital content delivery, USPS address validation, multi-currency/tax compliance, and BPA/AAM audit reporting. The platform offers two tiers (Essentials and Pro) with a freemium model that is 100% free until subscribers are successfully managed.
Is SimpleCirc a public or private company?
SimpleCirc is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was SimpleCirc founded?
SimpleCirc was founded in 2015. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is SimpleCirc based?
SimpleCirc is headquartered in Rochester, United States, in the North America region.
How does SimpleCirc make money?
One revenue line is on record: subscription Software Licensing.
Who are SimpleCirc's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Stripe Billing, Recurly, Zuora and Chargebee. Emerging players are Outseta, CiviCRM, MemberMouse, Memberful and Subbly. Magazine Manager is listed as a direct peer.
Does SimpleCirc have an API?
Yes. SimpleCirc offers a REST API (v1.2) with Basic Authentication using 'Bearer' as username and API token as password. The API allows 3rd party applications to create, retrieve, update subscribers and subscriptions, manage addresses, and handle order information. Webhooks are available for notifying external systems when events occur (new subscription purchased, renewal, subscriber updated/deleted, subscription updated/deleted, merchandise purchased). The API supports retrieving subscribers by account ID or email address, creating/updating subscription data, and passing custom fields. Test API token is available for sandbox testing. Developer documentation is at simplecirc.com/docs/api.
What industry is SimpleCirc in?
SimpleCirc's product category is Subscription Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEAKAA, Low-Code/No-Code Application Platforms, with a secondary code of FSAGABAO, POS, SoftPOS & In-Person Acceptance Infrastructure. Its NAICS code is 513210 and its SIC code is 7372.