Session vs Periode
Session and Periode are both built for saunas, so this is a close comparison. Both sell sessions, memberships, bundles and gift vouchers, and both run several sites from one account. The real differences are what each costs as you grow, how payments reach you, and how far each goes for unstaffed saunas.
Founder of Session, setting up a community sauna in Cardiff
Updated 2 November 2026
Periode’s UK prices read on periode.no
In Australia or the US?
Compared on
Cost per booking
Cost per month
Extra sites
Unstaffed saunas
Switching over
PRICE PER BOOKING
About a third less
On a £20 UK debit card booking, about £0.60 all-in on Session against £0.90 on Periode.
AS YOU GROW
£300 a month less at £20k
At £20k a month on UK debit cards, about £600 all-in on Session against £900 on Periode. Extra sites never cost more.
UNSTAFFED SAUNAS
Periode heats the stove
Both can open the door for each booking. Periode can also heat a stove connected to Inlet before guests arrive. Session doesn’t control heaters.
WHAT SESSION ADDS
What Session adds
Periode is a strong sauna platform. These are the places Session is different.
Cheaper per booking
About 2% + 20p all-in on a standard UK card, against Periode’s 3.5% + 20p on debit and more on credit.
A monthly cap
Session’s 0.5% stops at £100 a month in the UK, and the same in your own currency elsewhere. It covers every site, and it never goes up as you grow.
Paid into your own account
Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay payments land in your own Stripe account.
Every site, one cap
Run as many sites as you like from one account, each with its own booking page, with no fee per site.
Flexible start times
Guests choose how long they stay, and starts that overlap share the sauna’s spaces, so it’s never overbooked.
Per-guest waivers
Each guest signs on their own phone, and staff see who has signed at check-in.
Ask Claude about your venue
Connect Claude and ask about revenue, occupancy and customers in plain English.
Shifts and calendar feeds
Plan your team’s rota against the schedule, and see sessions and shifts in Google, Apple or Outlook.
Gift vouchers to print
Buyers can print a voucher with your logo and a QR code that books with the code applied.
AT A GLANCE
Session and Periode side by side
SESSION
PERIODE
Saunas
Saunas
0.5% platform fee, plus Stripe’s card fee of about 1.5% + 20p
3.5% + 20p debit, 3.9% + 20p credit, 5.25% + 20p non-UK cards, card fees included
0.5% capped at £100 a month per venue (US$150, €90, A$150). Your cap never goes up as you grow
Not published. Periode says its rate goes down as revenue grows, but doesn’t publish the lower rates
Unlimited, under one cap. Extra sites never cost more
Unlimited, with no fee per site
Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay into your own Stripe account, plus Klarna, iDEAL, Bancontact, Swish, MobilePay and Vipps where your currency allows
Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay, plus Vipps, Swish, iDEAL and Twint, card fees included
Included sessions, member rates and early access. Pause a member for up to 3 months
Binding and notice periods, gift memberships, and a pause for every member at once
Yes
Yes
Guests choose a length, and overlapping starts share one set of spaces
Several lengths per product, with capacity counted per start time
Every guest signs on their own phone, or the booker signs for the group. Staff see who has signed at check-in
Signed while booking, with parents signing for children and the waiver in more than one language
Automatic on every full session
Yes
Kisi built in: each booking gets its own unlock link. Other locks connect by webhook
Inlet and Lokalkontoret built in: each booking gets its own door code
Not built in
Heats a stove connected to Inlet before booked sessions
English, with your session names, descriptions and emails in any language you write them
Seven languages
A rota with hours for payroll, and calendar feeds, with the Operations add-on
Not published
Connect Claude to ask about your venue
Not published
Periode details as published on periode.no on 2 November 2026. “Not published” means we couldn’t find it on the vendor’s own site.
PRICING
The pricing difference, plainly
Periode puts everything into one rate that includes card processing, with no cap published. Session splits it: a 0.5% platform fee, capped at £100 a month per venue, plus Stripe’s own card fee, paid from your own Stripe account. On a standard UK card that’s about 2% + 20p all-in, and our share stops growing once you reach the cap.
See full pricing
A month on UK debit cards, at £20 a booking
SESSION
PERIODE
£2,000 taken
£60
£90
£10,000 taken
£300
£450
£20,000 taken
£600
£900
Session: 0.5%, capped at £100, plus Stripe’s standard UK rate of about 1.5% + 20p. Periode: its published 3.5% + 20p on debit cards. Credit cards (3.9% + 20p) and non-UK cards (5.25% + 20p) cost more on Periode.
WHERE PERIODE FITS
When Periode is the better pick
Periode is well established with sauna operators, and for some it’s the right choice.
Unstaffed saunas with a connected stove
Periode can heat a stove connected to Inlet before booked sessions, and gives each booking a door code. Session opens Kisi doors for each booking, but doesn’t heat stoves.
Guests who book in other languages
Periode’s booking page comes in seven languages. Session’s buttons and labels are in English.
An app-store app, or franchise fees
Periode can publish your own app for iPhone and Android, and transfer franchise fees automatically. Session’s app installs from the browser, and it has no franchise tools.
Norway and the Nordics
Periode is Norwegian and built for that market first, with Vipps for memberships.
Both are sauna tools. It comes down to where you operate, how much you take, and whether your saunas are staffed.
“What I also like is that Session doesn’t take a fixed fee, but 0.5% with a monthly cap. So in quiet months, the fees are low, and in busy months, you know you won’t pay more than £100.”
R
Renny V
Sauna Uno, switched from Periode
Switching from Periode
Send us your Periode exports and we run the import, keeping gift card codes working.
Read the switching guide
Common questions
Is Session or Periode better for my sauna?
Both are built for saunas, so it’s close. Session costs less per booking, caps its fee each month across all your sites, and pays card payments into your own Stripe account. Periode is the stronger pick if you need stove heating, booking in several languages or your own app-store app.
How much does Periode cost compared to Session?
Periode’s UK rates include card processing: 3.5% + 20p on debit cards, 3.9% + 20p on credit cards and 5.25% + 20p on non-UK cards, with no cap published. Session charges 0.5% per paid booking, capped at £100 a month, plus Stripe’s card fee of about 1.5% + 20p on UK cards. On a £20 debit card booking that’s about £0.60 with Session and £0.90 with Periode, and at £20k a month about £600 against £900.
Does Session cost more if I run several sites?
No. Session’s cap covers your whole venue, however many sites you run, and each site gets its own booking page. Extra sites never cost more, and once you’re on Session your cap never goes up as you grow. Operators already taking more than £30k a month when they join agree a cap with us directly.
Are there extra fees on memberships?
Session’s 0.5% applies to membership payments like any other, inside the same monthly cap. Memberships run as Stripe subscriptions in your own Stripe account, and Stripe adds its Billing fee (0.7% on its pay-as-you-go plan) to its card fee. On a £40 monthly membership on a UK debit card that’s about £1.28 in all, against £1.60 on Periode.
Can Session run self-service saunas like Periode?
Partly. Session has Kisi built in, so each booking gets its own unlock link that only works around the session, and other locks can connect by webhook. Session doesn’t heat stoves, which Periode can do with Inlet.
Can I move from Periode to Session?
Yes. Send us your Periode exports and we’ll run the import: bookings and customers, gift cards as gift vouchers with their original codes, prepaid session balances as bundle credit, and your mailing list. On switch day, turn off both bookings and gift card sales in Periode.
Booking software built for saunas
Free to set up. 0.5% per paid booking, capped each month in your own currency.
Last updated: 2 November 2026. Written by Wil Grace, founder of Session. Periode’s details are as published on its own site that day.