Top 7 Muck Rack Alternatives You Should Consider in 2024 (Features & Pricing)

Pinpointing the perfect PR tool to match your needs can feel daunting. What's worse, it comes with costs: both in time and missed opportunities in your PR actions.

Well, we cut through the clutter. You'll find here 7 Muck Rack alternatives for PR specialists with their pros and cons, and pricing:

• Prowly
• Presspage
• Meltwater
• AgilityPR
• Prezly
• Critical Mention
• Releasd

💡 Looking for a dedicated breakdown? Check out our Muck Rack vs Cision vs Prowly comparison table.

P.S. Prowly is one of only two all-in-one PR tools from the list that lets you try before you buy.

Why should you think about Muck Rack alternatives?

Muck Rack is a PR tool that covers crucial aspects of the PR process, like outreach, a media database, media monitoring, and analytics.

Muck Rack: feature scope

Its media monitoring options let you gather mentions from online news, social media, TV and radio broadcasts, and measure the multichannel impact of your campaigns.

As this combines with their media database, you can preview journalists that have shared your stories.

✅ Their TV and radio monitoring have been mentioned on G2.

✅ With their advanced outreach personalization options,  you can personalize subject lines, copy, and attachments.

🔻 User reviews on G2 mention that the analytics results often aren't coherent with other tools and the media alerts lack prioritization options.

Overview: Muck Rack focuses on media databases, precise media outreach, and efficient content distribution. It also includes a key PR tool - media monitoring. However, it lacks press release creation tools, online newsrooms, and most of their features aren’t boosted with AI solutions. It cares about email analytics, but there are some alternatives listed below which offer a few more data-based features.

Is Muck Rack free?

*Estimated pricing based on third-party-data and publically available reviews

🔻 While Muck Rack offers advanced features, their pricing isn’t publicly disclosed, meaning you have to book an appointment with their sales representatives to get an exact quote.

🔻 The available plans require yearly contracts, necessitating a large upfront payment, which can be challenging for new teams. This setup offers less flexibility.

💡 We did full research on Muck Rack pricing, you can find more information in our article “Muck Rack Pricing in 2024 – How Much Does it Cost?”

Is there a free Muck Rack alternative?

Due to the extensive scope and high quality of features offered by PR software, there isn't a fully free tool available. However, investment brings several advantages:

• Structured contact management
• Simplified pitching process
• Detailed analytics
• Summaries of media coverage

For more details, check out the benefits of PR software. Meanwhile, let's explore Muck Rack’s competitors:

Muck Rack Alternative #1: Prowly

• Pricing: Starts from $258 per month
• All-in-one PR tool: Yes
• Free trial: Yes, for 7 days

Prowly is an all-in-one public relations software that helps small and medium PR agencies and in-house PR teams manage media relations, create press releases, pitch the right journalists, and monitor PR campaigns all using the power of AI.

Prowly vs Muck Rack - an overview

The key distinction lies in the pricing options – Prowly provides adaptable pricing plans tailored to organizations of any size.

Both tools offer the most important PR features, like:

• pitch scheduling and advanced pitch analytics
• a media database
• media & social media monitoring
• PR report creation and distribution tools

On top of that, based on online reviews such as G2, client support in both tools is rated highly - as very responsive. However, there are more aspects to compare:

Who is it best for?

👉🏼 Muck Rack is best for PR pros seeking detailed coverage reports, personalized pitching, and a solid database (that has some limitations mentioned later). Good for creating tailored media lists, though it requires a higher budget.

• Among their clients, you can find well-known brands, like Google or BBC, and also niche companies, like IMAGE Skincare. This shows companies of various sizes choose Muck Rack.

👉🏼 Prowly is designed to meet the needs of small to mid-sized PR and marketing teams in dynamic environments - especially those who want to seize the opportunities offered by AI.

• It is particularly well-suited for teams and agencies that need efficient media monitoring, access to a comprehensive media database, and the ability to create impactful PR reports quickly and easily.
• Prowly is trusted by over 1,000 brands worldwide, including LG, Universal Music Group, and UNICEF, and also numerous smaller teams. Prowly is a part of Semrush, one of the biggest players in the marketing field that powers it up with data.

Muck Rack vs Prowly: key differences

Muck Rack lacks a few tools that are a part of Prowly’s core offer: like the Online Newsroom, AI Press Release Creator, and Pitch Personalization.

Prowly stands out with its:
✔️ AI Press Release Creator and Online Newsroom – giving you easy to use tools to deliver your message to journalists.
✔️ Generative AI features – that speed up your work and increase efficiency and creativity in PR storytelling.
✔️ Advanced email analytics and insights about media outlets – to help reach new audiences and start campaigns for new clients and niche industries.
✔️ Great UX to make the tool easy to use – so you don’t spend hours on team training.

Media database & AI keyword search

Let's talk about the key differences then, starting with a media database.

👉🏼 Muck Rack offers you 250,000 journalists' contacts, relying solely on social media accounts.

👉🏼 Prowly, as a Muck Rack alternative, gives you over 4x more contacts through their media database. And you will find more than social media handles - media contacts are based on various sources to help you find the people you’re looking for.

But while having access to a huge database of emails might sound tempting, it doesn’t guarantee coverage. 

According to the PR Trends 2024 study, there’s a significant shift in media relations, emphasizing data-driven decisions. With traditional media outlets and journalists dwindling and new blogs, podcasts, and niche publications rising, PR professionals now prioritize extensive research. Using data to tailor pitches enhances their relevance and success.

Aleksandra Kubicka, PR Evangelist @Prowly 

What are the new ways of searching for journalists?

Prowly offers AI keyword search and Insights about media outlets’ audiences. So you don’t just get over a million contacts, but also the tools to quickly find journalists that are actually writing about particular (even niche) topics and identify top media outlets according to their actual visitor profile.

What takes Prowly’s contact search to a new level are:

• A partnership with Semrush provides data about outlet audiences and traffic that is not accessible elsewhere
• AI keyword suggestions allow you to expand your search in completely new directions, explore new coverage opportunities, pitch even the most niche topics

💡 No matter what solution you choose, make sure to check out the database quality, search aid options and AI features.

With Prowly, you will get full search access during the free trial. For 7 days, you can see everything, all for free - unlike Muck Rack, which doesn’t offer a free test run.

AI-powered press release creator

With Prowly, you can manage the creation and hosting of your press releases.

The Press Release Creator is now supported with an AI Assistant, which means additional suggestions, quicker creation processes, and no blank-page starts. There’s no need to use Chat GPT, as this assistant is specially tailored for the PR world.

AI Assistant lets you create a press release draft or tweak it using AI to add even more spice with ease and in no time flat.

Online newsroom

When your press releases are ready, you can publish them in your online newsroom, which you can easily set up with no need to code.

It lets you store your photos, videos and other media in your press kit - an easy-to-find place with unlimited storage. And you can link to this instead of adding outdated email attachments.

Pitch personalization & automatic follow-ups

👉🏼 Although Muck Rack offers advanced data analytics around your pitches, it doesn’t help you with personalizing your pitches, nor in setting automated follow up emails - in case your pitch doesn’t get an answer on the first attempt.

👉🏼 Prowly, on the other hand, gives you advanced email analytics and insights about media outlets to help reach new audiences and start campaigns for new clients and niche industries.

• Plus with the AI Assistant, you get hints on each step - from writing a pitch draft, through choosing the right contacts based on the text, to tweaking email copy and title.
• Then - you can easily create a personalized follow up. There’s also a review flow that includes 18 criteria to give you extra safety before sending your pitch.

🔻Cons

• Prowly has less reviews in G2 and Capterra, as it was founded later (in 2013 and acquired by Semrush in 2020, compared to Muck Rack, which dates back to 2009)
• Prowly doesn’t offer solutions for journalists, such as Muck Rack for Journalists or Cision’s Connectively; but that doesn’t make any difference to PR professionals work

Muck Rack vs Prowly: pricing

Now, how much is Muck Rack, and why is it worth considering an alternative? Check the table below:

*Estimated pricing based on third-party-data and publically available reviews

How much does Muck Rack cost?

That's a tricky question, as Muck Rack’s full pricing (or a price plan for your company) is available only upon request. Yet, from the data available online, we estimate the lowest price is around $10.000 per year.

The key distinction lies in the pricing options:

• Prowly provides adaptable pricing plans tailored to organizations of any size. If you're looking for specific features without a hefty investment, Prowly might be a more cost-effective choice for PR software.
• Muck Rack doesn't go for flexibility, offering only annual contracts. This usually means a huge payment upfront, which can be difficult if you're on a smaller budget.

On top of that, you can try out Prowly before committing to the plan of your choice.

Some say Muck Rack offers a few free tools, but you can learn more about them only after a demo call and creating an account.

Final overview

*Estimated pricing based on third-party-data and publically available reviews

Muck Rack Alternative #2: Presspage

• Pricing: Unknown - Presspage doesn't share their pricing before a demo call
• All-in-one PR tool: No, focuses on newsroom and distribution
• Free trial: No - you can only request a demo call

Presspage is all about sharing and distributing your press releases. It’s best known for its online newsroom feature.

Muck Rack vs Presspage: feature overview

Presspage lets you publish and distribute your news via an online newsroom integrated with your website. What's more, it helps in media relations management with a media database.

It's highly focused on the communication workflow, offering also a centralized media inquiries inbox.

Nevertheless, you won't find tools here like media monitoring or a press release creator.

Muck Rack vs Presspage: pricing

Presspage doesn't share their pricing before a demo call, just like Muck Rack.

Who is it best for?

Mostly enterprise companies tend to choose Presspage. Some might prefer it because of their focus on the communication workflow. It’s perfect for those who need online newsroom management and story distribution the most.

✅ Pros

• easy to use
• seamless integration into pages
• excellent customer support

🔻 Cons

• it's mostly focused on their online newsroom, so you lack vital options like media monitoring that are included in Muck Rack
• some users claim its customization options are limited
• they don't share details on their pricing

Muck Rack alternative #3: Meltwater

• Pricing: Starts from $8,000 per year*
• All-in-one PR tool: Yes
• Free trial: No - you can only request a demo call

Meltwater is a platform for media monitoring and social listening that aids organizations in tracking and analyzing media coverage and social media interactions.

Muck Rack vs Meltwater: feature overview

Meltwater emphasizes data analysis, offering native features and integrations to help you establish a comprehensive PR analytics center. Their media database includes over 400,000 contacts.

Unfortunately, there is no free trial, so the best way to explore the database before committing to a full contract is through a demo call.

What's more, Meltwater provides AI-generated press release drafts based on key messages that you can continue editing. It can also create additional content for you – like custom images (with DALL-E).

For press release distribution, you can utilize Meltwater News, an alternative to Muck Rack’s PR Newswire. However, it might be worth considering other, potentially less expensive, options.

Muck Rack vs Meltwater: pricing

Meltwater appears to be the most comparable alternative to Muck Rack, sharing similar disadvantages, such as steep pricing. How much does Meltwater cost? Based on our findings, the pricing appears to begin at an impressive $8,000 per year.

*Estimated pricing based on third-party-data and publically available reviews

💡 You can find out more about Meltwater's features and alternatives from this comparison or check how much Meltwater costs in detail from this research.

Who is it best for?

Agencies working for big clients and corporations.

✅ Pros

User reviews on G2 highlight that Meltwater helps identify appropriate media contacts for pitches and provides robust media monitoring features, along with the following advantages:

• the quality of mentions
• no limits on queries
• the customer service is often praised

🔻Cons

Users have mentioned encountering the follow problems:

• outdated information in the media database 
• experiencing slow customer service responses

Muck Rack alternative #4: AgilityPR

• Pricing: Unknown - you need to request a demo call to find out
• All-in-one PR platform: Yes
• Free trial: No - you can only schedule a demo call

AgilityPR is a software platform for media monitoring, media outreach, and PR analytics. It assists organizations in managing PR campaigns and tracking media coverage.

Muck Rack vs AgilityPR: feature overview

AgilityPR offers three primary annual packages focused on their media database and outreach, media monitoring, and social listening.

You can extend these with on-demand services, such as the PR newswire, custom reports, and one-off media outreach.

Its Risk Intelligence feature keeps a vigilant eye on third-party PR threats, including those from suppliers, to tackle potential crises. From social media flare-ups to data breaches and geopolitical issues, you can learn about them before they reach your company.

Muck Rack vs AgilityPR: pricing

*Estimated pricing based on third-party-data and publically available reviews

Who is it best for?

AgilityPR serves PR agencies and in-house communications teams with a suite of enterprise-level solutions.

✅ Pros

• packages covering particular PR areas
• professional editorial review for press releases
• recognized for its exceptional customer support
• awarded multiple G2 badges

🔻Cons

• annual contracts mean poor flexibility
• their message personalization capabilities are limited
• as per user reviews, it's pricey

Muck Rack alternative #5: Prezly

• Pricing: From $60 per month (or $50 per month through their yearly plan)
• All-in-one PR tool: No, it doesn't offer media monitoring
• Free trial: Yes

Prezly is a PR platform known for their user-friendly approach, designed for in-house PR teams and agencies. It enables you to publish press releases on branded newsrooms, distribute and analyze your content, and cultivate strong relationships with your audience. 

Muck Rack vs Prezly: feature overview

Prezly focuses on communication - with media pitching, CRM options, and online newsrooms. You can manage the entire press release process: from preparing the story in their editor, through publishing, media pitching and analyzing the results.

You can also log your coverage, but you need to manually enter data, as there are no media monitoring options available.

When it comes to email pitches, you can track delivery and open rates, personalize your pitch content, and schedule mass pitches.

Muck Rack vs Prezly: pricing

For a full understanding of how much Prezly costs, read this article about Prezly Pricing in 2024.

*Estimated pricing based on third-party-data and publically available reviews

Who is it best for?

Prezly is a dedicated CRM for PR professionals.

✅ Pros

• transparent plans and pricing page
• great customer service
• great, clear UI

🔻Cons

• analytics could be developed, as there's no tools to build reports that can be shared with clients
• little flexibility with the layout
• there are few recent reviews on G2 and Capterra, so there might be more - both to the pros and cons

Muck Rack alternative #6: Critical Mention

• Pricing: Unknown - you need to request a quote to find out
• All-in-one PR tool: No - you'll find here media monitoring and a media database
• Free trial: No - you can only request a demo call

Critical Mention is a media monitoring service that tracks and analyzes content across broadcasts, online platforms, and social media channels.

Muck Rack vs Critical Mention: feature overview

Critical Mention offers media monitoring covering mentions from various sources: online, broadcasts, or print-only stories. Within online sources, you can also find podcasts and social media.

From the data available on their site, it seems that there's also a media database. Yet, they don't provide details on its qualities.

Muck Rack vs Critical Mention: pricing

Critical Mention offers  media monitoring and a media database.

*Estimated pricing based on third-party-data and publically available reviews

Who is it best for?

PR professionals and marketers who don't need more than media monitoring and contacts to journalists. Note that you can’t get a free trial to test the tool before you buy.

✅ Pros

• different sources available: from broadcasts to paywall content

🔻Cons

• little info available without a demo call (like media database, pricing)
• you'd need more tools to cover all your PR activities

Muck Rack alternative #7: Releasd

• Pricing: From $119 per month
• All-in-one PR tool: No - it lets you build PR reports and docs
• Free trial: Yes, but after you book a demo call

Releasd is a platform for PR document creation: reports, crisis hubs, media kits or case studies.

Muck Rack vs Releasd: feature overview

Releasd lets you visually highlight the most important parts of your campaign results, with different widgets, automated metrics, and headings. All reports are optimized for mobile and PDF creation for an easy share - you can also embed them in email messages.

With a drag-and-drop editor and multiple templates, you can easily create what you need - even with no graphics skills.

Muck Rack vs Releasd: pricing

*Estimated pricing based on third-party-data and publically available reviews

Who is it best for?

Releasd is a PR reporting tool for PR agencies, in-house PR teams, and communications professionals, mostly from the SMEs sector.

✅ Pros

• easy-to-use interface
• automatically generated estimated article metrics via third-party tools
• various widgets to use in reports

🔻Cons

• not an all-in-one PR platform - to cover other areas, you'd need to pay for other tools
• automated metrics might not be 100% accurate
• many G2 and Capterra reviews are quite outdated

If you need more than documentation, both Muck Rack and Prowly let you generate reports based on data provided by their tools. They are comprehensive PR platforms, so your reports will reflect the state of your full PR operations, including monitoring, clippings and other data.

Top seven Muck Rack alternatives - summary

Each tool has its advantages and drawbacks. You will be the most satisfied with the one that answers the most of your needs + comes at a price that aligns with your budget.

1️⃣ Muck Rack is lauded for its intuitive user interface and personalized pitching features, though it lacks AI features, database comprehensiveness, and can be pricey.

2️⃣ Prowly is comprehensive PR software perfect for small and medium PR agencies and in-house teams, offering AI-powered media relations management, advanced email analytics, and adaptable pricing, though it has fewer reviews due to its more recent founding.

3️⃣ Meltwater can work for organizations needing media monitoring and social listening, praised for its quality mentions, unlimited queries, and strong customer service, but it has drawbacks such as quite outdated information in their media database and occasional slow customer service responses.

4️⃣ Presspage is ideal for those seeking a user-friendly platform with seamless integration and excellent customer support for sharing press releases, but it lacks media monitoring features, has limited customization options, and doesn't disclose pricing details.

5️⃣ Agility PR is made for PR agencies and in-house communications teams seeking enterprise-level media monitoring, outreach, and analytics with exceptional customer support and professional editorial review, but it requires annual contracts, has limited message personalization, and is considered pricey by its users.

6️⃣ Prezly lacks some features but is easy to use thanks to support and investments in UX. It might be a good choice for those prioritizing relationship-building over everything else. But you’ll need other tools to support the full PR workflow.

7️⃣ Critical Mention is made for organizations needing comprehensive media tracking and analysis across broadcasts, online platforms, and social media. But does not provide additional tools for full PR coverage and provides limited information without a demo call.

8️⃣ Releasd can work for PR professionals focused on creating reports, crisis hubs, media kits, or case studies. But requires additional tools to create a full PR suite.

When the time comes to invest in a PR tool, use these simple tips:
✔️ pricing can vary a lot: especially when the company doesn't share it online
✔️ think about the features you need: if you add more tools, the price might go up
✔️ set up a free trial account or a few demo calls: more time invested in research helps you make a better decision

Maybe Prowly will be your Muck Rack alternative? Give it a try and check out each feature with no commitment right away.