9 Best Cision Alternatives & Competitors [2025]

Summary of top Cision competitors

Looking for the best Cision alternative? Here are the top picks by category:

➔ Media databases: JournoFinder - affordable without sacrificing quality.
➔ All-in-one PR tools: Meltwater, Muck Rack, Agility PR
➔ Media monitoring: Critical Mention, Onclusive, Brand24
➔ Newsrooms: Mynewsdesk
➔ Newswire services: EIN Newswire, Newswire, Presswire, Global Newswire

The best alternative to Cision: JournoFinder

➔ Free trial: Yes (7 days)
➔ Pricing: Starts from $99 /month
➔ Contract length: Annual and monthly
➔ Tool type: Media database

If you are looking for a reliable, cost-effective media database - look no further than JournoFinder.

JournoFinder is a modern, easy-to-use platform that delivers reliable results without overcomplicating things. Unlike outdated tools packed with bloated features, JournoFinder focuses on accurate data and a smooth user experience.

The contact database is continuously updated, and any emails you add to media lists are verified for deliverability.

Users consistently praise the intuitive interface - even for first-time media database users - and the powerful search makes finding the right journalists fast and easy. Plus, the responsive customer support team is always ready to help.

JournoFinder also offers a 7 day free trial, which you can sign up to here.

Let's compare JournoFinder and Cision side by side.

Pricing

➔ JournoFinder: Monthly or annual contract options, starts from $99 / month, free trial.
➔ Cision: Annual contracts only, starts from $7000 / year, no free trial.

Features

➔ Both offer a media database, with JournoFinder having the added benefit of human-verified emails.
➔ Cision also offers a host of other features such as monitoring, press release distribution, and analytics.

Interface and support

➔ JournoFinder: Modern, easy to use interface with responsive customer support.
➔ Cision: Complicated interface with limited and slow customer support.

Try JournoFinder out for 7 days here.

What is Cision and why look for an alternative?

Cision is a well known PR platform that provides access to a media database, media monitoring tools, and analytics. It also includes an integrated press release distribution service known as PR Newswire.

It’s one of the oldest PR platforms out there - the company was founded in 1867 and has evolved over time into the service you see today.

However, oldest doesn’t mean best, and there are several reasons to look for an alternative to Cision.

Cision is expensive and only offers long term contracts.

Cision pricing starts from around $7000 a year, not including a setup fee. This is an estimate based on web research. Cision doesn’t make their pricing public, so it can vary depending on what you need.

Cision’s interface is outdated and clunky.

As a veteran platform in the PR world, Cision has a lot of different features - some of which are useful, and some of which just make the platform feel complicated, bulky, and hard to use. Customer support is also limtied.

One reviewer said of Cision's support: "It's so sloooooooow. Response time forever."

Inaccuracies in media database

Cision claims to have over 1 million contacts in their database, however, users commonly complain about the accuracy of their data.

One Reddit user commented:

“All I can say for Cision is that even though the database is huge (1,2 million contacts available) you will find 80% of the data useless.”

Cision alternatives: All-in-One PR tools

Meltwater

➔ Free trial: No
➔ Pricing: Custom (estimate: $6,000-10,000 per year)
➔ Contract length: Annual
➔ Tool type: All-in-one PR tool

Meltwater is another long-standing player in the PR software space, originally known for media monitoring and later expanding into a full suite of tools, including social listening, influencer tracking, analytics, and a media database.

Its strengths still lie in monitoring and analytics, while Meltwater’s media database is notably smaller than competitors like JournoFinder, with one Reddit user commenting:

"Meltwater has the best interface but the worst database. I worked at an agency that used them and I often found myself having to enter contacts".

The press release distribution feature is useful for basic outreach but doesn't rival full-scale newswire services.

Pros:

➔ Comprehensive analytics and reporting
➔ Strong social media listening tools

Cons:

➔ Expensive with only long term contract options
➔ Limited database of contacts
➔ Enterprise focused

Muck Rack

➔ Free trial: No
➔ Pricing: Starting from $5000 / year
➔ Contract length: Annual
➔ Tool type: All-in-one PR platform

Muck Rack is a more modern PR platform compared to Cision and Meltwater, with a more intuitive interface - however from personal experience the search experience can be frustrating at times.

Muck Rack includes a database of media contacts, coverage tracking, outreach capabilities, and engagement monitoring. They are particularly strong when it comes to TV and radio monitoring, but the analytics and reporting are less robust compared to other tools.

Pros:

➔ Intuitive user interface
➔ Collaborative tools for PR teams

Cons:

➔ Expensive and no pricing transparency
➔ Too many features for most use cases

Agility PR

➔ Free trial: No
➔ Pricing: Unknown
➔ Contract length: Annual
➔ Tool type: All-in-one PR software

Agility PR offers several plan options depending on what you need, they have a media database and outreach plan, a media monitoring plan, and a social listening plan. They also offer one-time services such as press release distribution, email outreach, and campaign monitoring.

A unique feature is the ability to monitor potential third-party (e.g. supplier) PR crises, which can help you prepare your response if needed.

Pros:

➔ Flexible contract options
➔ Decent customer support

Cons:

➔ Interface can feel a bit dated
➔ Reporting and analytics are basic

Cision alternatives: Media monitoring + analytics specialists

Critical Mention

➔ Free trial: No
➔ Pricing: Custom (estimate: $2,500 to $10,000 a year)
➔ Contract length: Annual
➔ Tool type: Media monitoring with media contact database

Critical Mention specializes in real-time monitoring across broadcast (TV/radio), online, and social media. It also includes a media contact database and clipping tools. It also supports clipping, alerting, and reporting.

In addition to monitoring, Critical Mention offers a media contact database, but reviews online suggest that the database is more of an afterthought.

One Reddit user commented: “Great for media coverage reporting, but hit or miss for contacts. Not their strong point.”

Pros:

➔ Strong broadcast monitoring
➔ Fast clipping and reporting tools

Cons:

➔ Weak media database
➔ Interface is somewhat dated

Onclusive

➔ Free trial: No
➔ Pricing: Starting at $4,999 / year
➔ Contract length: Annual
➔ Tool type: Media monitoring + analytics + media contact tools

Onclusive, like Meltwater, is best known for its media monitoring and attribution capabilities, but they also offer media database access and outreach tools.

The platform is aimed at enterprise clients and offers advanced features such as sentiment analysis, and business impact insights. However for smaller teams, a lot of these metrics are overkill.

Pros:

➔ Strong earned media ROI analysis
➔ Combines monitoring and media outreach

Cons:

➔ Expensive
➔ Complex to set up

Brand24

➔ Free trial: Yes (14 days)
➔ Pricing: Starts at $199 /month
➔ Contract length: Monthly or annual
➔ Tool type: Social media and web monitoring

Brand24 is a media monitoring tool aimed at businesses looking to track online brand mentions. It covers social media platforms, blogs, forums, news sites, and reviews, and includes real-time alerts, sentiment analysis, and influencer scoring.

However, Brand24 does not offer a media contact database or PR outreach capabilities, and its sentiment analysis is more basic compared to other platforms.

Pros:

➔ Affordable and easy to use
➔ Real-time alerts and sentiment analysis

Cons:

➔ No media outreach tools or database
➔ No traditional media coverage

Cision alternatives: Newsrooms

Mynewsdesk

➔ Free trial: Yes (14 days)
➔ Pricing: Starts around $250/month
➔ Contract length: Monthly or annual
➔ Tool type: All-in-one PR and newsroom platform

Mynewsdesk is a PR platform focused on press release publishing and newsroom hosting.

You can manage your own branded newsroom, a public-facing hub where journalists can access news, media assets, and contact information. While it also includes a media database and distribution functionality, the outreach tools are less advanced than larger platforms.

Pros:

➔ Built-in branded newsroom functionality
➔ Simple, intuitive interface

Cons:

➔ Limited media database
➔ Less suited to U.S.-based teams

Cision alternatives: Newswire services

EIN Newswire / Newswire / Presswire / Global Newswire

➔ Free trial: No (pay-per-release)
➔ Pricing: Starts at ~$100–$350 per press release
➔ Contract length: Pay-as-you-go
➔ Tool type: Newswire distribution platforms

Cision offers an integrated newswire service called PR newswire - if you are looking for an alternative to this, you can try out these alternatives:

➔ EIN Presswire (from $149 /release)
➔ Globe Newswire (contact for a quote - high end)
➔ Newswire (from $349.00 /release)
➔ Presswire (from $250 /release)
➔ Businesswire (from $475 /release)

The platforms vary slightly in reach and price, but they all work in the same way and focus on distributing press releases to media outlets, newsrooms, websites, and syndication networks.

These newswire platforms don’t offer media monitoring, journalist databases, or in-depth analytics.

Pros:

➔ Simple to use
➔ No contracts or subscription fees

Cons:

➔ No monitoring, analytics, or media database
➔ Outdated and ineffective

Are newswires effective?

A newswire used to be a great way to get your press release in front of journalists, but it’s an outdated way of reaching journalists these days.

Newswires are often flooded with irrelevant pitches journalists don't care about - which puts them off checking the newswires.

Instead, the best way to reach journalists is to email them your news directly, which is where media databases like JournoFinder come in. This method means you can target specific journalists you know will be interested in your news, personalise your outreach, and start building meaningful relationships with journalists.

The only reason I would recommend using a newswire service is if you are legally required to do so.

Which Cision alternative is best for me?

If you are looking for a cost-effective, streamlined media database JournoFinder is the
obvious choice.

If you need an all-in-one tool, and don’t mind paying the costs involved with that, Muck Rack is a good option.

If media monitoring is your priority, consider Critical Mention or Brand24 (also look at Mention for a more budget-friendly alternative). For news desk functionality, Mynewsdesk is a strong pick.

And if you simply need to publish a press release, services like EIN Newswire or Businesswire will do the job.