9 Muck Rack Alternatives & Competitors in 2025

Summary of Top Muck Rack Competitors

Looking for the best Muck Rack alternative? Here are the top picks…

➔ Media databases: JournoFinder - affordable without sacrificing quality.
➔ All-in-one PR tools: Cision, Meltwater, Agility PR,
➔ Media monitoring: Critical Mention
➔ Newsrooms: Prezly

The best alternative to Muck Rack: JournoFinder

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

If you’re looking for a reliable and affordable media database, check out JournoFinder.

It’s an easy-to-use platform that delivers accurate results without overcomplicating things. JournoFinder focuses on up-to-date data and a smooth user experience.

The contact database is constantly being updated, and any emails you add to your media lists are verified to make sure they’re valid.

Users often mention how straightforward the interface is - even for people new to media databases - and the intuitive search interface streamlines the process of finding the right journalists. Plus, the support team is responsive and always ready to help.

Another useful feature is their Journalist Request page, where you can set up alerts to get emails about relevant journalists requests from around the web.

You can try JournoFinder free for 7 days - sign up here.

Muck Rack vs Journofinder

Pros:

➔ Accurate media database
➔ Easy to use
➔ Great value for money
➔ Free trial available
➔ Ever-expanding database

Cons:

➔ Less features than Muck Rack

Try JournoFinder out for 7 days here.

What is Muck Rack and why look for an alternative?

Muck Rack is a well known PR platform that provides access to a media database, media monitoring tools, and analytics. But it’s always good to consider alternatives, especially considering:

Muck Rack is expensive and only offers long term contracts.

Muck Rack does not publish its pricing, and costs can vary based on your specific needs. However, pricing typically starts around $5,000 per year for the most basic package. If you require team access or additional features, expect the price to increase.

Muck Rack is built for big teams.

Muck Rack is built to compete with the likes of Cision and Meltwater, which are enterprise-aimed platforms and therefore offer a wide variety of features - lots of which smaller teams will find they don’t make full use of.

Muck Rack Alternatives

Cision

➔ Free trial: No
➔ Pricing: Custom pricing (typically starting from $7000 / year)
➔ Contract length: Annual
➔ Tool type: All-in-one PR platform

Cision is one of the, if not the oldest PR software companies out there.

The fact they’ve been around for so long means they have a solid reputation behind them and more features than Muck Rack and the other newer PR platforms.

However, some reviewers feel that all the feature options only serve to clutter the interface and make the platform feel complicated to use. If you’re new to PR, Cision will be a steep learning curve.

Customer support is also limited if you need help.

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

Pros:

➔ Full suite of features for every PR need
➔ Strong reputation

Cons:

➔ Expensive and no pricing transparency
➔ Slow customer support
➔ Enterprise focused

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 well-established name in the PR software industry, initially focused on media monitoring and gradually evolving into a comprehensive platform offering social listening, influencer tracking, analytics, and a media database.

Its core strengths remain in monitoring and analytics. While the media database is limited when stacked against competitors like Muck Rack and JournoFinder. As one Reddit user put it:

"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."

Meltwater also has a press release distribution tool that’s handy for basic outreach.

Pros:

➔ Very strong in analytics and reporting
➔ Includes social media listening tools

Cons:

➔ Expensive with only long term contract options
➔ Media database is limited
➔ Enterprise focused

Agility PR

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

Agility PR offers a variety of plans to suit different needs. There are packages for media outreach and database access, media monitoring, and social listening.

They also offer one-time services such as specific campaign tracking, targeted email outreach, and press release distribution.

One noteworthy feature that you won't find in Muck Rack is third-party PR tracking, which allows you to monitor potential issues involving external partners (such as suppliers) giving you extra time to prepare a response before a situation escalates.

Pros:

➔ Flexible contract options
➔ Reliable customer support

Cons:

➔ Interface feels somewhat outdated
➔ Reporting and analytics lack depth

Roxhill

➔ Free trial: Yes, but you have to go through the sales team to activate it
➔ Pricing: Around £6000 / year
➔ Contract length: Annual
➔ Tool type: Media database

Roxhill is a UK-focused PR platform with a focus on helping you build good journalist relationships.

The journalist profiles are pretty detailed with recent coverage, contact information, and pitching preferences. Roxhill also offers real-time alerts, which notify users when selected journalists publish new stories or post on social media.

The analytics and media monitoring features are basic, and the database has minimal coverage outside of the UK while Muck Rack has more of a global database.

Pros:

➔ Responsive customer support
➔ Real-time alerts

Cons:

➔ Smaller database lacking global coverage
➔ Annual-only pricing not suitable to smaller teams

Prowly

➔ Free trial: Yes
➔ Pricing: Starts from $369 / month
➔ Contract length: Annual or monthly
➔ Tool type: Media database

Prowly is pretty similar to Muck Rack feature wise. They offer access to a media database along with tools to create press releases, build online newsrooms, send email pitches, and track media mentions.

Prowly is more affordable than Muck Rack, but still more expensive than other alternatives like JournoFinder.

However, some users report that the quality of the media database and the depth of reporting can vary depending on the plan you’re on. A reviewer on Reddit said "I recently tested out Prowly but didn't enjoy the experience/it was missing some of the journalists I needed.".

Pros:

➔ Searchable media database
➔ Transparent pricing with flexible subscription options

Cons:

➔ Media database accuracy can be inconsistent
➔ Some features require upgrading to higher-tier plans

Response Source

➔ Free trial: Yes, but you have to go through the sales team to activate it
➔ Pricing: Unknown for media database
➔ Contract length: Annual only
➔ Tool type: Journalist requests, press release distribution

While Muck Rack’s main offering is a media database - ResponseSource is best known for its journalist enquiry service, which sends real-time media requests from their network of journalists and content creators.

ResponseSource also offers a press-release wire and access to the Vuelio media database for finding journalists to outreach to.

Similar to Roxhill, analytics and monitoring tools are minimal, and coverage outside the UK is narrow. And some user reviews warn of shady sales tactics and costly “add-ons”.

Pros:

➔ Real-time journalist requests enable quick reactive PR

Cons:

➔ UK-focused database with limited international reach
➔ Annual-only contracts and costly upsells

Prezly

➔ Free trial: Yes
➔ Pricing: starts from 80€ per user/month
➔ Contract length: Annual and monthly options
➔ Tool type: Newsroom

Prezly a PR software platform focused on contact management and newsrooms (i.e. a public-facing hub where journalists can access news, media assets, and contact information for your brand).

You will get a customizable newsroom builder, tools for creating and publishing press releases, and basic media monitoring.

However, unlike Muck Rack, Prezly doesn’t come with a built-in media database - you’ll need to bring and manage your own contacts.

It’s best suited for PR teams who already have their media lists and want a streamlined way to manage relationships and share content.

Pros:

➔ Multiple pricing options for different needs
➔ Customizable newsrooms

Cons:

➔ No integrated media database
➔ Limited advanced monitoring and customization compared to premium competitors

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

If you are looking primarily for media monitoring - Critical Mention is a good alternative to Muck Rack.

They specialize in real-time monitoring across TV/radio, online, and social media. It also includes clipping tools, 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

Which Muck Rack 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, Cision and Meltwater are the main players.

If media monitoring is your priority, consider Critical Mention and for newsroom functionality, Prezly is a strong pick.