The Best 7 Muck Rack Competitors & Alternatives for 2025 (Features & Pricing)

Looking for a Muck Rack alternative that actually fits your team's size, budget and workflow? As PR becomes more data-driven and media landscapes shift, many small and mid-sized comms teams are rethinking their PR toolkits.

Whether you're a growing agency juggling multiple clients or an in-house team looking to pitch smarter—not harder—this guide covers the best Muck Rack competitors in 2025. We break down each tool’s strengths, pricing, and who they’re best suited for—so you can find the one that meets your real needs, not just a bloated feature list.

TL;DR: Why consider Muck Rack alternatives?

Muck Rack is a well-known PR platform offering media outreach, a journalist database, and media monitoring. However, it may not be the optimal choice for every team.

1#. High cost: Muck Rack's pricing starts around $15,000 per year, which can be prohibitive for smaller teams or agencies operating on tighter budgets.

#2. Annual contracts: The requirement for yearly commitments reduces flexibility, making it challenging for teams that prefer monthly or more adaptable plans.

#3. Feature set: While Muck Rack excels in its media database and monitoring, it lacks integrated tools for press release creation, online newsrooms, or AI-driven features that can enhance efficiency and outreach effectiveness.

#4. Database-heavy, but not always precise: While Muck Rack is known for its vast media contact database, today’s PR landscape demands more than quantity. The real value lies in identifying the right journalists—especially for niche topics—which is where tools like Prowly’s AI-driven search and Semrush-powered audience insights come in.

When to explore Muck Rack competitors

Consider exploring other PR tools if:

• You're a small to mid-sized team seeking a more affordable solution without compromising on essential features.
• You require integrated tools for press release creation, PR outreach, and newsroom management.
• You value AI-powered functionalities to streamline your PR processes.
• Flexibility in contract terms is important to your team.

Muck Rack alternative #1: Prowly

Prowly is an all-in-one public relations software solution 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 backed by the power of AI.

Best for: Small to mid-sized PR teams looking for smart journalist targeting and built-in PR tools.

Pricing: Starts at $258/month, billed annually.

Free trial: Free 7 day trial available.

Key features:

• Global media monitoring (blogs, forums, print, broadcast)
• AI-powered journalist search with keyword expansion to uncover niche topics and contacts
• Semrush-powered audience insights for smarter outlet targeting based on traffic data
• Generative AI tools to help draft press releases, pitches, and other content faster
• Advanced email analytics—track open rates, engagement, and follow-up timing
• Online newsroom builder to host press kits and stories in one branded place
• Easy onboarding and standout usability, ideal for fast-paced teams

Prowly vs. Muck Rack: which one’s right for you?

If you're a small or mid-sized PR team, both Prowly and Muck Rack might be on your radar. While they serve a similar audience, their approaches to media relations are very different.

Why PR teams choose Prowly

• Smarter media discovery: Not just who’s in the database, but who’s actually relevant. AI keyword search and Semrush audience data help uncover niche journalists and media outlets.
• Tools built for content creation: Save time by creating and distributing press materials all from one platform—press release editor, newsroom builder, and email outreach included.
• Transparent, flexible pricing: Starts at $258/month. No lengthy contracts or custom quotes needed—ideal for teams with changing priorities or client mixes.
• Faster onboarding: Get your team pitching and publishing in hours—not weeks. No steep learning curve, just immediate usability.

“As a fast-moving agency, we needed a tool that scaled with us—not slowed us down. Prowly gave us speed, flexibility, and access to niche media that larger platforms just didn’t.” — She-PR agency team. Read the full case study →

Muck Rack vs Prowly: pricing

Muck Rack alternative #2: Meltwater

Meltwater is an enterprise-grade media intelligence platform that combines traditional PR capabilities with advanced marketing analytics. It’s designed for large organizations that require deep insights, expansive media monitoring, and global scalability.

Best for: Enterprise teams and global agencies needing extensive media tracking and data-rich reporting.

Pricing: Based on our research, Meltwater costs an average of $15,000 to $20,000 per year.

Free trial: No, you can only request a demo call.

Key features:

• Global media monitoring (online, print, broadcast, social, podcasts)
• AI-powered sentiment analysis and brand tracking
• Influencer identification across earned and social media
• Competitive benchmarking and market intelligence tools
• Collaboration and workflow features for large comms teams

Standout value:
Meltwater goes far beyond media outreach—its strength lies in comprehensive monitoring, marketing intelligence, and campaign analytics. It's a robust option for organizations managing multi-regional or cross-channel communications, but likely overkill for smaller PR teams or budget-conscious agencies.

Muck Rack vs Meltwater: pricing

While pricing often depends on team size and features, here’s a quick look at how Muck Rack and Meltwater typically compare to each other:

✅ 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 #3: Cision

Cision is one of the most established names in PR software, offering a full suite of media database, outreach, distribution, and monitoring tools. Designed for large-scale organizations, it’s often bundled with legacy services like PR Newswire and TrendKite.

Best for: Enterprise comms teams and large agencies with complex PR workflows, global outreach, and big media budgets.

Pricing: Cision plans start at $10,000 per year can go up to $30,000 per year.

Free trial: No, you can only request a demo call.

Key features:

• Extensive global media database and influencer network
• Press release distribution via PRNewswire
• Multi-channel media monitoring (print, broadcast, online, social)
• Advanced reporting and analytics dashboards
• Integration with enterprise CRMs and marketing stacks

Standout value:
Cision delivers an expansive toolset and legacy integrations, but it comes with high cost and longer onboarding cycles. For teams that need enterprise reach and don’t mind complex systems, it’s a powerful—if heavy—alternative to Muck Rack.

Muck Rack vs Cision: pricing

✅ Pros

• extremely comprehensive PR toolset covering media database, monitoring, distribution, and analytics
• offers access to PRNewswire for wide-scale press release distribution
• strong global reach with support for multi-market communications
• integration-ready for enterprise CRMs and marketing platforms

🔻Cons

• pricing is high and non-transparent, starting around $10,000/year
• annual contracts and long-term commitments required
• complex onboarding and feature setup—may be overwhelming for smaller teams
• interface and usability can feel dated compared to more agile tools

Muck Rack alternative #4: AgilityPR

Agility PR offers a traditional PR toolkit with access to a large media database, press release distribution, and monitoring tools. It's a solid option for teams looking for a more classic media outreach workflow with some customization flexibility.

Best for: Small to mid-sized PR teams looking for an all-in-one outreach and monitoring platform with familiar workflows.

Pricing: Unknown—you need to request a demo call to find out.

Free trial: No—you can only schedule a demo call.

Key features:

• Global media contact database
• Press release distribution via AgilityWire
• Media monitoring and sentiment tracking
• Customizable coverage and performance reporting
• Email outreach tools with limited automation

Standout value:
Agility PR sits between modern PR tools and legacy platforms, offering more flexibility than enterprise tools.

Muck Rack vs Agility PR: pricing

✅ 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: Critical Mention

Critical Mention is a media monitoring solution best known for its real-time tracking of TV, radio, and digital news. Now part of the Onclusive platform, it’s ideal for teams who need to monitor broadcast mentions alongside online and social media content.

Best for: PR professionals and organizations who rely heavily on TV/radio coverage or need full-spectrum media monitoring—including broadcast.

Pricing: Based on our research, Critical Mention costs between $2,500 and $10,000 per year.

Free trial: No, you can only request a demo call.

Standout value:
Unlike Muck Rack, which emphasizes journalist outreach, Critical Mention is built primarily for tracking—not pitching. It’s best for brands or agencies who need to see and measure media coverage, especially in broadcast, in near real time.

Muck Rack vs Critical Mention: pricing

✅ 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 #6: Presspage

Presspage is a PR platform built for companies that need professional, secure newsroom management and reliable crisis communication workflows. It’s a great fit for teams that want to centralize their communications and manage approvals with ease.

Best for: PR teams that prioritize crisis communications and need robust newsroom management tools.

Pricing: Custom pricing; requires contact with sales.

Free trial: No, you can only request a demo call.

Key features:

• Branded online newsrooms with multimedia content support
• Centralized media contact database and email distribution
• GDPR-compliant media lists and campaign tracking
• Collaboration tools for distributed or large teams
• Support for internal approvals and publishing workflows

Standout value:
Unlike Muck Rack, which focuses on robust media database and outreach, Presspage shines in newsroom creation, compliance, and team coordination—ideal for larger PR operations or companies with high reputational sensitivity.

Muck Rack vs Presspage: pricing

Presspage doesn’t share their pricing before a demo call—just like Muck Rack. Here’s what we can estimate based on public sources and customer feedback:

✅ 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 #7: Prezly

Prezly is a modern PR platform focused on storytelling, relationship building, and visual communication. It’s especially popular with agencies and in-house teams that value beautiful newsrooms, content-rich press kits, and streamlined pitching—all in one place.

Best for: Agencies and brand teams that prioritize visual storytelling, journalist experience, and owned media control.

Pricing: Starts at $90/month; plans scale based on users and newsroom features.

Free trial: 14-day free trial.

Key features:

• Branded online newsrooms and multimedia press kits
• Built-in email pitching with click/open tracking
• Media contact management with relationship tracking
• Simple CRM functionality for press outreach
• Collaborative workflows for internal team

Standout value:
Unlike Muck Rack, which emphasizes database breadth, Prezly focuses on delivering a polished journalist experience and strong owned content presence. It’s a good fit for teams wanting integrated storytelling tools without an enterprise-grade budget.

Muck Rack vs Prezly: pricing

For a full understanding of how much Prezly costs, read this article about Prezly Pricing in 2025.

✅ 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

Final thoughts: which Muck Rack alternative is right for you?

Choosing the right PR software comes down to your team size, workflow complexity, and budget flexibility.

And if you’re a small to mid-sized team looking to scale your outreach with smarter targeting, AI support, and flexible pricing—Prowly stands out.

If you’re running a large comms operation, platforms like Cision or Meltwater offer enterprise-grade monitoring and distribution—at enterprise pricing.

If you need broadcast coverage, Critical Mention and Prowly might be the better fit.