Dot Star Media vs Qwoted (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Dot Star Media grades higher than Qwoted: 2.2 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Dot Star Media grades higher on value for money and ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Dot Star Media
Journalist request alerts from X, Bluesky and direct submissions
Qwoted
Marketplace where reporters request expert sources and PRs pitch
Which one is for you
Pick Dot Star Media if
- Fits if your digital PR coverage comes from #journorequest
- Works for companies with several staff on one email domain, as colleagues are included
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you follow more than 5 topics, as 10 cost £60 a month and all 29 cost £80
- Watch out: prices are in pounds and exclude VAT, and plans are rolling monthly with a one-month minimum and no yearly option
- Not for you if you want alerts in Slack or Microsoft Teams without paying for Gold at £80 a month
- Skip it if you want requests from lifestyle bloggers and influencers, as they're mostly left out
Pick Qwoted if
- Fits if you're an expert who wants press quotes without hiring a PR agency
- Works for PR agencies placing several clients in news stories
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free, at 2 pitches a month, requests 2 hours late and no rollover of unused pitches
- Skip it if you draft pitches with AI, as its terms ban it and even light AI editing can get a pitch flagged
- Not for you if you'd rather pitch by email, as every pitch has to go through Qwoted
- Pricey if a team shares it, as team features and white labeling need the custom-priced Teams plan
- Watch out: the pricing page doesn't say whether Pro's $149 a month is billed monthly or yearly
How we grade them
| 2.2GPADot Star MediaFair | 1.8GPAQwotedWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CBronze is £40 a month before VAT for 5 topics, around the middle of this category. Silver is £60 for 10 and Gold £80 for all 29, with no yearly plan to bring that down. | DPro is $149 a month, and the page doesn't say whether that's billed monthly or yearly. That's the start of this category's dearest tenth, for 35 pitches a month, and team features need the custom-priced Teams plan. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a 14-day trial with no card. Qualifying charities can use it free. | CThe free Basic plan gives you a profile reporters can search, alerts and 2 pitches a month. Requests show up 2 hours late, though, and unused pitches don't roll over, so you'll hit the wall fast. |
| Features | CA filtered #journorequest feed from X and Bluesky plus direct submissions, alerts within about 30 seconds, 29 topics with keyword filters and journalist bios. It does request alerts fully, but that's a smaller job, and influencer requests are left out. | CReporter requests, expert profiles in a searchable database, alerts, pitch intelligence that shows how crowded a request is, and an events and awards list. It does the journalist-request job fully, but that's a smaller job. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record, but there's little to set up: pick your topics and requests arrive by email, ready to reply to. | CNo rating on record. You build expert profiles before pitching, and the rules are strict: pitches go through Qwoted only, and even lightly AI-edited ones can get flagged. |
| Platforms and integrations | CEmail and web, with Microsoft Teams and Slack delivery only on Gold at £80 a month. No API on record. | CWeb only, with no apps, no integrations and no API on record. New requests also come by email. |
| Best for | #journorequest alerts sorted by topic | answering reporters who need expert quotes |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Dot Star Media and Qwoted. How we grade
Price against what you get
Dot Star Media starts at about $52.88 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Qwoted starts at $149 a month and scores 2.0.
Dot Star Media scores higher and starts $96.12 a month lower. Of the other link building tools on the chart, 2 score higher than Dot Star Media for less, and 22 score higher than Qwoted for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Dot Star Media also covers link outreach.
- Qwoted also covers reports.
At a glance
| Dot Star Media | Qwoted | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | £40 per month for 5 topics, excluding VAT, billed monthly | $149 per month (billing basis not stated) |
| Free plan | None | Basic plan: a profile in the database reporters search, real-time alerts and a daily email of requests, and 2 pitches a month, with a 2-hour delay on new requests. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Dot Star Media Ltd | Qwoted, Inc. |
| Price read from | dotstar.media | qwoted.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Dot Star Media
- Prices are in pounds and exclude VAT; no dollar prices are published.
- Plans are rolling monthly with a one-month minimum; there is no yearly plan.
- Teams and Slack delivery need the Gold plan at £80 a month.
- Requests from lifestyle bloggers and other influencers are generally left out of the feeds.
Qwoted
- Free accounts get 2 pitches a month and see requests 2 hours late; unused pitches do not roll over.
- Pitches must be sent inside Qwoted; pitching its requests by email breaks the community guidelines.
- Qwoted's terms ban AI-written pitches, and its help center warns that even light AI editing can get a pitch flagged.
- Team features and white labeling need the custom-priced Teams plan; the pricing page does not say how Pro is billed.
Key features
Dot Star Media
- Filtered #journorequest feed
- Requests posted on X and Bluesky are checked by automation and people, keeping verified journalists at established outlets and dropping most noise and influencer requests.
- Fast alerts
- The vendor says most alerts arrive within 30 seconds of the journalist posting, as individual emails or digests.
- 29 topics with keyword filters
- Requests are sorted into 29 topics; plans cover 5, 10 or all 29, and topics can be changed whenever a campaign changes.
- Full request details
- Each alert carries the whole request, the journalist's name and biography, and options for replying to them directly.
- Teams and Slack delivery
- The Gold plan can post requests into Microsoft Teams or Slack channels as well as email.
Qwoted
- Media requests
- Reporters post calls for expert sources or products, and you answer them with a pitch sent inside Qwoted, with read receipts.
- Expert profiles
- Set up profiles for yourself, your clients or your company's spokespeople; they appear in the expert database that reporters search.
- Alerts
- Real-time alerts and a daily email flag new requests that match your experts' topics; free accounts see new requests two hours late.
- Pitch intelligence
- Shows how many pitches a request has had, how many were read or answered and who is pitching. Free accounts see it only after pitching.
- Events and awards database
- Pro and Teams list industry events and awards in one place as further PR openings.
- Team tools
- On Teams, several people can represent and reply for the same expert, with white-label branding, an admin dashboard and weekly activity reports.
Plans
Dot Star Media
Bronze£40
per month for 5 topics, excluding VAT, billed monthly
Individual request emails, keyword filtering, digests, and each journalist's name and bio. Colleagues on the same email domain are included.
Silver£60
per month for 10 topics, excluding VAT, billed monthly
The same features as Bronze across any 10 topics.
Gold£80
per month for all 29 topics, excluding VAT, billed monthly
Every topic, plus request alerts delivered to Microsoft Teams or Slack.
Qwoted
Basic$0
2 pitches a month (5 shared by a team on the free plan), with new requests shown after a 2-hour delay.
Pro$149
per month (billing basis not stated)
35 pitches a month with no delay, pitch intelligence before you pitch, opportunity research and the events and awards database.
TeamsCustom
Unlimited pitches, several people representing the same experts, profile view alerts, white labeling, weekly reports and premium support.
Ways to pay less
Dot Star Media
- Nonprofit
Free for qualifying charities
Dot Star Media's about page says its journalist enquiry service is free of charge to qualifying charities.
Qwoted
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Dot Star Media or Qwoted?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Dot Star Media is cheaper to start with: about $52.88 a month, against $149 a month for Qwoted. Dot Star Media starts at £40 per month for 5 topics, excluding VAT, billed monthly, and Qwoted starts at $149 per month (billing basis not stated).
Which has a free plan, Dot Star Media or Qwoted?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Qwoted has a free plan. Dot Star Media does not, though it has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.