Dot Star Media vs ResponseSource (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, ResponseSource grades higher than Dot Star Media: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
ResponseSource grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use 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
ResponseSource
UK journalist request service with a press release wire
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 ResponseSource if
- Fits if you're a UK PR team after national, regional and trade coverage
- Works for consumer brands answering journalists who want products to review
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if your market isn't the UK, as its pages describe UK media only
- Pricey if you cover several sectors, as each is a separate yearly subscription from £625 plus VAT at 20%
- Watch out: the price varies by sector and only the £625 floor is published
- Pricey if you also send releases, as Press Release Wire is extra, from £85 a release
- Watch out: the Vuelio media database on the same page is priced only by quote, and the trial is arranged by form or phone
How we grade them
| 2.2GPADot Star MediaFair | 2.4GPAResponseSourceFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | B£625 a year and up per sector, before VAT, and one licence covers a whole office. Split across a team of five that's about £10 a head a month, inside this category's cheaper quarter. On your own it's about £52 a month per sector. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a 14-day trial with no card. Qualifying charities can use it free. | CNo free plan, but a free one-week trial of the enquiry service, arranged by form or phone. |
| 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. | CModerated requests from national, regional, trade and consumer journalists, 25 sectors, delivery filters and an office-wide licence. It does the job fully, but only for UK media, and the press release wire is priced on top. |
| 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. | BNo rating on record, but enquiries arrive by email, already checked by a moderation team, and you narrow them with delivery filters. |
| Platforms and integrations | CEmail and web, with Microsoft Teams and Slack delivery only on Gold at £80 a month. No API on record. | CWeb and email only, with no apps, integrations or API on record. |
| Best for | #journorequest alerts sorted by topic | UK journalist requests for PR teams |
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 ResponseSource. 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. ResponseSource starts at about $68.86 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Dot Star Media starts $15.98 a month lower. Of the other link building tools on the chart, 2 score higher than Dot Star Media for less, and 2 score higher than ResponseSource 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.
- ResponseSource also covers reports.
At a glance
| Dot Star Media | ResponseSource | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | £40 per month for 5 topics, excluding VAT, billed monthly | £625 per category / year and up, billed annually (excluding VAT) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | Free one-week trial of the Journalist Enquiry Service, arranged by form or phone |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Dot Star Media Ltd | ResponseSource Ltd |
| Price read from | dotstar.media | responsesource.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.
ResponseSource
- Prices are in pounds and exclude VAT at 20%; each sector category is a separate annual subscription whose price varies.
- The service covers UK media; the pages do not describe requests from other countries.
- Press Release Wire is priced separately: from £85 per release, or £675 for 10 and £1,050 for 20, with extras such as video from £40.
- The Vuelio media database sold on the same page is priced only by quote.
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.
ResponseSource
- Journalist Enquiry Service
- Requests for expert comment, case studies, interviews and products to review arrive by email from UK print, broadcast and online journalists.
- Moderated requests
- A quality control team reviews each request before it goes out, and delivery filters narrow the feed by request, media and sender type.
- 25 sector categories
- Subscribe only to the sectors you work in, from Business & Finance to Travel; each category is priced separately.
- Office-wide licence
- One licence covers an entire office, so a whole PR team can see and answer the same enquiries.
- Press Release Wire
- Sends releases to UK journalists and news desks, hosts them in a customizable newsroom indexed by search engines, and reports on release and newsroom views.
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.
ResponseSource
Journalist Enquiry Service£625
per category / year and up, billed annually
Moderated journalist requests by email for one of 25 sectors; the price varies by category, and one licence covers a whole office.
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.
ResponseSource
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Dot Star Media or ResponseSource?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Dot Star Media is cheaper to start with: about $52.88 a month, against about $68.86 a month for ResponseSource. Dot Star Media starts at £40 per month for 5 topics, excluding VAT, billed monthly, and ResponseSource starts at £625 per category / year and up, billed annually (excluding VAT).
Which has a free plan, Dot Star Media or ResponseSource?
As of Oct 23, 2026, neither Dot Star Media nor ResponseSource has a free plan. Both have 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.