Dot Star Media vs Source of Sources (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Source of Sources grades higher than Dot Star Media: 2.8 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Dot Star Media grades higher on features. Source of Sources grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on 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
Source of Sources
Free email list of journalist queries looking for expert sources
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 Source of Sources if
- Fits if you want press mentions and don't want to pay anything
- Works for journalists who need an expert quickly, since posting a query is free
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to search or filter queries, as the site describes no search or topic filter
- Too light for PR teams that need a dashboard, tracking or an archive of past queries
- Watch out: one off-topic or salesy reply to a reporter gets you removed, with no appeal
How we grade them
| 2.2GPADot Star MediaFair | 2.8GPASource of SourcesGood | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | ACompletely free for sources and journalists, with no paid plan at all. The site asks you to donate to animal charities instead. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a 14-day trial with no card. Qualifying charities can use it free. | AEverything is free: up to three emails of queries a day, with no paid tier holding anything back. |
| 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. | DOne narrow function: an email of queries, up to three times a day. The site describes no dashboard, search or archive of past queries, and no way to filter them by topic. |
| 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 sign-up asks only for a name and email address, and queries land in your inbox. There's nothing to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | CEmail and web, with Microsoft Teams and Slack delivery only on Gold at £80 a month. No API on record. | CEmail only, with no app, integrations or API on record. |
| Best for | #journorequest alerts sorted by topic | free journalist queries by email |
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 Source of Sources. 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. Source of Sources has no paid plan and scores 2.0.
Dot Star Media scores higher, and starts $52.88 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other link building tools on the chart, 2 score higher than Dot Star Media for less, and none scores higher than Source of Sources 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
At a glance
| Dot Star Media | Source of Sources | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free |
| Starts at | £40 per month for 5 topics, excluding VAT, billed monthly | Free |
| Free plan | None | Everything is free: sources get journalist queries by email up to three times a day, and journalists post queries through a web form. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Dot Star Media Ltd | Jessa and Waffle, LLC |
| Price read from | dotstar.media | sourceofsources.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.
Source of Sources
- Queries arrive only by email; the site describes no dashboard, search or archive of past queries.
- Sign-up asks only for a name and email address, and the site does not describe filtering queries by topic.
- One off-topic or salesy reply to a reporter gets a source removed from the list, with no appeal.
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.
Source of Sources
- Query emails
- Up to three emails a day collect queries from journalists, broadcasters and bloggers who need an expert to quote.
- Direct replies to reporters
- Sources answer a query by emailing the journalist directly; nothing sits between the two.
- Reporter submission form
- Journalists file a query with its outlet, category and deadline; it goes out in the next mailing, usually within a few hours.
- Verified journalists
- Queries from an outlet's own email domain go out faster; a first query from a personal address is held until the journalist's identity is checked.
- Urgent queries
- A journalist with a deadline under four hours can ask for the query to be posted on Threads straight away.
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.
Source of Sources
Free$0
Media query emails up to three times a day for sources; free query submission for journalists.
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.
Source of Sources
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Dot Star Media or Source of Sources?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Source of Sources is cheaper to start with: it is free, against about $52.88 a month for Dot Star Media. Dot Star Media starts at £40 per month for 5 topics, excluding VAT, billed monthly, and Source of Sources is free.
Which has a free plan, Dot Star Media or Source of Sources?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Source of Sources 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.