JournoFinder vs Muck Rack (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, JournoFinder grades higher than Muck Rack: 2.4 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
JournoFinder grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
JournoFinder
Journalist database with an AI list builder, news search and pitching
Free plan · from $119/mo
Which one is for you
Pick JournoFinder if
- Fits if you pitch journalists every week and an enterprise media database is out of budget
- Works for digital PR link builders who want the writers behind an Ahrefs backlink export
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want to check contact details before paying, as the trial hides them
- Watch out: the FAQ says no refunds, and the vendor's pages disagree on whether the trial needs a card
- Pricey if you pay monthly, at $189 against $119 a month billed annually
- Tight if you build many lists, as media lists and active contacts are capped per plan under fair use
- Too light for reactive PR outside the US and UK, which its breaking-news alerts don't watch
Pick Muck Rack if
- Fits if you run PR at a mid-size or large company and pitch journalists every week
- Works for agencies pitching reporters for several clients and reporting the coverage back
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to see a price first, as every plan is quoted by sales on users and add-ons
- Not for you if you want to try it before talking to sales, as no free plan or trial is on record
- Tight if you're on Starter, which limits list exports and leaves out AI journalist recommendations and podcast monitoring
- Pricey if you want custom dashboards or the Inbound Media Manager, which need Premier, where the API is a further add-on
- Watch out: print and broadcast monitoring, social listening and press release distribution cost extra on every plan
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAJournoFinderFair | 2.0GPAMuck RackFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$119 a month billed annually for 1 user, above this category's usual top but short of its dearest tenth. Monthly billing is $189, and Team is $229 a month billed annually for 3 users. | CNo price is published. Every plan is quoted by sales on the number of users and the add-ons you pick, so the price is only given on a sales call. Print and broadcast monitoring, social listening and press release distribution cost extra on every plan. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan that only searches journalist requests, with 3 daily email alerts. The 7-day trial of paid plans hides journalists' contact details, which is what you'd pay for. | FNothing free on record for PR teams: no free plan and no trial. Journalists use it free, but they're the other side of the deal, not the people paying. |
| Features | BA database of over 1,000,000 contacts, an AI list builder, news, article and outlet search, writers behind pasted URLs, request alerts, reactive PR alerts and email outreach. It covers the digital PR route to links end to end. | BA journalist and outlet database, pitching with open, click and reply tracking, coverage alerts, reports with sentiment, and tracking of how AI chatbots describe a brand. It covers the PR route to links end to end, though Starter limits exports and leaves out AI journalist picks and podcast monitoring. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. The agent builds a list from a sentence, but there are filters, lists, alerts and mailboxes to set up first. | CNo rating on record. It's a big platform: you build media lists, set up alerts and learn the reports before it pays off, and getting in at all starts with sales. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with Gmail, Outlook and Microsoft 365 for sending, Slack for news alerts, and a connector for Claude and ChatGPT. No desktop or phone app. | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app. Alerts go to email and Slack, Premier brings Google Analytics data into reports, and the API is an add-on only Premier customers can buy. |
| Best for | digital PR on a smaller budget | PR teams pitching journalists and tracking the coverage |
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: JournoFinder and Muck Rack. How we grade
Where they differ
- JournoFinder also covers AI agents.
- Muck Rack also covers reports and AI search visibility.
In commonWebLink outreachJournalist requests
At a glance
| JournoFinder | Muck Rack | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | $119 per month for 1 user, billed annually ($189 billed monthly) | Not published |
| Free plan | Search journalist requests and get 3 daily email alerts for them. No journalist database, media lists or contact details. | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of paid plans, with journalists' contact details hidden until you pay | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | JournoFinder | Muck Rack |
| Price read from | journofinder.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
JournoFinder
- The trial hides journalists' contact details, and the vendor's pages disagree on whether it needs a card.
- The FAQ states that JournoFinder gives no refunds.
- Media lists and active contacts are capped per plan, under a fair use policy.
- Breaking-news alerts watch US and UK news only.
Muck Rack
- No prices are published: each plan is quoted by sales, based on the number of users and the add-ons chosen.
- Starter limits media list exports and leaves out AI journalist recommendations and podcast monitoring.
- Inbound Media Manager, custom dashboards and Generative Pulse come with Premier; the API is an add-on only Premier customers can buy.
- Print and broadcast monitoring, social listening and press release distribution cost extra on every plan.
Key features
JournoFinder
- Journalist search
- Search a database the vendor puts at over 1,000,000 media contacts by topic, outlet, job title, location and language, including staff who are not bylined reporters.
- AI agent for media lists
- Describe the story in a sentence and the agent builds a vetted media list, judging each journalist on beat and reach; it also works from Claude or ChatGPT.
- News, article and URL search
- Search Google News in real time or any story to see who covered it, or paste article URLs, such as an Ahrefs backlink export, to get the writers' contacts.
- Journalist request alerts
- Gathers requests for expert sources from social media and platforms such as Qwoted and Featured, with AI-matched alerts by email or instantly.
- Reactive PR alerts
- Add a client's domain and it watches breaking news in the US and UK, alerting you by Slack or email when the client has a credible angle.
- Email outreach
- Connect Gmail, Outlook or Microsoft 365, personalize each pitch with the agent and schedule follow-ups; replies from every team mailbox land in one inbox.
Muck Rack
- Media database
- Search journalists, creators, outlets and their staff by beat, location and keywords. Muck Rack says over 100 people keep the listings up to date.
- Pitching
- Send or schedule pitches from Muck Rack and track opens, clicks and replies; coverage that follows is linked back to the pitch as a placement.
- AI journalist recommendations
- A Media List Agent builds lists from a description and suggests contacts to add or drop. Recommendations start on the Standard plan.
- Monitoring and alerts
- Alerts on online coverage by email and Slack on every plan; podcast monitoring from Standard, and print, broadcast and social listening as add-ons.
- Reports and dashboards
- Coverage reports with sentiment analysis on every plan; custom dashboards, a PR hit score and Google Analytics data come with Premier.
- Generative Pulse
- Shows how ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini describe a brand and which sources shape those answers. Included in Premier and also sold as an add-on.
Plans
JournoFinder
Free$0
Search journalist requests with 3 daily email alerts.
JournoFinder$119
per month for 1 user, billed annually ($189 billed monthly)
The AI agent, journalist, news, article and outlet search, 100 media lists, contact export, 10 request alerts and news alerts for 3 clients.
Team$229
per month for 3 users, billed annually
Everything in JournoFinder for 3 users, news alerts for 5 clients per user, shared lists, an activity log and a customer success manager.
Muck Rack
Pricing could not be confirmed. See muckrack.com.
Ways to pay less
JournoFinder
- Annual discount
Save 34% with yearly billing
JournoFinder's pricing marks yearly billing 34% off: the one-user plan is $119 a month billed annually against $189 billed monthly.
Muck Rack
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, JournoFinder or Muck Rack?
As of Oct 23, 2026, JournoFinder starts at $119 per month for 1 user, billed annually ($189 billed monthly), and Muck Rack has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, JournoFinder or Muck Rack?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only JournoFinder has a free plan. Muck Rack does not.
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.