JournoFinder vs Semrush AI PR Toolkit (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, JournoFinder grades higher than Semrush AI PR Toolkit: 2.4 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
JournoFinder grades higher on value for money, the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
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
Semrush AI PR Toolkit
Media database, pitching and monitoring, formerly Prowly
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 Semrush AI PR Toolkit if
- Fits if you're new to PR and want one place to find and pitch journalists
- Works for agencies comparing several brands' coverage, on the Business plan
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you just want to pitch, as Base is $149 a month with no monitoring or contact exports
- Tight if a team shares it, as each plan has one user and every extra one is $20 a month
- Watch out: add-ons stack up, with 200 more exports at $149 a month and 1,000 more emails at $29
- Not for you if you want a real trial, as sending, contact details and exports stay locked until you pay
- Watch out: the pricing page shows yearly billing, while Semrush's help center gives the same figures as monthly prices
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAJournoFinderFair | 1.8GPASemrush AI PR ToolkitWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | DBase is $149 a month billed yearly for one user, the start of this category's dearest tenth. It doesn't monitor coverage or export contacts; that's Pro at $279. Each extra person is $20 a month. |
| 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. | DNo free plan. There's a 7-day trial of any plan, but sending emails, seeing contact details and exports stay locked until you pay, so you can't actually pitch anyone with it. |
| 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 media database of 600,000+ journalists and outlets, a finder for the outlets AI models cite, AI pitch and press release writing, tracked sending and, from Pro, media monitoring. It covers the whole PR job, though Base stops short of 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 aimed at people new to PR, but you'll still set up sending from your own domain, build lists and write your angle before the first pitch goes. |
| 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. | CWeb only, with no apps, integrations or API on record. It's sold as part of Semrush now. |
| Best for | digital PR on a smaller budget | pitching journalists from inside Semrush |
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 Semrush AI PR Toolkit. How we grade
Price against what you get
JournoFinder starts at $119 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Semrush AI PR Toolkit starts at $149 a month and scores 2.3.
JournoFinder scores higher and starts $30 a month lower. Of the other link building tools on the chart, none scores higher than JournoFinder for less, and 4 score higher than Semrush AI PR Toolkit 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
- JournoFinder also covers AI agents and journalist requests.
- Semrush AI PR Toolkit also covers reports.
At a glance
| JournoFinder | Semrush AI PR Toolkit | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $119 per month for 1 user, billed annually ($189 billed monthly) | $149 per month, billed annually |
| 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 | 7-day free trial of any plan; sending emails, seeing contact details and exports are locked until you pay |
| Web | ||
| Made by | JournoFinder | Semrush Holdings |
| Price read from | journofinder.com | semrush.com |
| 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.
Semrush AI PR Toolkit
- Prowly itself no longer takes new subscriptions or trials; new customers are pointed to this Semrush toolkit.
- Each plan includes one user; extra users cost $20 a month each.
- Base cannot export contacts or monitor media; 200 more exports cost $149 a month and 1,000 more emails $29.
- The pricing page shows annual billing; Semrush's help center gives the same figures as monthly prices.
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.
Semrush AI PR Toolkit
- AI-cited media finder
- Lists the media outlets in your industry that AI models cite in their answers, with journalists to pitch at each.
- Media database
- Profiles of more than 600,000 journalists and outlets, searchable by keyword and location; Pro adds audience and traffic data per outlet.
- AI pitch and press release writing
- Drafts pitches and press releases with AI on every plan, ready to send from the toolkit's mailing tool.
- Email outreach and analytics
- Sends pitches from your own authenticated domain and tracks engagement. Pro adds scheduled follow-ups and shows which pitches led to coverage.
- Media monitoring
- From Pro, watches online news, blogs and forums for mentions, filters out reprints and duplicates, and sends alerts with AI summaries.
- Competitive intelligence
- Business tracks where competitors get coverage and benchmarks your share of voice, sentiment and reach against theirs.
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.
Semrush AI PR Toolkit
Base$149
per month, billed annually
1 user, AI-cited media finder, media database, AI pitch writing, 250 contacts added and 500 emails a month. No monitoring or exports.
Pro$279
per month, billed annually
Adds media monitoring (3,000 mentions a month), follow-ups, outlet audience data, 500 contacts, 150 exports and 1,250 emails a month.
Business$499
per month, billed annually
Adds competitor tracking, benchmarking and gap ideas, with 50,000 mentions, 1,000 contacts, 500 exports and 3,500 emails a month.
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.
Semrush AI PR Toolkit
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, JournoFinder or Semrush AI PR Toolkit?
As of Oct 23, 2026, JournoFinder is cheaper to start with: $119 a month, against $149 a month for Semrush AI PR Toolkit. JournoFinder starts at $119 per month for 1 user, billed annually ($189 billed monthly), and Semrush AI PR Toolkit starts at $149 per month, billed annually.
Which has a free plan, JournoFinder or Semrush AI PR Toolkit?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only JournoFinder has a free plan. Semrush AI PR Toolkit 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.