# Dot Star Media review (2026): is it worth £40 a month? > Journalist request alerts from X, Bluesky and direct submissions Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA. Dot Star Media is a UK journalist request service run by two former members of the ResponseSource team. It picks requests from verified journalists out of #journorequest posts on X and Bluesky, adds ones journalists submit directly, sorts them into 29 topics and emails them to subscribers, most within 30 seconds of posting. Subscribers reply to the journalist directly, and plans are priced by how many topics you follow. - **Category:** Backlinks & Link Building - **Made by:** Dot Star Media Ltd - **Website:** https://dotstar.media - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Tight if you follow more than 5 topics, as 10 cost £60 a month and all 29 cost £80. - **Facts last checked:** Oct 23, 2026 ## Pricing As of Oct 23, 2026, Dot Star Media is a paid product with a free trial, starting at £40 per month for 5 topics, excluding VAT, billed monthly. - **Pricing model:** Free trial - **Free plan:** None. - **Free trial:** 14-day free trial, no credit card required. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | 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. | Read from https://dotstar.media/pricing/ on Oct 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Dot Star Media before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **Free for qualifying charities** (Nonprofit): Dot Star Media's about page says its journalist enquiry service is free of charge to qualifying charities. Source: https://dotstar.media/about/ ## Key features - **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. ## Good for - Digital PR teams chasing coverage and links from #journorequest - Companies with several staff on one email domain - Charities, which can use the service free if they qualify ## Worth knowing - 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. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Oct 23, 2026. Dot Star Media emails you journalist requests from #journorequest on X and Bluesky and from direct submissions, sorted into 29 topics and mostly within 30 seconds. Prices are in pounds before VAT and rise with the number of topics, there's no yearly plan, and Slack or Teams delivery needs the £80 plan. - **Value for money: C.** Bronze 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. - **Free plan and trial: C.** No free plan, but a 14-day trial with no card. Qualifying charities can use it free. - **Features: C.** A 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. - **Ease of use: B.** No rating on record, but there's little to set up: pick your topics and requests arrive by email, ready to reply to. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** Email and web, with Microsoft Teams and Slack delivery only on Gold at £80 a month. No API on record. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Dot Star Media's own pages on 23 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among link building tools - Dot Star Media's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 26 of the 50 other link building tools we grade, and level with 10. - It stands best on ease of use (B, above 44 of 50) and worst on platforms and integrations (C, above 0). - Its paid plans start at about $52.88 a month, against a middle price of $49 for the category: 23 of the 41 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 2 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/link-building ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace Dot Star Media you would be making a network of journalists who post requests for sources. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. It costs $634.58 a year. - You could make: Link outreach: an app builder makes this well. - You could not: A network of journalists who post requests for sources. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Microsoft Teams, Slack **Tags:** Journalist requests, Link outreach ## Alternatives - [ResponseSource](https://toolgpa.com/tools/responsesource): UK journalist request service with a press release wire. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dot-star-media-vs-responsesource) - [SourceBottle](https://toolgpa.com/tools/sourcebottle): Media call outs and expert profiles for people seeking press. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dot-star-media-vs-sourcebottle) - [Source of Sources](https://toolgpa.com/tools/source-of-sources): Free email list of journalist queries looking for expert sources. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dot-star-media-vs-source-of-sources) - [Editorielle](https://toolgpa.com/tools/editorielle): UK newsletter of journalist requests for businesses and PR agencies. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dot-star-media-vs-editorielle) - [Qwoted](https://toolgpa.com/tools/qwoted): Marketplace where reporters request expert sources and PRs pitch. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dot-star-media-vs-qwoted) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 23, 2026: - https://dotstar.media/pricing/ - https://dotstar.media/ - https://dotstar.media/about/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/dot-star-media Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).