# HARO review (2026): is it any good? > Free email digest of journalist requests for expert sources Checked Oct 23, 2026 ยท graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA. HARO (Help a Reporter Out) is a free service that emails journalist requests for expert sources three times each weekday. Sources answer the ones that fit by email, and the journalist picks whom to quote, often with a credit or link back. It has run since 2008 and was bought by Featured.com in 2025, which pays for it with ads in the newsletter. - **Category:** Backlinks & Link Building - **Made by:** Featured.com (since 2008) - **Website:** https://www.helpareporter.com - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you want to search or filter requests, as that's in Connectively, a separate platform. - **Facts last checked:** Oct 23, 2026 ## Pricing As of Oct 23, 2026, HARO is free to use. - **Pricing model:** Free - **Free plan:** Free for sources and journalists: three weekday editions of journalist requests and pitching by email, with no charge to receive the newsletter or pitch. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Free | $0 | Every edition and every request, for both sources and journalists. The service is paid for by ads placed in the newsletter. | Read from https://blog.helpareporter.com/how-to-advertise-on-haro-a-step-by-step-guide-to-haro-ads/ on Oct 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with HARO before buying. ## Key features - **Three editions every weekday:** Requests arrive in a Morning (5:35 a.m. ET), Afternoon (12:35 p.m. ET) and Evening (5:35 p.m. ET) email, Monday to Friday. - **Pitching by email:** Sources reply to a request by email. Journalists' real addresses are hidden behind masked ones so they cannot be scraped into pitch lists. - **Reviewed requests:** Staff check each request: outlets need a Domain Authority of 20 or 10,000 monthly visitors, and HARO says it turns down about 32% of requests. - **AI detection on pitches:** Every pitch gets a score from Pangram for how likely it is to be AI-written, and journalists can filter out the ones flagged. - **Journalist profiles:** Reporters can claim a free profile; each request links to it so sources can check who is asking, and verified reporters' requests are listed first. - **Podcast guest requests:** A Podcasts category lets hosts and producers ask for guests, so sources can pitch shows as well as articles. ## Good for - Founders and experts who want to pitch reporters at no cost - Journalists and podcast hosts looking for expert sources on deadline - SEO teams after press mentions that may credit or link to a site ## Worth knowing - HARO is an email digest; filtering, search and response tracking are in Connectively, a separate platform from the same owner. - Each edition carries paid ads, which is how the free service is funded. - Requests may not ask for guest posts, link swaps or payment, and HARO bans accounts for spam under a one-strike policy. - Staff review and schedule requests 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. MST on weekdays, and there are no weekend editions. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.8 out of 4**, graded Oct 23, 2026. HARO emails journalist requests for expert sources three times every weekday, and answering them costs nothing. But it's an email and nothing more: search, filters and reply tracking live in Connectively, a separate platform, every edition carries ads, and whether you get quoted or linked is the journalist's call. - **Value for money: A.** Free for sources and journalists, with no paid plan at all. The ads in each edition pay for it, so the cost lands on advertisers rather than on you. - **Free plan and trial: A.** Everything is free: all three weekday editions and every request, with no paid tier holding anything back. - **Features: D.** One narrow function: an email of staff-checked requests three times a weekday, answered by email, plus podcast guest requests and journalist profiles. Search, filters and response tracking sit in Connectively, a separate platform from the same owner. - **Ease of use: B.** No rating on record, but there's nothing to set up: sign up, the requests land in your inbox and you reply by email. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** Email only, with no app, integrations or API on record. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from HARO'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 - HARO's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 45 of the 50 other link building tools we grade, and level with 4. - It stands best on free plan and trial (A, above 47 of 50) and worst on features (D, above 0). - HARO has no paid plan. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/link-building ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** HARO is free, so making your own would save you nothing. And it is not the kind of software a weekend replaces. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.8 is higher than 45 of the 50 other link building tools we grade. - 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. **Tags:** Journalist requests, Link outreach ## Alternatives - [Featured](https://toolgpa.com/tools/featured): AI assistant for PR that finds journalist requests and drafts pitches. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/featured-vs-haro) - [Qwoted](https://toolgpa.com/tools/qwoted): Marketplace where reporters request expert sources and PRs pitch. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/haro-vs-qwoted) - [SourceBottle](https://toolgpa.com/tools/sourcebottle): Media call outs and expert profiles for people seeking press. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/haro-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/haro-vs-source-of-sources) - [ResponseSource](https://toolgpa.com/tools/responsesource): UK journalist request service with a press release wire. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/haro-vs-responsesource) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 23, 2026: - https://blog.helpareporter.com/how-to-advertise-on-haro-a-step-by-step-guide-to-haro-ads/ - https://blog.helpareporter.com/ - https://blog.helpareporter.com/help-a-reporter-out-haro-is-back/ - https://blog.helpareporter.com/connectively-is-back-and-haro-isnt-going-anywhere/ - https://blog.helpareporter.com/submission-guidelines-requirements/ - https://blog.helpareporter.com/haro-journalist-profiles/ - https://blog.helpareporter.com/haro-now-detects-ai-generated-responses/ - https://blog.helpareporter.com/masked-emails-for-journalists/ - https://blog.helpareporter.com/find-podcast-guests-for-your-podcast-with-haro/ - https://blog.helpareporter.com/what-100m-haro-emails-tell-us-about-getting-featured-in-the-media/ - https://blog.helpareporter.com/journalist-request-platforms-and-seo/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/haro Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).