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Which PR tools can you try yourself?
On Nov. 2, 2026, we read how you get started with 154 companies on our PR software map. Of those, 82 let you start on your own. Another 67 make you talk to sales or sign an annual contract first. The last 5 are not open to all.
Every number here is as of that date. Sign-up pages change, so check a vendor’s page before you plan around its row.
The 154 are the map’s 173 companies minus its 19 AI visibility tools, which we are looking at separately.
What each label means
Start on your own. You sign up or buy on the website, with no sales talk first. That means a free plan (18 companies), a free trial (36), or a paid plan you buy online with no annual contract (28). A few check your role or approve your account.
Talk to sales or sign an annual contract first. For 65 companies, sales comes first. At 64 of them, the way in is a demo, a quote, a call, or a form. TMX’s site shows a link to its app, a member log-in and a contact email, and its terms set fees at a rate agreed in writing. For the other 2, every term runs at least a year.
Not open to all. Prsona and PodPitchr are offline. PitchRate’s home page title says “Decommissioned,” and the page shows no way to sign up, though no notice says it has closed for good. GetPress shows only a waitlist button. EurekAlert! sells only to approved press officers.
A free trial button does not decide the label. TVEyes says, “Request a free trial or book a demo to connect with our team and get started,” so it counts as talk to sales. A published price does not decide it either. Stacker shows one, and every plan button goes to a demo request.
How to read the split by kind of tool
PR suites. Sales or an annual contract comes first at 10 of 12. Cision says, “Complete the form, and one of our experts will reach out to you.” The exceptions are Semrush’s AI PR Toolkit, on a page that says “Try Semrush free for seven days,” and PRover, with a free plan. Plan on a sales call if you need everything in one product.
Media monitoring. Sales comes first at 27 of 37. Talkwalker says, “Pick your plan to get a custom quote.” The 10 you can start yourself include Brand24 and Newsbox. Test those on a story you already know, and see what each one finds.
Press release distribution. You can start on your own at 22 of 39, but at most of those 22, the first release costs money. EIN Presswire says, “pay-as-you-go pricing with no contracts.” Sales or an annual contract comes first at 15. One is Business Wire. Its help center, in an archive copy, says a team member “will reach out shortly to guide you through the setup process.”
Journalist requests. You can start on your own at 13 of 15, and 6 have a free plan, so you can try more than one at no cost. Source of Sources says, “This list doesn’t cost a dime.” The one sales-first company is TMX, The Media Exchange, whose terms set fees at “the monthly rate agreed with TMX in writing.”
Media databases. You can start on your own at 9 of 13. Medialyst says, “First list free. No credit card, no demo call, nothing sent without you.” Pitchbox says “all plans require a commitment of one year.” Check a database’s names against reporters you already pitch.
Podcast booking. You can start on your own at 8 of 13. For Podseeker’s trial, “a credit card is required.” The sales-first group includes booking agencies such as Kitcaster, which says, “Please complete the form below and we’ll reach right out.”
Trends and newsjacking. All 4 let you start on your own. trendJack says, “Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial and no card is required.”
What “talk to sales” costs a small team
We did not time any sales process, so we have no figure in days. The pages show what comes first.
At most of these companies, you give your details before you see a price. Agility PR says, “Fill out the form below, and we’ll be in touch to provide detailed pricing based on your goals.” Then you wait for a person. Feedly AI says “within 20 minutes,” the only reply time named on a page quoted here. For a team of one or two, the cost is the order of things. You cannot run two sales-first tools on the same week’s news until both vendors have replied.
When is the call worth it? We tested no product, so we cannot say sales-first tools do better work. The pages do show what the conversation is for. Critical Mention says, “Let us know what your earned media needs are and we will create a package to meet those needs.” So a call fits unusual needs.
If your group has a tool you can start on your own, start there. A week of use tells you what to ask on a call.
The full list
All 154 companies as of Nov. 2, 2026, by kind of tool. Rows that rest on archive copies are marked. For the method, skip to how we checked.
| Company | Kind of tool | How you start | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glimpse | Trends and newsjacking | Free plan | meetglimpse.com |
| Exploding Topics | Trends and newsjacking | Free trial | explodingtopics.com |
| Finchling | Trends and newsjacking | Free trial | finchling.com |
| trendJack | Trends and newsjacking | Free trial | trendjack.io |
| Connectively | Journalist requests | Free plan | connectively.us |
| Featured | Journalist requests | Free plan | featured.com |
| HARO | Journalist requests | Free plan | helpareporter.com |
| MentionMatch | Journalist requests | Free plan | mentionmatch.com |
| Qwoted | Journalist requests | Free plan | qwoted.com |
| Source of Sources | Journalist requests | Free plan | sourceofsources.com |
| JournoReach | Journalist requests | Free trial | journoreach.com |
| PitchResponse | Journalist requests | Free trial | pitchresponse.com |
| PressPulse | Journalist requests | Free trial | presspulse.ai |
| Synapse | Journalist requests | Free trial | synapse.media |
| Pitchcraft | Journalist requests | Buy online, no annual contract | joinpitchcraft.com |
| PRBot | Journalist requests | Buy online, no annual contract | prbot.ai |
| Press Hook | Journalist requests | Buy online, no annual contract | presshook.com |
| TMX, The Media Exchange | Journalist requests | Talk to sales first | usetmx.com |
| PitchRate | Journalist requests | Not open to all: title says Decommissioned, no sign-up shown | pitchrate.com |
| CambrianEdge.ai | AI PR assistants and agents | Free trial | cambrianedge.ai |
| Honeyjar | AI PR assistants and agents | Free trial | honeyjar.ai |
| JournoPitch | AI PR assistants and agents | Free trial | journopitch.co.uk |
| MentionAgent | AI PR assistants and agents | Free trial | mentionagent.ai |
| Press Monkey | AI PR assistants and agents | Free trial | pressmonkey.co |
| Pressmaster.ai | AI PR assistants and agents | Free trial | pressmaster.ai |
| PressPitch AI | AI PR assistants and agents | Free trial | presspitchai.com |
| PRstrategy.ai | AI PR assistants and agents | Free trial | prstrategy.ai |
| RunPR | AI PR assistants and agents | Free trial | runpr.ai |
| InsightFuse | AI PR assistants and agents | Buy online, no annual contract | insightfuse.com |
| Intelligent Relations | AI PR assistants and agents | Buy online, no annual contract | intelligentrelations.com, some pages from archive copies |
| OnePitch | AI PR assistants and agents | Buy online, no annual contract | ai-hub.onepitch.co |
| Newsbound | AI PR assistants and agents | Talk to sales first | newsbound.ai |
| Propel | AI PR assistants and agents | Talk to sales first | propel-ai.com |
| Précis PR | AI PR assistants and agents | Talk to sales first | precisai.com |
| Prsona | AI PR assistants and agents | Not open to all: site offline | chromewebstore.google.com |
| JournoFinder | Media databases and outreach | Free plan | journofinder.com |
| BuzzStream | Media databases and outreach | Free trial | buzzstream.com |
| Journalist Hunt | Media databases and outreach | Free trial | journalisthunt.com |
| JustReachOut | Media databases and outreach | Free trial | justreachout.io |
| Medialyst | Media databases and outreach | Free trial | medialyst.ai |
| Pitcher | Media databases and outreach | Free trial | prpitcher.com |
| Pytch | Media databases and outreach | Free trial | pytch.cx |
| Magic Pitch | Media databases and outreach | Buy online, no annual contract | magicpitch.com |
| Respona | Media databases and outreach | Buy online, no annual contract | respona.com |
| Pitchbox | Media databases and outreach | Annual contract first | pitchbox.com |
| ARInsights (ARchitect) | Media databases and outreach | Talk to sales first | arinsights.com |
| Roxhill | Media databases and outreach | Talk to sales first | roxhillmedia.com |
| Spotlight Oz | Media databases and outreach | Talk to sales first | spotlight-io.com |
| CastFox | Podcast booking | Free plan | castfox.net |
| RadioGuestList.com | Podcast booking | Free plan | radioguestlist.com |
| Talks.co | Podcast booking | Free plan | talks.co |
| PitchCentric | Podcast booking | Free trial | pitchcentric.com |
| Podseeker | Podcast booking | Free trial | podseeker.co |
| Rephonic | Podcast booking | Free trial | rephonic.com |
| PodGuestAI | Podcast booking | Buy online, no annual contract | podcast-in-a-box.com |
| PodMatch | Podcast booking | Buy online, no annual contract | podmatch.com |
| Interview Valet | Podcast booking | Talk to sales first | interviewvalet.com |
| Kitcaster | Podcast booking | Talk to sales first | kitcaster.com |
| Podchaser | Podcast booking | Talk to sales first | podchaser.com |
| PodPitch | Podcast booking | Talk to sales first | podpitch.com |
| PodPitchr | Podcast booking | Not open to all: site offline | podpitchr.com |
| PR.com | Press release distribution | Free plan | pr.com |
| Press Ranger | Press release distribution | Free plan | pressranger.com |
| embargo | Press release distribution | Free trial | embargopr.com |
| PressPilot | Press release distribution | Free trial (as read Nov. 2. On Nov. 3, its page says you pay to send) | presspilot.io |
| Prezly | Press release distribution | Free trial | prezly.com |
| ACCESS Newswire | Press release distribution | Buy online, no annual contract | accessnewswire.com |
| BrandPressRelease | Press release distribution | Buy online, no annual contract | brandpressrelease.com |
| EIN Presswire | Press release distribution | Buy online, no annual contract | einpresswire.com |
| eReleases | Press release distribution | Buy online, no annual contract | ereleases.com |
| EZ Newswire | Press release distribution | Buy online, no annual contract | eznewswire.com |
| iCrowdNewswire | Press release distribution | Buy online, no annual contract | icrowdnewswire.com, some pages from archive copies |
| JournoLink | Press release distribution | Buy online, no annual contract | journolink.com |
| MENA Newswire | Press release distribution | Buy online, no annual contract | menanewswire.com |
| Newsworthy.ai | Press release distribution | Buy online, no annual contract | newsworthy.ai |
| Pitchengine | Press release distribution | Buy online, no annual contract | pitchengine.com |
| PR Fire | Press release distribution | Buy online, no annual contract | prfire.co.uk |
| PR Underground | Press release distribution | Buy online, no annual contract | prunderground.com |
| Pressat | Press release distribution | Buy online, no annual contract | pressat.co.uk, archive copy |
| PressPog | Press release distribution | Buy online, no annual contract | presspog.com |
| PRLeap | Press release distribution | Buy online, no annual contract | prleap.com |
| Reportable | Press release distribution | Buy online, no annual contract | reportable.co |
| WebWire | Press release distribution | Buy online, no annual contract | webwire.com |
| AlphaGalileo | Press release distribution | Annual contract first | alphagalileo.org |
| 3BL Media | Press release distribution | Talk to sales first | 3bl.com |
| Business Wire | Press release distribution | Talk to sales first | businesswire.com, archive copy |
| ContentBase | Press release distribution | Talk to sales first | thenewsmarket.agency |
| epresspack | Press release distribution | Talk to sales first | epresspack.com |
| iPR Software | Press release distribution | Talk to sales first | iprsoftware.com |
| ISEBOX | Press release distribution | Talk to sales first | isebox.com |
| News Direct | Press release distribution | Talk to sales first | newsdirect.com, some pages from archive copies |
| Newswise | Press release distribution | Talk to sales first | newswise.com |
| PR.co | Press release distribution | Talk to sales first | pr.co |
| PressArea | Press release distribution | Talk to sales first | pressarea.com |
| Presspage | Press release distribution | Talk to sales first | presspage.com |
| PRShots | Press release distribution | Talk to sales first | prshots.com |
| Stacker | Press release distribution | Talk to sales first | stacker.com |
| Wiztrust | Press release distribution | Talk to sales first | wiztrust.com |
| EurekAlert! | Press release distribution | Not open to all: approved press officers only | eurekalert.org |
| GetPress | Press release distribution | Not open to all: waitlist button only | getpress.ai |
| CoverageBook | Measurement and reporting | Free trial | coveragebook.com |
| PRCoverage | Measurement and reporting | Free trial | prcoverage.ai |
| Launchmetrics | Measurement and reporting | Talk to sales first | launchmetrics.com |
| Releasd | Measurement and reporting | Talk to sales first | releasd.com |
| RepTrak | Measurement and reporting | Talk to sales first | reptrak.com |
| Newsbox | Media monitoring | Free plan | newsbox.com |
| PigPR | Media monitoring | Free plan | pigpr.com |
| Podscan | Media monitoring | Free plan | podscan.fm |
| Squire | Media monitoring | Free plan | squire.news |
| aclipp | Media monitoring | Free trial | aclipp.com |
| Brand24 | Media monitoring | Free trial | brand24.com |
| BuzzSumo | Media monitoring | Free trial | buzzsumo.com |
| Determ | Media monitoring | Free trial | determ.com |
| Newslit | Media monitoring | Free trial | newslit.co |
| HeyJared | Media monitoring | Buy online, no annual contract | heyjared.ai |
| Brandwatch | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | brandwatch.com |
| Clipbook | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | clipbook.com |
| Commetric | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | commetric.com |
| Cortex Intelligence | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | cortex-intelligence.com |
| Critical Mention | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | criticalmention.com |
| Delve | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | delve.news |
| Factiva (Dow Jones) | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | dowjones.com |
| Feedly AI | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | feedly.com |
| Fullintel | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | fullintel.com |
| Handraise | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | handraise.com |
| Kinetiq | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | kinetiq.tv |
| LexisNexis Newsdesk | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | lexisnexis.com |
| Metro Monitor | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | metromonitor.com |
| NetBase Quid | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | quid.com |
| News Exposure | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | newsexposure.com |
| NewsWhip | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | newswhip.com |
| PeakMetrics | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | peakmetrics.com |
| Pendulum | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | pendulumintel.com |
| PublicRelay | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | publicrelay.com |
| Sequencr | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | sequencr.ai |
| Signal AI | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | signal-ai.com |
| SnapStream | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | snapstream.com |
| Talkwalker | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | talkwalker.com |
| Truescope | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | truescope.com |
| TVEyes | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | tveyes.com |
| UNICEPTA | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | unicepta.com |
| Wizikey | Media monitoring | Talk to sales first | wizikey.com |
| PRover | PR suites | Free plan | medialistbuilder.com |
| Semrush AI PR Toolkit | PR suites | Free trial (the page’s trial line names Semrush, not this toolkit) | semrush.com |
| Agility PR | PR suites | Talk to sales first | agilitypr.com |
| Cision / CisionOne | PR suites | Talk to sales first | cision.com |
| Meltwater | PR suites | Talk to sales first | meltwater.com |
| Muck Rack | PR suites | Talk to sales first | muckrack.com, some pages from archive copies |
| MVPR | PR suites | Talk to sales first | mvpr.io |
| Notified | PR suites | Talk to sales first | portal.notified.com, some pages from archive copies |
| Onclusive | PR suites | Talk to sales first | onclusive.com |
| PRmax | PR suites | Talk to sales first | prmax.co.uk |
| Valosan PR Platform | PR suites | Talk to sales first | valosan.com |
| Vuelio | PR suites | Talk to sales first | vuelio.com |
How we checked
On Nov. 2, 2026, AI readers went through each company’s pages without seeing our earlier answer or the map’s group. A script checked their quotes against the saved page text. Where a site blocked us, we read an archive copy, and the table marks it. Prsona had no vendor page to read.
No account was opened and nothing was bought, so “start on your own” rests on what the pages say.
The groups are the map’s, and we moved none. A second read questioned some. With Meltwater and Onclusive counted as monitoring, suites would read 8 of 10 and monitoring 29 of 39.
We are less sure of 11 rows. Two could most easily move the split. Newswise’s “Buy Now” button opens a form with no payment field, and we did not see what follows. News Direct has an open sign-up form but no public price. We count both as talk to sales. If one moved, the split would read 83 and 66. If both moved, it would read 84 and 65.
Newsprint sells a daily email briefing. It is not on the map or in these counts.
The last test of any row is yours. Open its page and click the first button.
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