7 HARO Alternatives You Should Try (Free and Paid). Global brand awareness has become achievable for so many more businesses, thanks to platforms like Help A Reporter Out (HARO). But if you’re like me and have been using HARO for near on a decade, you’ll know that the quality of publications on HARO has dipped in recent years.
Many people now use HARO solely for link building. Don’t get me wrong, that’s totally cool. In fact we offer a very popular Haro link building service. But if you’re on the lookout for HARO alternatives, then you’ve come to the write place.
7 HARO Alternatives You Should Try
In this article, you can know about HARO Alternatives here are the details below;
SourceBottle
SourceBottle is an easy-to-use platform, which differentiates itself from HARO in that it offers opportunities around giveaways like subscriptions, swag bags filled with products to review, and samples.
It also includes case studies, allowing experts and agencies to pitch their own or their clients’ insights for possible inclusion. This is another HARO Alternatives.
We like that you can register as a source yourself or as a business/PR agency. This way, if you’re the latter, you can give multiple clients exposure.
It best serves journalists, as they can select the countries they want to reach out to, and use keywords in their pitches.
Not so great if you’re a source trying to get exposure in a particular publication.
Small media players and bloggers can also use the platform which, unlike HARO, doesn’t have minimum qualifying criteria.
It also allows posting across SourceBottles social media platforms.
Pros
- Businesses and agencies can pitch
- Giveaways and case studies
- Easy to use
Cons
- Not many pitch opportunities per mail
- No minimum criteria
Meltwater
Meltwater is a comprehensive media engagement, media coverage monitoring and analysis tool.
It allows sources to reach out to the most relevant journalists and media experts in their industries. This is another HARO Alternatives.
It also allows monitoring of myriad social media platforms, so sources know what’s trending and at what angles to pitch their insights.
However, its functionalities are more geared towards marketing, PR and communications functions than sources seeking channels to deepen their credibility, and grow their exposure footprints.
Meltwater gives the option of receiving daily or weekly newsletters. It also provides reporter contact information, which is great for businesses building targeted databases.
Pros
- Daily or weekly newsletters
- Reporter contact information
- Good monitoring of media coverage
Cons
- Unintuitive dashboard
- Not geared towards individual sources
- Expensive for what it offers
Pricing notes: Pricing starts at around $4,000 per year.
Muck Rack
Muck Rack is also a more PR-orientated platform that allows sources or businesses to reach out to journalists and influencers.
Sources looking to expand their exposure can create alerts for keywords associated with their fields of expertise, then send relevant pitches through.
A list of journalists and influencers is available, with their contact details. This allows businesses to skim through for contacts relevant to their expertise. This is another HARO Alternatives.
Unfortunately, the onus of the outreach, and admin of scouring the database and keeping up to date on what’s trending, lies with the source. But for PR teams and journalists, Muck Rack is an excellent resource to build relationships and databases respectively.
Another thing that I found irritating is that opens into a new browser panel, which can lead to “tab fatigue” with so many windows open.
See our case study on how to use HARO, where we show you how we score DR90+ links and brand mentions.
Pros
- Media lists are kept up to date
- Alerts for industry keywords
- Alerts when reporters have new beats
- Modern and fast interface
- Excellent customer service
Cons
- Lots of admin for sources
- Contact lists have missing information
- Tab fatigue
Pricing notes: Pricing is around $5,000 a year.
Terkel
Terkel is relatively new to the market, and is based on the principle of “community”.
Questions are posed on the platform by partner brands, and sources have the opportunity to weigh in with their insights. Collective insights are then crafted into articles for high-quality blogs or partners’ websites.
A business or media house signs up to become a “partner” to the Terkel platform. This is another HARO Alternatives. Also check Drift Live Chat Alternatives
Each partner is then able to build brand relationships with a community of experts and sources.
We like the fact that business partners get oversight of the articles before publishing. This gives a lot more control over the final product than just submitting quotes and hoping for the best.
Terkel also tracks when and where your insights are used, which is useful for tracking your reach. It follows the freemium model, with both free and paid for options.
Pros
- Collective insights
- Terkel writes the articles
- Brands have oversight before publishing
- Tracks insights published
Cons
- Admin for sources
Pricing notes: Basic option – $99 per month; advanced option – $199 per month and $30 per additional seat thereafter.
ProfNet
ProfNet works similarly to HARO – in fact, they are owned by the same company, Cision.
It is an email-based model that sends out queries for experts to comment on, with the aim of getting published and gaining exposure.
ProfNet not only connects journalists with experts, but is also geared towards connecting PR agencies with journalists and experts.
One thing that’s a bit of a drawback is that information inputted by journalists is self-selected, so there can be information missing.
I also ound that there is a bit of a learning curve to figure out how to properly use all the tools.
ProfNet is free for reporters, but PRs and sources (businesses) will need to pay for their selected packages.
Membership fees are established on the size of the business.
Pros
- Veteran platform since 1992
- Good for sources, journalists and PRs
Cons
- No free option
- Some missing information
Pricing notes: Starts at $1,650 per press release.
NinjaOutreach
NinjaOutreach is a complete CRM that connects journalists and experts, while having prospecting, management, analysis and reporting features.
The platform has a deep database of influencers and journalists, which can be sifted through by inputting keywords specific to an industry. This is another HARO Alternatives. Also check Firebase Alternatives
It’s great for influencer marketing and blogger outreach, with automated campaign management including send-outs of emails follow-ups, taking some admin off the table.
On the negative side, the UX flow is very rigid. If changes need to be made on a template, the whole campaign would need to be cancelled and restarted with the new template in place.
It also requires a bit of learning to get into the swing of things, but the instructional videos help.
Pros
- Extensive database
- Saves time through automation
- Instructional videos
Cons
- Some learning required
- Not great customer service
Pricing notes: Starts at $49 per month.
Qwoted
Qwoted is a free tool connecting journalists and experts, also similar to HARO.
One of the differences, however, is the ability that the resource gives to journalists to mute conversations when a journalist has what he or she needs.
Qwoted is free, however, not just anyone can sign up. Each account is individually approved to ensure quality and credibility control. So we know that the experts a journalist is chatting to – and vice versa – are legit.
Media requests are sent through real-time, which has its pros and cons. On the one hand, sources/experts are getting “hot” opportunities as they happen. On the other hand, that could mean a lot of emails in a day.
One thing we quite like is the color-coding of the information, indicating whether a journalist needs more information, whether it’s a new pitch, or whether the deadline is approaching.
There are also additional insights into media requests, which help to inform pitching angles.
There are other nifty features, like Pitch Intelligence which shares insights on who has already received pitches, and whether there has been engagement with other sources.
However, the nifty features have costs attached, so while the basic plan is free, to experience the full power of Qwoted, fees will need to be paid.
Pros
- Insights into media requests
- Good software for reporters
- Good for large PR teams
Cons
- Smaller media database than others
- Free account only allows 3 pitches/month
Pricing notes: A step up from the free plan is the Pro package at $149.99 per month. This is followed by the Enterprise package at $1,250 per month.
Choosing An Alternative To HARO (FAQ)
How Much Will I Have To Pay For A Media/Source Connection Service?
Most services have a free option with limited but good capabilities. Costs will start to come in when you’re tapping into additional features. The cost may depend on how many people in your organization are using the service, or may have a flat monthly or annual fee.
How Do I Choose The Best HARO Alternative For My Business?
Always do your research first. See what other businesses are saying in reviews, and look at the features offered in the different packages. You’ll often get a demo or free trial – use it!