Increasing your brand’s credibility could be challenging, especially when you’re not connecting your content with authoritative sources. This is where platforms like Help A Reporter Out (HARO), come in handy for brands seeking credible exposure. With a strong PR base, these have helped many businesses build a solid reputation.
However, I can attest to the claims that the quality of publications within HARO has fallen to a certain extent. But luckily, in recent times, many HARO competitors have emerged. Like HARO, these platforms help businesses connect to industry experts and gain insights from their value-added stories.
In this post, I have curated a list of the ten best HARO alternatives to build links and help match with sources that align with the needs of your industry. Read on to see what makes these platforms stand out!
Also read: E-A-T or E-E-A-T? How to Build Trust and Authority in Your Niche
1. MuckRack
As a business owner, you need to find expert-matter journalists that you can pitch, utilize media coverage from, and get the most value from good PR. MuckRack does it all!
With its combination of credible stories and valuable earned media, your business can quickly build trust amongst its target audience. And the best part is that your team will always remain in the loop with their up-to-date media lists.
All you have to do is create an alert based on the relevant keyword from your industry. Whenever there are new stories or reports related to your industry, its media monitoring feature will streamline that source for you and even track the track of that campaign.
With a list of journalists and influencers available with their contacts, you have to skim through the new press hits and find the story that resonates with your brand!
| Pros | Cons |
| Great media monitoring platform | High budget required |
| Offers a vast database | Has a steep learning curve |
| Great track with insights, analytics, and metrics |
Pricing
Starting at $5000 annually, pricing could be a drawback, particularly for small businesses and young entrepreneurs. But if it comes within your budget, MuckRack is worth every penny.
2. Featured, aka Terkel
Previously named Terkel and now rebranded to Featured – this is a HARO alternative that works on the collective efforts of a community. Let me explain how.
First, you must sign up and become a partner on this platform. Next, you can post a particular question related to your field, which would then be met by experts who would establish a line of thought with their insights.
Unlike HARO, Featured creates an entire article featuring the top answers to your query instead of just quotes. During this time, you can also develop relationships with industry experts that will be useful at any point in your business venture.
What I love about this site is that while it curates the complete article for you, it only gets published if you approve it first. This means that the power over the final product always remains in your hands.
| Pros | Cons |
| Offers easy navigation | Limited features compared to other PR tools |
| Affordable pricing plans | Brief journalist database |
| Super-easy access to reporters and journalists |
Pricing
They offer three pricing options: Starter (free), Pro ($99 / month), and Team (starting at $199 / month). Whether you are a small business or a large corporation – Featured is one of the best options on the list.
3. Source Bottle
The winning takeaway for me with this platform is that it allows access to independent media persons, such as bloggers and podcasters, to quote expert sources as well. In contrast, for HARO, you must meet minimum criteria (your website must rank in the top one million!) before posting any query.
Source Bottle has a lot of media outlets for businesses in the form of giveaways and case studies. With giveaways, you can get subscriptions, goody bags filled with samples, and products to review.
With their case studies, you can access high-expertise insights for your media pitch.
| Pros | Cons |
| Large network of journalists and media professionals | Extent of search is limited in free version |
| Access to directly pitching journalist | Might get overwhelming due to high traffic |
| Value-added free package |
Pricing
Source Bottle is a free tool. However, upon signing up, you can also explore their paid options.
4. Meltwater
Do you need a tool that not only helps build brand credibility but also looks over your business’s marketing and communication aspects?
In that case, Meltwater could be it for you. It is an all-in-one platform that allows you to have maximum media coverage, engage with audiences, and analyze your overall performance.
That said, it’s a site like Haro that allows you to connect to relevant sources – but only better with its media intelligence technology. It will enable you to go through their highly streamlined database of journalists and media experts relevant to your scope of work.
Similarly, you can also search for relevant keywords and find backlinks to ideal publications and reports.
| Pros | Cons |
| Comprehensive media monitoring platform | On the pricier side, particularly for small businesses |
| Robust social media tracking | Steep learning curve |
| Options to customize dashboards and reports |
Pricing
It pretty much testifies to their branding, “Break through the noise with Meltwater.” This platform provides specified solutions to your needs. You can check out their four different pricing options. For exact quotes, you need to speak directly to their representatives.
5. Prowly
A complete platform for PR and media relations, Prowly makes the process of writing, delivering, and monitoring news releases for successful PR campaigns easier.
It provides a range of features to assist you with media relations and public relations, such as media monitoring, branding and customization, press release creation, analytics, and creation.
The list keeps going on. Imagine a place where your organization and management of media contacts, insights into the performance of press releases, and integration with customer relationship management are done simultaneously.
If you wish to streamline your workflow and improve media outreach efforts side by side, Prowly is the platform for you.
| Pros | Cons |
| CRM integrated platform | Limited media database |
| Facilitates press release distribution | Expensive plans, especially for small businesses |
| Easy to navigate |
Pricing
There are two pricing options: the essential annual costs $258/month, while the pro package costs $416/month. Both plans offer a 7-day free trial.
6. Qwoted
With the tagline that says, “Suddenly, Connected,” Qwoted is a platform that promotes effective and dependable media sourcing and collaboration by linking journalists with credible sources for quotes, remarks, and interviews on a range of subjects.
It provides three ways to sign up: you can log in as a free expert, or if you still need to get those experiences, it also lets you log in as a PR/ marketing professional. And it has covered all the reporters, publishers, and journalists by giving them a media account.
The striking feature most HARO alternatives do not provide is RFQs (Request For Quotes).
If you are a journalist, this feature will help you outline the specific expertise you need for your story. It connects you directly to experts who will provide relevant and credible information for your story. And that is where it gets its name!
Features like expert source database, search and filter capabilities, and messaging and collaboration make your workflow smoother!
| Pros | Cons |
| Simplified media request responding options | Limited to expert-source connections only, not suitable for PR media |
| Free to use for experts and sources | Relatively smaller user base |
| Facilitate journalist queries |
Pricing
You can enjoy these features for free with a basic plan, but I highly recommend that journalists and writers who lack that missing element sign up for a Pro package at $99 per month. It’s pretty affordable on the pocket, too!
7. JustReachOut
Another tool that can crush out your marketing outreach is JustReachOut. It allows brands to pitch relevant experts to establish high authority back-linking for maximizing exposure.
This is mainly an excellent tool for young brands. You can pitch your business and intrigue various industry experts to help you rank your website. In fact, you can also utilize its AI integration to create pitch emails for multiple journalists within seconds.
Once you pass the selection stage, you will quickly hit strong press mentions and get featured overall.
What I particularly like about their pitching process is that you can always check the status and avoid waiting to see if the journalist has even gone through your email. It will help you grow consistently with digital publications and authoritative backlinks.
| Pros | Cons |
| Simplified process of reaching out to media persons | Limited media database |
| Offers personalized pitch suggestions | On the pricier side |
| Great outreach tracking and management |
Pricing
They offer three pricing options: starter ($147 / month), advanced ($247 / month), and ultimate ($497 / month). You can avail of their 7-day free trial.
8. One Pitch
Another great alternative to Help A Reporter Out is One Pitch, which lets different brands engage with the proper journalist. This platform is highly efficient if you need a tool that can streamline research, simplify pitching, curate relationships, and keep track of your performance in a way that’s easy on the pocket.
All you have to do is submit a pitch explaining your business and clients. For every pitch, this tool delivers an accurate media list along with data points that explain why the journalists on the list matched.
This is a great plus point to help you connect with the best journalists. Also, you can track your pitches as well and monitor the engagement they receive with the experts.
| Pros | Cons |
| Excellent media monitoring and tracking options | Lacks comprehensive PR tools |
| Access to journalist profiles | Pricing might not be suitable for small businesses |
| Streamlined pitching experience |
Pricing
Pricing plans are highly competitive, with just $50 per month for all these features in one place!
9. ProfNet
This is another excellent alternative owned by the same company as Haro (Cision).
It’s an email-based model that will help you look for earned media placement for your brand.
The journalists and bloggers subscribed to the platform send multiple story leads – some of which might be relevant to your industry. You can post requests for sources, quotations, or information for their pieces.
This way, not only does your brand receive positive PR, but it also helps you foster good connections with the media people. The only caveat is that there is a learning curve before you get familiar with the tools.
| Pros | Cons |
| Integration with PR NewsWire for press release distribution | Higher pricing as compared to most HARO alternatives |
| Extensive network of journalist and experts | Features relatively an outdated interface |
| Facilitates targeted outreach |
Pricing
Pricing depends on the size of the business.
10. PitchBox
PitchBox is another HARO link-building alternative, but it does a lot more than just that.
Offering full-stack prospecting, it features over 20 tools and tactics to streamline your team’s operations. It utilizes email templates, automatic follow-ups (if emails haven’t been responded to after a while), and proactive lead management.
Another great thing is its CRM and SEO integration that helps navigate your outreach campaigns.
Not to mention it will also provide in-depth ROI reports to monitor your brand’s activity, track goals, and measure KPIs. These tools make it even better than HARO, helping it streamline, automate and reduce link-building costs.
| Pros | Cons |
| Advanced automation system | Expensive pricing plans |
| Customizable email and follow-up sequences | Technical knowledge required for navigation |
| Integration with CRM system for maximum outreach |
Pricing
It offers two annual plans: $495 / month for the professional package and $1325 for enterprises.
Final Word on Helping A Reporter Out Alternatives
With its subscribers climbing up to millions on HARO, it has gotten incredibly difficult for businesses, particularly the newer ones, to gain recognition. However, these HARO competitors have made it much simpler for brands to link up with credible experts.
The HARO link-building competitors listed in this article are all used by some major reputable brands. Rest assured, you won’t be struggling with amateurs as these websites have excellent integrity with their sources. If you need to start building your media list, explore these options right away and find which one works the best for you.
Read more blogs in your niche:
