Prices and facts checked October 3, 2026. See something wrong? Tell us.
Muck Rack does not publish its prices. In 2025 and 2026 buyer reports, one seat cost about $4,400 to $6,000 a year, billed by the year.569
Vendr's median Muck Rack deal is $13,000 a year.3 Journalists use Muck Rack free, and PR teams pay.
This guide shows every price we could source, what makes the quote go up, and the contract terms to check before you sign. It ends with what $99 a month buys on Media List instead.
Reported Muck Rack prices, 2025 to 2026
The best guide is what real buyers paid. Muck Rack says its price "depends on a few factors specific to your team including the number of users".1
Reddit figures below are what individual buyers posted, not quotes from Muck Rack.
| Source | When | Seats | Reported price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reddit buyer | March 2026 | 1 | "$4,400 USD" on an agency starter plan5 |
| Reddit buyer | March 2026 | 1 | Two payments a year of about $3,400 each5 |
| Reddit buyer | March 2026 | 2 | "$5,750 for 2 seats", pushed to $6,500 at renewal5 |
| Reddit buyer | March 2026 | 3 | A "$10k/year plan"5 |
| Reddit buyer | March 2026 | 12 | "$4k/seat" on the standard package5 |
| Reddit buyer | February 2025 | 1 | First asked $10,000, lowest offer $6,0009 |
| Reddit buyer | April 2025 | Not stated | "$5k for 12 months. No monthly option."6 |
| Reddit buyer | July 2025 | 4 | "$9,000/year for the basic package"10 |
| Reddit buyer | November 2025 | About 12 | "34k per year"8 |
| Reddit buyer | August 2026 | Not stated | Told "$6K-$25K" and to pay in full for the year7 |
| TrustRadius | October 2026 | Not stated | Lists "$5,000 per year"13 |
| Vendr | October 2026 | All sizes, 59 deals | Median $13,000 a year, range $8,000 to $20,8603 |
| Vendr | October 2026 | 1 to 5 users | $10,000 to $25,000 a year3 |
| SpendHound | October 2026 | Small business average | $14,492 a year4 |
See each product side by side
Read the table this way.
- A single seat on a starter plan sits near $4,400 to $6,000 a year.
- Teams of 2 to 4 people land near $5,750 to $10,000.
- Larger teams and add-ons push deals into five figures, which is why the Vendr median is $13,000.
Next to Cision and Meltwater
The big three are close in price, and all three are sold by quote with yearly contracts.
- Vendr's median Cision deal is $12,625 a year.18
- Meltwater's own blog says its Starter plan starts from $10,000 a year.19
Muck Rack's three plans
Muck Rack sells three tiers, and none shows a price. Starter is for "basic access", Standard is labelled "most popular" and Premier is "most flexible".1
- Exports are "Limited" on Starter. Standard and Premier have unlimited exports.1
- The AI media list builder is "Only Standard and Premier".14
- Online news monitoring comes with every tier. Print, broadcast and social listening are add-ons.115
- Coverage reports come in packs, from 10 reports on Brand Starter to 100 on Agency Premier.1
- Onboarding is "self-led" on Starter and "instructor-led" on Standard and Premier.1
The FAQ is honest about fit. It says Starter suits individuals, "though sporadic users may find alternatives better suited".1
What pushes the price up
- Seats. Muck Rack prices by named user, and "Generic or shared emails cannot be used for accounts".2 One Reddit user said Muck Rack is "really cracking down on shared accounts".8
- Tier. Unlimited exports and the AI list builder start at Standard, not Starter.
- Add-ons. Print, broadcast and social listening each add to the bill.
- Onboarding. Vendr lists onboarding fees of $1,000 to $5,000.3
- Renewal. One buyer said Muck Rack "tried to bump me up to $6,500" at renewal.5 Another said "they removed several products from our base plan after renewing".12
Contract terms to read before you sign
Muck Rack sells yearly plans that renew. Its terms say "To cancel, email your Customer Success Manager."2
- If you cancel mid-year, fees for that annual cycle are not returned.2
- The terms give no credit for downgrades during the year.
- Late payments carry "the lesser of four percent (4%) per month or the maximum lawful rate".2
So put your renewal date in your calendar the day you sign. If you plan to leave, give notice well before it.
How to get a better Muck Rack price
Prices are negotiated, and buyers who push often pay less. Vendr reports an average saving of 16.97% on Muck Rack deals.3
- Get a quote for Starter and Standard. Ask what you lose on Starter before you pay for Standard.
- Drop add-ons you will not use every week, such as broadcast or print monitoring.
- Ask for the seat count you really need. One buyer was first asked $10,000 for one seat, and talks ended at $6,000.9
- Watch for deadline offers. One buyer was offered a "special 30% discount for your team" if they signed by a set date.11
- Get a second quote from a rival before your renewal call.
Is there a free or monthly Muck Rack plan?
No, on both counts, for PR teams. Muck Rack is free for journalists, who use it to claim profiles and show their work. Muck Rack says journalists "never pay for Muck Rack access".1
For PR teams, there is no free version and no free trial. Every PR plan starts with a demo and a quote.1 If you search for a Muck Rack free trial, you will find a demo form, not a trial.
No monthly plan is published either. One buyer wrote "No monthly option."6 Another was told to "pay in full for the year".7
A one-seat plan at $4,400 to $6,000 a year works out to about $367 to $500 a month. It is billed by the year, not by the month.
Is Muck Rack worth it?
For many teams, yes. Users praise its data. One Reddit user wrote "if you can't find someone in Cision they are almost always in Muckrack."17
The value depends on how much of the platform you use.
- If you use monitoring, coverage reports and the pitch tools every week, the price buys a lot.
- If you mainly need journalist emails a few times a year, you pay for much more than you use.
Choose Media List if
- You are a solo publicist or freelancer and want to pay by the month.
- You are a founder who needs a press list this week, with no sales call.
- You run a small agency and want seats included in one price.
- You pitch podcast hosts and YouTube creators as well as reporters.
Choose Muck Rack if
- Your agency runs monitoring and coverage reports for several clients every week.
- You pitch national and trade press in several countries.
- You want journalist-maintained profiles with verified badges.
- You want to pitch from your Gmail or Outlook inbox inside the app.
What $99 a month gets you instead
Media List is a media database with published prices. You can start a 3-day trial today for $0, with a card or PayPal, and export up to 25 contacts before you pay.
| Media List plan | Price | New contacts you can export | Seats | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $99 a month | 2,500 a month | 1 | Search, lists and exports |
| Professional | $399 a month | 10,000 a month | Up to 3 | Campaigns with follow-ups, open and click tracking |
| Scale | $999 a month | 25,000 a month | Up to 10 | Private-label client reports |
- Every plan includes 35,000+ journalists, editors and producers, 25,000+ of them in the US.
- Every plan also includes 189,000+ YouTube channels and 1.2 million podcasts.
- There is no annual contract. You can cancel anytime from your billing page.
- Every contact shows its verification status before you export, and if an exported email bounces, we replace it at no cost.
- At full use, Basic costs about $0.04 per exported contact.
A year of Muck Rack vs a year of Media List
These examples use the buyer-reported Muck Rack figures above and Media List's live prices. Both assume you do not need monitoring. If you do, count the value of Muck Rack's monitoring in the comparison.
Freelance publicist, one seat
Small agency, three seats
- Muck Rack. One buyer reported a "$10k/year plan" with 3 seats.5
- Media List Professional. Up to 3 seats for $399 a month, or $4,788 over 12 months at the October 2026 price.
- Paid yearly, Professional costs $3,990.
What buyers say about Muck Rack's price
Buyers respect the data but question the price.
- "In different conversations I have had, it seems the pricing is random." A Reddit user, March 2026.5
- "It's expensive for we small biz owners." A reviewer on Software Advice.16
- "MuckRack is adding a lot of new junk that I don't need." A Reddit user, February 2025.9
- "if you can't find someone in Cision they are almost always in Muckrack." A Reddit user, March 2025.17
Switching at renewal
The best time to leave is just before your renewal date, because fees for the current year are kept.
- Start a Media List trial about a month before that date.
- Run your usual searches in both tools.
- Do not upload Muck Rack exports into another tool, because its terms limit copying its data for other services.
- Rebuild your lists in Media List with filters for beat, outlet, US state and media type.
- Turn on the verified emails filter and export.
