Muck Rack vs Critical Mention (2026), Database vs Monitoring

ML Media List Editorial Team Dec 4, 2025 10 min read

Muck Rack and Critical Mention do different jobs. Muck Rack is built around a journalist database for pitching, with monitoring added on. Critical Mention is a broadcast and online monitoring service, with a contact database as one module. Some teams that can afford it run both.

Prices and facts checked October 3, 2026. See something wrong? Tell us.

Below is a side-by-side view as of October 2026, then who each tool suits, what buyers pay, and what reviewers say. Near the end there is a clearly marked section on Media List, a cheaper option for small teams that mainly need contacts.

Muck Rack vs Critical Mention, side by side

Row	Muck Rack	Critical Mention
Core job	Journalist database and pitching	Media monitoring, owned by Onclusive¹
Published price	None. "Pricing depends on a few factors specific to your team including the number of users"²	None. "we will create a package to meet those needs"³
Vendr median a year	$13,000⁴	$7,950⁵
How you buy	Demo request, no checkout²	Custom demo with a platform consultant⁶
TV and radio monitoring	Broadcast is an add-on²	More than 2,500 stations, clips from every US Nielsen DMA⁷
Online news	Included on all tiers²	Included, in 90+ languages⁸
Journalist database	The core product. Ads claim "400K+ Contacts in 60 Countries"⁹	"millions of records" for reporters, bloggers, producers and influencers, no journalist count¹⁰
Profile checks and updates	Badge needs bylines at verified outlets in the last 30 days¹¹	Changes requested through a feedback tool are updated within 24 hours¹⁰
Sending pitches	From your own Gmail or Outlook¹²	Not described on its site. Lists export to CSV¹⁰
AI features	AI Media List Builder on Standard and Premier²	AI Brand Visibility tracks how AI tools mention you¹³
Support	Live chat on all tiers, instructor-led onboarding above Starter²	24/7/365 support team¹⁴
Contract	Annual. Cancel by email to your success manager, with no refund for the current year¹⁵	12-month renewals with an annual uplift, per a Vendr buyer⁵
Shared logins	"Generic or shared emails cannot be used for accounts"¹⁵	Not stated
G2 view (snippet)	Reviewers "preferred the direction of Muck Rack" on roadmap¹⁶	221 reviews on G2, per a search snippet¹⁷

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The real difference, in buyers' words

On Reddit, PR people tend to split the two by task. "Critical mention is the better monitoring and reporting software. Muckrack is the better database and pitching tool. We use both for those reasons," one wrote in May 2024¹⁸. In an earlier thread, another said, "Historically, they’re used just for broadcast clips. You want muckrack for contacts."¹⁹

That matches what each company sells. Muck Rack's pricing page sorts its plans by database access and export limits. Critical Mention's site leads with TV and radio, online news, social and podcasts, then lists the database further down.

Who each tool fits best

Choose Muck Rack if pitching comes first

Agencies pitching national and trade press. One Reddit user called it "the most up to date and accurate database" while noting it is the most expensive²⁰.
Solo publicists who can prepay a year. A one-seat agency starter plan was reported at $4,400²¹.
Founders who want to pitch from their own inbox. Muck Rack connects to Gmail or Outlook so pitches look personal.

Choose Critical Mention if coverage proof comes first

Agencies whose clients appear on local TV. Clips from every US Nielsen DMA, with unlimited cloud storage⁷ and the Wordplay clip editor⁷, make broadcast reports simple.
In-house teams that report to executives. Reviewers praise its reports. "CM makes easy beautiful reports with data and analysis built in"¹⁸.
Teams that want round-the-clock help. Critical Mention offers a 24/7/365 support team, and one user has had "the same dedicated customer support person for the last three years"¹⁸.

Critical Mention says its packages are tailored to a buyer's earned-media needs, so a demo is the starting point for a quote³.

What each one costs

Neither posts a price, so these are buyer reports and benchmark data, labelled as such.

Muck Rack. Vendr reports a median of $13,000 a year⁴. Reddit buyers reported $4,400 for one seat²¹ and "$5,750 for 2 seats"²¹.
Critical Mention. Vendr reports a median of $7,950 a year, with deals from $5,920 to $15,400⁵. One long-time user said, "I only pay $2500/year"¹⁸, and a small agency was "Paying about $7100 a year now, and it is increasing to $7600"²².
Shopping both. A buyer who talked to Critical Mention, Meltwater and Muck Rack in 2024 said "we’ve been given offers between $6K to $8K"¹⁸.

So Critical Mention's median is lower, but that is not a fair swap. A team that needs both broadcast monitoring and a strong database may end up paying for two tools.

Data quality, as reviewers see it

Muck Rack's database gets most of the praise. One user estimated email accuracy for "national and trade ... about 90%. Local reporters maybe closer to 70%"²³. Critical Mention's database gets more mixed comments. "Great for media coverage reporting, but hit or miss for contacts. Not their strong point," a user wrote in 2023¹⁹. A paying agency listed "Very outdated media list" among its problems in June 2024²². These are reviewers' words, so ask each vendor to run your own beat search in the demo.

On monitoring, Critical Mention leads on broadcast. It says it covers more than 2,500 TV and radio stations⁷. Muck Rack sells broadcast as an add-on².

One launch, two tools

Picture a consumer brand launching a product in five cities. Before launch day, the team needs the right reporters, assignment editors and producers in each market, and that is list work. After launch, it needs to prove what aired on local TV and what ran online, and that is monitoring work.

Muck Rack covers the first half well and some of the second through online news alerts. Critical Mention covers the second half in depth, with broadcast clips and reports, and offers a database for the first. One agency described doing exactly this, grabbing "all the assignment editors and news directors" in one city from Muck Rack, then reporting results with Critical Mention¹⁸.

Contracts and switching

Leaving Muck Rack. Email your Customer Success Manager to cancel. Muck Rack's terms say you will not get back fees for the annual cycle in which you cancel¹⁵.
Leaving Critical Mention. Its terms are not published, so read your order form. A Reddit reply suggested contracts "should have a clause" giving 30, 60 or 90 days' notice¹⁹.
Running both. Align the two renewal dates so you can review the pair at once.

A cheaper option for small teams

This section is about our own product, Media List. It is a self-serve media database for people who mainly need to find and pitch journalists and creators.

Prices are on the page. Basic is $99 a month, Professional is $399 with up to 3 seats, and Scale is $999 with up to 10 seats. Billing is monthly with no annual contract, and you can cancel anytime from your billing page. The 3-day trial is $0 today with a card or PayPal, and you can export up to 25 contacts.

Media List covers 31,000+ journalists, editors and producers, 22,000+ of them in the US, plus 189,000+ YouTube channels and 1.2 million podcasts. Each email shows its verification status before you export. Professional adds campaigns with follow-ups and open and click tracking. At full use, the cost is about $0.04 per exported contact.

Choose Media List if you are a solo publicist, founder or small agency that wants a monthly list tool. Choose Muck Rack or Critical Mention if you need their depth in journalist data or broadcast monitoring.

A year of costs, two examples

Buyer	Muck Rack	Critical Mention	Media List
Solo publicist	About $4,400 for 1 seat²¹	About $2,500 to $7,600 in 2024 reports¹⁸²²	Basic, $1,188 over 12 months
3-person agency	Vendr median $13,000⁴	Vendr median $7,950⁵	Professional, $4,788 over 12 months

The solo row assumes one person who pitches from their own inbox. The agency row assumes three people sharing lists. Muck Rack and Critical Mention quotes vary widely, so use these as rough guides.

Is Muck Rack free?

Only for journalists. Muck Rack says journalists "never pay for Muck Rack access"². PR users buy an annual plan after a demo. Critical Mention has no free version listed on its site either.

Can Critical Mention replace Muck Rack?

For monitoring and reports, it can. For pitching, the Reddit buyers quoted here say no, and some keep Muck Rack for lists. One agency explained the split. "I spend more time pitching and being able to build MR lists is super valuable to me"¹⁸. If pitching is your main job, start your test with a database, then add monitoring if clients ask for clip reports.

Questions, answered

What is the difference between Muck Rack and Critical Mention?

Muck Rack is a journalist database built for pitching, with monitoring added on. Critical Mention is mainly broadcast and online monitoring, with a contact database as one module.

Which is better, Muck Rack or Critical Mention?

For pitching, Reddit buyers usually pick Muck Rack. For TV and radio clips and coverage reports, they pick Critical Mention, and some teams use both.

How much does Muck Rack cost?

Muck Rack does not publish prices. Vendr reports a median of $13,000 a year, and one buyer reported $4,400 for one seat.

How much does Critical Mention cost?

Critical Mention does not publish prices. Vendr reports a median of $7,950 a year, and 2024 buyer reports run from about $2,500 to $8,000.

Does Muck Rack have broadcast monitoring?

Yes, as an add-on. Online news monitoring is included on all tiers.

Is Muck Rack free?

Muck Rack is free for journalists. PR users pay for an annual plan after a demo.

Does Critical Mention have a media database?

Yes. It offers a media contact database with CSV export, though it does not publish a journalist count.

What are some alternatives to Muck Rack and Critical Mention?

Cision and Meltwater cover both jobs in larger suites. For a monthly database, Media List starts at $99 a month.

Sources

Critical Mention, About us, checked 2026-10-10
Muck Rack pricing page and FAQ, checked 2026-10-09
Critical Mention, Pricing, checked 2026-10-10
Vendr, Muck Rack, checked 2026-10-09
Vendr, Critical Mention pricing data, checked 2026-10-10
Critical Mention, Demo, checked 2026-10-10
Critical Mention, Broadcast Monitoring, checked 2026-10-10
Critical Mention, Online News Tracking, checked 2026-10-10
Google Ads Transparency Center, muckrack.com ads, checked 2026-10-08
Critical Mention, Media Contact Database, checked 2026-10-10
Muck Rack Help Center, Journalist Verification, checked 2026-10-03
Muck Rack Help Center, Email Integration in Muck Rack, checked 2026-10-03
Critical Mention, AI Brand Visibility, checked 2026-10-10
Critical Mention, Support, checked 2026-10-10
Muck Rack, Terms of Service (12 Mar 2025), checked 2026-10-09
G2, Critical Mention vs Muck Rack (search snippet), checked 2026-10-10
G2, Critical Mention reviews (search snippet), checked 2026-10-10
Reddit r/PublicRelations, Advice on picking between Critical Mention, Meltwater, Muck Rack (May 2024), checked 2026-10-10
Reddit r/PublicRelations, Critical Mention Sucks (Mar 2023), checked 2026-10-10
Reddit r/PublicRelations, Journalist Database - is there truly anything comparable to Muckrack? (Nov 2025), checked 2026-10-09
Reddit r/PublicRelations, Muck Rack Rates and Pricing (March 2026), checked 2026-10-09
Reddit r/PublicRelations, Alternative to Critical Mention, possibly Agility PR? (Jun 2024), checked 2026-10-10
Reddit r/PublicRelations, Muck Rack for pitching? (Feb 2026), checked 2026-10-09
Muck Rack Help Center, Introduction to Journalist Profiles, checked 2026-10-03

Product names are trademarks of their owners. Media List is not affiliated with them. Prices and features change; check each vendor's site before you buy.

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