The 7 Best Prowly Competitors & Alternatives (in 2024)

Prowly has been around for about ten years and has many loyal users, but it also gets frequent complaints about the quality of its media database and comparatively high pricing. In this guide, we’ll look at what features Prowly offers and how it stacks up against competitors, using officially published information, as well as user reviews.

Prowly is public relations software that boasts a media database, press release and newsroom creator, CRM, and media monitoring service. The software has multiple use cases, including corporate, agency, and startup public relations.

But maybe you’ve given Prowly a spin, and it’s not quite the best fit for your needs. Some common complaints about the service include:

• Their media database is out-of-date and run by bots, according to one former user on Reddit
• Customer service is slow, pricing is “deceptive,” and cancellations were handled in an “unacceptable” manner, per Capterra reviews
• Pricing starts at $258 per month for a basic annual plan, which is significantly more than competitors with similar features and functionality
• G2 reviews indicate email deliverability, management, and notification issues

No service is perfect, and every software will have its fans and detractors. So, in the interest of objectivity, what is Prowly good at?

• Some users celebrate its price point when contrasted with industry behemoths like Cision and Meltwater 
• While some Prowly users complained about their customer service, others gave them snaps for their customer support team, with one Capterra reviewer even calling their support team “perfect”
• Prowly receives praise from users for its intuitive and easy-to-understand layout

But praise isn’t why you’re here, perusing an alternatives article.

This leads us to the competitors…

A view of Prezly's contact management area

For all intents and purposes, Prezly and Prowly are pretty similar. They have a lot of the same features and functionality, with a few key differences:

• Price: Prezly’s pricing starts at $90 per month for the annual core plan, compared to Prowly’s steep $258 entry price 
• Customer support: Prezly is frequently praised for its dedicated human support team, which is available Monday to Friday across the major time zones, ready to personally help you with any questions you might have 
• Media database: Prezly doesn’t have a media database because these rely on questionable privacy practices and are ineffective. Instead, we help you build and manage your own targeted media lists that can grow into relationships and earn coverage. We developed this ethos by working closely with successful journalists who have told us, in no uncertain terms, that they’re tired of cold pitches from clunky media databases. And we listened
• User experience: Prezly customers praise the intuitive user experience, ease of sending multimedia campaigns, and brand-friendly customizability of the newsrooms and press releases. Prezly is perfect for the tech power user and the Luddite alike
• Reputation: Prezly consistently scores higher than Prowly on independent review sites like G2 and Capterra 

Everything else? Pretty similar:

Verdict: Prezly is cheaper than Prowly, is higher-rated by users, and has all the features you need for your PR workflow. And this ranking seems perfectly unbiased, as long as you don’t look at the URL of this article.

If you're looking for an affordable, yet powerful Prowly alternative, you can't go wrong with Prezly. Try out the 14-day free trial to see for yourself.

We’ve amazed you with our totally unbiased Prowly competitor top pick, but who else may you want to consider?

While some of the inclusions on this list are not one-for-one direct competitors, each is a powerful tool that meets some (if not all) of your PR needs, and may be a better fit for you depending on your PR workflow.

But hey, we’re not here to tell you what to do.

• Free trial: Yes
• Price: Pricing hidden, estimated at $7,200 per year per user 
• Tool type: All-in-one PR software
• G2 rating: 3.9/5

Pros:

• Long-established name in the industry
• Different tools for different needs/use cases

Cons:

• Complicated to use
• Over-reliance on database features and newswires, not building relationships
• Expensive

Features:

• Outreach tools
• Wire service
• Media database

Pricing:

Cision doesn’t publicly list its pricing and locks the actual annual cost behind a consultation call with one of its salespeople. Based on online sources, Cision seems to charge about $7,200 per year for its base service, with additional services like newswire press releases and Connectively costing extra.

Final verdict:

Cision’s network has significantly more features than Prowly, but it also costs a bit more. Cision may be a good option if you’re less concerned with newsrooms and more focused on outreach, distribution, and newswires.

• Free trial: No, demo only
• Price: Pricing hidden, estimated to start at $12,000/yr
• Tool type: All-in-one PR tool
• G2 rating: 4.0/5

Pros:

• Robust medium monitoring capabilities
• Easy-to-use interface
• Customer support is helpful, according to reviewers

Cons:

• The features might be overwhelming for less experienced PR
• Limited customizability
• Users complain of inaccurate data
• Expensive

Features:

• Influencer database
• Analytics
• Media monitoring

Pricing:

Current pricing is not publicly available online, but online sources indicate that Meltwater starts at around $12,000 annually, making it a pricey alternative.

Final verdict:

If you're interested in a more comprehensive review of the service, check out our Meltwater review. Meltwater is ideal for experienced public relations professionals prioritizing media monitoring and analytics. It has a ton of tools for managing and tracking media relations. But it is not ideal for PR folks who are looking for a dedicated newsroom and press release creator.

• Free trial: No
• Price: Starts at $10,000/yr (estimated)
• Tool type: All-in-one PR tool
• G2 Rating: 4.6/5

Pros:

• Ease of use
• Great customer service
• High-quality media monitoring

Cons:

• Outdated, inaccurate data (according to user reviews)
• Expensive
• Poor search features

Features:

• Media monitoring
• Journalist database
• Outreach tools

Pricing:

Similar to Cision, Muck Rack is not very forthcoming about its pricing structure. Estimates on the internet indicate that it starts at around $10,000 per year and goes up depending on the plan.

Final verdict:

While Muck Rack's ratings are generally higher than Prowly's, the lack of pricing transparency and generally high price points make this a toss-up. Muck Rack is ideal for PR teams looking for outreach tools but doesn’t need newsrooms, press release creators, etc.

• Free trial: No
• Price: Starting at $349/month for an online newsroom plus more for CRM access and other features
• Tool type: Online newsroom
• G2 rating: 4.7/5

Pros:

• Users praise its ease of use
• Responsive team

Cons:

• There is no free trial, demo only
• Doesn’t have a ton of features
• Limited customizability

Features:

• Online newsrooms
• Press pages
• Analytics and SEO tools

Pricing:

The pricing is somewhat consistent with Prowly, with the starter plan costing a few hundred per month. PR.co has higher general reviews, and users praise its intuitive, simple interface.

Final verdict:

If you’re looking for a basic tool and you’re primarily looking to focus on email pitches with an online newsroom, PR.co is a decent pick, although still priced more than double Prezly for a similar offering.

• Free trial:
• Price: Unknown, but best online estimates indicate a $195 annual membership, with each 400-word press release costing approximately $805
• Tool type: Newswire
• G2 rating: 3.9/5

Pros:

• Owned by Cision, so it has brand recognition
• Users talk of great customer support
• Easy/intuitive interface

Cons:

• Opaque pricing
• Expensive
• PR pros argue about the efficacy of newswires in today’s world

Features:

• News distribution through a wire service
• That’s about it

Pricing:

Can you find a more expensive wire service? Sure, probably! That being said, PR Newswire is pricey. However, if wire services are part of your distribution workflow and your C-suite literally can’t be talked out of it, you might as well go with PR Newswire.

Final verdict:

Comparing Prowly to PR Newswire is a bit of an apples-and-oranges situation because they have two separate functions, but the SEO gods have demanded it. You certainly couldn’t replace one with the other without raising a few eyebrows. That said, the option you pick will likely depend on your distribution strategy and PR needs.

• Free trial: No, demo only
• Price: Unknown, and online estimates are all over the place
• Tool type: Media outreach
• G2 rating: 4.1/5

Pros:

• Great customer support
• Ease of use

Cons:

• Customers report frustration with their contracts
• Lack of transparency online about the pricing model
• No free trial, demo is required

Features:

• Media database
• Media monitoring

Pricing:

Nothing says, “This tool is probably crazy expensive,” like a complete lack of reliable pricing information online.

Final verdict:

If you’re looking for a tool that prioritizes distribution and media outreach but doesn’t need newsrooms, Agility might be your best option. We have no clue as to its cost.

Here are the answers to your burning questions about Prowly and its competitors.

Prowly is not free. The basic plan starts at $258 per month, billed annually. There is a free trial, if you sign up for an account.

Prowly has many features that PR teams seek, including a press release creator, newsroom, campaign capabilities, and CRM. They’ve been around for about ten years and were acquired by Semrush in 2022, giving them longevity in the industry, plus a recognizable brand name backing them up.

While Prowly and Prezly are similar in many ways, Prezly is less expensive and has more robust features. Prezly prioritizes public relations software that helps you build media relations that will last instead of relying on spray-and-pray media databases. Prezly also offers a no-obligation two-week free trial, so you can test it out without sharing any payment details.

While you certainly have your pick of alternatives, we highly suggest going with Prezly. Yeah, we’re undoubtedly biased, but if you look at the price points, the features, the customer service, and the user-friendliness, Prezly stands out as the clear front-runner, especially as many of the competitors are significantly more expensive and lack the all-in-one prowess.

Why take our word for it? Try Prezly out today with a free, 14-day, no cc-required trial.