The 14 Best PR Software Tools in 2026

If you’re researching the best PR software, you’re probably not looking for another long list of tools with vague claims. You want practical insight: what each platform actually helps you do day to day, where it fits in real PR workflows, and whether it’s worth changing your current setup.

This guide is written for in-house teams, agencies, and PR professionals evaluating new software or replacing legacy systems. We compare platforms based on the workflows that matter most: managing media contacts, sending press releases, monitoring coverage, and reporting results.

There isn’t a single solution that works for everyone. The best choice depends on your PR strategy, budget, team size, and market focus. The goal here is to help you find the best fit, not the loudest option.

Rather than focusing on feature lists, we compared tools based on real PR work and how teams actually operate.

Does the platform help teams create, distribute, and manage press releases, coordinate campaigns, track engagement, and report results? Modern PR software should support the full cycle from outreach to analytics and learning.

A useful PR CRM does more than store contacts. Teams need to manage relationships, segment contacts, store context, and track interactions with journalists, bloggers, and publishers over time.

Effective pitching requires finding the right journalists, contacting the right publications, and coordinating outreach without duplication. Strong pitching tools help teams connect efficiently while maintaining personalization, especially when you follow best practices for pitching your story to journalists.

Monitoring helps teams track brand mentions across news sites, blogs, international publications, and social media channels. Reporting turns coverage and data into insights stakeholders can understand, and dedicated newsroom software tools and reviews can make publishing and organizing coverage far more efficient.

PR tools should reduce friction, not add it. Teams benefit from platforms that support collaboration, approvals, shared assets, and multi-user workflows without heavy onboarding.

Different platforms serve different audiences. Some support enterprise communications departments, while others focus on agencies or growing businesses. We highlight realistic use cases rather than marketing claims.

PR tools vary widely. Some platforms focus on outreach, others on monitoring, analytics, or newsroom publishing. Only a few attempt to combine everything into one working platform.

Below is a high-level comparison before we look at individual tools.

Best for: Strong fit for agencies managing multiple clients or in-house teams building long-term relationships with media.

Prezly is designed to support modern earned media workflows in one place. Instead of relying on separate tools for press releases, pitching, contact management, and reporting, Prezly combines both outbound and inbound PR into a single platform built specifically for PR.

Designed for teams wanting newsroom publishing, pitching, monitoring, and relationship management in one place. Teams can create newsroom pages, manage contacts, and track coverage without juggling separate tools.

• Online newsroom publishing
• Press release software with structured storytelling
• PR CRM with segmentation and relationship tracking
• Targeted pitching and email outreach
• Media monitoring software
• Coverage reporting and analytics
• Collaboration tools for teams and agencies

• Strong balance of owned and earned media workflows
• Clean interface built for daily PR use
• Excellent for organising press materials and assets
• Designed for both in-house teams and PR agencies
• Helps centralize outreach, newsroom updates, and reporting

Mid-range subscription pricing with clear packages.

• Growing PR teams needing structure
• Agencies managing multiple client newsrooms and contacts
• Brands focused on earned media and reputation-building
• Teams wanting a modern PR CRM rather than a database-only tool

Best for: Large organisations needing a global media database and enterprise reporting.

One of the most established platforms in the industry, often used by large organisations needing global reach, analytics, and monitoring at scale. Its strength lies in database coverage and reporting depth, though smaller teams may find it complex.

• Large global media database
• Media monitoring software
• Analytics dashboards
• Distribution and outreach tools
• Reporting and benchmarking

• Very large contact database
• Strong enterprise infrastructure
• Comprehensive reporting features

• Can feel complex and heavy for smaller teams
• Higher cost compared to most PR tools
• Some teams find database quality varies by region

Enterprise pricing, typically quote-based.

• Corporate communications departments
• Large multinational PR teams
• Organisations needing broad global reach and reporting depth

Best for: Strong option for outreach-heavy teams focused on earned media.

Widely used by PR professionals prioritising journalist discovery and outreach workflows. Helps teams find the right journalists, manage pitching, and monitor engagement.

• Journalist database and profiles
• Pitching and outreach tools
• Media monitoring
• Reporting dashboards
• Engagement tracking

• Strong journalist discovery tools
• Clear reporting and pitch tracking
• User-friendly interface
• Helpful for relationship-driven PR teams

• Less focused on newsroom publishing
• Pricing may increase quickly for large teams
• Not always ideal for owned media workflows

Mid-to-high range subscription pricing.

• PR agencies pitching frequently
• In-house PR teams with strong media outreach needs
• Teams that want monitoring tightly connected to pitching activity

Best for: Media monitoring and analytics-heavy PR teams.

Often positioned as a media intelligence platform, combining monitoring, social listening, and analytics. Suitable for organisations tracking reputation and coverage across markets.

• Media monitoring software
• Social listening
• Media database access
• Analytics dashboards
• Trend and sentiment reporting

• Strong monitoring and data analysis tools
• Useful for reputation management tracking
• Good reporting options for leadership stakeholders

• Can feel monitoring-first rather than pitching-first
• Higher pricing tiers
• Teams may still need separate press release software

Enterprise pricing, usually quote-based.

• Large comms teams
• Brands with complex reputation monitoring needs
• Organisations integrating PR with marketing analytics and social insights

Best for: Existing Prowly users researching replacement options.

Prowly previously offered a combination of newsroom tools and CRM functionality. However, it is now being phased out and transitioned into a Semrush AI PR tool. That makes it less predictable as a long-term platform choice for PR teams looking for stable workflows.

If you’re currently using Prowly and evaluating alternatives, it’s worth reviewing a direct feature comparison to understand how platforms differ.

For example, Prezly’s Prowly comparison highlights key differences in CRM capabilities, newsroom features, and media monitoring. You can see that comparison here.

Best for: PR teams and agencies focused on reporting and coverage presentation.

Focused on coverage presentation rather than outreach. Helps agencies and teams create client-ready reports from collected coverage.

• Coverage collection and organisation
• Shareable reporting dashboards
• Visual summaries for clients and stakeholders
• Exportable PR reports

• Excellent reporting visuals
• Easy to create client-friendly coverage summaries
• Affordable compared to enterprise tools

• No media database
• No pitching or PR CRM features
• Requires other tools for monitoring and outreach

Lower to mid-range subscription.

• Agencies producing frequent PR reports
• Teams that already have pitching tools but want better reporting output

Best for: PR teams wanting a traditional database + monitoring workflow.

Agility PR offers a familiar PR software model: access a media database, pitch journalists, monitor results, and generate reports. It’s often chosen by mid-sized teams who want a complete toolkit without going full enterprise, similar to how digital PR tools for marketing teams bundle monitoring, outreach, and reporting capabilities.

• Media database
• Media monitoring software
• Outreach and distribution tools
• Reporting dashboards

• Solid database and monitoring combination
• Practical for everyday media relations workflows
• Useful for teams that want an established PR toolset

• Interface may feel less modern compared to newer platforms
• Newsroom publishing and owned media features may be limited

Mid-to-high range, often quote-based.

• Mid-sized in-house PR teams
• Agencies wanting a database-led workflow
• Teams upgrading from spreadsheets to a structured PR platform

Best for: Outreach-heavy teams combining PR and SEO.

Popular among digital PR and SEO teams managing outreach campaigns at scale, especially when working with bloggers and online publishers.

• Contact and relationship tracking
• Outreach email tools
• Follow-up reminders
• Workflow and pipeline management
• Reporting on outreach performance

• Good for high-volume outreach
• Useful for digital PR workflows
• More affordable than many PR CRM tools

• Not a dedicated PR CRM
• No built-in media monitoring software
• Limited newsroom or press release support

Lower to mid-range subscription.

• Digital PR teams working with SEO campaigns
• Agencies doing large-scale outreach
• Teams managing influencer and backlink outreach

Best for: Broadcast monitoring for TV and radio.

Critical Mention is a monitoring tool designed specifically for broadcast coverage. It’s useful for PR teams who need visibility into television and radio mentions.

• TV and radio monitoring
• Alerts and tracking
• Clip creation and sharing
• Reporting dashboards

• Strong broadcast coverage visibility
• Helpful for crisis monitoring scenarios
• Good reporting for traditional media coverage

• Not a full PR CRM
• Requires additional PR tools for pitching and outreach
• Less useful for teams focused mostly on online publications

Enterprise pricing.

• Brands with frequent broadcast mentions
• PR teams tracking spokespeople visibility
• Agencies supporting media-trained executives

Best for: Social listening and reputation intelligence at scale.

Talkwalker is primarily a social listening and analytics platform. It’s often used by larger organisations monitoring brand reputation, public sentiment, and crisis signals across social media and online sources.

• Social listening
• Sentiment analysis
• Trend tracking
• Crisis alerts
• Analytics dashboards

• Strong social monitoring capabilities
• Useful for early crisis detection
• Good reporting for leadership and stakeholders

• Not designed as press release software
• Not a PR CRM
• Outreach workflows require additional tools

Enterprise pricing.

• Global brands
• Teams monitoring reputation across multiple markets
• Organisations needing deep analytics beyond PR coverage tracking

Best for: Enterprise-level consumer insights and social analytics.

Brandwatch is another major player in the social intelligence space. It’s often used by marketing, comms, and insight teams who need deep data analysis rather than direct PR outreach workflows.

• Social listening
• Consumer insights dashboards
• Sentiment and audience analysis
• Reporting and benchmarking

• Deep analytics capabilities
• Strong long-term trend tracking
• Useful for strategic reputation research

• Not a media relations software platform
• No built-in PR CRM or pitching tools
• Better suited for insights than daily outreach workflows

Enterprise pricing.

• Large organisations with dedicated analytics functions
• Brands doing reputation research at scale
• Teams combining PR with consumer insight strategy

Best for: Lightweight media monitoring for smaller teams.

Mention is a simpler media monitoring software option designed for teams that want alerts and visibility into online brand mentions without complex enterprise features.

• Web and social monitoring alerts
• Keyword tracking
• Basic reporting tools
• Simple dashboards

• Quick setup and easy use
• Affordable entry-level pricing
• Useful for basic monitoring and awareness

• Limited reporting depth
• No PR CRM features
• Monitoring accuracy may not match enterprise tools

Lower-range subscription.

• Startups and small businesses
• Small PR teams needing basic monitoring
• Teams using separate tools for outreach and CRM

Best for: Large comms teams needing structured media analytics and reporting.

Onclusive is designed for organisations that require monitoring and measurement at scale, often with leadership reporting requirements.

• Media monitoring software
• Analytics and dashboards
• Share of voice reporting
• Stakeholder reporting tools

• Strong reporting and measurement capabilities
• Useful for large-scale tracking and benchmarking
• Designed for corporate reporting needs

• Less focused on pitching workflows
• PR CRM and outreach features may be limited
• Can be complex to implement

Enterprise pricing.

• Corporate comms teams
• Organisations with heavy reporting needs
• PR departments reporting directly to leadership

Best for: UK PR teams needing strong journalist discovery tools.

Roxhill is a UK-focused PR tool known for its media database coverage and journalist research capabilities. It’s widely used by PR agencies and in-house teams working primarily with UK outlets.

• UK media database
• Journalist research tools
• Pitching support
• Monitoring and alerts

• Strong UK journalist coverage
• Useful for targeted outreach
• Practical tools for media research

• Less valuable for global PR teams
• Newsroom publishing and owned media workflows are not its focus

Mid-to-high range subscription.

• UK PR agencies
• UK-focused in-house PR teams
• PR professionals doing targeted journalist outreach

PR strategy typically blends three media types:

• Earned media: coverage secured through outreach and relationships
• Paid media: sponsored placements and advertising
• Owned media: channels your company controls, such as your website newsroom, blogs, and press pages. Owned media matters because journalists often check official company pages to verify facts before publishing news

A strong PR strategy usually combines all three.

Earned media remains one of the most valuable outcomes PR teams can deliver, not because it guarantees instant growth, but because it builds credibility over time, especially when guided by a clear earned media strategy with practical tactics.

Earned media builds trust because it comes from independent journalists and news organisations rather than brand messaging. When a publication covers your story, it provides third-party validation. Where readers may be skeptical of brand messaging, they are more likely to trust an independent source they already follow. That trust is difficult to replicate through paid channels.

Coverage can influence potential customers, improve brand reputation, and support long-term visibility in the market. Articles often continue attracting audiences long after campaigns end.

However, earned media is not free. It requires strategy, outreach, and relationship-building supported by good PR tools.

Earned media is powerful, but it’s often misunderstood.

First off, more mentions do not automatically mean better PR. Ten low-quality mentions can be far less valuable than one relevant feature in the right publication. Context matters more than volume.

Secondly, press releases alone don’t generate coverage. A press release is a useful format for sharing information, but journalists respond to relevance, timing, and story value – not announcements that read like marketing copy.

Managing expectations is part of good PR strategy.

Successful PR usually follows consistent patterns.

Journalists receive countless pitches every day. If your story doesn’t offer clear relevance, insight, or news value, it won’t land – no matter how well written the press release is.

Strong stories typically include (and hinge on a clear sense of what makes a story newsworthy):

• A clear hook
• Timely relevance
• Real substance (not just promotion)
• A clear reason the audience should care

Mass emails rarely work. Research the right publications and audiences, and reach out to those whose beat matches your news.

Good outreach means applying structured PR outreach tactics and tools:

• Researching the journalist’s beat
• Understanding the outlet’s audience
• Explaining why the story fits their niche
• Keeping the pitch short and specific

People are more likely to respond to PRs who consistently send relevant stories and respect their time.

Tracking conversations, preferences, and past coverage is where a strong PR CRM becomes essential, alongside the soft skills involved in building long-term relationships with journalists.

Follow-ups are normal, but they should be intentional. A polite reminder is fine. Multiple follow-ups in a short period usually aren’t.

A practical approach is to follow up once, offer additional context, and then move on.

Even when a journalist is interested, delays can kill momentum. Brands that can quickly share press kits, videos, assets, quotes, and background information make journalists’ jobs easier.

Tools like Prezly support this by helping teams organize press materials, newsroom updates, and outreach workflows in one place – so responding quickly doesn’t require scrambling through shared drives and email threads.

Monitoring is not just counting mentions. It helps teams learn which stories perform, which audiences respond, and where messaging resonates, informing more targeted media pitch and PR list-building efforts. .

Teams often combine professional monitoring with lighter tools like Google Alerts to track mention activity across news sites and blogs. Analytics and social listening tools then help turn coverage data into market insights.

One factor teams rarely consider when choosing PR software is platform security and reliability. Modern tools must protect client data, contacts, and outreach history while ensuring newsroom pages remain accessible.

Occasionally, users may encounter temporary access checks or messages indicating a website is performing security verification to protect against malicious bots or unusual bot traffic. These checks are part of standard web security services designed to protect platforms and clients from automated abuse.

When a page verifies access, users may briefly see a verification screen or request details like a respond Ray ID before verification successful access is displayed. This process protects platforms, data, and media assets from malicious activity while keeping legitimate users connected.

Reliable PR platforms invest in security infrastructure to protect contacts, campaigns, analytics, and newsroom content so teams can continue working without disruption.

Some companies, especially in early stages, may benefit more from focusing on product-market fit or paid acquisition before investing heavily in PR campaigns.

However, building owned media assets and preparing outreach workflows early makes future PR efforts easier.

Agencies help when teams lack capacity, need strategic guidance, or want additional outreach support. Agencies often help brands stand out in crowded markets and connect with publishers, journalists, and bloggers more efficiently, particularly when they showcase results in a well-structured PR portfolio highlighting their best work. .

The best PR software is the platform that supports how your team actually works.

Some teams need a specialized media monitoring tool. Others need a robust PR CRM or media database. And for many in-house teams and agencies, an all-in-one PR platform can reduce tool overload and make PR work more consistent and efficient.

Earned media remains a long-term strategy, not a shortcut. But with the right PR tools and a structured approach, it becomes easier to stay organized, build credibility, and deliver measurable outcomes.

If you’re evaluating new PR software, starting a free trial with Prezly is a practical way to centralize your newsroom, outreach, media monitoring, and PR CRM workflows in one place.