Public Relations (PR) Software Tools

Public Relations (PR) Software Tools Overview

PR tools are used to manage the entire public relations process. This can include planning, managing, and tracking PR campaigns, conducting PR outreach, and publishing press releases. These tools usually include a PR contact database, a news monitoring service, automated press release distribution, and campaign results measurement.

Public relations tools with robust analytics capabilities can be especially useful for PR or marketing agencies that need to justify ROI to their clients. Agile marketing and PR professionals who are testing different approaches to brand awareness and reputation management can benefit from robust analytics as well.

Top Rated Public Relations (PR) Products

TrustRadius Top Rated for 2023

These products won a Top Rated award for having excellent customer satisfaction ratings. The list is based purely on reviews; there is no paid placement, and analyst opinions do not influence the rankings. Read more about the Top Rated criteria.

Public Relations (PR) Software Tools TrustMap

TrustMaps are two-dimensional charts that compare products based on trScore and research frequency by prospective buyers. Products must have 10 or more ratings to appear on this TrustMap.

Public Relations (PR) Products

(1-25 of 68) Sorted by Most Reviews

The list of products below is based purely on reviews (sorted from most to least). There is no paid placement and analyst opinions do not influence their rankings. Here is our Promise to Buyers to ensure information on our site is reliable, useful, and worthy of your trust.

Cision Communications Cloud

CIsion Communications Cloud is used for identifying key media and influencers, connecting with audiences, monitoring traditional and social media, and analyzing outcomes.

Newswire
Customer Verified
Top Rated
TRUE

ACCESS Newswire is a press release distribution platform that helps clients increase their online visibility and web presence. It provides premier syndication to leading news outlets. The solution aims to empower clients with a variety of solutions to suit any budget.

Meltwater

Meltwater Media Intelligence platform is a set of public relations software tools for media monitoring, social media monitoring, and collecting brand insights. The four areas of functionality are Monitor, Analyze, Distribute, and Engage. (Note that this product combines features…

BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo is an influencer marketing platform focused on influencer location, author reports, content analysis for locating trends, and domain comparisons, useful for competitor analysis. The analysis engine is intentioned to track and optimize content marketing efforts. BuzzSumo…

Critical Mention

Critical Mention headquartered in New York offers their eponymous media monitoring platform for public relations and crisis management.

Muck Rack

Muck Rack is a public relations offering from Sawhorse Media.

Cision PRWeb

Cision PRWeb aims to impact customer behavior by providing efficient communication tools to continuously engage with target audiences across multiple online channels including search, social media and with industry-specific partner websites, bloggers and influencers.

Help a Reporter Out (HARO)

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is a service owned by Cision (via the merger with Vocus) for reaching out to journalists.

Business Wire

Business Wire's public relations press release distribution platform includes the company's NewsTrak audience analytics and media monitoring reports.

GlobeNewswire by Notified

GlobeNewswire distributes press releases and multimedia content on behalf of thousands of customers every year, including growing businesses, agencies, non-profits, and many of the world’s largest public companies. Reach Audiences Worldwide Whether for local or global, the GlobeNewswire…

PRunderground.com

PRUnderground is a media distribution tool for public relations, from the company of the same name headquartered in New York.

Coveragebook

Coveragebook is an online PR solution that automates the compilation of PR coverage books. Users input the url links of their online PR coverage, and Coveragebook pulls in screenshots, as well as website visits, social shares & Domain Authority from sources like SimilarWeb &…

3BL Professional

3BL Media's content distribution platforms and Brand Studio promote the environmental, social, governance (ESG) initiatives of companies, nonprofits and NGOs.

Prezly

Prezly is presented by the vendor as all-in-one public relations management tool that helps PR teams organise their workflow, collaborate and save time.Accessible through any browser, Prezly's key features are divided between three main areas:Contact managementFull PR CRM for managing…

PR.com

PR.com is a press release distribution platform from the New York company of the same name.

24-7 Press Release

24-7 Press Release is a press release distribution platform from the Canadian company of the same name.

Media Monitor Pro

Media Monitor Pro is a a media monitoring and analytics platform from Metro Monitor headquartered in Alabama.

Burrelles MYNEWSDASH

Burrelles (formerly BurrellesLuce) headquartered in New Jersey offers MYNEWSDASH (formerly Workflow), their media monitoring service.

PRgloo

A media relations platform that aims to combine easy to use tools with exceptional analysis. The Response Desk provides a centralized set of tools for managing conversations and building lasting relationships. Keep track of who said what to whom so the entire team is coordinated…

CyberAlert

CyberAlert is a media monitoring platform from the Connecticut-based company of the same name.

TVEyes

TVEyes is a global media monitoring solution for TV, radio and online video and audio. Accordingly, TVEyes provides a television and radio monitoring platform that enables its users to search, view, report on, analyze and archive U.S. (national and all 210 DMAs) and international…

Prowly

Prowly is an all-in-one platform for people looking to simplify their PR workflow and do powerful communication: find relevant journalistscreate visual press releasessend targeted PR pitchesand keep it all in a journalist-friendly online newsroom.

Wiztopic

Wiztopic headquartered in Paris with offices in New York offers the Wiztopic One public relations platform, a solution for corporate communication and public relations management. Its main purpose is to enhance media and influencers relationship and boost the visibility of a company’…

iCrowdNewswire

Launched in 2015, iCrowdNewswire powered by Google provides services from paid social and digital media advertising to audio marketing and 8 translations per release – boasting that no other wire provides geographic targeting down to a zip or postal codes worldwide; demographic targeting…

Learn More About Public Relations (PR) Software Tools

What are PR Software Tools?

PR tools are used to manage the entire public relations process. This can include planning, managing, and tracking PR campaigns, conducting PR outreach, and publishing press releases. These tools usually include a PR contact database, a news monitoring service, automated press release distribution, and campaign results measurement.

Public relations tools with robust analytics capabilities can be especially useful for PR or marketing agencies that need to justify ROI to their clients. Agile marketing and PR professionals who are testing different approaches to brand awareness and reputation management can benefit from robust analytics as well.

Different Types of PR Software

Although some products include the full range of PR capabilities, certain public relations software tools are strongest in one of the following areas:

  • content creation, editing, and optimization
  • campaign tracking and analytics, PR performance dashboards
  • media monitoring, including competitive intelligence
  • identifying and leveraging influencers, journalists, and other media contacts

PR Analytics Software

Public relations analytics software helps marketers measure the performance of their PR campaigns. Important metrics to track include the number of clicks, the number of backlinks gained, increase in traffic, level of engagement across social media platforms, etc. This type of software usually includes a campaign analytics dashboard and the ability to generate and export reports.

PR Monitoring Software

PR monitoring software monitors a brand’s presence and mentions across a set of media and social channels. Companies can track and target keywords, topics, or mentions of their company name/brand. These tools often provide updates or notifications for new mentions.

Public relations monitoring tools also help companies track overall trends in their industry and collect competitive intelligence about the PR performance of their competitors. Certain products will include analytics for media mentions such as the number and frequency of mentions, or the number of a brand’s mentions compared with mentions of competing brands.

Public relations database software

Public relations database software helps marketers connect with news outlets, journalists, bloggers, influencers, and other media figures to help promote their PR content. Typically, these tools provide a database of relevant media contacts for the company’s industry. However, certain PR solutions instead provide tools companies can use to discover and identify authoritative media contacts within their industry.

The main goal of this software is to help connect PR professionals with media personnel and market experts who would be interested in sharing the brand’s PR content, which would, in turn, increase brand awareness for the company.

PR Project Management Software

Along with media monitoring, influencer outreach, and PR analytics—project management is a critical component of executing a successful PR strategy. There are a wide range of professional services automation (PSA) and project management software tools that can help marketers keep track of all their PR deliverables. Some examples include Trello, Gryffin, and Workfront.

The following PSA and project management features can be especially helpful for PR professionals:

  • Task management
  • calendar /schedule view of tasks
  • Task assignment
  • Workflow automation
  • Document storage and management
  • Timesheet tracking
  • Resource allocation management

PR Tools Features

Larger PR and communications suite software will typically include all of the features listed below. However, public relations software that focuses on a core PR function (e.g. media monitoring, influencer outreach, or analytics) may only include a subset of these features.

  • Database of journalists, influencers, and other media contacts
  • Media monitoring for brand mentions, clicks, and backlinks
  • Media coverage reporting and monitoring
  • Tools for discovering and identifying media contacts
  • Press release distribution
  • Press release tracking and monitoring
  • Support for coverage in multiple languages
  • PR campaign measurement and analytics dashboards

PR Software Comparison

  • Reach of the tool: If you’re purchasing a tool that includes a database of media contacts, how large is the list? How regularly is it refreshed and updated? Does it include only regional media contacts, or national, or global? Make sure the contact database meets your requirements before deciding to purchase a new PR tool.
  • Type of tool: Are you looking for a platform that can do it all, or one that’s focused on a specific PR functionality? For example, if you only need a PR press release distribution tool, a large PR suite may be overkill and too expensive.
  • Cost: Be aware of the pricing structure, contract terms, and renewal policies associated with the public relatoins platforms you’re considering. Some reviewers on TrustRadius have called out that certain PR software vendors are not very transparent about contract renewal terms. Make sure to read through customer reviews of your top choices before investing in a new PR tool.
  • Ease of use: How easy to use is the platform? Will the rest of your PR team be able to learn how to use it quickly? If not, this can slow down the adoption of the tool across your team and potentially increase the amount of time it takes to accomplish certain tasks.

Pricing Information

PR software includes many products that focus on a specific PR capability, for example, press release distribution, or press release monitoring. However, enterprise software packages that span the entire set of PR capabilities are usually priced per seat. The cost of a single seat can range from $5k per year to over $10k. Additional seats are typically significantly cheaper.

Public Relations (PR) Software Tools Best Of Awards

The following Public Relations (PR) Software Tools offer award-winning customer relationships, feature sets, and value for price. Learn more about our Winter Best Of Awards methodology here.

Best Of Winter 2023 Awards Winners for the Public Relations (PR) category. For Best Relationship, first place is Newswire. For Best Feature Set, first place is Newswire. For Best Value, first place is Newswire.

Related Categories

Frequently Asked Questions

What does PR software do?

Public relations software helps marketers manage the full PR lifecycle. This includes identifying and reaching out to media contacts, publishing press releases and other PR content, tracking the success of specific content and PR campaigns, monitoring the web for brand mentions, and collecting intelligence on the PR performance of competing brands.

Some PR tools provide all of these capabilities within one platform, while others focus on a specific area like press release distribution or media monitoring.

How can a PR tool benefit my business?

Some of the biggest benefits PR software provides are; time saved automating content distribution, the ability to more easily find the right media contacts and influencers, and the ability to better understand the performance of PR campaigns, and adjust them if necessary.

What are the best PR tools?

According to end-user feedback from reviewers on TrustRadius, Cision Communications Cloud is the top-rated PR tool. Other popular platforms (based on the number of reviews they have) include:

How much does PR software cost?

Most PR software vendors do not disclose pricing information on their website. However, companies can expect to pay at least a few thousand dollars per year up to $15K or $20K per year for comprehensive PR platforms that include a media database.