PressPilot gives you about 45,600 journalist and media contacts, 14,000 of them in the United States, searchable by country, topic and outlet. You pay per journalist you send your release to, from 0.22 EUR (about $0.25) on the Pro plan, with no annual contract. Muck Rack and Cision sell yearly licences from 5,000 and 7,200 USD.
What is in the database
- About 45,600 journalist and media contacts across more than 85 countries.
- About 14,000 in the United States, the largest country in the base, then Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Canada.
- Mostly general news desks and reporters, then lifestyle, business, culture, entertainment and tech. Specialist trade press (a niche B2B vertical, a single medical specialty) is thinner. If your story only fits ten trade titles, check that they are covered before you pay; you can also add those journalists yourself.
- Each contact shows a name or role and the outlet, never the email address. You pick the people; PressPilot sends the release to their professional address.
How to search it
- Country first. Pick the United States, another country, or several countries at once.
- Then topic. Filter by beat: news, business, tech, lifestyle, culture, entertainment, travel, sports, media.
- Or search an outlet by name. Type the publication and see which of its journalists are in the base.
- Add your own contacts. Import a CSV of reporters you already know and include them in the same send.
- Send and track. The release goes out from the same screen, and each recipient's opens and clicks show up in the campaign report. Every release also gets a public page journalists can cite.
What it costs compared with annual media databases
The large media databases sell yearly licences and rarely publish their prices. The figures below come from buyers and vendors who documented them, with their dates. PressPilot is the only one in this table that prices per journalist reached.
| Tool | Pricing model | Price | Per contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| PressPilot | Per journalist reached, no contract | 29 EUR (about $32) a month for 100 journalists, or 60 EUR (about $67) for a one-off pack of 100. presspilot.io (October 2026), European Central Bank (9 October 2026) | From 0.22 EUR (about $0.25) on the Pro plan to 0.60 EUR (about $0.67) on the smallest pack |
| Muck Rack | Annual licence | Reported at 5,000 USD a year for one user; median contract 13,000 USD. Prezly Academy (August 2026), Vendr (February 2026) | Not sold per contact |
| Cision | Annual licence | From about 7,200 USD a year; median contract 12,625 USD. Prezly Academy (August 2026), Vendr (February 2026) | Not sold per contact |
| Meltwater | Annual licence, auto-renewal | Starter from 10,000 USD a year; median purchase 25,800 USD. Meltwater blog (9 July 2026), Vendr (February 2026) | Not sold per contact |
| Prowly | Subscription billed annually | 258 USD a month billed annually. Prezly Academy (25 August 2026) | Not sold per contact |
The annual tools include more than a contact list (monitoring, analytics, a full CRM), which is what the licence pays for. If you mainly need the right journalists and a way to reach them, paying per contact is far cheaper below a few thousand sends a year. See the details in Muck Rack pricing, Cision pricing, Meltwater pricing and Prowly pricing.
PressPilot plans
Prices exclude VAT. One credit sends your release to one journalist. Unused subscription credits roll over.
| Plan | Price | Journalists | Per journalist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Startup | 29 EUR (about $32) a month | 100 journalists a month | 0.29 EUR (about $0.33) |
| Team | 79 EUR (about $89) a month | 300 journalists a month | 0.26 EUR (about $0.30) |
| Pro | 179 EUR (about $201) a month | 800 journalists a month | 0.22 EUR (about $0.25) |
| Packs, no subscription | 60, 195, 340 or 750 EUR (about $67, $219, $381, $840) | 100, 500, 1,000 or 2,500 journalists, never expire | 0.60 to 0.30 EUR (about $0.67 to $0.34) |
A database versus a bought media list
A media list bought as a spreadsheet starts ageing the day you download it: reporters change beats and outlets, and you still need a tool to send, track and handle unsubscribes. A database you search at the moment you send avoids both problems. Addresses that bounce are excluded from later searches, and you never handle the addresses yourself. If you prefer to build your own list, our guide on who to send a press release to walks through it, and the media list glossary entry covers the basics.
How the database is kept up to date
Contacts are collected from public editorial sources and checked when added. Addresses that bounce are flagged after a send and taken out of the next selections, and addresses that are not editorial (subscriptions, advertising, recruitment) are excluded from search. Specialist sectors are added outlet by outlet, from the publications' own contact pages.
Privacy and anti-spam rules
Every email sent through PressPilot carries an unsubscribe link, and opt-out requests are honoured, as CAN-SPAM requires in the US. The data is hosted in the European Union under GDPR. Sending one relevant release to a journalist's professional address is standard practice; blasting the whole base is not, and it does not work either.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a free database of journalists?
- Not a complete one. Outlet staff pages, author bylines and social bios are free but slow to compile, and free tools usually cap searches or hide contact details. PressPilot lets you create an account for free, browse the database by country and topic, and pay only when you send: from 29 EUR (about $32) a month for 100 journalists.
- How do I find a journalist's contact details?
- Start from articles they wrote on your topic, then check the outlet's staff page and the author bio. A database saves that step: in PressPilot you filter by country, topic or outlet name, select the journalists, and the release goes to their professional address without you handling the email yourself.
- How much does a media contact database cost?
- Enterprise databases sell annual licences: Muck Rack is reported at 5,000 USD a year for one user (Prezly, August 2026), Cision from about 7,200 USD (Prezly, August 2026) and Meltwater from 10,000 USD (Meltwater, July 2026). PressPilot charges per journalist reached instead: 29 EUR (about $32) a month for 100, with no annual contract.
- How many journalists are in the PressPilot database?
- About 45,600 journalist and media contacts across more than 85 countries, read on 10 October 2026. The United States is the largest country with about 14,000 contacts, mostly general news, then lifestyle, business, culture, entertainment and tech. Niche trade press is thinner, and we say so.
- Can I see journalists' email addresses?
- No. Each contact shows a name or role and the outlet, never the email address. You choose who receives your release and PressPilot sends it, with an unsubscribe link and open and click tracking per recipient. This keeps the database from being scraped and the journalists from being spammed.
- Is a journalist database better than buying a media list?
- A bought list is a file that starts ageing the day you download it, and you still need a sending tool. A database you search when you need it, with sending and tracking built in, avoids both problems. You can also import your own contacts by CSV and send to them from the same campaign.
- Is it legal to email journalists with a database like this?
- Sending a relevant press release to a journalist's professional address is standard practice. Every PressPilot email carries an unsubscribe link and honours opt-outs, in line with CAN-SPAM in the US and GDPR in the EU, where the data is hosted.
Related pages
- Send a press release to journalists
- Free AI press release generator
- Best press release distribution platforms
- How much does a press release cost?
- Muck Rack vs PressPilot
- All PressPilot features
Find your journalists, then send in the same place
Create a free account, filter the database by country and topic, and send your release to the journalists you pick. From 29 EUR (about $32) a month for 100 journalists, no annual contract.