Earned vs Muck Rack
Both help you get in front of the right journalists. They are built for different people. If you run press for a company with a communications team and dozens of campaigns a year, Muck Rack is the standard tool. If you are a founder pitching your own story a few times a year, Earned does the parts you need and adds people who have done this before.
| Earned | Muck Rack | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Founders doing their own press | PR and communications teams, agencies |
| Price | $149 a quarter (Solo), $299 (Growth), $699 (Launch). Annual from $499 a year. | Not published. Third-party pricing guides put entry contracts at around $5,000 a year. |
| Free trial | Yes, 3 days on every plan, plus a free reporter match with no card | Not advertised; contact Muck Rack's sales team |
| Contract | Quarterly or annual, cancel renewal any time | Annual |
| Journalists | More than 750 reporters, editors and podcast hosts, researched by hand for startup beats | More than 250,000, with journalist-maintained profiles |
| Finding reporters | Journalist Match ranks your 10 best-fit reporters with a story angle for each | Search and filters, plus an AI media list assistant |
| Pitches | Drafted from your profile; you send from your own inbox | Pitch editor that sends from your connected inbox, with open and click tracking |
| Tracking | BCC your private log address and pitches, replies and coverage are logged on your Outreach board | Built-in tracking of sent pitches |
| Newsjacking | News Pulse finds the day's stories your company can speak to, with an angle and a drafted pitch, on every plan | Newsjacking opportunities on higher plans |
| Press requests | Live journalist requests, plus a human desk that puts members forward | Media requests |
| Coverage and reporting | Daily check for your company and founder name in the news, and a one-page press report for investors | Full media monitoring, alerts and coverage reports |
| People | The Earned desk, and the Editors' Council: former editors from publications including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times | Customer success and support |
Muck Rack details come from Muck Rack's public announcements and third-party pricing guides as of October 2026, and may have changed. Check with Muck Rack for current plans and prices.
For a founder doing their own press, yes. Earned matches you with the reporters most likely to cover your company, drafts each pitch, tracks your outreach and coverage, and adds a human press desk. If you later hire a communications team that needs a very large database and full monitoring, Muck Rack is built for that, and your Earned history stays yours.
A seed-stage founder does not need 250,000 journalists. They need the 10 who cover their space and a reason for each to care. Earned's directory is researched by hand for the beats startups get covered on, and reporters can review and correct their own entries.
No. You send every pitch from your own inbox, so the relationship is yours. BCC your private Earned log address and the pitch is logged automatically. Earned never emails reporters for you.
No, and anyone who promises it should worry you. Editorial decisions belong to the publications and their reporters. Earned improves your odds: the right reporters, a sharper angle, better timing and pitches editors have read.
Muck Rack is a trademark of its owner. Earned is not affiliated with or endorsed by Muck Rack.