HARO was taken out back by Cision and quietly put down in late 2024, but was recently sold to Featured.com on April 15th which promised a comeback today, April 23rd! I’ve been checking my inbox for most of today to see what this new version (or if it’s more of an absorption) looks like.
And as I have yet to see anything, the idea for this blog post sprang to mind… So whilst HARO’s still officially dead, there’s still a raging power vacuum, and a lot of users about to re-focus their time on the main platform again. Which all means opportunity!
Because whether you were using it for juicy DR80 media backlinks, brand mentions, trust building, or actual press… that gap needs to be filled.
And if you can tap into these alternatives before the masses come crawling back to whatever Frankenstein version of HARO gets reanimated, you’ve got a window to dominate.
In fact, most SEOs never realised HARO was never the best source of media links, it was just the most popular…
The real wins came from:
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Niche and geolocale platforms with WAY less competition
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AI powered targeting that sent you the right queries
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Places where journalists actually hang out and respond
So in this post, we’re going to break down the 9 best HARO alternatives available in 2025. Not just the ones that sound good in theory, but the ones that actually land links, coverage, and offer solid trust signals.
What Is HARO (And Why Did SEOs Love It So Much)?
HARO, short for Help A Reporter Out, was basically Craigslist (Gumtree for us Brits) for journalists.
A reporter needed a quote, expert opinion, or source?
They’d post a request.
And every PR person, SEO, founder and self declared “thought leader” would jump at the chance to reply in hope of getting a backlink in return.
It started out as a humble little mailing list in 2008.
By 2010, it was a link building goldmine.
By 2015, it had turned into the single easiest way to get featured on DR 80+ sites without paying $1,000 for a guest post or praying your cold email didn’t land in spam.
You could land links from:
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Forbes
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Business Insider
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CNN
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The Times
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Washington Post, HuffPost, NYT, the whole media circus, literally!
…simply by writing a decent 3 paragraph pitch with some authority behind your name, or a name for that matter (a lot of fake personas were being used).
So what happened?
HARO got bloated.
It went from “exclusive media access” to “every spammy crypto bro replying to every pitch with ChatGPT-generated fluff.”
Eventually, Cision bought it, turned it into a lead gen machine, slapped it behind a terrible UI (Connectively), and stopped caring about quality.
And by the end of 2024?
It was basically dead.
No useful queries. No high DR features. No results.
A lot of journalists didn’t give up though, they just simply found alternatives…
What You Actually Want from a HARO Alternative
Most HARO copycats will brag about their “media databases” and “AI pitch personalization” just to sell you a subscription – Cool, but completely irrelevant if your goal is to:
- Get real, earned media mentions ✅
- Build backlinks that Google actually values ✅
- Connect with journalists without sending 47 follow ups ✅
- Position your clients or brand as a topical authority ✅
Here’s what matters:
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Journalists (our core target audience) actually use the platform
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You get queries that match your niche
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You can land links from top tier or niche relevant media
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It doesn’t take 2 hours to write a pitch
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Ideally doesn’t cost more than your CRM
Most of the platforms listed here tick at least 3-4 of those boxes. But if you’re serious about PR-as-SEO, then start building SOPs around these tools now, before everyone and their ghostwriter floods them – And if you want to get guaranteed media placements, then book a call with our team.
1. Prowly
💰 From $258/month
🔗 https://prowly.com
🎯 Best For: Full-scale PR campaigns, media list building, digital press rooms
Why It’s a Killer HARO Alternative:
Prowly isn’t just a query response platform, it’s a full PR tech stack.
You get access to a global media database, press release builders, campaign tracking, journalist CRM tools, and even AI powered pitch templates.
Think of it as HARO + Cision + Notion, built for PR nerds who don’t want to code spreadsheets.
Use it if you:
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Run PR for a brand or agency
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Want to build owned media infrastructure
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Need outreach beyond “Hey, can I be a source?”
🔥 Pro Tip: Use the Prowly AI assistant to create industry specific pitches at scale and pair that with a “Pitch Tracker” to A/B test which angles land the most mentions.
2. Featured (formerly Terkel)
💰 Contact for pricing
🔗 https://featured.com
🎯 Best For: Thought-leader exposure, SME placement
What Makes Featured Work:
Featured curates source opportunities based on your expertise, meaning you won’t be getting “What’s your opinion on macroeconomics in the poultry industry?” unless you ask for it.
They’ve gamified the process, making it easier to respond, track results, and build up a media profile.
You also get linkable media features (great for E-E-A-T).
🔥 Power Play: Their editorial partnerships include Yahoo Finance, CMSWire, MarTech and others — most links are dofollow and contextually placed.
3. Qwoted
💰 Free plan (2 pitches), Paid from $99/mo
🔗 https://qwoted.com
🎯 Best For: Media pros, freelancers, SMEs with a niche
Why It’s Underrated:
Qwoted gives you pitch intelligence — so you can see how competitive a query is before you waste time writing the perfect pitch no one reads.
Plus, their “Media Moves” tracker is basically your signal for knowing who’s hiring, quitting, or changing beats.
📊 Built-in CRM lets you track conversations, team assignments and pitch results without exporting 16 CSVs.
4. SourceBottle
💰 Free plan, Pro from $5.95/mo
🔗 https://sourcebottle.com
🎯 Best For: Solopreneurs, boutique PR, Aussie/NZ media
What It Does Right:
It’s the budget HARO. You’ll get callouts, email alerts, and giveaway options — all tailored by niche.
Not the flashiest UI, but extremely effective in local PR markets.
Use it if you’re targeting:
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🇦🇺 Australian media
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🇬🇧 UK lifestyle + SME publications
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🎯 Targeted product exposure (reviews, trials, etc.)
5. ProfNet (Cision)
💰 Free for journalists, $1,650/year for experts
🔗 https://www.prnewswire.com/profnet/
🎯 Best For: Serious PR teams with budget
Why It’s a Heavyweight:
It’s HARO’s older, more expensive cousin. You get direct access to verified journalists from Reuters, WSJ, CNN, and trade pubs across industries.
It’s not cheap, and onboarding can be annoying — but if you’ve got the budget and want enterprise level media trust, it delivers.
💣 Agency Hack: Use one ProfNet membership across multiple clients and rotate expert bios. Just don’t make it obvious.
6. JournoRequests (via X/Twitter)
💰 Free
🔗 Search: #journorequest
🎯 Best For: Guerrilla PR and real-time journalist contact
Why You Need It:
Journalists still post urgent source requests on X (formerly Twitter). And it’s free real estate if you’re quick and strategic.
How to win:
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Monitor the hashtags:
#journorequest,#PRrequest,#mediarequest -
Set up keyword alerts using TweetDeck, Twemex or Hootsuite
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Respond fast, with value (not fluff)
🔥 Stealth Tip: Use GPT-4 to generate 3 pitch variants instantly and test which one sticks.
7. ResponseSource
💰 From £85/mo
🔗 https://responsesource.com
🎯 Best For: UK and EU-based PR / outreach
Still A Hidden Gem in the UK:
You get access to a ton of niche verticals and regional media, with journalist request digests delivered straight to your inbox.
Works well for B2C and consumer brands. If you’re pushing eco-products, food, or anything DTC in the UK, get on this.
📬 Categories include:
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Health
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Parenting
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Tech
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Finance
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Travel
8. JustReachOut
💰 From $147/month
🔗 https://justreachout.io
🎯 Best For: Startups, solopreneurs, SaaS founders
The PR Software for Founders Who Can’t Pitch
This tool helps you:
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Find journalists writing about your topic
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Get AI-generated outreach scripts
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Manage campaigns in one place
You’re not waiting for queries here — you’re starting conversations.
⚡️ Why it matters for SEO?
You can place contextual quotes in top-tier posts without being reactive, and pitch niche publications that accept founder stories as content.
9. ExpertFile
💰 From $399/month
🔗 https://expertfile.com
🎯 Best For: Academics, consultants, big-brand experts
Think of It Like LinkedIn, But Just For Experts
It’s a professional directory where journalists browse by keyword and industry to find subject-matter sources.
If your name or brand becomes searchable here, you’ll land passive PR mentions with zero cold outreach.
They also offer branded expert microsites — useful for corporate SEO and long-term brand trust-building.
Bonus: Don’t Ignore Reddit, Indie Hackers, and Podcasts
Sometimes the best “HARO-style” links don’t come from platforms, they come from communities.
- Answer niche questions on Reddit with a source link
- Be a guest on 10 micro-podcasts (they all link back in show notes)
- Offer startup advice on Indie Hackers and include your brand URL
This is the type of link building that’s technically PR, but flies so under the radar it might as well be black hat.
How To Actually Win on These Platforms (Instead of Getting Ignored Like Everyone Else)
Here’s the problem: Most people treat these HARO-style tools like a lottery. Spray. Pray. Hope the backlink gods shine down on them.
But if you want to actually land DR80 media mentions, every month, predictably, then you need a system.
Here’s how you win:
1. Be Stupidly Fast
Most journalists pick the first qualified response, not necessarily the best one.
That means if you’re sending a pitch 6 hours after the query went live, you’re wasting your time.
💣 Pro Tip: Set Gmail filters for your industry keywords + queries → push them to Slack or Telegram with Zapier → reply within 10–15 mins.
That alone will put you ahead of 95% of the list.
2. Keep Your Pitches Brutally Short
Nobody’s reading your 600-word monologue.
They want a quote they can paste in, clean and clear.
Use this framework:
Subject: Quick Quote on [Topic]
Hey [Name],
Here’s a quick quote on [specific angle of their request]:
“Your 1–2 sentence expert insight goes here. No fluff, just value.”
Let me know if you need a deeper breakdown or additional info.
[Name] – [Title, Brand, link to your About/Author page]
Attach a headshot. Link your LinkedIn.
Give them everything they need to cite you without replying.
3. Build a Swipe File of Winning Pitches
You don’t need to rewrite the wheel every time.
Create a Google Doc or Notion board of:
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Past winning quotes (that landed links)
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Query categories + angles
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Authority proof blurbs (e.g., “Founded a DTC brand that scaled to $10M”)
This becomes your PR response engine.
Plug. Edit. Send.
If you’ve got clients build one for each. SOP it. Scale it.
4. Use GPT Smartly (Not Lazily)
Yes, GPT can help… but not if you’re just copying the same “As an expert in the field of X…” paragraph as every other wannabe in your inbox.
Instead:
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Ask it for 3 tone variations: casual, expert, data driven
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Feed in your bio and tell it to pitch in your voice
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Have it shorten and clean your original pitch
GPT is your copy assistant, not your press secretary. Use it to polish, not pretend.
Final Thoughts: HARO Might Be Coming Back — But It’s Never Going to Be What It Was
Let’s face it, even if Featured.com resurrects HARO and gives it a shiny new UI, it’s still going to be infiltrated by the same spammers, fluff writers, and “SEO experts” pitching 500 word essays to lifestyle bloggers.
The real game in 2025?
It’s not in the platform, it’s in how fast, relevant, and strategically positioned your pitch is.
Whether you’re trying to:
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Build Trust (EEAT) signals
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Push client PR
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Or land press for your SaaS/EComm/startup/agency…
The tools in this list aren’t “alternatives” anymore.
They’re the mainstream now.
So get ahead of the curve. Build your expert profile.
Set alerts. Write killer 2-line insights. And scale your media mentions before the rest of SEO Twitter even realizes HARO’s still dead.
Because by the time they log back into Connectively?
You’ll already be featured.
Pun 100% intended.
