muck-rack vs connectively
Muck Rack vs Connectively — features, pricing, and which to choose for your SEO workflow in 2026.
Quick Verdict
Muck Rack and Connectively represent two different approaches to digital PR. Muck Rack is a comprehensive PR management platform with an extensive journalist database, media monitoring, and outreach tools. Connectively (formerly HARO) operates as a source-journalist matching service where reporters post queries and sources respond with expertise.
The fundamental difference: Muck Rack is about proactive outreach to journalists you identify, while Connectively is about reactive responses to journalist requests. One requires you to hunt for opportunities, the other delivers opportunities to your inbox three times daily.
Feature Comparison
Muck Rack provides a searchable database of over 1 million journalists with contact information, beat coverage, and recent articles. You can build custom media lists, track journalist activity, and send personalized pitches directly through the platform. Their media monitoring tracks mentions across news sites, and their reporting shows which journalists cover your stories most frequently. Connectively operates differently — journalists post specific queries seeking expert sources, and you respond if you match their needs. You receive three daily email digests with categorized queries spanning business, lifestyle, tech, and more. There's no database to search, no contact information to manage, just direct responses to active journalist requests. Muck Rack also includes team collaboration features, campaign management, and detailed analytics on pitch performance. Connectively focuses purely on the matching process with basic response tracking.
Pricing Comparison
Connectively offers a free tier with access to all journalist queries, making it accessible for solopreneurs and small businesses. Their paid plans start around $19/month for enhanced features like advanced filtering and priority placement. Muck Rack uses custom pricing that typically starts around $300-500 per user per month for their basic plan, with enterprise features pushing costs significantly higher. The pricing reflects access to their proprietary journalist database and comprehensive PR management suite. For budget-conscious users, Connectively delivers immediate value at zero cost. Muck Rack's pricing makes sense for agencies and larger companies managing multiple PR campaigns simultaneously.
Best For
Muck Rack works best for PR agencies, in-house PR teams, and companies running ongoing media relations campaigns. If you need to identify specific journalists covering your industry, build targeted media lists, and track long-term relationships, Muck Rack's database and tools justify the investment. Connectively suits freelancers, small business owners, and subject matter experts looking for earned media opportunities. If you have expertise worth sharing but lack PR resources, responding to journalist queries through Connectively can generate quality backlinks and media mentions without upfront costs.
The Verdict
Choose Connectively if you're starting with digital PR or working with limited budgets. The free tier provides genuine opportunities for media coverage, and success depends more on your expertise and responsiveness than tool sophistication. Choose Muck Rack if you're running serious PR operations that require proactive journalist outreach, team coordination, and detailed campaign analytics. The cost difference reflects fundamentally different approaches to earning media coverage.