muck-rack vs terkel
Muck Rack vs Terkel — features, pricing, and which to choose for your SEO workflow in 2026.
Quick Verdict
Muck Rack and Terkel approach digital PR from completely different angles, making this a choice between established media relationship building versus modern expert positioning. Muck Rack gives you the tools to find and pitch journalists directly, while Terkel positions you as an expert source for publishers already looking for quotes.
The fundamental difference comes down to proactive versus reactive PR. With Muck Rack, you're actively hunting for opportunities and pitching stories. With Terkel, you're responding to inbound requests from publishers who need expert commentary. This difference shapes everything from pricing to workflow.
Feature Comparison
Muck Rack provides a comprehensive journalist database with over 1 million media contacts, advanced search filters by beat, publication, and location, plus media monitoring to track your brand mentions and competitor coverage. Their CRM-style outreach tools let you manage ongoing relationships with reporters, track email opens, and organize campaigns across your PR team. Terkel operates more like a matchmaking platform. Publishers post requests for expert sources on specific topics, and you respond with your credentials and quotes. The platform handles the matching process and tracks which responses turn into published articles with backlinks. You can browse active requests by industry, set up alerts for relevant topics, and build a profile showcasing your expertise. Muck Rack's media monitoring covers traditional news, blogs, podcasts, and social media with sentiment analysis and competitive tracking. Terkel focuses purely on connecting you with active content creators rather than monitoring existing coverage.
Pricing Comparison
Terkel starts at $99 per month with a free tier that lets you respond to a limited number of requests, making it accessible for solopreneurs and small businesses testing the waters. Their paid plans increase your monthly response limits and provide priority matching. Muck Rack uses custom pricing starting around $300-500 per month for basic plans, scaling up to thousands monthly for enterprise accounts with full database access and team features. The investment makes sense for established PR teams but creates a significant barrier for smaller operations.
Best For
Muck Rack works best for established businesses with dedicated PR teams or agencies managing multiple clients. If you're running systematic media outreach campaigns, need comprehensive journalist research capabilities, or managing PR for enterprise-level brands, Muck Rack's database depth and relationship management tools justify the premium pricing. Terkel suits individual experts, consultants, and small businesses looking to build authority through media mentions without the overhead of traditional PR outreach. It's particularly effective for subject matter experts in specific niches who can provide valuable commentary but lack the resources for full-scale media relations campaigns.
The Verdict
Choose Terkel if you're an expert in your field looking to build backlinks and brand authority through media mentions without breaking the bank or learning complex PR workflows. Choose Muck Rack if you're serious about systematic media relations, have the budget for professional-grade tools, and need the depth of features that come with an established platform serving major PR teams.