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HARO vs Meltwater

HARO logo

HARO

News

Help A Reporter Out - connecting journalists with expert sources

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Meltwater logo

Meltwater

News

Media intelligence and social listening platform

From
$15000/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only HARO has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: HARO hARO was rebranded and phased out by Cision in favor of Connectively (www.connectively.us) starting early 2024, per the vendor's own helpareporter.com notice (Internet Archive capture, 2023); Meltwater real-time accuracy issues reported, particularly for niche industries or non-English content
  • They diverge on capability: HARO covers Daily journalist queries, Meltwater covers Media monitoring.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which HARO and Meltwater actually diverge.

Attributes where HARO and Meltwater differ
AttributeHAROMeltwater
Starting priceFree$15000/year
Pricing modelfreemiumUnknown
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, EmailWeb, iOS, Android
Founded20082001

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (News).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in HARO

  • Daily journalist queries
  • Source submissions
  • Query archives
  • Response tracking
  • Source directory
  • Email matching
  • Profile management
  • Email

Only in Meltwater

  • Media monitoring
  • Social listening
  • Influencer discovery
  • Sentiment analysis
  • Competitive intelligence
  • PR analytics
  • Report automation
  • Crisis monitoring

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

HARO

  • Finding expert sourcesnot Meltwater
  • Press coveragenot Meltwater
  • Expert positioningnot Meltwater
  • Media relationsnot Meltwater

Meltwater

  • Media monitoringnot HARO
  • Influencer researchnot HARO
  • Brand trackingnot HARO
  • Crisis managementnot HARO

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

HARO

  • HARO was rebranded and phased out by Cision in favor of Connectively (www.connectively.us) starting early 2024, per the vendor's own helpareporter.com notice (Internet Archive capture, 2023)

Meltwater

  • Real-time accuracy issues reported, particularly for niche industries or non-English content
  • Limited media contact database at 380,000-400,000 contacts compared to competitors like Cision
  • Cumbersome dashboard navigation and reporting interface requiring multi-step menu access for data exports
  • Annual contracts with limited ability to scale down; risky for businesses with fluctuating needs

Pricing, plan by plan

HARO

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Daily email alerts
    • Query submissions
    • Source directory
  • Pro$19.99/month
    • Advanced features
    • Priority support
    • Analytics

Meltwater

$15000/year
  • Essentials$15000/year
    • Core media monitoring
    • Brand mention tracking
    • Industry trend monitoring
  • Suite$25000/year
    • Media monitoring
    • Social listening
    • Cross-department analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose HARO if

  • You need daily journalist queries.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Email.
  • You also want source submissions.
HARO review

Choose Meltwater if

  • You need media monitoring.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want social listening.
Meltwater review

Questions people ask

Is HARO or Meltwater better?
Neither clearly leads. HARO starts at Free and Meltwater at $15000/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, HARO or Meltwater?
HARO has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for HARO and $15000/year for Meltwater.
Does HARO or Meltwater run on more platforms?
HARO runs on Web, Email. Meltwater runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use HARO for free?
Yes. HARO has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Meltwater starts at $15000/year.
What is HARO best used for?
HARO is most often used for finding expert sources, press coverage, expert positioning, media relations. Of those, finding expert sources and press coverage are not what Meltwater is typically brought in for.
What can HARO do that Meltwater cannot?
HARO covers Daily journalist queries, Source submissions, Query archives, Response tracking. Meltwater covers Media monitoring, Social listening, Influencer discovery, Sentiment analysis. Both handle Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Meltwater: How much does Meltwater cost?

Meltwater does not publish pricing; all quotes require a sales call and annual contract. Median annual cost is approximately $25,000, with mid-market PR teams typically paying $15,000-$40,000 depending on users, coverage volume, and features.

Source
Meltwater: What sources does Meltwater monitor?

Meltwater monitors 200M+ online publications, 400,000+ traditional media sources, 20,000+ podcasts, TV/radio across all 210 US DMAs, and social platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, WeChat, and Weibo.

Source
Meltwater: What languages does Meltwater support?

Meltwater provides global multilingual support with consistent accuracy across 100+ languages for sentiment analysis and content classification.

Source
Meltwater: Does Meltwater include journalist/media contact information?

Meltwater's media database includes approximately 380,000-400,000 contacts, smaller than competitors like Cision (1.1M). Media database and GenAI Lens are separate paid add-ons.

Source
Meltwater: Can I export Meltwater reports?

Yes, Meltwater generates custom dashboards and reports tailored to stakeholders. Mira AI assistant can generate summaries and insights from monitoring data.

Source
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