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HARO vs Roxhill

HARO logo

HARO

News

Help A Reporter Out - connecting journalists with expert sources

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Roxhill logo

Roxhill

Marketing

UK-focused journalist database and media monitoring, founder-owned and annual only

From
On request
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); Roxhill the database is UK-centric by reviewers’ own account, with weak US, Australian and broader Asian journalist coverage, so any multi-market programme needs a second vendor and the single-vendor cost case disappears.
  • They diverge on capability: HARO covers Daily journalist queries, Roxhill covers Journalist database.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which HARO and Roxhill actually diverge.

Attributes where HARO and Roxhill differ
AttributeHARORoxhill
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, EmailWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryNewsMarketing
Founded2008Unknown

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

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 Roxhill

  • Journalist database
  • Journalist profiles
  • Media lists and distribution
  • Media requests and alerts
  • Media monitoring
  • Bespoke newsletters
  • Historical search
  • Journalist Assistant

What people use each for

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

HARO

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

Roxhill

  • A UK in-house press office that needs journalist contacts with current pitching preferences rather than a scraped byline list.not HARO
  • An agency tracking forward features across UK trade and consumer titles to place clients into planned coverage months ahead.not HARO
  • A communications team monitoring named spokespeople and measuring their share of voice against competitors in UK media.not HARO
  • A UK public sector body procuring through G-Cloud that needs EEA-hosted media monitoring with a published framework price band.not 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)

Roxhill

  • The database is UK-centric by reviewers’ own account, with weak US, Australian and broader Asian journalist coverage, so any multi-market programme needs a second vendor and the single-vendor cost case disappears.
  • Contact records go stale: reviewers report old email addresses and phone numbers, distribution bounces, and there is no self-serve verification step before you send.
  • At roughly 200,000 to 300,000 journalists it is far smaller than the million-plus figures Cision and Prowly claim, with repeated complaints about thin trade, academic and journal coverage.
  • Selling is annual only with no monthly plan and a trial functionally restricted to around two weeks, so you cannot genuinely pilot before a twelve-month commitment, which is a poor fit for project or retainer agency work.
  • Licence bands are 1, 3 and 5 seats, and extra logins, workspaces, smart folders, historical search, share of voice and the spokespeople platform are all chargeable add-ons, so a team of eight to fifteen pays well above any headline band.
  • Search behaviour is described as counter-intuitive and sometimes returns implausibly few results, which means a null result cannot be trusted and lists need manual cross-checking.
  • Monitoring accuracy takes time to settle after switching, so coverage is missed in the first weeks after a cutover, which is a real gap risk if you time the migration badly.

Pricing, plan by plan

HARO

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

Roxhill

On request
  • Core$undefined/year
    • 1 licence
    • Standard database access
    • Journalist Assistant
  • Boutique$undefined/year
    • 3 licences
    • Adds press release distribution
    • 3 workspaces, 6 smart folders, 10 spokespeople, 3 newsletters
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • 5 licences
    • 5 workspaces, 10 smart folders, 5 newsletters
    • Spokespeople platform
  • Premium$undefined/year
    • Everything in Enterprise
    • Insights analysis and bespoke reporting
    • Competitor share of voice

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 Roxhill if

  • You need journalist database.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want journalist profiles.
Roxhill review

Questions people ask

Is HARO or Roxhill better?
Neither clearly leads. HARO starts at Free and Roxhill at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, HARO or Roxhill?
HARO has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for HARO and On request for Roxhill.
Does HARO or Roxhill run on more platforms?
HARO runs on Web, Email. Roxhill runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use HARO for free?
Yes. HARO has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Roxhill starts at On request.
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 Roxhill is typically brought in for.
What can HARO do that Roxhill cannot?
HARO covers Daily journalist queries, Source submissions, Query archives, Response tracking. Roxhill covers Journalist database, Journalist profiles, Media lists and distribution, Media requests and alerts.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Roxhill: How much does Roxhill cost?

Not published on the vendor site, but the UK G-Cloud 14 listing discloses £6,450 to £25,000 per instance per year. Use that as your anchor.

Roxhill: Is Roxhill owned by Cision or Access Intelligence?

No. Companies House shows a single individual holding over 75% of shares and no corporate PSC. It is founder-controlled and unfunded. Note the founder previously sold Gorkana to Cision, so ask for a change-of-control clause.

Roxhill: Is it usable for US or APAC media relations?

Not well. Reviewers describe US, Australian and Asian coverage as materially weaker than UK. Budget for a second database.

Roxhill: Can I buy monthly?

No. Contracts are annual, sales-gated, with a trial of around two weeks.

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