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Meltwater vs Muck Rack

Meltwater logo

Meltwater

News

Media intelligence and social listening platform

From
$15000/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Muck Rack logo

Muck Rack

News

The new standard in PR software

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Meltwater real-time accuracy issues reported, particularly for niche industries or non-English content; Muck Rack no specific prices published; all pricing is based on customized proposals based on team size and user count
  • They diverge on capability: Meltwater covers Social listening, Muck Rack covers Media database.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Meltwater and Muck Rack actually diverge.

Attributes where Meltwater and Muck Rack differ
AttributeMeltwaterMuck Rack
Starting price$15000/yearOn request
Pricing modelUnknownsubscription
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Browser-extension
Founded20012009

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Meltwater

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

Only in Muck Rack

  • Media database
  • Journalist profiles
  • Pitching platform
  • Coverage reporting
  • Google Analytics
  • CRM systems
  • Browser-extension support

Both cover

  • Media monitoring
  • Salesforce
  • Slack
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Meltwater

  • Media monitoringnot Muck Rack
  • Influencer researchnot Muck Rack
  • Brand trackingnot Muck Rack
  • Crisis managementnot Muck Rack

Muck Rack

  • Finding and pitching journalists from a media databasenot Meltwater
  • Monitoring coverage and measuring PR resultsnot Meltwater

Where each one falls short

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

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

Muck Rack

  • No specific prices published; all pricing is based on customized proposals based on team size and user count
  • Starter plan has limited features compared to Standard and Premier (no podcast monitoring or curation engine)
  • Sentiment analysis on Starter uses basic NLP, while Premier uses AI-powered analysis

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Muck Rack

On request
  • ProFree
    • Media database
    • Media monitoring
    • Pitching tools
  • EnterpriseFree
    • All Pro features
    • Team management
    • SSO integration

Which should you pick?

Choose Meltwater if

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

Choose Muck Rack if

  • You need media database.
  • You work on Web, Browser-extension.
  • You also want journalist profiles.
Muck Rack review

Questions people ask

Is Meltwater or Muck Rack better?
Neither clearly leads. Meltwater starts at $15000/year and Muck Rack at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Meltwater or Muck Rack?
Meltwater starts at $15000/year and Muck Rack at On request.
Does Meltwater or Muck Rack run on more platforms?
Meltwater runs on Web, iOS, Android. Muck Rack runs on Web, Browser-extension.
What is Meltwater best used for?
Meltwater is most often used for media monitoring, influencer research, brand tracking, crisis management. Of those, media monitoring and influencer research are not what Muck Rack is typically brought in for.
What can Meltwater do that Muck Rack cannot?
Meltwater covers Social listening, Influencer discovery, Sentiment analysis, Competitive intelligence. Muck Rack covers Media database, Journalist profiles, Pitching platform, Coverage reporting. Both handle Media monitoring, Salesforce, Slack, 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
Muck Rack: How are Muck Rack plans priced?

Muck Rack pricing is not published. The platform offers three tiers (Starter, Standard, and Premier) with customized pricing that depends on several factors including team size and number of users. Interested customers must contact sales for a personalized quote.

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
Muck Rack: What features does Muck Rack Standard plan include?

Muck Rack Standard includes media monitoring and alerts, podcast monitoring, AI visibility badges, AI journalist recommendations, full media list exports, and NLP-based sentiment analysis. It is marked as the most popular plan on their pricing page.

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
Muck Rack: What is unique about Muck Rack Premier plan?

Muck Rack Premier is the highest tier and adds the Curation Engine and AI-powered sentiment analysis (versus basic NLP). It includes Muck Rack API access and is targeted at enterprises and advanced teams.

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
Muck Rack: What add-ons are available for Muck Rack?

Muck Rack offers multiple add-ons with pricing not specified: Print and Broadcast Monitoring, Social Listening, Press Release Distribution, Muck Rack API (Premier tier), Media Intelligence Services, and Generative Pulse.

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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