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Marketing · head to head

Roxhill vs VWO

Roxhill logo

Roxhill

Marketing

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

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
VWO logo

VWO

Marketing

Experience Optimization Platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only VWO has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; VWO growth plan restricted to 1 workspace and 0 custom attributes
  • They diverge on capability: Roxhill covers Journalist database, VWO covers A/B testing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Roxhill and VWO actually diverge.

Attributes where Roxhill and VWO differ
AttributeRoxhillVWO
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteusage-based
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android, Server-side
FoundedUnknown2007

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

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 Roxhill

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

Only in VWO

  • A/B testing
  • Multivariate testing
  • Heatmaps
  • Session recordings
  • Analytics
  • Google Analytics
  • Slack
  • SSL encryption

What people use each for

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

Roxhill

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

VWO

  • A/B testing and multivariate testingnot Roxhill
  • Conversion rate optimisationnot Roxhill
  • Behavioural analytics and session recordingsnot Roxhill
  • Feature experimentation and progressive rolloutsnot Roxhill

Where each one falls short

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

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.

VWO

  • Growth plan restricted to 1 workspace and 0 custom attributes
  • Single Sign-On (SSO) and API access limited to Enterprise tier only
  • Growth plan offers only 8-hour first response time for support

Pricing, plan by plan

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

VWO

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the VWO review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Roxhill if

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

Choose VWO if

  • You need a/b testing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Server-side.
  • You also want multivariate testing.
VWO review

Questions people ask

Is Roxhill or VWO better?
Neither clearly leads. Roxhill starts at On request and VWO at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Roxhill or VWO?
VWO has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Roxhill and Free for VWO.
Does Roxhill or VWO run on more platforms?
Roxhill runs on Web, iOS, Android. VWO runs on Web, iOS, Android, Server-side.
Can I use VWO for free?
Yes. VWO has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Roxhill starts at On request.
What is Roxhill best used for?
Roxhill is most often used for a uk in-house press office that needs journalist contacts with current pitching preferences rather than a scraped byline list., an agency tracking forward features across uk trade and consumer titles to place clients into planned coverage months ahead., a communications team monitoring named spokespeople and measuring their share of voice against competitors in uk media., a uk public sector body procuring through g-cloud that needs eea-hosted media monitoring with a published framework price band.. Of those, a uk in-house press office that needs journalist contacts with current pitching preferences rather than a scraped byline list. and an agency tracking forward features across uk trade and consumer titles to place clients into planned coverage months ahead. are not what VWO is typically brought in for.
What can Roxhill do that VWO cannot?
Roxhill covers Journalist database, Journalist profiles, Media lists and distribution, Media requests and alerts. VWO covers A/B testing, Multivariate testing, Heatmaps, Session recordings.

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.

VWO: Is there a free trial available?

Free for 30 days. No credit card required to start the trial.

Source
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.

VWO: Are there limits on users or metrics?

Run unlimited optimization at scale with no limit on variations, account users, metrics, session recordings, or integrations.

Source
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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