Meltwater
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you're a midsize-or-larger PR/comms team that needs global media monitoring and can absorb quote-based annual contracts.
Comparison
Meltwater vs Muck Rack
Meltwater and Muck Rack both land on Depends.
Muck Rack
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy it if PR and media outreach is a core function for your team and you can absorb an annual, quote-based contract.
| Compare | Meltwater | Muck Rack |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Enterprise PR and comms teams | In-house comms teams at funded startups |
| Who it's not for | Startups and small businesses on tight budgets | Solo founders pitching a handful of journalists |
| Privacy | Trust center, formal security program, Microsoft 365 certified, public vulnerability disclosure; registered as a California data broker.11 | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed. |
| Support quality | Sales called hyper-aggressive; mixed service reports | No clear evidence found in sources |
| Public sentiment | Users praise monitoring breadth and data coverage but consistently flag high prices and aggressive sales.¹ | Users praise the journalist database and daily monitoring workflow across G2 and Reddit, while complaining that pricing is opaque and inconsistent.16 |
| Biggest gotcha | No published price list; quotes vary by seats and needs. Expect annual commitments.⁸ | Quote-based pricing; Reddit users report inconsistent quotes between buyers |
Pick Meltwater when
- Enterprise PR and comms teams
- Global brand monitoring across markets
- Agencies needing reporter and influencer data
- Teams proving PR ROI to executives
When Meltwater is not a fit
- Startups and small businesses on tight budgets
- Anyone wanting transparent, self-serve pricing
- Teams that only need simple social scheduling
- Buyers allergic to pushy sales and annual contracts
Pick Muck Rack when
- In-house comms teams at funded startups
- PR agencies managing multiple clients
- Teams migrating off Cision
- Media-list-heavy outreach programs
When Muck Rack is not a fit
- Solo founders pitching a handful of journalists
- Small businesses that only need a media contact list
- Buyers demanding transparent, self-serve pricing
- Teams wanting broad social listening beyond PR
Sources
- Meltwater Reviews on G2g2.comreview
review
- Trustpilot reviews of meltwater.comtrustpilot.comreview
- Meltwater thoughts . r/PublicRelationsreddit.comreview
review
- Agorapulse: Meltwater Pricing reviewagorapulse.comreview
- Meltwater Pricing (2026) . Rephonicrephonic.comnews
- Meltwater Pricing pagemeltwater.comofficial
- Meltwater on Vendr marketplacevendr.comnews
- Meltwater Trust Centertrust.meltwater.comsecurity
- Optery statement on Meltwater emailsoptery.comsecurity
security
- Microsoft 365 App Certification . Meltwaterlearn.microsoft.comsecurity
- Meltwater company . LinkedInlinkedin.comofficial
- Meltwater gets $65M . TechCrunchtechcrunch.comnews