Muck Rack
Muck Rack helps PR teams find journalists and measure media coverage.
Muck Rack is a system of record for PR teams that combines journalist discovery, media monitoring, workflow automation, and analytics. It maintains an AI-powered database of over 600,000 journalists, podcasters, freelancers, and outlets, enabling PR professionals to identify the right targets instead of mass blasting. The platform monitors news across online, print, podcast, broadcast, and social channels, and serves as an operating system for PR workflows from outreach through measurement.
Problem solved
PR teams waste time on ineffective mass pitches and lack a centralized system to identify the right journalists, track relationships, monitor coverage, and measure campaign impact.
Target customer
Mid-market to enterprise PR teams, communications departments, PR agencies, and brands with dedicated communications functions; includes government, nonprofits, and large corporations
Founders
G
Gregory Galant
CEO & Co-Founder
Former associate producer at CNN and venture capitalist at Newlight Associates; founded Venture Voice podcast and co-created The Shorty Awards; mentored startups in TechStars accelerator.
L
Lee Semel
Co-Founder
Co-founder of Muck Rack; limited public background information available.
Funding history
Series A
$180M
September 7, 2022
Led by Susquehanna Growth Equity (SGE)
· Minority investment; founders and early employees liquidated portions of holdings
Total raised:
$180M
Pricing
Annual contracts starting at approximately $5,000/year for single users, mid-tier around $15,000/year, and enterprise packages exceeding $50,000/year. Requires lump sum annual payment; no month-to-month option or free trials. Exact pricing not publicly disclosed; requires sales consultation for quotes.
Notable customers
Google, Pfizer, Zapier, Duolingo, Taco Bell, Golin, International Rescue Committee, International Committee of the Red Cross, Knight Foundation, Kauffman Foundation, Penguin Random House
Website
Competitors
Cision
Broader media intelligence platform with stronger broadcast/traditional media focus; less emphasis on workflow automation and AI-driven recommendations.
PR Newswire
Primarily a distribution-focused platform; less emphasis on journalist discovery and relationship management compared to Muck Rack's database-centric approach.
Agility PR Solutions
Competitor in media monitoring space but smaller user base and less advanced AI capabilities for journalist recommendations.
Why this matters: Muck Rack achieved the largest growth equity investment in PR tech history ($180M from Susquehanna in 2022) despite 13 years of bootstrap growth, demonstrating strong unit economics and market validation. The company's focus on AI-powered journalist recommendations and workflow automation is reshaping how PR teams approach media relations, shifting the industry away from mass-blast strategies toward targeted, relationship-driven outreach.
Best for: Mid-market to enterprise PR teams and agencies looking for a centralized platform to identify journalists, manage relationships, monitor coverage, and measure campaign effectiveness.
Use cases
Targeted journalist outreach
PR professionals use Muck Rack's AI-powered database to identify journalists covering their industry or beat, filtering by publication, beat, and engagement history. Instead of mass blasts to 1,000 contacts, teams can pitch 20-30 highly relevant journalists, increasing coverage rates significantly.
Media monitoring and reputation management
Communications teams monitor mentions across 600,000+ news sources, podcasts, and social platforms in real-time. When a competitive announcement or crisis mentions the brand, teams instantly see coverage, assess sentiment, and coordinate response across earned, owned, and paid channels.
PR campaign measurement and ROI reporting
Agencies use Muck Rack's analytics to track which pitches resulted in coverage, measure reach and impressions, and build automated reports for clients. This shifts PR from an art to a science, enabling data-driven optimization of campaign strategy.
Relationship intelligence and pipeline management
PR teams maintain an interactive media database within Muck Rack, tracking journalist preferences, past coverage, response rates, and relationship history. This replaces scattered spreadsheets and email archives, ensuring institutional knowledge survives staff turnover.
Alternatives
Cision
Larger, more established platform with stronger traditional media monitoring; better for teams needing broadcast and print-focused coverage but potentially overkill and more expensive for smaller agencies.
Propel
Emerging competitor with lower pricing and simpler interface; better for small to mid-market teams but lacks Muck Rack's depth of journalist database and AI capabilities.
Prowly
Lightweight, affordable alternative focused on small PR teams and in-house communications; easier onboarding but less powerful analytics and journalist intelligence than Muck Rack.
FAQ
What does Muck Rack do? +
Muck Rack is a system of record for PR teams that helps identify journalists to pitch, maintain relationships, monitor media coverage, and measure campaign impact. It combines a database of 600,000+ journalists and outlets with AI-powered recommendations, media monitoring across online and broadcast channels, and workflow automation for the entire PR process.
How much does Muck Rack cost? +
Pricing starts at approximately $5,000/year for single users, averages around $15,000/year for mid-tier plans, and scales to $50,000+ annually for enterprise packages. All plans require annual contracts paid upfront; month-to-month subscriptions are not available. Exact pricing is not public and requires direct sales consultation for customized quotes.
What are alternatives to Muck Rack? +
Cision is the largest competitor, offering broader media intelligence but higher pricing. Prowly targets smaller teams with lower costs and simpler interfaces. Propel is an emerging challenger with more affordable pricing for mid-market agencies. Choice depends on team size, budget, and feature requirements.
Who uses Muck Rack? +
Target customers are PR agencies, in-house communications teams at mid-market to enterprise companies, and large nonprofits and government organizations. Notable customers include Google, Pfizer, Zapier, Duolingo, Taco Bell, and the International Rescue Committee. The platform serves both brand and agency customers globally.
How does Muck Rack compare to Cision? +
Muck Rack excels at AI-driven journalist discovery, relationship management, and workflow automation; Cision is broader and stronger in broadcast/traditional media monitoring. Muck Rack is newer but grew 75% YoY and is founder-controlled; Cision is more established but owned by private equity. Muck Rack typically costs less and is easier to use; Cision is more comprehensive but overkill for smaller teams.
Tags
PR
media relations
journalist database
media monitoring
workflow automation
AI
communications