If you searched for haro alternatives in the last year, you probably found two conflicting stories: HARO is dead, and HARO is back. Both are true, in sequence. Cision shut the original platform down, and a different company later bought it and relaunched it. Meanwhile, several competing services kept growing. This guide sorts out what happened, compares seven ways to get quoted by journalists, and shows how to pitch in a way that earns editorial backlinks without paying for them.
Key takeaways
- Cision discontinued the Connectively (HARO) platform on December 9, 2024. Featured.com announced its purchase of HARO on April 15, 2025, and HARO now runs under Featured as a free daily email for sources.
- Free options exist at every level: HARO, Source of Sources, a free tier on Qwoted, a free tier on Featured, and a free expert profile on SourceBottle.
- Prices change often. The numbers in this guide come from each vendor’s own pages and should be re-checked before you pay for anything.
- A quote does not guarantee a followed link. Publishers decide how links are marked, so treat the link as a bonus and the brand mention as the baseline.
- Never pay for a link that passes ranking credit. Google classes that as link spam, and paid placements should be marked as sponsored.
What happened to HARO?
Help a Reporter Out, usually shortened to HARO, connected journalists who needed sources with experts who could answer. According to its Wikipedia entry, Vocus bought it in 2010, and Vocus merged with Cision in 2014. Through most of 2024 the service ran under the Connectively brand. Cision then told users the platform would close, and its own notice states that as of December 9, 2024, the Connectively (HARO) platform has been permanently discontinued.
That was not the end. On April 15, 2025, Featured.com announced it had bought HARO from Cision. The acquisition announcement said HARO would return to its original format of daily email opportunities, stay free for journalists and sources, and be funded by newsletter ads. The current HARO site credits Featured and offers a free daily media-query subscription.
The practical lesson is the same either way: do not depend on one platform. Spreading your pitching across two or three services protects you from shutdowns, price changes, and quality drops.
The 7 options compared
The table below lists what each service says about itself. Where a vendor does not publish a price on its public pages, the table says so instead of guessing.
| Service | Cost for experts (as listed) | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| HARO (owned by Featured) | Free daily queries | Broad topics, familiar email format | Many sources answer the same query |
| Featured | Free plan; Lite $29/month and Pro $79/month, both billed annually | PR teams who want AI-assisted pitching tools | Plans are aimed at PR practitioners, and usage limits differ by tier |
| Qwoted | Basic is free (2 pitches per month, 2-hour delay); Pro listed at $1,188 per year | Vetted journalist and expert matching | Free tier is tightly limited |
| Source of Sources | Free | HARO-style email without a paywall | Off-topic replies can get you removed |
| SourceBottle | Free expert profile; paid upgrade available, price not shown on the home page | Small businesses and consumer topics | Many call-outs and outlets are Australian |
| MentionMatch | Not stated on its home page | B2B experts seeking quotes from B2B writers | Narrow topic range |
| ResponseSource | Free trial offered; prices not shown on the home page | UK-focused media relations | Built for PR professionals, not solo experts |
1. HARO
The brand most people mean when they say HARO is back, now operated by Featured. Sources subscribe for free daily media queries and reply by email. Its strength is breadth. Its weakness is the same as it always was: a good query can draw dozens of replies, so a generic answer disappears.
2. Featured
Featured publishes plans on its pricing page: a free plan, Lite at $29 per month billed annually ($348), and Pro at $79 per month billed annually ($948), with a larger Pro+ tier that shows no public price. The page says every plan includes the same features such as journalist requests, and that only the daily AI usage allowance changes. That makes the free plan a reasonable place to start.
3. Qwoted
Qwoted vets every account. Its pricing page lists a free Basic plan for experts with two pitches per month and a two-hour delay on pitch delivery, and a Pro plan with 35 pitches per month and instant delivery, listed at $1,188 per year at the time of writing. Expect to spend your few free pitches only on queries that match your credentials exactly. Fill out your profile fully, because journalists use it to decide whom to trust.
4. Source of Sources
Peter Shankman, who founded HARO, runs Source of Sources. The site says subscribers get up to three emails a day of journalist queries, that the list is free, and that replying off topic or spamming reporters gets you removed. Read that rule as a hint about how to behave on every platform.
5. SourceBottle
SourceBottle describes itself as a free service connecting journalists with expert sources and now a global publicity platform. You can create an expert profile at no cost, and an optional paid pitching service exists. Its listed media outlets and many call-outs skew Australian, so check that the outlets match the audience you want before investing time.
6. MentionMatch
At the time of writing, the older helpab2bwriter.com address redirects to MentionMatch, which says it connects B2B writers with expert sources for unique quotes. If you sell to businesses, a narrow service with relevant queries can beat a broad one with a flood of replies. Confirm current terms on the site, since the home page does not state whether experts pay.
7. ResponseSource
ResponseSource is part of the Pulsar Group and sells media relations tools, including a Journalist Enquiry Service and a press release wire aimed at UK media. It is built for PR practitioners and businesses rather than casual experts. It makes sense mainly if British press coverage is a goal.
How to pitch step by step
- Set one daily window. Open your queries once or twice a day for 15 minutes. Constant checking wastes time.
- Filter hard. Answer only queries where you have direct, demonstrable expertise. If you would need to research it, skip it.
- Check the deadline and the outlet. Journalists work to tight deadlines. Note the publication, and ignore queries that hide the outlet entirely unless the topic is a perfect fit.
- Lead with the answer. Put your most quotable sentence first, then add one specific detail such as a rule of thumb, a number you can source, or a short example.
- Add credentials in one line. Name, role, company, and one proof point. Skip the sales pitch.
- Offer more. Say you can provide data, a call, or a photo. Then stop writing.
- Track and follow up once. Log every pitch in a sheet. Journalists seldom confirm publication, so set a brand alert to catch your name.
Worked example of a strong reply
Example scenario: A hypothetical founder of a small bookkeeping firm sees this query: “What should small business owners check before switching accounting software?” A weak reply opens with three sentences about the firm and ends with “let me know if you need anything.” A strong reply looks like this:
“Check how easily you can export your data before you commit. If you cannot pull a full transaction history into a spreadsheet in one step, switching later will be painful. Also run your last three months of bank transactions through a free trial to see how many need manual fixing. Jane Doe, founder of a small bookkeeping firm. Happy to share a one-page checklist.”
The strong version is short, self-contained, and quotable without editing. It also hands the journalist a next step. The founder and firm in this example are invented for illustration.
Keeping the links safe and honest
Earning a mention through expertise is not link buying. Paying for a link is. Google’s spam policies describe link spam as creating links to or from a site mainly to manipulate search rankings, and its guidance on qualifying outbound links says advertisements and paid placements should carry the sponsored value. If an outlet asks you to pay for a quote, treat it as advertising, not editorial coverage.
Press mentions also support how AI search describes your brand. Our guide on how to rank in Google AI Overviews explains why credible third-party mentions help, and our breakdown of how much SEO costs helps you compare digital PR effort against agency retainers.
Common mistakes
- Answering everything. Volume pitching with weak relevance burns credibility and, on some platforms, gets you removed.
- Writing essays. Journalists scan. A three-paragraph reply is rarely read in full.
- Burying the quote. If the usable sentence is in paragraph four, someone else gets quoted.
- Promising what you cannot show. Do not cite numbers you cannot source. A made-up statistic ends the relationship and can end the article.
- Paying for placement and calling it earned. This is a policy risk, not a shortcut.
- Relying on one tool. The 2024 shutdown showed how fast a single channel can vanish.
Short FAQ
Is HARO still available?
Yes. Cision discontinued Connectively (HARO) in December 2024, but Featured.com bought HARO and relaunched it with free daily queries for sources.
Which HARO alternative is best for beginners?
Start with free options: HARO itself, Source of Sources, and the free tiers on Qwoted and Featured. Add a paid plan only after you have won a few placements and know which topics work.
Do these platforms guarantee a backlink?
No. A quote may appear with or without a link, and the publisher decides how links are marked. Measure success by brand mentions and referral traffic as well as links.
Sources
- Cision: Connectively (HARO) discontinuation notice
- Featured.com acquisition announcement for HARO
- Featured pricing page
- Qwoted pricing plans
- Source of Sources
- Google Search Central: qualify your outbound links
If you would like help turning press mentions into a wider link and content plan, you can reach the team through the SSA Agency contact page.