HARO Alternatives for SaaS Founders: Best Platforms Compared [2026]

In Muck Rack’s State of Journalism 2026, 86% of journalists said at least some stories start with a PR pitch. That makes expert quotes a strong channel for SaaS brands that want coverage and links.

The tools have changed, though. HARO shut down in December 2024, then returned under a new owner in 2025.

This guide compares 8 HARO alternatives on price, B2B fit and link quality. We checked every price on each platform’s own site on November 10, 2026.

Which HARO alternatives are worth it for SaaS founders?

This table compares 8 HARO alternatives at a glance. It shows who each platform suits, whether it has a free option and where paid plans start. Prices are in US dollars unless noted.

How do the 8 best HARO alternatives compare in detail?

Each entry below follows the same format, so you can compare them quickly. You’ll see who it suits, a short overview, its key features and what to watch for before you sign up.

1. Qwoted

Best for: SaaS founders who can answer US reporters within hours

Qwoted is a New York platform where reporters post requests and vetted experts pitch them. In BuzzStream’s July 2025 study, 70.3% of its opportunities came from sites with a Domain Rating of 70–100.

Key features

1. Free Basic plan: 2 pitches a month, with a 2-hour delivery delay
2. Pro plan: 35 instant pitches a month for $149.99 monthly or $1,188 a year
3. Alerts: a daily opportunities email plus real-time alerts
4. Pitch Intelligence: insights on the pitches you’ve submitted, on Pro

What to consider

1. Speed: the free plan’s 2-hour delay can miss fast deadlines
2. Team plans: Team and Amplify plans use custom pricing
3. Tax: the pricing page doesn’t say whether tax is included

2. HARO

Best for: founders who can comment on funding, pricing or growth

HARO is back as a free daily email of journalist queries, and Featured now runs it. In BuzzStream’s 2025 study, 31.2% of HARO’s top requests were business and finance, the highest share measured.

Key features

1. Price: free daily media queries for sources
2. Format: queries arrive by email, and you reply to the journalist directly
3. Journalist side: reporters submit their queries on the same site

What to consider

1. Volume: BuzzStream ranked Qwoted, Featured and X as the top 3 by request volume
2. Mixed beats: many queries won’t fit a SaaS expert, so filter hard

3. MentionMatch

Best for: SaaS teams that sell to marketers, sales teams or other B2B buyers

MentionMatch is the new name for Help a B2B Writer. It emails each writer’s request only to sources whose chosen expertise matches it.

Key features

1. Price: completely free for sources and writers, according to its FAQ
2. Network: 9,000+ registered B2B sources
3. Expertise areas: SaaS, marketing, sales, SEO, and AI and tech, among others
4. B2B fit: BuzzStream found 35% of its top requests were marketing and PR

What to consider

1. Narrow scope: it’s built for B2B writers, so consumer press requests are unlikely
2. Old name: many guides still call it Help a B2B Writer, and the old domain redirects

4. Featured

Best for: teams that want one AI tool to watch many channels

Featured relaunched in June 2026 as an AI co-pilot for PR. It finds requests from HARO, LinkedIn and other sources, then helps you draft pitches.

Key features

1. Featured Chat: AI help with research, pitching and strategy
2. Workflows: automated monitoring and drafting, delivered by Slack, email or in-app
3. More openings: podcasts, bylined articles, speaking slots and awards
4. GEO tracking: visibility tracking for AI search citations

What to consider

1. Usage limits: every plan draws on a daily usage pool that resets each day
2. Price: Lite costs $39 monthly or $29 a month billed yearly, before tax
3. Editing: AI drafts still need your own voice before you send them

5. Connectively

Best for: experts who’ll write short answers and bylined articles for publishers

Featured revived Connectively in May 2026 and moved its expert Q&A platform there. Experts build a profile page, then answer publisher questions or submit bylined articles.

Key features

1. Free plan: 3 answers and 1 bylined article a month
2. Early HARO access: the free plan includes early access to HARO queries
3. Lite plan: 10 answers a month for $19 monthly or $11 a month billed yearly
4. Pro plan: unlimited answers plus link type and domain authority data for $49 monthly or $29 billed yearly

What to consider

1. Credits: extra answers cost $4.99 to $6.99 each, with no subscription needed
2. Shared owner: Featured owns both platforms, so check you aren’t paying twice
3. Tax: the pricing page doesn’t say whether tax is included

6. ResponseSource

Best for: SaaS brands winning customers in the UK

ResponseSource is a UK media relations service owned by Pulsar Group. Its site says hundreds of journalists send requests through it each week.

Key features

1. 25 categories: including Computing & Telecoms, Business & Finance, and Media & Marketing
2. Category pricing: you pay only for the sectors that matter to you
3. Free trial: available before you subscribe

What to consider

1. Cost: from £625 per category a year, varying by category and excluding 20% VAT
2. UK focus: the site centres on UK media contacts and outlets

7. SourceBottle

Best for: experts who want a human team to pitch them

SourceBottle has connected journalists with expert sources since 2009. Its free plan gives you an expert profile, a directory listing and media call-outs by email.

Key features

1. Free plan: expert profile, directory listing and up to 10 keywords
2. No Pitch, No Pay: $25 per pitch, for up to 3 call-outs a month
3. Unlimited Pitches: $65 a month or $650 a year
4. Agency plan: $130 a month for up to 5 expert profiles

What to consider

1. Currency: prices show a $ sign with no currency, so confirm it before you pay
2. Manual matching: its team now pitches profiles by hand, so results depend on their picks

8. #journorequest on X and LinkedIn

Best for: fast, free requests from UK and European journalists

Journalists post quick source calls with hashtags like #journorequest and #prrequest. BuzzStream found most X media requests came from UK-based journalists.

Key features

1. Price: free
2. Direct contact: you reply to the journalist on the platform or by email
3. Saved searches: set one saved search for each hashtag

What to consider

1. No filtering: you’ll scroll past many off-topic requests
2. Baltics and Nordics: we found no request service built for these markets, so local SaaS PR still matters

Is HARO back, and why do you still need HARO alternatives?

HARO is running again, but its owner now runs 3 separate products. This section shows what changed since 2024 and how those 3 brands differ.

1. HARO: the free daily email of journalist queries
2. Connectively: where experts answer publisher questions and pitch bylined articles
3. Featured: an AI tool that finds requests across HARO, LinkedIn and more, then drafts replies

Any guide that tells you to answer questions on featured.com predates June 2026.

Which HARO alternative fits your SaaS stage?

Match each platform to the time your team can give it. This table pairs 4 common SaaS situations with a starting platform and a sensible next step.

Our advice is simple. Don’t pay for a second platform until a free one lands a live mention.

How does expert quote link building work on these platforms?

Expert quote link building means answering a journalist’s request with a quote that earns a mention or link. It’s a core part of digital PR link building. This section covers what journalists want and the 7 steps that work.

Relevance decides most outcomes. Muck Rack’s 2026 survey found 43% of journalists seldom get pitches that match their beat, and 4% never do. It also found 88% immediately disregard irrelevant pitches.

Expert quote link building also keeps you on the right side of Google. Its spam policies list buying or selling links for ranking purposes as a violation. Earned quotes are editorial, so you never pay the publisher.

1. Pick one beat: use the founder’s real title and one clear topic, like churn in B2B SaaS
2. Filter hard: set alerts for 5 to 10 terms your buyers search, and skip the rest
3. Lead with the quote: put a 2- or 3-sentence answer first, then one line on who you are
4. Add your own number: product data, like average onboarding time, beats generic advice
5. Stay under 200 words: 69% of journalists prefer pitches that short, per Muck Rack
6. Write it yourself: one journalist told Muck Rack, “I can tell if you use AI”
7. Chase unlinked credits: ask politely for a link, using our link reclamation guide

What outreach subject lines get journalists to open your reply?

Subject lines still matter when your reply lands by email, as it does on HARO and #journorequest. This section covers what BuzzStream’s journalist data shows and gives you 4 templates to copy.

1. Length: in BuzzStream’s study of 6 million+ PR subject lines, 71+ characters earned the best open rate, at 40.71%
2. Brackets: subject lines that opened with a bracket reached 52.08% opens and 2.24% replies
3. Outlet name: naming the publication lifted opens to 50.81%, against 39.25% without it
4. Front-loading: in a second BuzzStream study, key info in the first 3 words got 46% opens
5. Tell, don’t tease: stating the finding got 43.1% opens, against 39.8% for teaser lines

Use these outreach subject lines as templates and swap the brackets for real details.

All prices were checked on each platform’s own site on November 10, 2026.

For context, Editorial.Link’s 2026 survey of 518 SEO professionals put the average acceptable price for one high-quality link at $508.95. Competitive niches needed about $8,406 a month.

1. The math: Qwoted Pro pays for itself with fewer than 3 quality links a year at that benchmark
2. The real cost: senior time, because a credible quote must come from the founder or an expert
3. The fix: log hours per live placement so your link building budget reflects time spent

Our link building ROI guide shows how to judge the return.

Which link building KPIs show your HARO alternatives are working?

Track outcomes and leave activity counts aside. This section explains why brand mentions count, then lists 7 link building KPIs for a simple monthly sheet.

Ahrefs studied 75,000 brands across ChatGPT, AI Mode and AI Overviews. Branded web mentions correlated with AI visibility at 0.66–0.71, while link metrics showed very weak correlations. That’s correlation, not proof, but it explains why unlinked quotes still pay off.

Review these link building KPIs every quarter, and cut any platform with no placement in 90 days. Our guide to link building metrics covers each one in depth.

When should a SaaS team hand brand mentions to an agency?

Hand it off when no one senior can answer requests every day. This section covers how agency placements differ from journalist quotes, how VH Info’s service works and what it costs.

A news quote starts with a reporter’s request. An agency placement comes from publisher relationships on topic-relevant blogs, listicles, reviews and resource pages. Both build brand mentions for SEO and AI search.

HARO alternatives reward speed, while an agency trades cash for your time. That cost comes out of your link building budget, not your calendar.

VH Info’s brand mention placements follow 3 steps.

1. Connect: you share your URL and target pages, and we suggest sites based on where competitors appear
2. Outreach: we secure placements on niche-relevant sites through direct relationships, with your approval first
3. Track: monthly reports show live links and growth in AI brand mentions

1. Sites: SaaS sites with 1,000+ traffic and real topical fit
2. Support: a dedicated project manager and monthly reports
3. Payment: no upfront fees, because you pay after delivery
4. Guarantee: a 12-month live link guarantee with free replacement
5. Custom plans: available for larger campaigns

VH Info has served 50+ clients over 5+ years, mainly in the USA and Europe, and built 20,000+ links. We use white-hat methods only, with no PBNs. Need links beyond mentions? See our SaaS link building service.

What should you do next?

Pick one of the free HARO alternatives this week and answer one relevant request. Log every placement, linked or not, and add Qwoted Pro or ResponseSource once a free channel lands coverage.

If your team can’t pitch every day, talk to VH Info about brand mentions on relevant SaaS sites.

FAQs 

1. Is HARO still running in 2026?

Yes, HARO is running again. Featured.com bought it from Cision in April 2025, and emails restarted on April 22, 2025. It now sends free daily journalist queries, while Featured also runs Connectively and an AI PR co-pilot.

2. What is the best HARO alternative for B2B SaaS?

Qwoted is the best paid HARO alternative for B2B SaaS, and it suits founders chasing high-authority US media. MentionMatch is the best free pick for marketing and SaaS topics. ResponseSource suits SaaS brands that target the UK trade press.

3. Are there free HARO alternatives?

Yes, several HARO alternatives are free. HARO and MentionMatch cost nothing, and #journorequest on X and LinkedIn is free too. Qwoted, Featured, Connectively and SourceBottle also offer free plans with limits, such as 2 pitches a month.

4. How much do HARO alternatives cost?

Most HARO alternatives cost $0 to about $1,800 a year per user. Featured Lite is $348 a year, and Qwoted Pro is $1,188 a year. ResponseSource starts at £625 per category a year, excluding VAT.

5. Do expert quotes give you backlinks?

Expert quotes can earn backlinks, but not every time. Each publisher decides whether to link, and some credit you by name only. Those mentions still help, since Ahrefs found branded web mentions correlate strongly with AI visibility.

6. Which HARO alternatives work for the UK and European press?

ResponseSource is the strongest pick for UK press, with 25 paid categories and a free trial. The free #journorequest hashtag on X and LinkedIn helps too, since BuzzStream found most X requests came from UK journalists.