PR Newswire and PRWeb are press release distribution services for small to mid-sized companies. PRWeb excels at distributing highly engaging digital press releases for budget-conscious small companies with little press release experience. In contrast, PR Newswire excels by offering highly targeted, high-reach press releases distribution across digital and traditional outlets for companies with moderate budgets.
PRWeb vs PR Newswire Overview
PR Newswire | PRWeb | |
|---|---|---|
Price | $350-$805 per release, $195 annual membership fee | $99-$389 |
Outlets Reached | 5,800 | 1,200 |
Outlet Types | Digital, print, and broadcast | Digital only |
Newswire Placements | PR Newswire | PRWeb and PR Newswire |
Links | Local, audience, industry | Industry and SEO targeting |
Targeting | 1 per 100 words | Unlimited |
Multimedia Inclusions | Video, image, and audio for $325 fee | Multimedia embedding |
Analytics Reports | ✔ | ✔ |
Social Media Distribution | ✔ | ✔ |
Press Release Writing, Editing, and Proofreading | N/A | Editing |
PRWeb and PR Newswire are both quality press release distribution services but best serve two very different businesses. While PRWeb offers affordable digital-only press release distribution, PR Newswire offers high-reach distribution across an abundance of digital and broadcast outlets. For companies with a tight budget that are using digital to get the word out about their business news more broadly, PRWeb is the best option. But mid-size companies with larger, very defined target audiences should consider PR Newswire.
PR Newswire Beats PRWeb For: Press Release Reach
PRWeb vs PR Newswire High-reach Distribution Features
PR Newswire | PRWeb | |
|---|---|---|
Number of Outlets | 5,800 | 1,200+ |
Types of Outlets | Digital, print, broadcast (television and radio), digital billboards | Digital only |
Newswire Placements | PR Newswire | PRWeb and PR Newswire |
Social Media | ✔ | ✔ |
PR Newswire clearly beats PRWeb when it comes to the number of news outlets it allows you to reach. While PRWeb offers 1,200 outlets, PR Newswire far surpasses them with 5,800 outlets. The types of outlets offered also differ significantly. While PRWeb only offers digital distribution across platforms like social media, search, and news sites, PR Newswire offers digital distribution in addition to print, broadcast, and even digital billboards (think Times Square).
PR Newswire Beats PRWeb For: Multimedia & Link Inclusions
PRWeb vs PR Newswire Multimedia & Interactive Inclusions
PR Newswire | PRWeb | |
|---|---|---|
Multimedia Attachments | Videos, audio recordings, images, PFD files, infographics | Video, image |
Multimedia Embedding | Videos, audios, images, PDF file, infographics (for a per-asset $350 fee) | In $289+ plans: image embedding In $389+ plans: image and video embedding |
Links | 1 per 100 words | Unlimited |
PR Newswire and PRWeb both offer:
- The ability to send videos and images with your press release
- The ability to embed images in your digital press release
- The ability to include links within your press release
While both offer robust options when it comes to multimedia inclusions in press releases, PR Newswire takes all such options one step further than PRWeb. PR Newswire allows businesses to embed or attach a long list of multimedia types, including videos, audio recordings, images, PDF files, and infographics. On the other hand, PRWeb only offers the ability to attach and embed images and videos.
With PR Newswire, attachments of all these types are included in all their plans. Users can embed any of these multimedia types for a per-asset fee of $350 in all plans. This is great for companies that are hoping to earn press coverage for their releases across many outlet types, including digital, print, and broadcast. Videos and audio recordings, for example, can be included for broadcast and digital distribution outlets. Images can be embedded or attached for print or digital outlets. Infographics are great for social media outlets.
Kidde multimedia press release example from PR Newswire—infographic (Source: PR Newswire)
PR Newswire Beats PRWeb For: Highly Targeted Press Release Distribution
PRWeb vs PR Newswire Targeting Features
Targeting Options | PR Newswire | PRWeb |
|---|---|---|
United States National | ✔ | N/A |
Global Regions | ✔ | N/A |
Industries | ✔ | ✔ |
Countries | ✔ | N/A |
Contact Types | Industry, social-media and location-specific influencers; journalists, bloggers | Social media and industry influencers, bloggers, journalists |
SEO Tagging | N/A | ✔ |
Ethnicity | ✔ | N/A |
Age | ✔ | N/A |
Interests | ✔ | N/A |
Lifestyle | ✔ | N/A |
Gender | ✔ | N/A |
Both PR Newswire and PRWeb offer:
- Targeting by industry
- Industry, social-media, and location-based influence targeting
- Journalist and blogger targeting
It is clear that PR Newswire far outshines PRWeb when it comes to press release targeting options. With PR Newswire, you can target your press release by readers within the United States, global regions, country, contact type, or audience ethnicity, age, interest, lifestyle, and gender. PRWeb only allows you to target based on industry and search terms.
The only targeting option in which PRWeb stands out is in the realm of search. PRWeb offers keyword tagging while PR Newswire does not. PR Newswire editors will handpick and tag your press release with keywords to ensure it reaches your intended target audience in search.
PRWeb & PR Newswire Tied For: Press Release Performance Tracking (Analytics)
Both PRWeb and PR Newswire offer:
- Cision visibility reports
- In-depth metrics with an easy-to-understand presentation
- A list of publications that covered your press release
Both PRWeb and PR Newswire offer downloadable and exportable visibility reports with a clear layout. Metrics covered include pickups (exact matches across platforms), audience insights (such as audience potential audience, location, age, gender, education, life stage, and economic status), multimedia engagements (views, plays, and downloads by media type), traffic sources (across websites, search engines, social media, and even webmail), and engagement (click-throughs, shares, and total engagement). You can even compare metrics across multiple press releases.
Compare press releases PR Newswire visibility report example (Source: Visibility Reports)
PRWeb Beats PR Newswire For: Editing & Writing Services
PRWeb vs PR Newswire Editorial, Proofreading & Writing Services
PR Newswire | PRWeb | |
|---|---|---|
Proofreading Services | N/A | Proofreading in $289-and-up plans |
Editing Services | N/A | Editorial feedback in $189-and-up plans |
Writing Services | N/A | — |
If your business is not experienced with creating and distributing press releases, your best bet is to go with PRWeb. While PR Newswire offers no editing or writing services, PRWeb offers plenty of guidance to help you create a press release sure to perform.
Their $289-and-up plans offer to proofread and correct simple press release writing mistakes like grammatical errors. Their $189-and-up plans also offer editorial feedback, meaning their editors will reach out to let you know what can be improved about your press release (including proper formatting and content practices), then give you the chance to make changes as you see fit.
Pro tip: If you need more guidance than is offered by PRWeb, consider a service like eReleases, which offers full press release writing services starting at $300 per release, along with the ability to distribute your release through their services. It also includes unlimited revisions so you never have to worry about your press release not being to your satisfaction before distribution.
PR Newswire vs PRWeb User Reviews
PR Newswire Reviews
PR Newswire users say they love the ease by which they can distribute a press release and the fact that they can easily access and even share in-depth performance reports. They also appreciate that the service allows them to distribute their release to a lot of outlets for a small business-friendly price. Some expressed a desire to be able to add more links to their press releases (like PRWeb offers) and said the fees for using features like embedding multimedia add up quickly.
PRWeb Reviews
Likewise, users of PRWeb praised the service’s ease of use. They also like that press release distribution through PRWeb helps them reach solid news organizations that are likely to be interested in their stories. They also particularly like that they can use keywords to better target their press releases in search. However, they wish PRWeb had more advanced targeting for niche audiences as PR Newswire offers. Many also wish PRWeb would update their website for easier navigation.
When to Choose PRWeb
PRWeb Strengths & Weaknesses
PRWeb Strengths | PRWeb Weaknesses |
|---|---|
In-depth reporting | Limited reach |
Ease of reporting access | Fewer targeting options |
Multimedia inclusions | Digital-only distribution |
Unlimited link inclusions | |
Affordability | |
Press release editing and proofreading available |
Businesses that choose PRWeb get the ability to create well-polished press releases for a digital audience. The company helps small businesses create a polished, newsworthy piece with their press release proofreading and editing services. Further, its multimedia options, though limited in type, are offered at an affordable price, making a high-engagement press release available to businesses working on a small business budget.
Finally, for businesses with a tight budget, their in-depth reporting offers the ability to tightly track performance, and so use the insights gathered to justify their investments and improve results. Insights can be used to learn audience insights like their preferred channels and demographics. These insights can then be applied to retargeting and promotional campaigns for further gains.
When to Choose PR Newswire
PR Newswire Strengths & Weaknesses
PR Newswire Strengths | PR Newswire Weaknesses |
|---|---|
Lots of outlets available for distribution | No proofreading or editing |
In-depth reporting | Limited newswire hosting |
Lots of outlet types | Expensive |
Abundant targeting options | Limited link inclusions |
Media attachments and embedding options | |
Several multimedia types allowed |
While more expensive, PR Newswire offers far more robust features than PRWeb, including many more outlets, outlet types, multimedia options, and targeting options. However, the service is better for companies with more experience in press release creation and distribution. While with PRWeb, businesses receive proofreading and editing services, PR Newswire does not offer this added guidance. As such, PR Newswire is best for experienced businesses with a moderate budget looking for a very specific, highly targeted audience and premium outlets and outlet types.
PR Newswire & PR News Wire Alternatives
Alternative Distribution Service | Best For |
|---|---|
Businesses needing lots of guidance to affordably reach a wide audience across diverse outlet types | |
Businesses needing to reach a highly engaged audience with an interactive news experience that converts | |
Businesses needing press release writing and distribution services to reach region-specific audiences |
For more distribution service alternatives, read our Best Press Release Service Buyer’s Guide 2020.
Bottom Line
While PRWeb excels by offering affordable digital press release distribution with in-depth reporting, engaging multimedia and linked content, and professional press release editing, it falls short of PR Newswire with limited reach, targeting options, and outlet types. For most businesses, therefore, PR Newswire is likely the better overall option.
