Best Free Press Release Sites for 2024, Ranked

Discover the best free press release distribution services. Includes reviews, FAQs, and comparisons between top competitors PRLog, openPR, and IssueWire.

Updated on December 21st, 2023

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Press releases are an essential form of communication that creates exposure for your brand and draws interest to your products and services. Below, we have rounded up the best free press release distribution services for you to consider.

Also Consider

EIN Presswire

Get your press release seen by journalists, as well as business, industry, and government professionals.

Get Started Free

Indexed by search engines.

Distributed to U.S. TV and radio.

Distributed to World Media Directory.

Why We Chose PRLog, openPR, and IssueWire:

Our top pick, PRLog, is a reliable, fast, and easy-to-use distribution service. With PRLog, users can add a company logo and links in the body of the press release. Users' press releases will be sent to numerous search engines and RSS feeds and hosted on the PRLog site.

PRLog also offers basic analytics, allowing users to see how many hits a press release has received, as well as a daily activity chart. Other features include social media sharing, widgets, and posting.

Our second choice is openPR, a German-based press release distribution service that offers a standard range of features, including distribution to search engines, website backlinks, and spam protection. The platform also offers a good level of media exposure and allows users to send one free press release per month.

In third place is IssueWire, a user-friendly service with many comprehensive tools on offer, including video embedding, detailed press release statistics, SEO audit, and mobile distribution. While the platform has various paid plans, users can send out one press release free of charge.

Things to Consider When Evaluating Free Press Release Distribution Services:

  1. Consider who your target audience is and what kind of coverage you are hoping to achieve.
  2. Think about which services will get your message out to your target audience. Moreover, do they provide reporting features to measure the success of your campaign?
  3. Keep in mind that free plans often limit users to one or two press releases per day or month and do not ensure submission to top news agencies. Therefore, you might need to purchase a subscription.

Best Free Press Release Distribution Services:

Rank

Name

Offer

Review

Learn More

1.

PRLog

Free and paid options.

The platform distributes press releases to a wide range of outlets. The service includes instant approval, but there is a limit of two releases per day.

Learn More

2.

openPR

Free and paid options.

A fast and easy-to-use press release distribution service that allows users to send one free release per month. Paid plans and press release writing services are also available.

Learn More

3.

IssueWire

Free and paid options.

Releases are syndicated across 150 media platforms. However, the free plan does not offer guaranteed placements or Google, Google News, Yahoo, Bing, and Apple News inclusion.

Learn More

4.

Online PR Media

Free and paid options.

Online PR Media is a reputable service that offers a free plan and several media visibility packages to suit your business needs. The free plan is quite limited and includes ads.

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5.

1888PressRelease.com

Free and paid options.

This user-friendly platform offers a range of distribution plans and great features, along with writing services. The free plan, however, is very limited.

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6.

NewswireToday

Free and paid options.

NewswireToday disseminates press releases to news outlets and major search engines. However, the free plan includes third-party ads and only syndicates releases to RSS feeds.

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7.

PR.com

Free and paid options.

PR.com offers a reliable service. On the free plan, press releases are submitted to search engines, news sites, and RSS feeds.

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8.

PRFree

Free and paid options.

The free plan includes live URL links, spam protection, and distribution to search engines.

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9.

PressReleasePoint

Free and paid options.

The platform allows users to send one free press release to more than 40 media outlets and search engines. Press release writing, drafting, and syndication services are also offered.

Learn More

10.

MarketPressRelease.com

Free and paid options.

MarketPressRelease.com allows for one free press release per day. Their affordable monthly plans permit up to 15 press releases per day, depending on the option selected.

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Pros and Cons:

Pros

  • Distribution services can assist in reaching a wide audience.
  • Press coverage may help businesses tap into new markets.
  • Free plans are ideal for users on a tight budget.

Cons

  • It's not guaranteed that media outlets will publish press releases.
  • Free plans usually have a limit of one press release per day or month.

PRLog vs. openPR vs. IssueWire:

PRLog's free press release includes a good range of features, such as spam protection, distribution analytics, and video embedding. Compared to openPR's free plan, which also includes spam protection and detailed analytics, the former platform is completely free to use, while openPR only allows users to send one free press release per month.

IssueWire allows for one free press release, and while there are several high-value solutions on offer, such as social media sharing and distribution scheduling, its paid plans are more feature-rich and users will be expected to pay between $21.00 and $65.00 for more advanced tools, such as distribution to search engines and video embedding.

PRLog vs. openPR vs. IssueWire Comparison:

Feature

PRLog

openPR

IssueWire

Price

From $29.00 /release.

From €19.00 +VAT /release.

From $21.00 /release.

Free plan

1 press release /mo.

1 press release.

Distribution to search engines

x (paid plans only)

Video embedding

x (paid plans only)

Spam protection

Social media sharing

FAQs:

How do I distribute a press release for free?

  1. Write your own press release or outsource the task to a PR distribution service.
  2. Sign up with a free press release distribution service and submit your press release to them.
  3. Your service provider will distribute the press release to news agencies, journalists, search engines, or other relevant targets.

Will a free press release reach a wide enough audience?

A free press release plan will most likely have limitations, but your press release can still reach a wide audience, depending on the service that you use.

What is the difference between free and paid press release distribution services?

Some freemium plans only allow you to send one press release at a time, while paid plans allow you to send multiple press releases and offer additional benefits, such as search-optimized photos and same-day distribution.