Best HARO Alternatives for Building Backlinks in 2026

HARO was the go-to platform for earning backlinks through journalist queries. Then Cision acquired it, rebranded it, and shut it down. Thousands of SEOs and founders lost their primary channel for earning editorial links overnight.

The good news: the ecosystem has fragmented into several strong alternatives, and the original HARO has been relaunched under new ownership. Here is what actually works in 2026.

For the broader picture on earning editorial links, see our high authority backlinks guide. For free methods beyond journalist platforms, see our free backlinks guide.

What happened to HARO#

HARO (Help A Reporter Out) was founded by Peter Shankman in 2008 as a simple email service connecting journalists with expert sources. It grew into the most popular journalist query platform in the world, sending three email digests per day with hundreds of media opportunities.

The acquisition and decline#

In 2010, Vocus acquired HARO. Vocus then merged with Cision in 2014, and Cision owned the platform for the next decade. During this time, HARO remained largely unchanged and widely used.

In 2023, Cision rebranded HARO as Connectively. The rebrand introduced a tiered subscription model with prices ranging from $29 to $149 per month, a pay-per-pitch system, and a more complex interface. The changes disrupted the workflow users relied on.

Journalist engagement dropped sharply. The added complexity and pricing model discouraged participation on both sides. On December 9, 2024, Cision shut down Connectively entirely.

The comeback#

In April 2025, Featured.com acquired HARO from Cision and relaunched it. The new version returned to the original format: free access for both journalists and sources, three email digests per day, no login required. The business model shifted to newsletter sponsorships instead of subscriptions.

The relaunched HARO made over 15,000 journalist-source connections in its first 15 days.

Sources:

• Cision: sale of HARO to Featured.com
• Octiv Digital: Connectively shutdown timeline

10 best HARO alternatives for building backlinks#

1. HARO (relaunched by Featured.com)#

The original HARO is back. Featured.com acquired the brand and relaunched it in April 2025, returning to the simple email digest format that made it popular.

How it works: Sign up for free. You receive three email digests per day (morning, afternoon, evening) with journalist queries grouped by beat -- business, tech, health, lifestyle, etc. Reply directly to queries that match your expertise.

Pricing: Free for both journalists and sources. Ad-supported via newsletter sponsors.

Pros:

• Free with no pitch limits
• Familiar format for anyone who used the original HARO
• High query volume across many industries
• No login required -- everything works via email
• Source verification and spam reduction improvements over the old version

Cons:

• High competition per query -- you are competing with hundreds of other sources
• No filtering or AI matching -- you manually scan each digest
• Response rates can be low given the volume of pitches journalists receive

Best for: Anyone who wants a free, high-volume source of journalist queries across all industries.

2. Source of Sources (SOS)#

Created by Peter Shankman -- the original founder of HARO -- Source of Sources launched in April 2024 as a direct response to Connectively's failures. Shankman built it to be what HARO should have stayed: simple, free, and spam-free.

How it works: Sign up for free email alerts. You receive up to three emails per day with journalist queries. The SOS team manually vets every query before distribution, which keeps the quality high and spam low.

Pricing: Completely free. No paid tiers, no per-pitch costs.

Pros:

• 100% free with no upsells
• Every query is manually vetted -- higher quality than most platforms
• Built by the person who invented this category
• Clean, familiar email format
• Over 2,000 journalists and 30,000+ users signed up

Cons:

• Lower query volume than HARO or Qwoted
• No category filtering -- you see all queries in every email
• Newer platform, so the journalist network is still growing

Best for: Budget-conscious founders and experts who want high-quality, vetted opportunities without paying anything.

3. Qwoted#

Qwoted is the premium option in this space. It connects over 25,000 journalists from top-tier publications with vetted experts, using a matching algorithm that suggests relevant queries based on your expertise profile.

How it works: Create an expertise profile. Qwoted's algorithm matches you with relevant journalist queries. Journalists can also discover your profile directly when searching for sources in your domain.

Pricing:

• Free plan: 2 pitches per month, 2-hour delay on seeing new queries
• Pro plan: $99-$149/month for 35 pitches, no delay, pitch analytics
• Enterprise: custom pricing for teams

Pros:

• Highest query volume among dedicated platforms
• AI matching reduces time spent scanning irrelevant queries
• Access to journalists from major publications (Forbes, Bloomberg, NYT)
• Pitch analytics show what is working
• Two-way matching -- journalists can find you proactively

Cons:

• Free plan is barely usable at 2 pitches per month with a 2-hour delay
• Pro pricing is steep for individual founders ($99-$149/month)
• Quality varies -- not every query leads to a high-DA placement

Best for: PR agencies and businesses with budget for a premium journalist sourcing tool.

4. Featured.com (formerly Terkel)#

Featured.com operates differently from traditional journalist query platforms. Instead of just connecting sources with journalists, Featured curates expert responses and assembles them into published content for partner publications.

How it works: Browse open questions from publishers. Submit your expert answer. Featured's editorial team selects the best responses and publishes them, with a backlink to your site.

Pricing:

• Free tier: up to 3 answers per month
• Business plan: $49/month per seat (annual) or $99/month per seat (monthly)
• Business plan includes bylined articles, interview profiles, and AI answer checking

Pros:

• Higher placement rate than pitch-based platforms -- if your answer is good, it gets published
• Now owns HARO, giving it the largest combined network
• Questions are specific and well-structured
• Published content includes dofollow backlinks

Cons:

• Content is expert roundups, not dedicated features -- your quote appears alongside others
• Free tier is limited to 3 answers per month
• Less control over where your answer appears compared to direct journalist pitching

Best for: Experts who want a structured way to earn backlinks through thought leadership content.

5. SourceBottle#

SourceBottle is a free Australian-origin platform that expanded to the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, and New Zealand. It connects journalists, bloggers, and influencers with expert sources across a wide range of topics.

How it works: Subscribe to email alerts filtered by industry and location. When a journalist posts a callout matching your criteria, you respond directly.

Pricing: Free for the core service. A $25/month premium tier lets you view expert-posted case studies without going through the pitch process.

Pros:

• Free to use with category and location filtering
• Less competition than US-centered platforms -- especially for Australian, UK, and Canadian queries
• Active since 2009 with a steady journalist base
• Simple, no-frills interface

Cons:

• Lower query volume than HARO or Qwoted
• Skews toward Australian and UK publications
• Interface feels dated compared to newer platforms

Best for: UK, Australian, and Canadian businesses, or anyone targeting non-US publications with less competition.

6. PressPlugs#

PressPlugs is a UK-focused service that sends vetted journalist requests to subscribers within minutes of receiving them, rather than batching them into daily digests.

How it works: Subscribe and receive real-time alerts when journalists post requests matching your industry. All requests are manually vetted before distribution.

Pricing: GBP 29/month after a free trial period.

Pros:

• Real-time alerts give you a speed advantage over digest-based platforms
• Every request is manually vetted -- no spam or low-quality queries
• Affordable compared to Qwoted
• Strong UK regional and national media coverage

Cons:

• Primarily UK-focused -- limited US coverage
• No free tier beyond the trial
• Smaller journalist network than global platforms

Best for: UK businesses and PR professionals targeting British media outlets.

7. Help a B2B Writer#

Run by Superpath, Help a B2B Writer is a specialized platform connecting B2B content creators with industry experts. It fills a gap that general-purpose platforms miss.

How it works: Sign up for email notifications and join the Superpath Slack community's #content-collab channel. B2B writers post specific source requests. You respond with your expertise.

Pricing: Free for both writers and sources.

Pros:

• Completely free
• Shows domain authority scores for requesting publications -- you can prioritize high-DA opportunities
• Focused exclusively on B2B content, so queries are highly relevant if you are in the B2B space
• Slack channel provides real-time opportunities
• Less competition than general platforms

Cons:

• Only useful if your expertise is B2B-relevant
• Lower volume than general platforms
• Requires joining Superpath Slack for full access to opportunities

Best for: B2B SaaS founders, consultants, and experts who want targeted opportunities with less noise.

8. PressPulse AI#

PressPulse AI uses artificial intelligence to match you with relevant journalist queries across multiple platforms, including HARO, SOS, Twitter/X, and Help a B2B Writer. Instead of manually scanning digests, the AI surfaces only opportunities that align with your expertise.

How it works: Create a profile describing your expertise and goals. PressPulse monitors journalist queries across platforms and sends personalized matches with AI-drafted pitch suggestions.

Pricing:

• 7-day free trial
• Team plan: $75/month for up to 3 profiles
• Enterprise: custom pricing

Pros:

• Aggregates queries from multiple platforms in one place
• AI matching claims 96% less noise than manually scanning digests
• AI-drafted pitch suggestions save time
• Domain authority insights on media outlets
• Instant notifications instead of waiting for digests

Cons:

• No free tier after the 7-day trial
• AI matching quality depends on how well you set up your profile
• You still compete with everyone else on the underlying platforms

Best for: PR professionals and agencies who want AI to reduce the time spent finding and responding to opportunities.

9. #JournoRequest on X (Twitter)#

Not a platform per se, but a hashtag-based ecosystem. Journalists post source requests on X using #JournoRequest, and monitoring tools aggregate these into searchable feeds.

How it works: Search the #JournoRequest hashtag on X, or use a monitoring tool like JournoFinder to get email alerts when relevant requests appear. Respond directly to the journalist's post or via DM.

Pricing: Free to monitor manually. JournoFinder alerts are free. Paid tools like PressPulse AI include #JournoRequest monitoring.

Pros:

• Free to use
• Direct access to the journalist -- no middleman platform
• Often faster than email-based platforms
• Strong UK journalist participation

Cons:

• Unstructured -- requires active monitoring or third-party tools
• Quality varies widely -- no vetting of queries
• Many requests are UK-focused
• Easy to miss opportunities if you are not checking regularly

Best for: Anyone willing to put in the manual effort, especially for UK media coverage.

10. Directory submission services#

Journalist query platforms are one way to earn backlinks, but they share a fundamental limitation: you are waiting for a journalist to ask for sources on your topic, then competing against dozens or hundreds of other respondents. The success rate per pitch is low, and the timing is unpredictable.

Directory submissions take a different approach. You submit your product to established directories -- each one creates a backlink from a real, indexed site. No pitching, no competition, no waiting for the right query.

Our directory submission service handles 140+ curated directory submissions. You fill out one form, and we submit to every relevant directory on the list. The result is 100+ backlinks and a guaranteed DR increase, usually visible within days.

Pricing: One-time fee (see pricing page). No monthly subscription.

Pros:

• Guaranteed backlinks -- every submission creates a link
• No pitching, no rejection, no waiting for journalists
• One-time effort with compounding SEO results
• Measurable DR increase within days
• Works for any product or SaaS, regardless of niche

Cons:

• Directory backlinks are typically lower DA than editorial placements in major publications
• Less brand-building value than a feature in Forbes or Bloomberg
• Not a substitute for editorial links -- best used as a foundation

Best for: Startups and SaaS founders who want a reliable, scalable backlink foundation while pursuing editorial links through other channels.

Comparison table#

How to use journalist query platforms effectively#

Signing up for these platforms is easy. Actually getting published is harder. Most pitches go unanswered. Here is what separates the people who earn consistent placements from those who waste hours with nothing to show for it.

Respond fast#

Speed matters more than perfection. On HARO, a journalist might receive 200+ responses to a single query. Many journalists pick from the first 10-20 quality responses they see, then stop reading. On Qwoted, the free plan's 2-hour delay exists specifically because early responses get more attention.

Write concise, specific pitches#

Journalists do not want a wall of text. They want a usable quote they can drop into their article.

What works:

• Lead with your specific insight or data point in 2-3 sentences
• Include one concrete example or statistic
• State your credentials in one line -- name, title, company, relevant experience
• Keep the total pitch under 200 words

What gets ignored:

• Generic answers that could apply to any query
• Long bios before the actual answer
• Pitches that promote your product instead of answering the question
• AI-generated responses that read like ChatGPT output

Target the right queries#

Not every query is worth your time. Prioritize based on:

• Publication DA/DR: A placement in a DA 70 publication is worth 10 placements in DA 15 blogs. Help a B2B Writer shows DA scores directly. For other platforms, check the publication before pitching.
• Relevance to your expertise: Journalists can tell when you are stretching. Only pitch queries where you have genuine, specific knowledge.
• Link likelihood: Some queries are for quotes only (no backlink). Prioritize queries that specifically mention linking to sources or that come from publications known to include source links.

Which niches work best#

Journalist query platforms skew heavily toward certain industries:

• High opportunity: Finance, health, technology, marketing, real estate, legal
• Medium opportunity: SaaS, e-commerce, education, HR, sustainability
• Lower opportunity: Highly technical or narrow B2B niches -- fewer journalists cover these topics

If your niche has low query volume on general platforms, Help a B2B Writer and #JournoRequest may surface more relevant opportunities.

Track your results#

Most people pitch and forget. Track:

• Number of pitches sent per week
• Response rate (how many journalists reply)
• Placement rate (how many pitches result in published mentions)
• Link quality (DA/DR of the publication, dofollow vs nofollow)

A 5-10% placement rate on quality queries is good. If you are below that, refine your pitch quality and targeting.

Beyond journalist queries: other ways to build backlinks#

Journalist query platforms are one channel, but they should not be your only one. The best backlink profiles come from diverse sources. Here are approaches that do not depend on journalists at all.

Directory submissions#

The fastest way to build a backlink foundation. Each directory listing creates a new referring domain, and the cumulative effect on your DR is measurable within days.

Our directory submission service handles 140+ directories. You fill out one form, we do the rest. The backlinks compound over time as directories index and pass link equity.

For a list of directories worth submitting to, see our startup directories that send traffic.

Guest posting#

Writing for established publications in your niche earns contextual editorial links -- the highest-value type of backlink. Unlike journalist queries where you provide a quote, guest posts let you control the narrative and include natural links to your content.

Target publications where your audience actually reads. Write content as good as what you would publish on your own site. One or two contextual links per post is the standard.

Original research and data#

Publishing unique data makes you a citable source. Journalists, bloggers, and other content creators link to original research because they need sources for their claims.

What works:

• Industry surveys with real sample sizes
• Analysis of your own platform data (anonymized)
• Benchmark studies comparing tools or approaches
• Trend reports with specific, quotable statistics

Original research earns links passively over time, unlike journalist queries which require active pitching.

Broken link building#

Find broken links on high-authority pages in your niche. Create content that covers the same topic. Email the site owner, point out the broken link, and suggest your resource as a replacement.

This works because you are solving a problem for the webmaster. The success rate per outreach email is higher than journalist pitches because there is a clear mutual benefit.

For the complete strategy breakdown, see our link building strategies guide and high authority backlinks guide.

FAQs#

Is HARO still active in 2026?#

Yes. Featured.com acquired HARO from Cision in April 2025 and relaunched it as a free email digest service. You receive three digests per day with journalist queries, just like the original HARO. There are no subscriptions or per-pitch fees. The Connectively rebrand is gone -- it is simply HARO again.

What is the best free HARO alternative?#

Source of Sources (SOS), created by HARO's original founder Peter Shankman, is the best free alternative. Every query is manually vetted, which means higher quality and less spam than most platforms. The relaunched HARO itself is also free. For B2B content specifically, Help a B2B Writer is the best free option.

How do I get backlinks from journalist queries?#

Sign up for one or more journalist query platforms (HARO, SOS, Qwoted, etc.). Monitor incoming queries for topics matching your expertise. Respond quickly with a concise, specific pitch that includes a usable quote, a concrete example, and your credentials. If the journalist uses your response, you typically get a mention and backlink in the published article. Expect a 5-10% success rate on quality pitches.

Are journalist query backlinks worth the effort?#

Yes, when they land. A single editorial backlink from a DA 70+ publication can be worth more than 50 directory links. The trade-off is time and unpredictability -- you might pitch for weeks before getting your first placement. That is why it is important to combine journalist queries with more reliable methods like directory submissions that guarantee results.

Which HARO alternative has the most journalist queries?#

Qwoted has the highest query volume among dedicated platforms, followed by Featured.com and then the relaunched HARO. If you aggregate across platforms (using a tool like PressPulse AI or monitoring #JournoRequest on X), you can access an even larger pool of opportunities.

Can I use multiple HARO alternatives at the same time?#

Yes, and you should. Each platform has different journalists and different query types. Sign up for HARO, SOS, and Help a B2B Writer (all free) as a baseline. Add Qwoted or PressPulse AI if you have budget. Monitor #JournoRequest if you target UK media. The overlap between platforms is surprisingly low.

What are alternatives to journalist queries for building backlinks?#

Directory submissions are the most reliable alternative -- each listing creates a backlink with no pitching required. Guest posting on industry blogs earns high-value editorial links. Publishing original research makes you a citable source that earns passive links over time. Broken link building has a higher success rate per outreach than journalist pitches. For a full breakdown, see our link building strategies guide and our domain authority improvement guide.