Press release distribution cost in 2026: what the wires and services charge, and what a release costs all-in

On the price pages and rate cards we read on 12 November 2026, one paid press release cost from $21.00 at IssueWire to $1,500 for EZ Newswire's Premium plan, across 17 services that publish a price. At the wires, Business Wire starts at $475 for 400 words on a U.S. local circuit, ACCESS Newswire prints $475 to $1,205 per release, and PR Newswire prints no price on its own site, though its 2026 Pricing Guide, effective 1 January 2026, lists a national release at $1,145 for 400 words; GlobeNewswire and Cision's platform plans print no price. The fee is for distribution: writing the release is extra almost everywhere, and finding the story and pitching it are priced separately again.

This page pulls together what the wires and the distribution services charge for one press release, every figure from the vendor's own rate card or pricing page, and it says plainly where a vendor prints nothing. We follow the cost past the release itself, through the writing and the pitching, to what one announcement comes to all-in. After reading all of these, we think the printed per-release price is the least useful number on any of them. It covers the sending and little else, and the word limit and the outlets named on a tier move the real cost enough that two services can swap places once everything is added. Cost one announcement all the way to the live URLs before you compare anything, because that is the figure your budget actually has to cover.

Press release costs in 2026: the headline figures

Ten figures from the documents behind this page, each with its source and the document's own date or the day we read it:

• PR Newswire prints no price on its own site, read 12 November 2026; its 2026 Pricing Guide, effective 1 January 2026, lists a national release at $1,145 for 400 words and $365 for each additional 100 words.
• The same national release was $1,020 for 400 words on PR Newswire's 2024 guide, effective 1 January 2024: the list price rose by $125 between the two guides.
• Business Wire prints one single-release price, $475 for 400 words on a U.S. local circuit, and package prices of $2,595, $3,495 and $4,495 for five local, regional or national releases, on pages read 12 November 2026.
• ACCESS Newswire prints $475, $865 and $1,205 per release for its Budget, National and US Premium tiers, with no word count limits, on its pricing page read 12 November 2026; GlobeNewswire and Cision's platform plans print no price.
• Among 17 services that publish a price, one paid release runs from $21.00 at IssueWire to $1,500 for EZ Newswire's Premium plan; EIN Presswire is $149, PRWeb $120 to $480 and eReleases $399 to $699, each on the vendor's own page read 12 November 2026.
• In the UK, PA Media charges £450 + VAT per release on its Press Release Hub, and Presswire's 2026 rate card charges £185 for one region and £300 worldwide, both read 12 November 2026.
• Writing is an add-on where a distributor prices it: $300 at eReleases, $199 at Send2Press and $40 to $80 at BrandPush, each on the vendor's own page read 12 November 2026.
• The median hourly wage of a US public relations specialist was $35.94 in May 2025, per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics; in the UK the median for public relations professionals was £20.25 an hour in 2025, per the Office for National Statistics.
• ACCESS Newswire's annual report for 2025, signed 19 March 2026, says press release distribution "contributed over 80% of overall revenue" of $22,619,000; the company worked with 12,802 customers that year.
• Ours: our own press release packages cost $99, $279 or $679 and include the writing, up to 800 words, at list prices on our own page on 12 November 2026.

How much does press release distribution cost in 2026?

At a wire that prints a price, one press release costs $475 to $1,205 in the US, from Business Wire's local starting price on its pricing page and ACCESS Newswire's per-release tiers, and $520 to $1,145 for 400 words on PR Newswire's 2026 guide depending on the circuit. In the UK, press release distribution costs £185 to £450 + VAT at Presswire and PA Media. GlobeNewswire and Cision's platform plans print nothing.

The prices in this table come from each wire's own pricing page, rate card, FAQ or pricing guide, read on 12 November 2026.

PR Newswire prints no price on its own site: on 12 November 2026 its pricing address led to a form titled "Request Pricing". PR Newswire's 2026 Pricing Guide is public, hosted by the Independent Book Publishers Association on the page for its PR Newswire member programme, which says: "To check prices before the IBPA member discount, download the following PR Newswire pricing guides below:". Every PR Newswire release price on this page is a list price from that guide or from its 2024 guide, before the annual plan fee, which the 2026 guide prices as "Pricing varies", and before tax, because the guide says fees "do not include taxes".

Business Wire's pricing page prints one single-release price: "$475 Starting price for 400 words, U.S. domestic local distribution". On what sets the price, the page says "Local, regional, and national U.S. circuits each have a starting price, and international circuits are priced by market." No regional or national figure is printed on the pricing page. Included in a starting price are "editorial review, a linked logo, a detailed analytics report, and 24/7 support". Business Wire's package prices sit on its second page, the distribution packages page: five releases for $2,595, $3,495 or $4,495 and eight releases for $3,595, $4,895 or $5,895, by circuit.

GlobeNewswire's FAQ answers the cost question directly: "Contact our sales team for guidance on the option that best matches your needs." GlobeNewswire's own pages print no price.

Two UK prices need keeping separate. Presswire's UK page offers Press Association newsroom delivery as an add-on to a Presswire release: "Add Press Association newsroom delivery through PA MEDIAPOINT for £175", on top of a Presswire release that starts at £185 for the UK circuit on Presswire's 2026 rate card. PA Media's own Press Release Hub prices a release bought direct at £450 + VAT. Each figure is its own vendor's price for its own product.

We publish our link prices in the same open way: see what link building costs.

What do the services that publish a price charge?

One paid press release costs from $21.00 at IssueWire to $1,500 for EZ Newswire's Premium plan across 17 services that publish a price, each read on the vendor's own page on 12 November 2026. Most entry prices sit between $99 and $399.

The prices in this table come from each service's own pricing page, read on 12 November 2026.

What moves the price inside one vendor's list is usually the outlets named on it. ACCESS Newswire's Budget tier is $475 per release and its National tier $865, and National adds Yahoo! Finance, AP and broker and trading terminals to Budget. EZ Newswire runs from $750 to $1,500, with AP in every plan and Reuters from its Premium plan up: "Premium adds Reuters, Yahoo Finance, Business Insider". PressRelease.com prices by outlet, from $99.00 per outlet, with per-outlet examples on its page of $179.00 for the Associated Press and $995.00 for Reuters.

Access to PR Newswire's network is another priced route: the $479 plan at 24-7 Press Release Newswire includes PR Newswire national distribution, and eReleases states that it sends through PR Newswire.

Word limits differ just as much, and this is the column of the table we would read first. EIN Presswire allows 700 words on its $149 release and 1,000 and 2,500 words on the larger packages. Send2Press allows 1,200 words on its own plans and 400 or 500 on its Cision plans. eReleases sets 400, 500 or 600 words by package and charges $150 per extra 100 words or part. Outlets are a choice you can trade up and down a tier list; the length of your announcement is a fact you bring with you, and drafts do not shrink to fit a tier. Once a release runs past its cap the billing moves in blocks, and a part block bills as a whole one, so the last line of a paragraph can cost as much as a full hundred words. The same vendor can also give you different room depending on the route: Send2Press's own plans take a far longer release than its Cision plans do. Count the draft in front of you before you compare prices, and pick the tier that takes it whole. The entry price is the price for a release that fits the cap, and yours may not.

Send2Press is the one service among the 17 that dates its own price list, headed "Pricing for 2026". Newswire.com and PressRelease.com are ACCESS Newswire brands.

Our own packages cost $99, $279 and $679 and include the writing, up to 800 words.

Bundles and subscriptions change the price per release

Per-release prices fall when releases are bought in blocks. EIN Presswire prints $499 for 5 releases on its Pro+ plan and $999 for 15 releases, which it works out as $66.60 per release. PR Underground prints volume prices on its own page: $74.99 each for 1 to 4 releases, $49.99 each for 5 to 9, $39.99 each for 10 to 29, and $37.50 each at 30.

Business Wire's distribution packages page prices flat-rate bundles "for non-earnings press releases to qualifying customers": five releases for $2,595 "To any U.S. State, Metro, or City circuit", $3,495 "To any U.S. Regional or Corridor circuit" or $4,495 "To the U.S. National circuit", and eight releases for $3,595, $4,895 or $5,895 by the same circuits. Every circuit includes "Unlimited Word Count", and the page does not say who qualifies.

ACCESS Newswire sells packs: "Pack bundles let you pre-purchase 3 or 5 releases at a discounted per-release rate (5% off for 3-packs, 10% off for 5-packs)." Its expiry terms: "Single releases must be used within 60 days of purchase; pack bundles must be used within 12 months." Its announcement of 27 January 2025 on subscriptions says "Packages range from an average $1,000 to $2,500 per month".

Presswire sells annual subscriptions as a separate offer at "$2,700 to $6,550 a year". Pressat publishes no per-release price in the page text we could read; its page gives "from £290 / per month".

We keep a page on budgeting for link building in your marketing strategy.

How is the price of a press release worked out?

Three things set the price of a press release: where it goes, how long it is and what is attached. Business Wire says so in one sentence on its pricing page: "The final cost depends on three things: the length of the release, the geographic circuit it goes to, and any enhancements you add, such as multimedia or translation." PR Newswire's distribution page says costs vary with distribution scope, geographic reach and added services, and GlobeNewswire's FAQ says pricing depends on distribution requirements, geographic reach and service package.

Some wires price by outlets or territory and ignore length. ACCESS Newswire states "There are no word count limits, no hyperlink limits, no image or video surcharges", and its page says "Press release distribution pricing varies based on the outlets you want to reach." Presswire's 2026 rate card carries no word-count surcharges, with images and embedded video at no extra cost. EZ Newswire prints "No word count charges" on its plans.

Where words are metered, the meter runs in blocks. PR Newswire's 2026 guide charges $365 per additional 100 words on the national circuit and $195 on most state and local circuits. eReleases charges $150 per extra 100 words or part over the package length. Send2Press states on its Cision plans: "There is upcharge of $195 for each 100 words or fraction over 400 words with PRO package, and $95 for each 100 words or fraction over 500 words with the BASIC package." The news aktuell price list, valid from 1 September 2025, charges 85 € for each further 50 words on its 515 € text release. On eReleases' $399 package, a 600-word release is $399 plus two blocks at $150, which is $699, the same figure as its 600-word package.

A worked example on PR Newswire's 2026 guide

These are list prices from PR Newswire's 2026 Pricing Guide, effective 1 January 2026, before the annual plan fee and before tax. A quote from PR Newswire can differ.

The circuit prices in this table are from PR Newswire's 2026 Pricing Guide and its 2024 Pricing Guide, read as hosted copies on 12 November 2026.

On PR Newswire's 2026 guide, a 600-word national release is $1,145 plus two additional 100-word blocks at $365, which is $1,875. A logo at $670 on the same guide makes $2,545, before the annual plan fee, which the 2026 guide prices as "Pricing varies".

On PR Newswire's 2024 guide, the same 600-word national release is $1,020 plus two blocks at $325, which is $1,670, and a logo at $595 on the 2024 guide makes $2,265. The same release is $280 more on the 2026 guide than on the 2024 guide, $2,545 against $2,265. Between the two guides, the 400-word national price is $125 higher, $1,145 against $1,020, and each additional 100 words is $40 higher, $365 against $325.

The other flat add-ons on PR Newswire's 2026 guide are an image, video or audio file at $550, additional multimedia at $430, a PDF at $550, the WebMax US online syndication network at $750 and an AP News placement at $350.

The annual fee appears in three PR Newswire documents, stated differently in each. PR Newswire's client terms, marked "Rev. February 2021", say "Membership Fees are invoiced annually and may range from $99 - $249 and are subject to annual increases." The 2024 guide lists "12-Month Membership* $305" and notes "PR Newswire is a membership organization subject to an annual fee. Discounted membership rates may be available." The 2026 guide prices the 12-month plan as "Pricing varies" and notes "PR Newswire is a plan-based organization subject to an annual fee." The Independent Book Publishers Association describes its member benefit as "Waiver of first year PR Newswire Standard Plan fee ($295 value)", which is its description of the fee it waives, not a line of PR Newswire's price list. We do not choose between these documents.

For contrast, the same 600-word release on ACCESS Newswire's National tier is $865 on its undated pricing page read on 12 November 2026, with words and graphics included in the tier price. Set against the worked example above, that gap says less about two vendors than about two ways of charging. On the guide, the number you budget with does not exist until the draft is finished, because each extra hundred words and each attachment moves it. On the flat tier, the number is the number: a long release with graphics costs what a short one costs. When we check a quote, the first question is what can still move it after we have agreed it, and on that test the tier price is finished while the guide price is only started. The caveat we would keep hold of is that the two prices buy different outlet lists, and the outlets are the reason for spending anything at all. So the practical order is to pick the outlets first. If the national circuit's list is what the announcement needs, the blocks and the logo fee are what that choice costs, and the worked figure is the one to budget with. If it is not, the flat tier is the easier number to plan around, and no part of your draft can change it.

Tiered pricing is how placements are priced elsewhere too: see our guest post pricing.

Where do the PR Newswire, Business Wire and GlobeNewswire prices online come from?

Mostly from guides written by companies that sell distribution, PR software or editorial placements, and the guides do not agree with each other. For PR Newswire a current document exists to check them against, its 2026 Pricing Guide; for a single national Business Wire release and for GlobeNewswire we found no price on a page the wire publishes on 12 November 2026.

The guide figures in this table come from third-party cost guides and the wire figures from each wire's own document, all read on 12 November 2026.

On PR Newswire's 2026 guide, $805 is the price of one regional circuit and the national circuit is $1,145 for 400 words. The $850 figure is the one Prezly's guide, updated 21 September 2026, says PR Newswire published as a starting price: "PR Newswire currently publishes US starting prices of $355 for a 400-word state release, $650 for a top-market release and $850 for national distribution", on a pricing page Prezly says "now returns a 404". PR Gun, checked 1 November 2026, and Presswire, checked 19 and 20 October 2026, each report the page returned an error, while Reporter Outreach writes that PR Newswire "now lists its base prices online". On 12 November 2026 that address led to the "Request Pricing" form, so we could not read the page those figures are attributed to. RedPress and Presscart cite the 2026 guide and give $1,145.

For Business Wire, Prezly's Business Wire guide, updated 21 September 2026, says "Business Wire publishes US starting estimates of $475 for local distribution, $510 for a regional circuit and $940 for national distribution, each covering 400 words." PressPilot gives "940 USD per US national release (400 words), no membership" and names Prezly as its source. Presswire, checked 20 October 2026, says "neither figure appears on Business Wire's pricing page"; PR Gun, checked 1 November 2026, says of the $475: "That's its only published price." Presscart says the three figures were on Business Wire's pricing page when it checked on 6 November 2026. On 12 November 2026, as we read it, Business Wire's pricing page printed the $475 local starting price and no other single-release price, and its packages page printed five national releases for $4,495. We do not say Business Wire never published $510 or $940; we say they were not on the pricing page on the day we read it.

For GlobeNewswire, Pressonify gives about $350 for a basic US and Canada release of 400 words. PressPilot gives "About 350 USD base, 700 to 1,200 USD for a typical release" and names "Prezly Academy (August 2026)" as its source. Presswire's guide says "The one current, named estimate we could find puts it at about $350 to $900 per release (ITQlick, October 2026)", so that range is ITQlick's estimate, cited by Presswire. Prezly's own GlobeNewswire pricing page says: "GlobeNewswire doesn't publish a standard price list, so there isn't one honest number we can give you." Proofwire wrote of the $350 figure as it appears in four guides: "That is one unsourced figure repeated four times, not four sources." GlobeNewswire's own pages print no price.

Where the vendor publishes its price, the guides agree with it. Every guide that prices PRWeb and EIN Presswire gives the vendors' own published figures: $120, $245, $360 and $480 for PRWeb's four tiers and $149 for one EIN Presswire release.

What does it cost to have a press release written?

Having a press release written costs $40 to $300 as an add-on from a distributor: $300 at eReleases, $199 at Send2Press and $40 to $80 at BrandPush. From the sellers who publish a price for the writing alone, it is $350 to $750 at Damon C. Williams or from £250 at Mimi G Consulting. Before paying any of these prices, we would check the seller's own page for what the price covers: the length of the release, the revisions included, whether research is part of it and who supplies the facts. At every one of these prices, one thing still comes from you: what has changed, and the date it changed. We would settle that first, because it decides what the writer has to work with.

The prices in this table come from each seller's own page or rate card, read on 12 November 2026.

These are published prices, not what any client paid. Research is priced separately by some sellers and included by others. BrandPush prices "Detailed Research" at $70 on top of its writing add-on. The Cove Copy's £800 to £1,000 includes a strategy call, research, story development and tailored pitches, and Thomas Konrad's 550 to 700 € includes briefing and research.

Two surveys give context. The Editorial Freelancers Association rate chart, from a survey run from November 2025 to mid-January 2026 with over 1,100 respondents, reports median rate ranges; its "Other Writing" category, whose examples include press releases, shows a median rate range of $70.00 to $100.00 per hour, and the chart has no row for press releases alone. The ProCopywriters Copywriter Survey 2026 reports "The median freelance day rate is £440, up 10% in two years." Its pricing page says the figures come from "the 2026 edition of our survey of 383 freelance copywriters", so the £440 is a median across 383 freelance copywriters, and it is a day rate for copywriters generally, not for press releases.

When a client hands us the whole job, most of the work comes before the first sentence: finding what has actually changed in the business and whether a date is attached to it. In our experience the writing is the short part, and a release with no dated change behind it is the expensive kind, however little the distribution costs. ProCopywriters makes the same point about where a writer's time goes: "Thinking time. The writing is often the final part of a copywriting project, and it may be the shortest part too."

Our own packages include the writing: we write the release, up to 800 words with three links to the client's site, and nothing is distributed until the client has approved the draft. The client can tell us what has changed and we agree the angle together, or hand the whole job over, in which case we develop the story ourselves and bring it back to read. Our Authority package adds a consultation on the angle before we write.

What does pitching the story cost?

Pitching a press release to journalists is priced by the hour or as a separate line, and each figure here is the seller's own published price. Thomas Konrad's rate card puts press pitches at 105 € an hour. PressCosmos prices a "Journalist outreach" add-on at $199, described on its page as "Manual pitching to a targeted list of 25 writers." Fulcrum PR prices media outreach from £1,250. GRADAX prices a release with pitching at €1,520, with a media list of up to 40 journalists. Chris Boyles's $1,040 buys a targeted list of relevant reporters to send the release to; it is a list, not pitching.

A pitch has a great deal to get through. Cision's 2026 State of the Media report, drawn from 1,899 respondents in 19 markets surveyed in January and February 2026, found "the majority are sorting through more than 50 pitches per week", and the top reason for rejecting a pitch was "82% Not relevant to my audience or coverage area". The same report gives "66% PR-provided content (press releases, pitches, media kits)" as the share naming that source among those they most often rely on for story ideas; the figure covers releases, pitches and media kits together. Muck Rack's State of Journalism 2026, from 1,044 journalists surveyed between 30 January and 2 March 2026 with 897 responses analysed, reports "86% of journalists say at least some of their stories originate from PR pitches" and "88% immediately disregard pitches that miss their beat". Propel Media Barometer, tracking pitches sent through Propel's platform, says the response rate "recovered to 3.69% in Q1 2026"; that is a response rate on pitches, not a coverage rate.

Doing the pitching in-house means paying for the time and the tools, and no source in our reading measures the hours pitching takes. For the time, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics put the median hourly wage of a public relations specialist at $35.94 in May 2025, and the Office for National Statistics put the median gross hourly pay of UK public relations professionals at £20.25 in 2025; these are wages paid to employees, not what an agency bills. On agency billing, the PR Council's 2025 U.S. Labor Billing Rate Report, as reported by MM+M on 13 June 2025, puts "The average hourly rate for PR titles this year is $278", from "152 PR Council member firm offices from 73 agencies, including 18,000 rates currently in use with clients." Upwork Insights, as of 12 November 2026, says "PR agencies on Upwork start at a median of $35/hr; the middle half start between $19/hr and $65/hr", across 83 PR agencies on Upwork that publish an hourly rate.

The tools are priced like software, not like releases. Muck Rack publishes no price of its own, giving "custom pricing"; Vendr, a software-buying marketplace, reports a median buyer price of $13,000 per year for Muck Rack, based on data from 80 purchases. Market Intelligence Tools' report of 6 October 2026 gives Vendr's median Cision contract as $12,625 a year across 107 purchases, with a low of $3,150 and a high of $30,368; that is a whole contract, not a per-release cost. Prezly publishes 100 € per month, billed annually, for its Essential plan.

One distributor plan in our reading prices a study and its pitching together with distribution: Magic PR's PR360 plan at $999, marked "Introductory price", includes one data study, a 1,000-word release and the study "pitched to relevant journalists".

We keep a page on platforms for pitching journalists. We also keep a comparison of digital PR and curated links.

What does one press release cost all-in?

By our arithmetic on the published prices, one press release costs from $292.76 all-in if you write it yourself and use EIN Presswire at $149, to $2,425 for ACCESS Newswire's National tier with a paid writer and a reporter list. A 600-word national release with a logo on PR Newswire's 2026 guide is $2,545 before its annual plan fee and before any writing, and a UK agency route starts at £2,100 before any wire fee. These are estimates built from list prices, not quotes from any vendor. Wide as that spread looks, we would not read it as one job priced many ways. Each row buys a different share of the job. Decide which parts of the job you want to keep first, because that choice settles the row, and the price only means something after it.

Each row in this table adds published prices from the vendors named, all read on 12 November 2026; the arithmetic is ours.

Read each row as a combination of published figures, not a package anyone quoted us. In the first row, the hours are one seller's statement about a freelance writer, with no sample behind it: Instant Press wrote on 25 April 2026, "Freelance writer ($50-150/hour): 4-6 hours per release, so $200-900." We apply those hours to your own time at the US median wage for public relations specialists, $35.94 in May 2025 per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, before employer costs. Four hours at $35.94 is $143.76, six hours is $215.64, and with EIN Presswire's $149 release that is $292.76 to $364.64. This is the only row where you pay part of the price in your own hours, and your own hours are the easiest cost to forget, because no invoice ever arrives for them. Remember whose pace that figure describes: a freelance writer writes releases every week, and a first release, with the brief still to pull together, tends to run slower. Before this row wins on $292.76, we would decide whose hours they are and what those hours were meant to be doing instead.

The other rows add the same way. Send2Press's U.S. National Basic at $199 plus its $199 writing add-on is $398. eReleases at $399 plus its $300 writing add-on is $699. ACCESS Newswire's National tier at $865 plus a writer at $350 to $750 is $1,215 to $1,615, and the same $865 plus Chris Boyles's $1,560 for a release and a targeted reporter list is $2,425. The PR Newswire figure, $2,545 for a 600-word national release with a logo on its 2026 guide, is $1,145 plus two additional 100-word blocks at $365 plus a logo at $670, before the annual plan fee and before writing. PA Media's £450 + VAT plus a writer from £250 is from £700, plus VAT on the wire fee. Fulcrum PR's £850 for writing plus £1,250 for media outreach is £2,100. In our own outreach work a bought shortlist is where the job starts: every name still has to be checked against what that reporter actually covers before anything goes out, and that checking time falls to you. We would budget those hours next to the fee, whoever compiled the list.

Where the writing is in the price, the all-in figure is the list price: Magic PR's plans run $199 to $999 with writing included, CI Web Group publishes "$500 per press release à la carte." covering writing, distribution and reporting, and our own packages are $99, $279 and $679 with the writing included. After a table full of assemblies, one price that already includes the writing is the easier thing to budget, whoever sells it. What we would ask of any all-in price is the length it covers and the number of links it carries, and whether you approve the draft before it goes out.

What the distribution fee buys, on any of these rows, is a dated public record of the news, with the brand's name, on the sites that run it. We keep a page on the importance of brand mentions. The way we weigh it, the rows with pitching buy a chance at coverage, while the plain distribution rows buy the record either way, and the record is the part still standing when the pitching is long forgotten. If the announcement matters mainly as coverage, spend on the rows that pitch; if it matters as a public marker of what changed and when, the distribution rows carry that on their own.

What changed in press release distribution in 2025 and 2026?

PR Newswire's list prices rose between its two guides: a national 400-word release was $1,020 on its 2024 guide and is $1,145 on its 2026 guide, each additional 100 words went from $325 on the 2024 guide to $365 on the 2026 guide, and a logo from $595 on the 2024 guide to $670 on the 2026 guide, while the annual fee went from a printed $305 on the 2024 guide to "Pricing varies" on the 2026 guide. Ownership and names changed, AI tools arrived inside the wires' own products, and PR Newswire's pricing address became a request form.

On 27 January 2025, Issuer Direct and ACCESSWIRE renamed as ACCESS Newswire, speaking of bringing "Accesswire.com, Newswire.com, and Pressrelease.com - under the ACCESS Newswire banner"; those were already the company's brands, so what dates from January 2025 is the shared banner, not the ownership. On 1 May 2025, Equiniti completed its acquisition of Notified, which operates GlobeNewswire.

On 22 September 2025, PR Newswire announced Amplify, an AI-powered platform; the announcement states no price, and PR Newswire's 2026 guide says Amplify is "included with a PR Newswire plan". On 29 April 2026, Notified said its AI Press Release Optimizer is "available to GlobeNewswire clients at no additional charge, beginning in March of 2026". On 2 November 2026, ACCESS Newswire said "Three SPOT Agents are included with every ACCESS Newswire release, and four more can be switched on as add-ons."

EIN Presswire dated two price offers in its own releases, each a limited-time offer. Its release of 1 June 2026 offered, "through June 30, 2026", "Seven press release credits for $499, including two bonus credits, reducing the per-release cost to approximately $71.29." and "Twenty press release credits for $999, including five bonus credits, reducing the per-release cost to approximately $49.95." Its release of 1 December 2025 offered a Pro+ bundle, ordinarily five press releases, whose buyers would "receive three additional releases at no additional cost", effective 1 to 31 December.

On scale, each company states its own figure in its own words, and the statements are not comparable with each other. EIN Presswire's release of 1 December 2025 says "In 2025, EIN Presswire distributed approximately 192,000 press releases". PR Newswire's distribution page says "Our editorial team reviews over 325,000 press releases annually". GlobeNewswire's home page says it is "supporting more than 230,000 releases annually". ACCESS Newswire's annual report for 2025 states "For the year ended December 31, 2025, we worked with 12,802 customers, compared to 12,349 for the year ended December 31, 2024", and "Total revenue decreased by $438,000, or 2%, to $22,619,000 during the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to $23,057,000 in 2024." The filing gives no count of releases, so we do not divide one figure by the other.

Two research firms put a size on the market, measuring different things. Dataintelo, updated March 2026, writes "Global press release distribution service market valued at $5.2 billion in 2025". The Insight Partners, updated 28 April 2026, says the "Press Release Distribution Solution" market "was valued at US$ 4.06 Billion in 2025". We print both and combine neither.

We track our own trade in our link building statistics report.

How we checked these prices

We read each vendor's own price page or rate card on 12 November 2026 and copied the figures as printed. PR Newswire's guides are its own documents, read as hosted copies; the 2026 guide is hosted on the Independent Book Publishers Association's site. Currencies are as shown on each page and we converted nothing. Where a page carried a sale banner we ignored it and used the list price. Where a page showed no date, we give the day we read it.

Some things we looked for and did not find: a price on PR Newswire's own website; a single regional or national price on Business Wire's pricing page; any GlobeNewswire price document; a US government contract price list with per-release prices for PR Newswire, Business Wire or GlobeNewswire; and a measured study of the hours a press release takes. Where this page estimates time, it says whose statement the hours come from.

Third-party guides appear in their own section of this page and are never used as a wire's price. Our own prices are published the same way: our Guest Posts and Curated Links prices are on their pages.

Frequently asked questions

How much does PR Newswire cost?

PR Newswire prints no price on its own site: its pricing address led to a "Request Pricing" form on 12 November 2026. Its 2026 Pricing Guide, effective 1 January 2026, lists a national release at $1,145 for 400 words plus $365 for each additional 100 words, and most state and local options at $520 for 400 words. The same guide prices the annual plan fee as "Pricing varies", and its figures are list prices before that fee and before tax.

How much does Business Wire cost?

Business Wire prints one single-release price on its undated pricing page, read 12 November 2026: $475 for 400 words on a U.S. domestic local circuit. Longer releases are billed in 100-word increments, and the price of an increment is not stated. Its distribution packages page prints flat-rate packages for qualifying customers: five releases for $2,595, $3,495 or $4,495 by circuit, or eight for $3,595, $4,895 or $5,895, with unlimited word count.

What is the cheapest way to distribute a press release?

The lowest published entry prices we found, each on the vendor's own page on 12 November 2026, are IssueWire's Tier 1 at $21.00, PRLog at $29 per release, 24-7 Press Release Newswire at $29 posted on its own site only or $49 with distribution, and PR Underground from $74.99. IssueWire and PRLog also offer a free release. We report the figures as printed and do not judge what any tier is worth.

Does the distribution price include writing the release?

Almost nowhere. Where distributors price writing, it is an add-on: $300 at eReleases, $199 at Send2Press and $40 to $80 at BrandPush, each from the vendor's own page read 12 November 2026. Magic PR includes writing in every plan, from $199. Our own packages include the writing, up to 800 words, and nothing is distributed until the client has approved the draft.

How much does a PR agency charge for a press release?

Published prices only: Fulcrum PR prints "Press Release Writing From £850" and "Media Outreach From £1,250", and CI Web Group prints "$500 per press release à la carte." covering writing, distribution and reporting. For agency time generally, the PR Council's 2025 billing rate report, as reported by MM+M on 13 June 2025, puts the average hourly rate for PR titles at $278, drawn from 18,000 rates in use with clients at 73 agencies.

How much does press release distribution cost in the UK?

PA Media charges £450 + VAT per release on its Press Release Hub. Presswire's 2026 rate card, read 12 November 2026, charges £185 for one region and £300 worldwide, with Press Association newsroom delivery through PA MEDIAPOINT for £175 as an add-on to a Presswire release. Pressat's page gives "from £290 / per month" and no per-release price in the text we could read. For context, UK public relations professionals' median pay was £20.25 an hour in 2025, per the Office for National Statistics.