Connectively Alternatives
Connectively is one way to answer journalist queries. It is not the only way, and it is not the right way for every business.
- Length
- 7 min read · 1,580 words
- Sections
- 8
- Questions
- 4 answered
On this page8 sections
Connectively
www.connectively.usCision's own journalist request platform, running alongside HARO rather than replacing it. Source call-outs reach experts by email.
Published price
- Free and paid tiers see vendor
Pick them when
It inherited HARO's reporter base, and that base is the product.
Checked facts
- It ranks for 433 US keywords and its highest-traffic position is for "the world's hardest questions", which is not a PR term. (DataForSEO Labs ranked_keywords, checked 2026-08-14)
Why look for a Connectively alternative
Connectively is Cision's journalist request platform. It runs alongside HARO, sending source call-outs to experts by email. It is a specific product for a specific job. You might look for an alternative because you want more than one channel, or because you would rather not have your opportunities arrive as a digest you have to read at 5am.
The search for an alternative is not a verdict on Connectively. It is a recognition that no single product covers every path to a link. Some tools find reporters who are already writing about your subject. Others find the pages that already link to your competitors. Connectively focuses on inbound requests. A complete strategy often needs more than one of these approaches.
HARO (Help a Reporter Out)
HARO is the original journalist request digest. It is still operating and free for sources. Its queries reach subscribed sources by email. Connectively is a separate platform built by the same company, not a replacement for HARO.
HARO has the largest reporter base of any request feed. Volume is the whole point. If you need a high volume of inbound media queries and you are willing to read a digest every morning, HARO remains a valid choice. Its published price includes free and paid tiers, which you should check on the Connectively website.
- What it is: The original free journalist request digest.
- Published price: Free and paid tiers (check Connectively pricing).
- Covers: Journalist requests.
- Does not cover: Backlink gap analysis, link prospecting, resource pages, podcast booking, speaking opportunities, awards, AI answer visibility.
- Pick HARO when: Volume of inbound queries is your primary goal.
- Its limitation: Queries arrive by email digest. No tool can pull them in automatically without accessing your mailbox.
Qwoted
Qwoted is a source request marketplace that connects experts to journalists. It includes a reporter-facing expert database. Being listed in that database can generate inbound interest from journalists who use the platform to find sources.
Its free tier is limited to two pitches per month and applies a two-hour response delay. In practice, the Pro plan at $149 per month for 35 pitches is the real entry point for active use. Qwoted also includes a database of industry awards and events.
- What it is: A source request marketplace with an expert database.
- Published price: Basic $0 (2 pitches/month, 2-hour delay). Pro $149/month (35 pitches). Teams custom.
- Covers: Journalist requests, industry awards.
- Does not cover: Backlink gap analysis, link prospecting, resource pages, podcast booking, AI answer visibility.
- Pick Qwoted when: Inbound interest from journalists matters more to you than outbound pitching.
- Its limitation: The free tier is not usable for consistent outreach. The real cost starts at $149 per month.
Featured
Featured is an AI PR co-pilot that finds media opportunities and helps you pitch them. The company behind it also operates Connectively and HARO. It covers a wide range of earn channels, including journalist requests, podcast guest booking, speaking opportunities, awards, and AI answer visibility for Google AI Overviews.
It is inexpensive, with a Lite plan at $29 per month billed annually. The interface is a chat. Featured is good at what it does. However, its homepage lists capabilities like link gap analysis that do not appear on its pricing page. An analysis of its top ranked keywords shows no traffic for link-related terms.
- What it is: An AI PR co-pilot for earned media.
- Published price: Free $0 (daily credits). Lite $29/month (annual). Pro $79/month (annual).
- Covers: Journalist requests, find journalists, podcast booking, speaking opportunities, awards, bylined articles, AI answer visibility (Google), unlinked mentions.
- Does not cover: Backlink gap analysis, link prospecting, resource page building.
- Pick Featured when: You want a cheap, capable tool focused solely on the earn channel.
- Its limitation: It does not find the links your competitors already have, despite claims on its homepage.
SourceBottle
SourceBottle is a free call-out board connecting journalists and bloggers to expert sources. It is strongest in Australian and New Zealand media. Founded in 2009, it remains free for both journalists and sources.
If your target media is in Australia, SourceBottle is a genuine and effective option. For a global strategy, it is one channel among many. Mentionry reads SourceBottle as one of its own inputs for journalist requests, so this is not a claim to replace it.
- What it is: A free journalist request board, strong in Australia.
- Published price: Free.
- Covers: Journalist requests.
- Does not cover: Backlink gap analysis, link prospecting, resource pages, podcast booking, speaking opportunities, awards, AI answer visibility.
- Pick SourceBottle when: You need free, effective coverage in Australian media.
- Its limitation: Geographic focus and a single channel.
Prowly
Prowly is a full PR suite, including a media database, press release hosting, pitching tools, and media monitoring. It is owned by Semrush. It is designed for public relations teams that need a database of journalist contacts and a place to host press materials.
This is a different kind of product. It helps you find journalists via a database. Mentionry finds journalists by reading the bylines on articles already written about your subject. The database record may be years old. The byline is from last week.
- What it is: A PR suite with media database and press room.
- Published price: Tiered (check vendor).
- Covers: Find journalists, journalist requests, unlinked mentions, competitor coverage watch.
- Does not cover: Backlink gap analysis, link prospecting, resource pages, podcast booking.
- Pick Prowly when: You need a journalist contact database and a press release platform.
- Its limitation: Database contacts can be outdated compared to real-time byline analysis.
Mentionry
Mentionry finds specific places a business can get a backlink and drafts the pitch to send. It runs two engines. One finds pages that link to your competitors and not to you, plus resource pages and directories. The other finds journalist requests, reporters already covering the subject, podcasts, conferences, awards, and pages Google's AI reads for answers.
Every opportunity comes with a drafted email sent from your own connected mailbox. Mentionry sends the pitch. It does not place or publish the link. That decision belongs to the recipient. Pricing is not yet published.
- What it is: A tool that finds link opportunities and drafts the outreach.
- Published price: Not published.
- Covers: Backlink gap analysis, link prospecting, resource pages, journalist requests, podcast booking, speaking opportunities, awards, AI answer visibility (Google AI Overviews only).
- Does not cover: Broken link building, relationship inventory, registries. HARO, Source of Sources and Connectively queries are not pulled automatically. A query must be pasted in to be judged and drafted.
- Pick Mentionry when: You want both the links your competitors have and the earned media opportunities, filtered and drafted automatically.
- Its limitation: It cannot place a link, only send the pitch. Several channels like broken link building are not built.
How to choose
Start by separating the two halves of the problem. The first half is finding the links your competitors already have. The second half is earning new coverage from journalists, podcasts, and conferences. No single product on this list does both halves completely.
If you only need to answer journalist queries, a request feed like HARO, Connectively, or Qwoted may be enough. If you need to find the existing links you are missing, you need a prospecting tool. If you need both, you likely need more than one tool, or a tool like Mentionry that attempts to bridge the gap with clear limitations stated.
Ignore claims about capabilities that are not listed on the pricing page. Check what the product actually ranks for in search. That tells you what people use it for. Finally, remember that sending a pitch and placing a link are different acts. Only one of them can be automated.
Questions people actually ask
Is Connectively shutting down?
No. Connectively is an active platform operated by Cision. It runs alongside HARO. The search for alternatives is not due to a shutdown. It is due to businesses needing more channels than a single request feed provides.
What is the main difference between HARO and Connectively?
HARO is the original free digest that emails queries to subscribed sources. Connectively is a separate platform, also from Cision, where you can submit expert responses. They are two different interfaces to similar pools of journalist requests. Neither is a successor to the other. Both are running.
Can any tool automatically pull in HARO or Connectively queries?
No legitimate tool can pull in these queries automatically. HARO queries are sent by email to subscribers. Connectively queries are inside its platform. To use them with a tool like Mentionry, you must paste the query text in. The tool can then judge and draft a response as it would for any other opportunity.
Do these alternatives guarantee backlinks?
No ethical product guarantees backlinks. A tool can send a pitch from your mailbox. Whether a link then appears is a decision made by the recipient, the editor, or the site owner. Any service that promises to place or publish links for you is likely selling paid placements, which violate search engine guidelines.
Run this against your own domain
Give it a domain and it works out who you compete with, mines the pages that link to them and not to you, judges every opening one at a time, and writes the email, the form or the reply. It sends them from your own mailbox, so the replies come to you.
Find out what your domain is missing
Qualifying a domain is free and it is the honest first question: some sites have a pool worth mining and some have nothing to mine and everything to earn. Run that first.
One plan. There is no cheaper rung with things taken out of it.
- Both engines, all fourteen channels
- Every opening judged one at a time, with the reason kept
- The email, the form or the reply drafted for each one
- Sent from your own mailbox, so the replies come to you
- Nine connectors that need no key and no account of yours
- Marketplaces and paid placements filtered out, twice