As one of the PR industry’s most widely recognized platforms, Cision has been a part of many teams’ tech stack at one point or another. However, it’s critical for teams to reevaluate tools and workflows to ensure they continue to meet the needs of the brand or agency. 

For those who have noticed ongoing frustrations, a lack of quality assurance, or a need to stay on track with their goals, it’s essential to consider what else is available—especially ahead of a renewal. 

As modern PR evolves faster and becomes more data-driven, many teams are reevaluating whether Cision remains the right fit. 

Why consider Cision alternatives?

Whether it’s a fragmented platform experience or the lack of responsive support, PR professionals highlight several issues with Cision on third-party review sites like G2.com. Here are the top reasons why PR professionals are exploring alternatives: 

• Steep Learning Curve: Many users report difficulty navigating the interface, especially new or infrequent users. 
• Forced Platform Transition: Legacy users are required to migrate to CisionOne, despite the new platform lacking features compared to the older version. 
• Support Issues: Long wait times, ticket-only support, and offshore handoffs. 
• Clunky User Experience: CisionOne, the company’s unified platform rollout, introduced lag, bugs, and a disjointed UX. 
• Data Accuracy Problems: Inaccurate journalist contacts and unreliable monitoring hits. 

Verified review from G2 

Verified review from Reddit 

What are PR teams looking for in a PR platform?

The modern media landscape is evolving rapidly, and PR teams require a reliable partner to support their goals. With the rise of a 24/7 news cycle, real-time social feedback loops, and the growing influence of AI, modern PR professionals must adopt a more data-driven and technical approach, especially for teams looking to move closer to the C-suite. 

Many teams are looking for a platform provider that has: 

• An AI-forward approach: Tools that automate routine tasks, such as drafting press releases, distilling coverage takeaways, identifying journalist matches, and surfacing real-time insights, can free up valuable time for more strategic, creative work. 
• A reliable partner: To maximize platform ROI, PR teams require access to dedicated account managers, responsive customer service, ongoing training, and strategic guidance.   
• High-quality data: A successful media strategy is built on accurate, high-quality data. Regularly updated contacts, global media coverage, and custom media intelligence services are hallmarks of top PR solutions. 
• Integrated workflows: Nothing hinders productivity more than switching between tools and experiencing a fragmented UI. PR platforms must offer a unified experience that streamlines workflows. 

Top 10 Cision Alternatives

Let’s take a look at the top Cision alternatives in detail.

1. Agility PR Solutions

Best for: PR and communication teams seeking a flexible, all-in-one PR platform with responsive human support. 

Agility PR Solutions is a comprehensive PR solution that combines media relations, monitoring, media intelligence, and social listening workflows into one, providing cutting-edge AI features for the entire communication lifecycle. These features include targeted outreach, the ability to extract instant takeaways from monitored coverage, and leverage expert-led intelligence services, among others.  

Agility’s ability to save time for PR teams to focus on strategic initiatives, while delivering enhanced ROI, is why it is trusted by leading brands, including PR agencies, nonprofits, higher education institutions, government organizations, and enterprise companies. 

For a comprehensive Cision vs. Agility comparison, check out our detailed comparison report here. 

Why it outperforms Cision: 

• Consistently higher G2 scores for ease of use, customer support, and product direction 
• Advanced AI capabilities, including PR writing assistant, pitch personalization, media outreach lists, and deep monitoring insights 
• Unified platform for outreach, monitoring, and analytics 
• No siloed modules or cumbersome interfaces 
• Dedicated, live customer support instead of bots or tickets 

Pricing: Speak with an expert to determine what suits your needs. 

2. Propel PRM

Best for: PR teams focused on media outreach and performance tracking. 

Propel is a modern PR tool that offers media outreach, monitoring and analysis capabilities. It directly integrates with Gmail and Outlook, making it easy to track open rates, clicks, and journalist engagement. A responsive support team and advanced analytics make it a popular Cision alternative. 

Advantages over Cision: 

• Pitch contacts and track journalists from your inbox 
• AI-powered analytics and database features  
• CRM functionality without overkill 

Pricing: Users must book a demo 

3. Prowly

Best for: Small PR teams and startups seeking an affordable PR tool. 

Prowly offers a simplified PR platform that integrates core PR functionalities in a single platform. The SEMrush-backed company provides a press release builder, media relations services, media monitoring, and newsroom hosting, along with pricing tailored to individuals and smaller teams. 

Advantages over Cision: 

• Workflows powered by SEMrush’s audience and traffic insights  
• Affordable, transparent pricing 
• Ideal for beginner PR workflows 

Pricing: The basic package starts at $260 per month. 

4. Critical Mention

Best for: PR teams prioritizing broadcast, podcast, and real-time monitoring. 

Backed by Onclusive, Critical Mention offers a media monitoring and database platform that specializes in tracking TV, radio, and podcast coverage. Equipped with real-time alerts and analytics, Critical Mention provides a reliable service for PR teams operating in regulated industries or traditional media campaigns. 

Advantages over Cision: 

• Real-time alerts for broadcast coverage 
• Access to TV video and audio coverage + transcripts 
• Podcast, radio, and online media all in one dashboard 

Pricing: Users must book a demo 

5. Newswire

Best for: Teams looking to integrate press release distribution with targeted outreach and editorial support. 

Newswire helps PR teams distribute press releases effectively, offering hands-on guidance to enhance messaging and placement. The platforms also include media targeting, monitoring, and coverage analytics capabilities in a single solution for PR teams looking for strategic guidance. 

Advantages over Cision: 

• Editorial assistance to optimize release performance 
• Targeted media outreach alongside distribution 
• Flexible pricing plans and packages for different needs 

Pricing: Basic monthly packages start at $350. 

6. Brandwatch Consumer Intelligence

Best for: Teams who require in-depth social and digital media analytics. 

Brandwatch’s Consumer Intelligence, part of their overall social suite, is ideal for digital-first PR professionals who require detailed social media and digital media analytics. Its AI-driven features provide consumer intelligence, analyzing online sentiment and themes. 

Advantages over Cision: 

• Real-time alerts for crisis response 
• Trend identification and topic clustering 
• Sentiment and share of voice dashboards 

Pricing: Users must book a demo. 

7. Resolver

Best for: PR teams that require risk and reputation management, as well as incident response capabilities. 

Resolver’s Risk Intelligence platform empowers teams with proactive risk management and crisis detection capabilities – ideal for PR professionals in corporate and compliance-heavy industries. The platform monitors for reputational threats, compliance irregularities, tracks incidents, and helps manage crises in a single platform. 

Advantages over Cision: 

• Integrated risk and reputation management workflows 
• Customizable dashboards and reporting  
• Seamless support and integrations for Slack, Jira, Zendesk, etc.  

Pricing: Users must book a demo. 

8. Qualtrics Brand Tracking

Best for: Teams measuring how PR efforts tie into the brand’s long-term health. 

Qualtric’s Brand Tracking solution combines brand and customer experience insights to help PR professionals monitor brand health, analyze performance and highlight areas for improvement. The platform helps collect data by creating surveys and analyzing different social media and consumer review sites.    

Advantages over Cision: 

• Always-on tracking gauges awareness, share of voice, and consumer intent 
• Integrates data from different sources to measure ROI and impact of PR efforts  
• Offers in-house research teams to manage clients’ brand research goals 

Pricing: Users must request custom pricing. 

9. Hootsuite

Best for: PR teams that manage social media alongside earned media. 

Renowned for its social media management capabilities, Hootsuite also offers social listening and analytics capabilities. It offers an integrated platform for PR and comms teams to create, publish, and monitor social media activity from a unified dashboard.  

Advantages over Cision: 

• All-in-one social media management that allows post scheduling, benchmarking, and more 
• Social listening that includes mention tracking, sentiment analysis, and real-time alerts 
• Custom dashboards with detailed metrics and shareable reports 

Pricing: Initial packages start at $149 per month. 

10. Brand24

Best for: Solo practitioners or small PR teams that require media monitoring on a budget 

Brand24 captures the growing importance of social media networks by providing media monitoring that helps PR teams track and analyze conversations across different social media channels. With real-time alerts and features such as sentiment analysis, influencer identification, and other engagement metrics, it remains an affordable Cision alternative for PR teams. 

Advantages over Cision: 

• Real-time alerts 
• Coverage tracking across blogs, news, podcasts, and social 
• Easy-to-read reports and sentiment filters 

Pricing: Individual plans starting from $149 per month 

When is the best time to look for a Cision alternative? 

The ideal time to explore possible Cision alternatives to your current PR software starts 5-7 months before your contract renewal—particularly since Cision, like many PR platforms, includes a 90-day auto-renewal clause in the contract.  

Unless you opt to end your current contract or wait too long to decide on an alternative, you will be locked into another full-term contract. This makes finalizing the best alternative before your auto-renewal date even more important. 

This timeline is crucial to ensure sufficient time for researching, evaluating, and finalizing a new solution that meets your team’s requirements and to ensure no gaps in service. 

But several reasons may create a pressing need to consider other options before the renewal is due. For instance:  

• Your team is struggling to get timely or helpful support 
• You’re consistently missing key media mentions or alerts 
• Your media outreach efforts are falling flat due to incorrect information or too many email bounces 
• Features like AI capabilities or automated insights are lagging or only available at a high upgrade cost 
• Your team has grown, but your platform can’t keep up 
• You’re constantly routed to different support reps, with no one really owning your account 

Final thoughts

Cision may still be the most well-known name in PR software, but it’s far from the only option. In 2025, communications professionals have real alternatives that offer users a streamlined experience, faster support, and actionable insights. 

Whether your team prioritizes outreach, analytics, monitoring, or reputation management, there’s a platform on this list that could be a better fit for your workflow and budget. And if you’re looking for a well-rounded solution that does it all, without the steep learning curve or ticket-based support, Agility PR Solutions is a trustworthy Cision alternative. 

Ready to find the right fit? Use this article as your launchpad to explore, compare, and future-proof your PR tech stack. 

Osama Saeed

Osama is a content marketer at Agility PR Solutions, where he creates actionable content that helps PR professionals make smarter media decisions. He's been writing professionally since 2018, and has been published in PR NEWS and Bulldog Reporter.