Featured vs Press Hunt in 2026: inbound opportunity monitoring vs outbound contact database
Featured matches you to journalist requests that are already looking for a source. Press Hunt gives you a 580,000-journalist database and AI list generation for building your own outbound pitch list.
Featured
Press Hunt- Press Hunt's database covers 580,000+ journalists and 10,000+ podcasts with AI-powered list generation from a plain-language description. Featured has no journalist database and does not support proactive outbound pitching.
- Featured starts free and tops out at $79/month. Press Hunt starts at $249/month with no full free trial, only a limited preview that hides contact details.
- Featured includes GEO Visibility tracking of AI-generated search appearances on every plan. Press Hunt has no AI search visibility feature; its AI is used only for generating contact lists from natural-language queries.
- Press Hunt has no built-in outreach, pitch tracking, or CRM integration, so exported contacts need a separate email tool. Featured drafts pitches and manages monitoring inside its own chat interface but has nothing to export.
- Press release distribution on Press Hunt is locked to the $499/month Premium tier at two per month. Featured has no press release distribution feature at any tier.
- Neither tool offers API access on any plan.
Featured and Press Hunt solve opposite halves of the same problem. Featured is inbound: an AI chat interface matches you to journalist source requests, podcast bookings, and speaking opportunities that are already open, and you respond. Press Hunt is outbound: a database of 580,000+ journalists and 10,000+ podcasts that you search, filter, or describe in plain language to build your own targeted media list, then export to CSV and pitch through a separate tool. Neither platform does the other's job. Featured has no journalist database at all, and Press Hunt has no monitoring, drafting, or opportunity-matching feature once you have exported a list. The right pick depends on whether your bottleneck is finding opportunities or finding contacts.
The tools at a glance
Featured
AI-powered PR co-pilot for journalist requests, podcast pitching, and media opportunity discovery
Featured works entirely on the inbound side of PR. Its AI chat interface surfaces journalist source requests, podcast bookings, speaking opportunities, and bylined article slots that already exist, matched to your profile and expertise. There is nothing to build or export because there is no outbound contact list in the product: you respond to what is already there.
GEO Visibility tracks how your brand appears in AI-generated search responses on every plan, including free, and Automated Workflows keep the matching running in the background. Pricing is transparent from $0 to $79 per month, well under Press Hunt's $249 entry point.
The trade-off is that Featured cannot help you when the opportunity you want does not already exist as an inbound request. If you need to find and pitch a specific journalist covering a niche beat, or build a list for a funding announcement, Featured has no database to search.
| Feature | Free $0/mo | Lite $29/mo (annual) | Pro $79/mo (annual) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Journalist request matching | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Outbound journalist database | No | No | No |
| GEO visibility tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CSV export | No | No | No |
Press Hunt
Journalist and podcast database of 580k+ contacts with AI-powered media list generation and bulk CSV export
Press Hunt is a database, not a platform: 580,000+ journalist profiles and 10,000+ podcasts, searchable by interest, industry, outlet, and social activity, or generated automatically from a plain-language description like "startup journalists who cover Series A raises in fintech." The AI list generation is the standout feature, lowering the skill floor for building a targeted media list.
Once you have a list, Press Hunt hands off. Bulk selection and unlimited CSV export at the Startup tier get contacts into whatever email tool you already use, but there is no pitch tracking, no relationship history, and no monitoring inside Press Hunt itself. Press release distribution exists only on the $499/month Premium tier.
At $249 per month with no full free trial, Press Hunt is a real commitment for what is fundamentally a search-and-export tool. It earns its place as the contact-discovery layer in a stack that already has an outreach platform, not as a standalone PR solution.
| Feature | Startup $249/month | Premium $499/month | PR Agency Contact for pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Journalist and podcast database | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI media list generation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CSV export | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Press release distribution | No | 2/month | Custom |
Head-to-head feature comparison
| Feature | Featured | Press Hunt |
|---|---|---|
| AI-generated search (GEO) visibility tracking | Yes (all plans, including free) | No |
| Outbound journalist/podcast contact database | No | Yes (580,000+ journalists, 10,000+ podcasts) |
| Inbound journalist request monitoring | Yes | No |
| AI-powered list or opportunity generation | Yes (opportunity matching) | Yes (natural-language list generation) |
| CSV export of contacts | No | Yes (unlimited at Startup) |
| Press release distribution | No | Premium tier only ($499/mo) |
| Automated opportunity alerts | Yes (Automated Workflows) | No |
| API access | No | No |
| Free trial | Yes (Free tier) | No (limited preview only) |
| Starting price | Free (paid from $29/mo) | $249/month |
Considering AI Peekaboo alongside Featured and Press Hunt?
Press Hunt has no AI search visibility feature; its AI is scoped entirely to generating contact lists. Featured's GEO Visibility is a genuine tracking feature and included free, but it runs on the same daily credit cap as opportunity matching and has no API to move the data anywhere else. A PR stack built from Featured and Press Hunt covers opportunity discovery and contact sourcing well, but neither gives you a dedicated, exportable view of AI answer-engine visibility. AI Peekaboo fills that specific gap with a read and write API on every plan from $50 per month.
Read the AI Peekaboo review →Which should you choose?
Press HuntFeaturedFeaturedPress HuntPress HuntFeaturedThese two are more complementary than competitive. Press Hunt sits at the very top of the outbound funnel, giving you contacts fast; Featured sits entirely on the inbound side, surfacing opportunities that already exist. A PR-heavy team could reasonably run both, using Press Hunt to build outbound lists for launches and Featured to catch inbound requests in between. A solo founder without budget for a $249/month database is better served starting with Featured alone.
Bottom line
Use Press Hunt if your bottleneck is finding the right journalist or podcast fast and you already have a way to pitch and track outreach. Use Featured if your bottleneck is knowing when a relevant opportunity opens up and you would rather respond than cold-pitch. Do not expect either to replace the other: Press Hunt will not tell you about a live journalist request, and Featured will not help you build a targeted list for an outbound campaign.
Frequently asked questions
Can Press Hunt replace Featured for finding PR opportunities?
Press Hunt cannot directly replace Featured, since it gives you a database of journalist and podcast contacts to pitch proactively but has no feature for surfacing live inbound requests the way Featured's journalist request matching does. They solve different problems: Press Hunt is for outbound list-building, Featured is for catching inbound opportunities.
Is Press Hunt worth $249 a month if I only need occasional media lists?
Press Hunt is harder to justify at $249 a month for occasional, infrequent media outreach, since it is essentially a database with a search and export function and no ongoing monitoring value between uses. It fits better as a recurring tool for teams doing regular launches or campaigns that need fresh contact lists.
Does Featured have a journalist database like Press Hunt?
Featured has no searchable journalist or podcast database at all. It only surfaces inbound journalist requests, podcast bookings, and speaking opportunities that match your profile, so it cannot replace Press Hunt's 580,000+ contact database for proactive outreach.
What happens to a journalist list after I export it from Press Hunt?
Press Hunt hands off entirely at export. It has no built-in outreach, pitch tracking, or email sequencing, so you need to import the CSV into a separate email platform to actually send pitches and track responses.
Which tool is better for tracking AI search visibility alongside PR work?
Featured is the better fit for this: GEO Visibility tracking of AI-generated search appearances is included on every plan, including free. Press Hunt has no AI search visibility feature, since its AI capability is limited to generating contact lists from a description.