Press Hunt vs SourceBottle in 2026: Paid global journalist database vs free Australian expert directory
One is a $249-a-month searchable database of 580,000+ journalists worldwide. The other is a free (or pay-per-pitch) expert directory built around Australian media, with a human team that pitches your profile for you.
Press Hunt
SourceBottle- Press Hunt costs $249/month minimum with no free tier. SourceBottle is free to create an Expert Profile and only charges when you want the human-driven pitching service, starting at $25 per pitch.
- Press Hunt's coverage is global and spans 580,000+ journalists. SourceBottle's call-out volume and media relationships are predominantly Australian, which limits its value for US or UK-focused PR.
- SourceBottle offers a human-driven pitching service where a real team member matches your Expert Profile to relevant call-outs. Press Hunt has no pitching service at all; you export a CSV and do the outreach yourself.
- Press Hunt's AI list generation builds a targeted contact list from a plain-language description. SourceBottle has no AI list-building feature; matching is done either by the subscriber or manually by SourceBottle's pitching team.
- SourceBottle's Agency plan supports up to 5 Expert Profiles for $130/month, aimed at PR agencies managing multiple clients. Press Hunt has no equivalent multi-client profile structure; its PR Agency tier is a custom-priced version of the same database access.
- Neither tool offers an API or CRM integration on any plan.
Press Hunt and SourceBottle both help you get in front of journalists, but they start from opposite assumptions about geography and who does the pitching. Press Hunt is a global, paid-only database: 580,000+ journalists and 10,000+ podcasts, searchable by beat, industry, or outlet, with an AI tool that builds a targeted list from a plain-language brief. SourceBottle is free to join and built specifically around Australian media, pairing a searchable Expert Directory with a human team that manually pitches your profile to matching journalist call-outs if you pay for it. Press Hunt assumes you will do the pitching yourself, anywhere in the world, and charges accordingly. SourceBottle assumes Australia is your primary target market and gives you the option to let someone else do the pitching for a fraction of the price.
The tools at a glance
Press Hunt
Journalist and podcast database of 580k+ contacts with AI-powered media list generation and bulk CSV export
Press Hunt is priced and built for teams that need to search broadly: 580,000+ journalist profiles and 10,000+ podcasts spanning global media, with an AI feature that generates a curated list from a plain-language description like "fintech reporters who cover Series A raises." At $249/month for the Startup tier, it assumes you have both a budget and the intent to do your own outreach once the list is exported.
The database is not segmented toward any single region, which is the core contrast with SourceBottle. If your target media is scattered across the US, UK, and elsewhere rather than concentrated in one country, Press Hunt's breadth is the more useful starting point, even though you are paying full price from the first month and doing all the pitching yourself.
| Feature | Startup $249/month | Premium $499/month | PR Agency Contact for pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Journalist database access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Podcast database access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI media list generation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CSV export | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Press release distribution | No | 2/month | Custom |
| API access | No | No | No |
SourceBottle
Free journalist-to-source matching platform with optional human-driven pitching service
SourceBottle built its reputation in Australia, where it has run since 2009 as a free alternative to paid PR databases. A free Expert Profile gets you listed in a searchable directory that journalists browse directly, plus call-out alerts by email you can respond to yourself at no cost. That base tier alone makes SourceBottle a reasonable starting point for anyone whose target media is Australian and who does not have $249 a month to spend on Press Hunt.
Where SourceBottle diverges further from Press Hunt is the paid layer on top: rather than handing you a bigger contact list, it hands you a human being. On the No Pitch No Pay ($25/pitch), Unlimited Pitches ($65/mo), or Agency ($130/mo) plans, a real SourceBottle team member reviews call-outs and pitches your profile to the ones that fit, which is a fundamentally different service than Press Hunt's self-serve export. The catch is reach: outside Australia, call-out volume drops off noticeably, and Press Hunt's global database becomes the more practical choice.
| Feature | Free $0 | No Pitch No Pay $25/pitch | Unlimited Pitches $65/mo | Agency $130/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expert Profile & Directory listing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Call-out alerts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Human-driven pitching | No | Up to 3/mo | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Expert Profiles supported | 1 | 1 | 1 | Up to 5 |
| Priority directory listing | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Head-to-head feature comparison
| Feature | Press Hunt | SourceBottle |
|---|---|---|
| Core model | Self-serve search and export | Directory listing plus optional human pitching |
| Geographic focus | Global | Predominantly Australian |
| Journalist database size | 580,000+ journalists, 10,000+ podcasts | Not published as a searchable database; call-out and directory based |
| Human-driven pitching | No | Yes, on paid plans |
| AI-assisted list building | Yes, plain-language list generation | No |
| Free tier | No | Yes, free Expert Profile and Directory listing |
| Multi-client / multi-profile support | Custom PR Agency tier (contact for pricing) | Yes, Agency plan supports up to 5 profiles for $130/mo |
| API access | No | No |
| Starting price | $249/mo | $0 (pitching from $25/pitch) |
Which should you choose?
Press HuntSourceBottleSourceBottlePress HuntSourceBottlePress HuntThe real dividing line between Press Hunt and SourceBottle is not features, it is geography and who does the work. Press Hunt is priced like a global database because it is one: broad journalist and podcast coverage with no regional lean, but you are on your own for outreach at $249 a month minimum. SourceBottle is priced like a niche, community-run service because that is also what it is: strong in Australia, thin elsewhere, with the option to pay a human to pitch on your behalf instead of doing it yourself. A team pitching Australian media on a tight budget gets more from SourceBottle's free tier and pitching service than from Press Hunt's database. A team pitching anywhere else needs Press Hunt's breadth.
Bottom line
Choose SourceBottle if your target media is Australian, your budget is limited, and you would rather pay $25 per pitch for a human to do the matching than spend hours searching a database yourself. Choose Press Hunt if you are pitching outside Australia, need a global journalist and podcast database, and are comfortable doing your own outreach once you have the list. Running both makes sense only for an agency with both Australian and international clients, since neither tool covers the other's strength.
Frequently asked questions
Is SourceBottle a good alternative to Press Hunt for US or UK PR?
SourceBottle is a weaker option for US or UK PR because the bulk of its call-out volume and media relationships are Australian, so relevant opportunities are much rarer outside that market. Press Hunt's 580,000+ journalist database has no regional lean and is the better choice for anyone pitching media outside Australia.
Does SourceBottle's free plan include the pitching service Press Hunt lacks?
No, SourceBottle's free plan only includes an Expert Profile, Directory listing, and call-out alerts you respond to yourself; the human-driven pitching service requires upgrading to No Pitch No Pay, Unlimited Pitches, or Agency. Press Hunt has no pitching service on any tier, paid or otherwise, so it is not a point of comparison for its own pricing.
How much does it cost to get SourceBottle to actually pitch me to journalists?
The cheapest way to get SourceBottle's human-driven pitching is the No Pitch No Pay plan at $25 per pitch, capped at up to 3 pitches a month, so you only pay when a pitch is actually made. Unlimited Pitches at $65/month removes the cap for anyone expecting more frequent matches, and Press Hunt has no equivalent service at any price since it does not pitch on your behalf.
Which tool has a bigger journalist database, Press Hunt or SourceBottle?
Press Hunt has the larger and more clearly documented database at 580,000+ journalists and 10,000+ podcasts. SourceBottle does not publish a comparable database size; it operates as a call-out and directory system rather than a searchable contact database, so a direct numeric comparison is not really possible.
Can a PR agency use SourceBottle for multiple clients the way it would use Press Hunt?
Yes, SourceBottle's Agency plan at $130/month supports up to 5 Expert Profiles with unlimited pitching and priority directory listing, which is built specifically for agencies managing several clients. Press Hunt's equivalent is its Contact for pricing PR Agency tier, which scales database access and export rather than adding multiple managed profiles.
Is Press Hunt overkill if I only need Australian media coverage?
Press Hunt is likely overkill for Australian-only PR work, since you would be paying $249 a month for a global database when SourceBottle covers the same market for free or for as little as $25 per pitch. Press Hunt's value comes from breadth across regions, which is wasted if your target media is concentrated in one country SourceBottle already serves well.