A brand has a launch announcement ready and has been told to put it on the wire. The quotes come back at $29, $120, $149, $479 and $499, and the price pages do not explain the gap. (If you came looking for the other kind of PR, see our piece on sending PR samples to creators.)
Why one release can be quoted at $29 or $479
A per-release fee can buy one of three different things. The first is a listing on the service’s own website and nowhere else. The second is syndication across a partner network the service describes. The third is a stated count of placements or named wire partners. These are not interchangeable, and a price page rarely labels which one a given tier is.
This post reads three services, 24-7PressRelease, PRWeb and EIN Presswire, each from its own pricing page, fetched on 2026-10-14. It records what those pages say. It is not a ranking, and no service is declared best.
Prices verified 2026-10-14, read from each vendor’s own page. This post is not Watchdog data and is not on the re-verification schedule, so prices may have changed since.
The price ladder, tier by tier
Thirteen priced tiers are listed across the three pages: 6 from 24-7PressRelease, 4 from PRWeb and 3 from EIN Presswire.
| Service | Tier | Price | Vendor’s own description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24-7PressRelease | Simple Post | $29 per release | Add your news on our website only with no additional distribution. |
| 24-7PressRelease | Visibility Boost | $49 per release | Our basic plan provides structured regional online distribution. |
| 24-7PressRelease | PR Network Plus | $89 per release | Our Plus plan expands digital distribution. |
| 24-7PressRelease | Integrated Media Pro | $139 per release | Our Pro plan delivers digital and traditional media distribution. |
| 24-7PressRelease | Integrated Media Pro+ | $199 per release | Our Pro+ plan extends distribution across U.S. and Canadian media networks. |
| 24-7PressRelease | Mass Media Visibility | $479 per release | Our premium plan features PR Newswire national and extended digital distribution. |
| PRWeb | Basic | $120 per news release | Increased Search Engine Visibility |
| PRWeb | Standard | $245 per news release | Increased Online Visibility |
| PRWeb | Advanced | $360 per news release | Increased Influencer Visibility |
| PRWeb | Premium | $480 per news release | Largest Influencer Visibility |
| EIN Presswire | Basic | $149 for one release | Only have 1 press release? This option is for you. |
| EIN Presswire | Pro+ | $499 for 5 releases, plus 1 free (limited-time offer) | Think you might issue 6 or more press releases during the next 12 months? |
| EIN Presswire | Corporate | $999 for 15 releases | You’ll get the broadest distribution at the lowest pricing. |
EIN Presswire prices its two upper tiers as bundles, so the per-release figure is derived. Its own page prints $99.80 and $83.17 per release for Pro+ (the second figure appears to count the free release) and $66.60 per release for Corporate. The bundle must be bought up front.
Sources: pricing pages listed under Sources below, fetched 2026-10-14.
What 24-7PressRelease says each tier delivers
Its compare page has a row labelled guaranteed publication placements, and it reads 100+ for Visibility Boost, 200+ for PR Network Plus, 300+ for Integrated Media Pro, 400+ for Integrated Media Pro+ and 500+ for Mass Media Visibility.
Two rows appear only in the top column. PR Newswire national wire distribution (Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch, Benzinga) is marked for Mass Media Visibility and not for the other four compared tiers. So is the PR Newswire official performance report. The check marks were read cell by cell from the page’s table markup.
Three limits are printed as numbers. Keyword anchor text linking is unlimited on four tiers and 2 on Visibility Boost. Attached images are 5 on four tiers and 4 on Visibility Boost. The word count row reads 375 in the first column, which is headed Mass Media Visibility, and Unlimited in the other four. That is the reverse of what a price ladder suggests: [EVIDENCE NEEDED: confirmation from the vendor that the 375 figure belongs to Mass Media Visibility and is not a column misalignment on the compare page].
Simple Post at $29 does not appear in the compare grid at all. The pricing page describes it as adding your news on the vendor’s website only, with no additional distribution. It is the cleanest example here of a fee that buys a listing and nothing else. Its limits are not given: [EVIDENCE NEEDED: Simple Post word, link and image limits].
PRWeb: the same word, different meter
PRWeb separates its tiers by syndication network, a journalist list and turnaround, not by a placement count. On its pricing page, Basic at $120 lists unlimited media assets, increased search visibility through keyword tagging by its editorial team, and a 48-hour turnaround.
Standard at $245 adds syndication to a network of 1200+ websites powered by PRNewswire, still at 48 hours. Advanced at $360 adds distribution to one of the vendor’s industry-curated journalist lists, proofreading by its editorial staff and a 24-hour turnaround. Premium at $480 adds distribution to Sovrn’s content recommendation network, also at 24 hours.
The 1200+ figure describes a network the vendor syndicates to. It is not a count of articles that will run. The page states no placement count and no word limit, so it cannot be compared to 24-7PressRelease’s 100+ to 500+. [EVIDENCE NEEDED: PRWeb word limit and add-on charges, to be confirmed at checkout].
EIN Presswire: the limits sit in the fine print
The EIN Presswire page puts most of the practical difference in a comparison chart.
- Word limit: 700 (Basic), 1,000 (Pro+), 2,500 (Corporate).
- Country targets per release: 1, 2, 2. Industry targets per release: 1, 5, 5.
- Embedded images: 1, 3, 5. Embedded videos: 1 on each. Keyword anchor text links: 3 on each.
- Distribution: the page states that all packages include AP News, Nexstar Media Group and the USA TODAY Network, and gives a combined 350 million monthly active users. It also states a Potential Reach of 35 Million Unique Monthly Visitors for AP News placement. Both are vendor claims.
- Qualifiers: several lines, including the USA TODAY Network line, carry the phrase “based on relevance”. Inclusion in a package is therefore not a guarantee of placement.
- Time window: releases may be issued within 1 year of purchase, shown as 365 days on each package. Pro+ and Corporate are a prepayment for a quantity of releases.
Unlike 24-7PressRelease, the entry tier already lists wire and network partners, so the gap between $149 and the bundles is mostly volume and limits, not a different kind of distribution.
Reading a quote: five questions to ask before paying
- Is the placement count stated or only implied? Only 24-7PressRelease states one, by tier. PRWeb and EIN Presswire name networks without a count.
- Is the reach figure a description of a network or a count of pickups? PRWeb’s 1200+ websites and EIN Presswire’s 35 Million Unique Monthly Visitors are both vendor descriptions. Neither reports pickups.
- What is the word limit, and what happens above it? EIN Presswire and 24-7PressRelease print limits. PRWeb’s does not, and no page states an overage charge.
- What happens to links, images and video at each tier? 24-7PressRelease and EIN Presswire print link and image counts. PRWeb lists unlimited media assets and no link limit. Only EIN Presswire prints a video count.
- Is the price per release or per bundle, and does it expire? EIN Presswire’s upper tiers are bundles with a 365-day window. The other two print per-release prices.
A worked example
Take a 600 word launch announcement with three links and four images. At EIN Presswire, Basic and Pro+ allow 1 and 3 images, so both fall short; Corporate fits. At 24-7PressRelease, Visibility Boost allows 2 anchor links, so three do not fit. PR Network Plus, Integrated Media Pro and Integrated Media Pro+ list unlimited words and links and 5 images, and fit. Mass Media Visibility shows 375 words in the grid, which would not fit if the cell is placed correctly. PRWeb prints no word or link limit, so fit cannot be determined. No total cost is stated, because the pages do not give one.
What the fee does not tell you
None of the three pages gives pickup rates, audience figures that can be verified independently, or evidence that a release produced coverage. A fee buys distribution, not coverage. This post does not rank the services or call any the best value, because the tiers buy different things.
followedapp is published by the team behind RecurPost, which is a covered vendor in the site’s main directory.
For the same method on another category, see what a finished minute actually costs. Prices were read from each vendor’s own page on 2026-10-14. This post is not Watchdog data and is not on the re-verification schedule, so prices may have changed.
FAQ
How much does it cost to send one press release?
From the three pages as read on 2026-10-14: from $29 to $479 at 24-7PressRelease, from $120 to $480 at PRWeb, and $149 for a single release at EIN Presswire, whose upper tiers are prepaid bundles. For fees beyond what each page lists, check the checkout step: [EVIDENCE NEEDED: add-on charges at checkout].
Does a higher price guarantee more coverage?
No page promises coverage. Only 24-7PressRelease states a guaranteed placement count by tier, from 100+ to 500+, and that is a count of publication placements, not of stories written by journalists. PRWeb and EIN Presswire state no such guarantee, and EIN Presswire qualifies several lines with “based on relevance”.
Sources
- 24-7PressRelease pricing plans, fetched 2026-10-14
- 24-7PressRelease compare distribution plans, fetched 2026-10-14
- PRWeb pricing, fetched 2026-10-14
- EIN Presswire pricing, fetched 2026-10-14