Source of Sources vs SourceBottle in 2026: free HARO-style digest vs paid human-pitching directory
Two free journalist-source matching platforms built on the same HARO-era idea, but they solve it differently. One is a stripped-down email list run by HARO's own founder. The other pairs a searchable expert directory with an optional paid pitching team.
Source of Sources
SourceBottle- Source of Sources is entirely free with no paid tiers at all. SourceBottle is free at the entry level but adds three paid tiers ($25/pitch, $65/mo, $130/mo) for human-driven pitching.
- SourceBottle maintains a searchable Expert Directory that gives journalists a way to find you passively. Source of Sources has no directory, search function, or profile of any kind.
- SourceBottle's paid plans include a human team member who actively pitches your profile to matching call-outs. Source of Sources requires you to read every digest yourself and respond directly.
- Source of Sources sends up to three email digests per day with no topic filtering. SourceBottle lets free users set up to 10 keywords, rising to unlimited keywords on paid plans.
- SourceBottle's media relationships and call-out volume are predominantly Australian. Source of Sources does not publish geographic breakdowns, but its digest format suggests broader, if less documented, reach.
- Neither platform offers an API, analytics dashboard, or coverage tracking on any tier.
- SourceBottle's Agency plan supports up to 5 Expert Profiles for $130/month, making it the only one of the two with a structured multi-client option. Source of Sources has no agency or team tier.
Source of Sources and SourceBottle both descend from the same idea Peter Shankman popularized with Help a Reporter Out (HARO) in 2008: journalists post what they need, experts respond, nobody pays a retainer. Source of Sources is Shankman's own rebuild of that model after Cision wound HARO down, and it stays deliberately minimal, an email digest with no dashboard, no filtering, and no way to search past queries. SourceBottle, running since 2009 out of Australia, took the same free foundation and built a searchable Expert Directory plus a human-driven pitching service on top, so you can pay per pitch or per month if you want someone actively matching your profile to journalists rather than scanning inboxes yourself. Picking between them mostly comes down to whether you want the absolute simplest free option or are willing to pay a little for someone else to do the matching.
The tools at a glance
Source of Sources
Free daily email digest connecting journalists with expert sources, from the founder of HARO
Source of Sources is Peter Shankman's rebuild of the original HARO model after Cision shut down the version he sold them. It works exactly the way HARO did in its early years: journalists submit queries, Shankman's team compiles them into digests, and up to three times a day subscribers get an email listing what reporters are looking for. There is no login, no dashboard, and no software layer between you and the journalist.
The appeal is how little friction there is. Signing up takes a name and an email address. Responding means replying to the journalist directly from the digest, with no platform tracking the exchange afterward. Shankman runs the whole thing as something close to a side project and asks people who benefit from it to donate to animal charities rather than pay him.
The tradeoff is that SOS gives you nothing to work with beyond the raw digest. There is no way to filter by topic, no record of past queries, and no visibility into how many other experts are replying to the same journalist. The strict no-spam policy, where off-topic pitchers get removed with no appeal, keeps quality reasonable but does nothing to help you triage a crowded inbox.
| Feature | Free $0 |
|---|---|
| Journalist query emails | Up to 3/day |
| Expert Directory / profile | No |
| Topic filtering | No |
| Human-driven pitching | No |
| Analytics or tracking | No |
| API access | No |
SourceBottle
Free journalist-to-source matching platform with optional human-driven pitching service
SourceBottle started in 2009 as Australia's version of HARO and has since built out two things Source of Sources never added: a searchable Expert Directory and a paid, human-run pitching service. The free tier still works like a classic call-out list, journalists post what they need and subscribers respond, but the Expert Directory means journalists can also search for sources directly without waiting for a matching call-out to go out.
What separates SourceBottle from most tools in this space is who does the matching on paid plans. Rather than software scanning keywords, a real person on SourceBottle's team reads call-outs and pitches Expert Profiles that fit, which produces better matches than keyword filtering alone. The No Pitch No Pay option at $25 per pitch is a smart middle ground for experts who only expect occasional media interest, since you only pay when a pitch actually goes out.
The catch is geography. SourceBottle's media relationships and call-out volume skew heavily Australian, so US or UK experts will see meaningfully less relevant activity than they would on a platform built around their home market. Within Australia, though, the combination of a free directory listing and pay-as-you-go pitching is hard to match at this price.
| Feature | Free $0 | No Pitch No Pay $25/pitch | Unlimited Pitches $65/mo | Agency $130/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expert Directory listing | Basic | Basic | Priority | Priority |
| Expert profile keywords | 10 | 20 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| 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 |
| Helpdesk support | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Head-to-head feature comparison
| Feature | Source of Sources | SourceBottle |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to join | Free | Free (directory + alerts) |
| Searchable expert directory | No | Yes |
| Journalist call-out email alerts | Yes (up to 3/day) | Yes |
| Topic or keyword filtering | No | Yes (10 keywords free, unlimited paid) |
| Human-driven pitching | No | Yes (paid plans) |
| Multi-client / agency support | No | Yes (Agency plan, 5 profiles) |
| Primary media market | Not publicly documented, US-founded | Predominantly Australian |
| Analytics or coverage tracking | No | No |
| API access | No | No |
| Response method | Direct reply to journalist | Self-respond or team pitch |
| Starting price for paid features | N/A, entirely free | $25/pitch |
Which should you choose?
Source of SourcesSourceBottleSourceBottleSourceBottleSource of SourcesSourceBottleSource of SourcesThese aren't really competing for the same use case. Source of Sources is a philosophy as much as a product: Shankman rebuilt HARO's original spirit and refused to add the complexity that made the commercialized version worse. SourceBottle took the opposite bet, that most experts don't want to babysit an inbox and will pay a little for a directory listing and a human who pitches on their behalf. If you're outside Australia and want zero setup, Source of Sources wins by default. If you're in the Australian market or want to escalate beyond passive scanning, SourceBottle's paid tiers are inexpensive enough to be worth trying.
Bottom line
Sign up for Source of Sources first, it costs nothing and takes thirty seconds. If you're based in or targeting Australia, also create a free SourceBottle Expert Profile for the directory listing, then decide whether the $25 No Pitch No Pay option is worth it once you've seen how often relevant call-outs actually show up. Running both costs nothing beyond your time until you choose to pay for pitching.
Frequently asked questions
Is Source of Sources or SourceBottle better for a small business with no PR budget in 2026?
Source of Sources is the better zero-budget option because every part of it, including the digest and responding to journalists, is free with no paid tier to upgrade into. SourceBottle is also free to join and get directory listing plus call-out alerts, but its more useful pitching features sit behind a $25-per-pitch or monthly fee.
What is the difference between SourceBottle's free plan and its paid pitching plans?
The free plan gives you a basic Expert Directory listing with 10 keywords and journalist call-out alerts, but you have to spot and respond to relevant call-outs yourself. The paid plans, starting at $25 per pitch, add a human team member who actively reviews call-outs and pitches your profile to journalists whose needs match your expertise.
Does Source of Sources work for PR outside the United States?
Source of Sources doesn't publish geographic breakdowns of its journalist base, so there's no documented data on international reach. Given it inherited HARO's original US-heavy media network, expect stronger relevance for US-based experts than for those targeting non-US outlets specifically.
Which platform actually gets journalists to notice you, Source of Sources or SourceBottle?
SourceBottle's paid pitching plans are more likely to get a specific journalist to notice you because a human on SourceBottle's team is actively matching and submitting your profile, rather than relying on you to spot and respond to a shared digest first. On the free tier alone, both platforms depend equally on you noticing a relevant query before other subscribers reply.
Can agencies use either platform for multiple clients?
SourceBottle is the only one of the two built for multi-client use, with an Agency plan at $130 per month covering up to 5 Expert Profiles and unlimited pitching. Source of Sources has no agency or team tier, so managing several clients means running separate individual sign-ups.
Is SourceBottle worth paying for if I already use Source of Sources for free?
It depends on how much time you're willing to spend scanning digests versus paying someone else to do the matching. Source of Sources costs nothing but requires you to read every query yourself, while SourceBottle's $25 No Pitch No Pay plan only charges you when its team actually submits your profile to a matching journalist, which makes it low-risk to test alongside a free Source of Sources subscription.