Hey Press Review
Journalist discovery tool for startups, now part of JournoFinder
Hey Press started as a lean journalist search tool built for founders who wanted to find relevant media contacts without a Muck Rack subscription. It has since been absorbed into JournoFinder and the hey.press domain now primarily functions as a PR resource hub. If you are evaluating it as a standalone product, check JournoFinder directly. The guides and comparison content on hey.press are genuinely useful for understanding the PR landscape, but as a tool it has moved on.
Pros and cons
- Built with startup founders in mind, not corporate PR departments
- PR guides and comparison content on the site are practical and well-researched
- Integration with JournoFinder means access to a broader journalist database
- Trusted by over 1,000 PR professionals before the JournoFinder merger
- Hey Press as an independent product no longer operates separately from JournoFinder
- No public pricing page on hey.press itself
- Limited analytics and campaign tracking compared to full PR platforms
- No newsroom or content publishing capability
- Feature set was always narrow relative to tools like Prezly or Anewstip
What is Hey Press?
Hey Press launched as a journalist search and discovery tool aimed at startup founders and small teams who needed to find relevant press contacts without the complexity or cost of enterprise PR platforms. The pitch was simple: enter a topic or keyword, find journalists who cover it, and start pitching without a steep learning curve.
The product has since merged with JournoFinder, with hey.press announcing itself as "now part of JournoFinder" on the homepage. The domain continues to serve as a content hub for PR guides, comparison articles, and resource pages aimed at startup founders and PR professionals exploring their options.
For users who originally chose Hey Press for its lean journalist search feature, the JournoFinder integration expands the database and potentially the functionality. The transition means that evaluating Hey Press today is really evaluating the JournoFinder platform, which operates under its own domain and pricing structure.
Core features
Journalist discovery by topic
The original Hey Press product let users search for journalists by the topics, beats, and companies they cover. This is the core feature that attracted startup founders looking for targeted media contacts without paying for a full media database subscription.
JournoFinder integration
Hey Press is now part of JournoFinder, a journalist discovery platform with a broader database and more developed search infrastructure. Users who navigate to hey.press are directed to continue to the JournoFinder site for active product use.
PR resource content
The hey.press domain hosts detailed comparison guides covering alternatives to Muck Rack, Prowly, and other PR platforms, plus guides on how to pitch journalists and earn startup press coverage. These guides are well-structured and give genuine value even if you are evaluating a different tool.
Founder-focused positioning
Hey Press was built to serve the segment between DIY cold email and enterprise PR software. The positioning was explicitly non-agency, targeting founders who wanted to run PR themselves without the overhead of a full platform. Testimonials on the site are from startup founders, not PR agency directors.
Pricing
| Feature | See JournoFinder Via JournoFinder |
|---|---|
| Journalist search | Via JournoFinder |
| Contact database | Via JournoFinder |
| PR guides and resources | Free on hey.press |
Who it is for
Trying to get initial press coverage without hiring an agency or paying for enterprise tools. Hey Press content and the JournoFinder product it now points to offer a more accessible entry point than Muck Rack or Cision.
The comparison guides on hey.press are thorough and useful for evaluating the landscape of journalist request platforms, Muck Rack alternatives, and podcast databases. Worth reading even if you end up choosing a different tool.
Verdict
Hey Press as an independent product has been absorbed into JournoFinder, so a direct evaluation of hey.press as software is not really possible anymore. If you liked the Hey Press concept, go to JournoFinder directly. If you are a startup founder looking for PR tools, the guides on hey.press are worth reading, and the journalist search capability via JournoFinder is a practical middle ground between spreadsheet-and-Google and full enterprise media databases.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hey Press still a standalone product?
No. Hey Press is now part of JournoFinder. The hey.press domain remains active as a content and resource site, but the active journalist search product directs users to JournoFinder.
What did Hey Press originally do?
Hey Press was a journalist search tool that let startup founders find relevant journalists by topic or beat. It was designed as an accessible alternative to enterprise media databases like Muck Rack and Cision, with a focus on early-stage companies and solo founders doing their own PR.
How does Hey Press compare to HARO?
They solve different problems. HARO and its successors (Connectively, Source of Sources) put journalists in front of sources via query emails. Hey Press was an outbound tool: it helped you find the right journalist and then go pitch them. They are complementary, not interchangeable.
Is the PR content on hey.press still worth reading?
Yes. The comparison guides covering Muck Rack alternatives, journalist request platforms, and how to pitch journalists are practical and updated. They give an honest take on the PR tool landscape regardless of which product you end up choosing.