# Cision Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is Cision the right Public Relations solution for you? Explore 89 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/129611/Cision/reviews --- Cision 3.8 (89) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/129611/Cision/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of Cision Ease of use 3.8 Customer Service 3.7 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews KA Karly A Marketing Analytics and Research ManagerTransportation/Trucking/Railroad, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “I'm overall happy with the product, but we had a lot of issues with set up and integration.“ October 16, 2024 VT Venita T CEO, FounderMarketing and Advertising, Self-employedUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “Additionally, contacting customer support proved to be a challenging experience. Despite having a direct contact number for my sales representative, I had to leave multiple messages and emails before receiving a response.“ April 17, 2023 VT Venita T CEO, FounderMarketing and Advertising, Self-employedUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “Since starting my own firm and no longer being constrained to using Cision, I have come across multiple Press Release publishers that offer the same or even greater reach.“ April 17, 2023 DC Drew C CEOComputer Software, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “The company is holding customers hostage with a completely onerous contract.“ April 4, 2023 Carl P marketing coordinatorComputer Software, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “If you are needing to distribute your press releases to a wide spread audience, this is easily the number one way to do so.“ June 27, 2021 Chuck S VP MarComHigher Education, 201 - 500 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Unfortunately, with the changing landscape of journalism and the disappearance of "beat" reporters, the usefulness of the product decreased for us.“ December 30, 2021 Carl P marketing coordinatorComputer Software, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The direct connection they have to massive news outlets makes this a crucial tool for press releases.“ June 27, 2021 DC Drew C CEOComputer Software, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “Cision will not stop billing my company.“ April 4, 2023 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 89 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Corey J. Director of Strategic Communications Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Keeps Us Current!" March 3, 2022 4.0 Has really improved as our media presence has grown and have no reason to switch to another provider. Pros Cision allows us to know every time we are mentioned in the media, which gives us the opportunity to not only track where we are and what is said about us, but also share that media with our followers on social platforms. Cision is also crucial in our media outreach, especially when contacting local media where we may not have regular contacts. Cons A lot of the searches, you need help with their client relations folks, who are amazing, but it's an extra step we don't always have time for. Alternatives considered [Meltwater](https://www.capterra.com/p/123153/Meltwater/) Reason for choosing Cision Meltwater honestly was extremely pushy and would call every other day despite them asking to stop. Can't imagine being a client of someone like that. Review Source TD Thibault D. Chief Marketing Officer Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best media and social listening tool" November 16, 2025 5.0 I am using Cision on a daily basis to monitor all mentions of my brand not only across all French media but also on Social Media Pros I like its ease of use and their social and media listening functionalities that enable to measure the reach of such exposure for a specific brand Cons Even I found this tool essential for every Marketing and Communication leader, it is a bit expensive, especially with the emergence of AI Alternatives considered [Meltwater](https://www.capterra.com/p/123153/Meltwater/) Reason for choosing Cision Cision's functionalities are really more useful and developped vs its competitors Review Source VT Venita T. CEO, Founder Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Not the best bang for your buck" April 17, 2023 3.0 Since starting my own firm and no longer being constrained to using Cision, I have come across multiple Press Release publishers that offer the same or even greater reach. I was not satisfied with the package price and level of customer service from Cision. Consequently, I have shifted to a different Press Release partner that better supports my clients' target audience and fits within my budget. As a result, I am regularly publishing Press Releases with this new partner. Pros During my time working for another company, I utilized this particular product for publishing Press Releases as it was their preferred method. The outcome of my published Press Releases was satisfactory, with seamless image integration. The publishing process itself was also hassle-free, and I appreciated the ability to preview my content before it went public. Additionally, the feature of scheduling releases ahead of time proved to be a helpful time management tool. Cons In all honesty, I found the published content to have a great appearance. However, given the price, I was disappointed with the limited reach. The publishing packages came with a "use it or lose it" time constraint for credits purchased. Additionally, contacting customer support proved to be a challenging experience. Despite having a direct contact number for my sales representative, I had to leave multiple messages and emails before receiving a response. Review Source KA Karly A. Marketing Analytics and Research Manager Transportation/Trucking/Railroad Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Overall Happy Customer" October 16, 2024 4.0 I'm overall happy with the product, but we had a lot of issues with set up and integration. Pros The customizable dashboards are easy to use, and I love the visualizations. Cons We had a lot of issues setting up our dashboards and our Google Analytics kept getting disconnected (over 5 times). Switched from [Meltwater](https://www.capterra.com/p/123153/Meltwater/) Cision is a more robust platform than Meltwater, in my opinion. Review Source SM Scott M. Vice President Public Relations and Communications Used the software for: 2+ years ### "No longer the industry leader for media research" May 19, 2021 4.0 Every serious agency needs a media research tool in order to build and execute media relations campaigns; we're no exception. Media research is largely the only thing we've used from Cision. Our team has become disillusioned with how difficult it has become to create meaningful media lists. So much so that we're likely to transition away from Cision when our contract expires. Pros Cision has always been the gold standard for media research. The robust platform boasted hundreds of updates daily, and the media list output has been largely reliable. Cons Unfortunately, Cision either suffers from poor leadership, poor vision, a lack of care for its customers, or some combination of all the above. Aside from the fact that the results are no longer as reliable as they used to be, each and every update to the user interface has made the platform worse. The UX is not intuitive or easy to use. The customer service is not remarkable in any way. The technical support is a bit of a disaster. Alternatives considered [Muck Rack](https://www.capterra.com/p/144527/Muck-Rack/)[Meltwater](https://www.capterra.com/p/123153/Meltwater/) Reason for choosing Cision Cision has been our go-to solution for more years than I can remember. It has a long history of high quality, but with all the mergers and acquisitions, it's become clear that Cision has lost its way. Review Source Bruce F. Sales & Marketing Manager Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "An integral tool for social media marketing" April 8, 2019 4.0 We have an opinion that this service is a great solution for social media marketing. It can help you to build new contacts, make researches and communicate with clients. Moreover, it is easy to use, so you need to try it for sure. Pros There is no doubt that Cision is a perfect tool for marketing. This service offers the easiest way to find a particular influencer. With a help of a special menu, you can choose a precise category and choose a proper category in order to get an exact outcome. Moreover, it offers to pick up a theme or a location in order to find a person that is connected with the same informational field as you do. Cision is a great service for social media marketing. It has a solid database, flexible and user-friendly interface and many useful tools for marketing. With its assistance, you can turn into reality different marketing strategies within a second. Cons Unfortunately, Cision isn’t perfect. An automated search doesn’t work properly, so you to rely only on your personal research. Despite the fact that Cision has a profound database, it still lacks the data itself. Sometimes, their researches can be a little bit slow and there is no chance to find a particular person that you really want to find. Moreover, if you don’t know the right name of the influencer, you won’t find him or her at all. Review Source Christine J. Associate Publicist; Crown, Hogarth, and Random House Publishing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A publicist's dream - perfect for researching media contacts" March 14, 2019 4.0 We use Cision for all of our pitching needs, and it's an invaluable tool for us. I've built lists for specific media campaigns using Cision's "covering..." function, and found niche outlets that I wouldn't have otherwise found. Overall, Cision is a great one-stop for most publicity needs. Pros I love how easy it is to look up an outlet and find the correct contact to reach out to with a particular pitch. It's also extremely easy to look up outlet circulations, which we research all of the time in order to maximize visibility. Cision is normally pretty up-to-date with different outlets, which is impressive in a constantly shifting media landscape. Cons Sometimes the search requirements can be a little too specific, and an outlet has to be typed in a very specific way to appear (i.e. with or without "the" in front, etc.) It'd be great if there were suggested terms, similar to Google, so that if you don't know the exact spelling of a last name you could still track down the contact. Review Source Chris C. VP Brand Strategy Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Quality of information gathering seems to have gone down" July 10, 2020 3.0 We use Cision to monitor media mentions and for their media database Pros I've used Cision on and off throughout my (long) career. It has always been 'on top of things'. I always felt it was innovative and did a good job of gathering media data. Cons I've found that the database isn't as user friendly as some of the other databases that are out there. I also have a subscription to a competitor and have found that Cision does not pull in the same articles as this competitor. Alternatives considered [Talkwalker](https://www.capterra.com/p/161487/Talkwalker/)[Meltwater](https://www.capterra.com/p/123153/Meltwater/) Reason for choosing Cision Brand loyalty Review Source Heather W. Director Of Communications Consumer Electronics Used the software for: 2+ years ### "One stop shop for PR professionals" November 6, 2019 5.0 Use it as a daily tool for media and influencer outreach. Pros You get contact info from journalist that you wouldn't be able to find online. And they all have opted in. Great search tool to find new outlets and great monitoring service. Cons Expensive software but you are purchasing a lot of contact information. Great if you have a big PR initiative, otherwise it's hard to validate the expense Review Source Alex V. Vice President International Affairs Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great database and ability to filter contacts" April 23, 2018 4.0 Powerful list building and monitoring capabilities Pros Cision put monitoring, and outreach together in one platform and made it easy to build media lists of relevant contacts Cons I was using an older version of Cision (CisionPoint) which was very slow, but this appears to have been fixed in the new cloud platform. Not intuitive or easy to fix search terms (again I think this has been updated) Review Source EM Ed M. Director of Marketing and Communications Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Similar Products in the Market that are less expensive" November 15, 2022 4.0 I loved it when the company was VOCUS, but when Cision purchased them, it got more costly and less productive. Pros The Native Articles that accompany a press release Cons The cost and the difficulty creating client reports to demonstrate success Reason for choosing Cision Just the opposite - see above Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Contractor Mechanical or Industrial Engineering Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Cision Sucks in Every Possible Way! DON'T BUY THIS PRODUCT." August 22, 2022 1.0 Virtually none. Pros I worked with Vocus for years and loved it. They had a massive, easy-to-search database, great integration and awesome customer service. But Cision is a sham. Their database is a joke. I usually have to manually add the outlets I want to reach. Their customer service reps are very poorly trained and can't answer simple questions, and parts of their site are often down. The company seems to have been broken into small parts that are not integrated. It's clunky, ineffective and a waste of money. Cons Yes. The search function is needlessly complicated. The database is very shallow. Cision and PRweb are not really integrated. And customer service is virtually nonexistent. Reason for choosing Cision Because I had previously worked with Vocus and loved it. Cision does not live up to the standards set by Vocus. Review Source MS Megan S. Administrative PR Specialist Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Used it during Vocus/Cision transition" September 22, 2017 3.0 Pros Access to tens of thousands of journalists is useful as a PR practitioner. It also does a great job of tracking insights like tone and monitoring where your organization appears in the news. Cons We constantly found journalists who hadn't been at their newspaper for over two years. Contact information is frequently outdated. The cost is practically that of a full-time employee. The PRWeb newswire they advertise frequently sends releases to websites with zero traffic, but counts it as a hit. And while their analytics are useful, I'd often go back to a prior month and run the same search string as before and be returned different numbers than the first time. It's hard to trust data that doesn't remain constant. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Publicist Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Good tool for media contacts." January 9, 2018 5.0 You need the contacts, Vocus has them. Pros Lots of great media contacts for all categories from technology to finance, consumer products to juvenile goods and everything in between. Cons It's expensive. I get that it is hard to keep these lists current with all the movement and magazine closings... Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Communication Specialist Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Nice for reaching variety!" October 2, 2018 4.0 It's definitely nice to use for press purposes, I just wish it had a few more bells and whistles! Pros I like that I can mass pitch, search journalists and distribute press releases easily. Cons With certain packages, you can no longer rush press releases and have to plan way in advance. I also don't like how you can't be more specific when targeting when distributing press releases. Review Source John M. Web Devloper Biotechnology Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Cision is a great tool for our press release needs" November 13, 2018 5.0 Pros We are able to quickly and easily create contact lists and send our news items. Cons We are very happy with Cision and it serves our needs. Review Source Dylan C. Digital Marketing Manager Telecommunications Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "PRweb with Cisiion" October 18, 2018 4.0 Great experience! We are able to push out PR posts to PRweb quickly and in a timely manner. It has helped us get visibility as well. Pros The ability to get out a press release, the ease of posting a press release, its easy-to-use posting UI, customer service, boosting posts, and visibility reporting direct to my email. Cons The contact of reporters and bloggers information isn't always up to date. The UI of the list builder function can be difficult to use. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Social Marketing Manager Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Used this product look up influencers/journalists to work with" April 26, 2018 4.0 Pros I liked that it had a huge directory of contacts to look up and is very easy to use. I looked up specific contacts and the program had it. Cons It's a bit old school in it's design. It definitely could use a refresh. Also, contacts should be updated frequently. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Senior Business Development Representative Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Used to find the right numbers and contact info for prospects, overall good" May 4, 2018 4.0 benefits were being able to find the right contact info for prospects and clients. Pros I liked the ease of use of this product and the different functions you could use to narrow down searches Cons I didn't like that this database is used mostly for advertising and or media relations, I think they should broaden their industry realm. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Customer Success Manager Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great PR distribution system " July 1, 2018 4.0 Pros It's very comprehensive and has great customer support. You actually get an account manager which is helpful when you are first setting yourself up on the platform. Cons The cost is obviously a bit prohibitive but they have volume discounts. The process of uploading a release can also be a bit daunting with so many things and add-ons that you can use. Review Source SB Stacey B. Marketing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great" January 19, 2018 5.0 If we ever needed help understanding how to do something we got it right away. Pros This is an easy to use multi use platform that my company and myself utilizes regularly with great success. Review Source bC bianca C. social media director Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Only Game in Town" October 4, 2018 3.0 think they probably corner the market on PR software.. but that doesn't mean improvements can't be made. Pros Cision offers an extremely wide span of media outlets... from large to the insanely minute publication.. it defintiely provides a good scope of everything in between! I Cons I think this software is somewhat "clunky" ... think there is definitely room from improvement with the user interface. Moving between listings is a little complex. Review Source LB Laura B. Marketing Manager Hospitality Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Easy-to-use and intuitive features" February 5, 2020 4.0 I like Cision so far, I like that it didn't come with the pressure that is usually attached to learning a new tool. It's easy-to-use, user-friendly, and efficient. I look forward to learning it more in-depth and using it more often. Pros I am only just beginning to use Cision but I like how easy it is to navigate through it. Learning the ins and outs is easy because the tool itself makes sense. It's intuitive, it has everything that one may need for PR activities. I also like that they enable access to educational resources and videos about features and functionalities. Cons The analytics side of Cision is not the greatest, kind of hard to break down and digest. But that is currently the only "flaw" that I can find. Review Source TS Travis S. Supervisor Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great Product" November 28, 2017 5.0 Pros Really like that the company has taken advantage of the culture we live in now. My company prides itself on being extremely eco-friendly and this type of software really helps with the ideas and follow through of executing the right kind of marketing. Cons Don't like that it only has a web-based program. I may be the only one, but I do find some use in having a desktop version as well. We still have the baby boomers who aren't as comfortable on the web as we are. Review Source Christin G. Research Analyst Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "So easy for contact searches" February 12, 2019 5.0 Pros No more guesswork here, finding a contact is as easy as one, two, type Cons I can't think of anything I dislike about this software, so far everything is up to date and timely with regard to media contacts Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.