Ask anyone in PR how much press coverage costs and watch what happens. You get a long pause, a change of subject, or a proposal with a monthly retainer and no line items. The industry treats pricing like a trade secret. We think that is backwards, so we are going to answer the question directly, with our real numbers.

We are The Profound Agency, a visibility agency in Hillsborough, New Jersey. We keep a public directory of 1,666 publications (as of September 2026) where you can book a paid editorial placement. Every listing shows its published price, its Domain Authority, its turnaround time, and whether the placement is labelled as sponsored. Everything below comes from that directory. Nothing is estimated and nothing is hidden.

The short answer

The median placement in our directory costs $1,150. Published prices run from $150 at the low end to $88,500 at the high end. Nine out of ten publications cost $2,000 or less. That surprises most people. The image of press coverage is a five figure campaign, but the reality is that most paid placements sit comfortably inside a small business marketing budget.

For context, a traditional PR retainer typically runs several thousand dollars per month, though it varies widely, and it buys you effort rather than outcomes. You pay whether or not anything gets published. A paid placement is the opposite. You pick the outlet, you see the price, you pay once, and your story runs.

What drives the price

Not all coverage is equal, and the price reflects that. Five things move the number more than anything else.

  • Authority. Outlets with high Domain Authority and household names charge more because a link and a mention from them carries more weight with both readers and search engines.
  • Reach. A publication read by millions costs more than a niche trade site read by thousands. You are paying for the size of the audience your story is put in front of.
  • Turnaround. Faster publication usually costs more. An outlet that can run your piece tomorrow prices that speed in.
  • Sponsored labelling. Some placements are labelled as sponsored content and some run as standard editorial. Labelled placements are often priced differently, and our directory tells you which is which before you buy.
  • Do-follow links. Whether the placement includes a do-follow link back to your site affects both the SEO value and the price. Editorial links from strong domains are some of the hardest things in marketing to obtain any other way.

What the price bands look like

Here is how our 1,666 publications break down by price.

  • $150 to $249: 133 publications. The entry point. Real outlets, real publication, the fastest way to get your first piece of coverage live.
  • $250 to $499: 294 publications. The sweet spot for testing. Enough authority to matter, low enough to buy several and compare results.
  • $500 to $999: 156 publications. Stronger names and bigger audiences start appearing here.
  • $1,000 to $2,499: 955 publications. This is where most of the directory lives. The bulk of serious regional, national, and trade coverage sits in this band.
  • $2,500 to $4,999: 63 publications. Premium names with major reach.
  • $5,000 and up: 65 publications. The top of the market. Flagship outlets where a single placement can define a brand announcement.

Notice the shape of that distribution. More than half the directory sits between $1,000 and $2,499, and more than 400 cost less than $500. Expensive coverage exists, but it is the exception.

Real examples from our directory

Numbers are easier to trust with names attached. These are live listings with published prices.

  • Medium, $150, published in 1 day. The fastest and cheapest way to get a clean piece of published coverage with your name on it.
  • Yahoo Finance, AP News, and Benzinga syndication, $400, published in 3 to 5 days. One purchase, distribution across major financial newswires.
  • Apple News via Grit Daily, $600, published in 3 to 5 days. Your story inside the Apple News app.
  • Time.com Africa, $2,000, published in 1 week. The Time name at a fraction of the flagship price.
  • USA Today, $2,500, published in 1 week. One of the most recognized names in American media.
  • Time Magazine, $4,850, published in 1 to 2 weeks. The full flagship. This is what premium placement looks like.

Every one of these listings also shows Domain Authority and turnaround time, so you are comparing real attributes instead of guessing.

How long it takes

Speed matters when your news is timely. Across the directory, the most common turnaround is 1 to 2 weeks, which covers 563 outlets. Another 405 outlets publish in 3 to 5 days, 289 in 1 week, and 192 in 1 to 3 days. If you need coverage live this week, you have hundreds of options. If your announcement can wait two weeks, the full directory is open to you.

How to choose the right outlets

Start with the goal, not the name. If you want search visibility and AI citations, prioritize high Domain Authority and do-follow links. If you want credibility with customers, prioritize names your buyers recognize. If you want investors or partners to find you, prioritize financial and trade press.

Then match the band to your budget. A common mistake is spending the whole budget on one flagship placement. Three placements at $500 across different outlets usually do more for visibility than a single $1,500 placement, because each one is another citation, another link, and another surface where customers and answer engines can find you.

Read the sponsored labelling before you buy. There is nothing wrong with labelled sponsored content, and it is often the faster path, but you should know what you are getting. That is why we publish it on every listing.

How buying a placement works

This is the part the industry usually makes complicated, so we made it simple. You browse the directory, pick your publications, and pay in full at checkout. Then either we write the article for you or you send us your own draft. Nothing is published without your final approval. You see the piece, you sign off, it goes live.

No retainer. No hourly billing. No wondering what your money bought. The price you see is the price you pay.

If you have been sitting on a story worth telling, the only thing between you and press coverage is a decision. Browse the full directory of 1,666 publications with published prices and see what your budget buys.