Business Wire Pricing (2026) and How It Compares to PR Newswire

By the PR Gun Research desk. Prices verified November 1, 2026.

How much does Business Wire cost? Business Wire's pricing page says a press release starts at $475 for 400 words on a U.S. local circuit (checked November 1, 2026). Regional, national and international circuits, extra words, multimedia and translation are quote only. PR Newswire publishes no price list at all, so you need a written quote from either wire for national reach. If you mainly want PR Newswire's network, eReleases sells national PR Newswire distribution for $399 with 400 words included.

How much does Business Wire cost in 2026?

Business Wire publishes one number. Its pricing page reads "A Business Wire press release starts at $475 for 400 words on a U.S. local circuit." That's the one-time price. It isn't the price of a national release.

Everything past that first number is quoted. The page says the final cost depends on length, the geographic circuit you pick, and enhancements like multimedia and translation. Local, regional and national U.S. circuits each have their own starting price, but only the local one is printed. International distribution is priced by market.

Three more pricing rules are on the page. Longer releases are billed in 100-word increments, with no published price per increment. Photos, video and other multimedia are priced per asset, and translation is priced per language. Flat-rate packages are offered "for qualifying U.S. customers," covering a set number of U.S. releases with unlimited word count, and there's no published price for those either.

One line on the page is worth holding Business Wire to. It says "You receive the full cost before the release is sent." So you can ask for the total in writing before you commit.

For a line-by-line look at circuits, word counts and add-ons, see our Business Wire cost breakdown.

What comes with a Business Wire release?

Business Wire lists these items as included with every release on its pricing page.

• 400 words with unlimited hyperlinks
• Expert editorial review
• A full-color linked logo
• Rich-text formatting and financial tables
• A detailed analytics report
• 24/7 customer service
• Secure submission, customized callout text and social sharing tools

Business Wire says it distributes "through AP, AFP, and 92,000+ media points," and its page invites you to "join 26K+ companies." Those are Business Wire's own figures.

How much does PR Newswire cost?

PR Newswire doesn't publish prices. Its /pricing/ address returned a 404 error on November 1, 2026, and its home, products and account form pages show no rates. You open an account and ask for a quote.

What PR Newswire does publish is scale. Its account form page says "On average annually, we review and distribute 325k+ releases and maintain 99.9% proofreading accuracy." PR Newswire was founded in 1954 by Herbert Muschel and acquired by Cision in 2015, per its about page. Cision also owns PRWeb.

The full picture of what drives a PR Newswire quote is on our PR Newswire pricing page.

PR Newswire vs. Business Wire, side by side

Neither Trustpilot score means much. Business Wire has 2 reviews and Trustpilot notes the company hasn't invited customers to review. PR Newswire has 11. G2 and Capterra blocked our requests, so we have no ratings from them.

So which is cheaper? You can't tell from public pages. Business Wire's $475 covers a local circuit only, and PR Newswire shows no number to compare it with. The fair test is two written quotes for the same release, same word count, same circuit and same multimedia.

What do releases on each wire look like?

We checked PR Gun's database of published press releases for both wires. These numbers describe what issuers publish on each wire. They don't measure the wire's reach or quality.

One caution up front. Our PR Newswire sample covers about ten months. Our Business Wire sample covers only September 24 to October 18, 2026, which is under four weeks. Treat the Business Wire figures as a short snapshot.

• In PR Gun's database, the median PR Newswire release ran 615 words, across 82,398 releases published January 4 to October 31, 2026.
• The median Business Wire release ran 597 words, across 2,784 releases published September 24 to October 18, 2026. That means at least half of them ran past the 400 words Business Wire's $475 price covers.
• 31.2% of 82,398 PR Newswire releases included a phone number in the text, compared with 53.9% of 2,784 Business Wire releases.
• Only 4.0% of PR Newswire releases had an email address visible in the published text, against 94.0% on Business Wire. PR Newswire pages often hide or obfuscate contact emails, so this tracks what a reader sees, not what the issuer supplied.
• 5.5% of PR Newswire headlines were written in all capital letters, against 0.2% on Business Wire.

Both wires carry long releases. That matters for cost, because both price past 400 words. In our data the most common send hour was 8 a.m. Eastern for PR Newswire and 9 a.m. Eastern for Business Wire, and the most common days were Tuesday and Thursday. Our best time to send a press release study covers timing in depth.

Are there cheaper ways onto the PR Newswire network?

Yes. Several services publish a fixed price for a release that goes out over PR Newswire or its network. Scope varies, so read the "what you get" column before you compare prices.

eReleases is the cheapest published route to national PR Newswire distribution we found for a 400-word release. PRWeb Standard costs less but is website syndication, not the national wire. PRLog doesn't say which base packages can take its add-on, so we can't give a total.

For alternatives to Business Wire itself, see Business Wire alternatives.

Which wire fits you?

Startup. You have a funding round to announce and a tight budget. Neither big wire publishes a national price, so you can't budget for one before you get a quote. If PR Newswire's name matters to you, eReleases at $399 or PRWeb Standard at $245 gets you onto its network at a known price.

Small business. You're announcing a new location to a local market. Business Wire's $475 local circuit is the only published big-wire price that fits this job. Ask what your exact city or state circuit includes before you pay.

Agency. You send releases for several clients every month. Business Wire's flat-rate packages for qualifying U.S. customers cover a set number of releases with unlimited word count. Get that quote next to a PR Newswire volume quote and compare the cost per release.

Public company. You report earnings and need financial tables formatted cleanly. Business Wire lists financial tables as included. Neither wire publishes a disclosure price, so ask both, in writing, what your filing needs will cost and how they're handled. Don't use a reseller's add-on for this. PRLog, for one, excludes public-company content.

How do you get quotes you can compare?

Send both wires the same brief. Ask each one these questions.

1. What's the total for this exact release, word count included, on a U.S. national circuit?
2. What does each 100 words past 400 cost?
3. What does one photo, one logo and one video add?
4. Is there a membership or annual fee?
5. What's in the report you send after distribution?
6. If I send several releases a year, what volume or flat-rate plan do I qualify for?

If you'd like a wider view of what releases cost, our press release distribution pricing guide compares published prices across the market.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Business Wire cost?

Business Wire's pricing page says a release starts at $475 for 400 words on a U.S. local circuit (checked November 1, 2026). Regional, national and international circuits, extra words, multimedia and translation are quote only.

Is Business Wire cheaper than PR Newswire?

You can't tell from public pages. Business Wire publishes only its $475 local price and PR Newswire publishes no prices. Ask both for a written quote on the same release and circuit.

What is the difference between PR Newswire and Business Wire?

Business Wire publishes one starting price and lists what every release includes. PR Newswire is owned by Cision and publishes no prices. In PR Gun's database, 94.0% of 2,784 Business Wire releases showed an email address in the text, against 4.0% of 82,398 PR Newswire releases.

Is PR Newswire reliable?

PR Newswire says it reviews and distributes 325k+ releases a year with 99.9% proofreading accuracy. It was founded in 1954 and is owned by Cision. Our PR Newswire review covers it in detail.

Business Wire vs. PRWeb, which should I use?

PRWeb publishes prices from $120 to $480 per release, and its $245 Standard package adds syndication to 1200+ websites powered by PR Newswire. Business Wire starts at $475 for a 400-word local release, with national reach by quote.

What is Cision's relationship to PR Newswire?

Cision acquired PR Newswire in 2015, per PR Newswire's about page. Cision also owns PRWeb.

What are cheaper alternatives to Business Wire?

Published prices for a 400-word U.S. release include EIN Presswire Basic at $149, Send2Press U.S. National Basic at $199 and eReleases Buzz Builder at $399. Each has a different scope, so compare what's included.