Telum Media is the Asia-Pacific specialist — the go-to media database for PR teams working across Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, India, and Southeast Asia. Its APAC depth is genuine and hard to replicate.
People look elsewhere for two reasons: they need coverage beyond APAC, or the opaque annual pricing doesn't fit their team. Here are the five best alternatives.
We make Medialyst, so we've ranked it first — but Telum's APAC specialist strength is real and acknowledged. We evaluated on geographic coverage, data quality, and pricing transparency. Pricing is from public pages and reviews as of June 2026.
Tool
Best for
Standout
Starting price
Free option
1Medialyst
PR teams, founders, and agencies who want a story-specific, verified journalist list in minutes — not a static database to vet by hand.
AI reads each journalist's recent coverage and scores fit for your story
From $97/mo (annual) · $149/mo monthly
Free first list · no credit card
2Cision
Teams that need APAC coverage plus every other market at enterprise scale.
850K+ contacts across 225 countries
$10K–$30K+/yr
No free trial
3Meltwater
Enterprise teams that need monitoring and social listening across APAC and global markets.
Monitoring + social listening across 270K+ sources
$6,000/yr
No free trial
4Muck Rack
Teams that want the best journalist data accuracy globally, including APAC coverage.
Best accuracy reputation among global databases
$5K–$15K+/yr
No free trial
5Propel
Small teams that want a database and pitching at an affordable price, without enterprise contracts.
Published pricing from ~$99/mo, inbox-native
~$99/mo (Premium, billed annually, 1 user)
Free tier (tight limits)
Pricing reflects public pages and reviews as of June 2026. Telum, Cision, Meltwater, and Muck Rack don't publish prices; ranges are reported estimates.
The ranked list
The 5 best Telum Media alternatives.
1
MedialystOur pick5.0/5 on G2
AI-native journalist discovery — story-in, verified list out
Best for: PR teams, founders, and agencies who want a story-specific, verified journalist list in minutes — not a static database to vet by hand.
Pricing: From $97/mo (annual) · $149/mo monthly
Free option: Free first list · no credit card
Medialyst is the AI-native media list builder. Instead of handing you a giant static database to filter and verify yourself, it reads hundreds of articles relevant to your specific announcement, surfaces the journalists who actually cover it, scores them 0–100 by fit with reasoning grounded in their recent work, and verifies every email in real time before it reaches you. It runs from a chat box — paste a release, a URL, or a one-line description — and from inside Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor via a public REST API and a hosted remote MCP server. Pricing is public, monthly, and contract-free; your first list is free with no credit card.
Pros
Story-specific relevance scoring grounded in journalists' actual recent articles, not keyword filters
Every email verified in real time before delivery — built to kill the bounce-rate problem of static databases
Public, monthly, contract-free pricing with a free first list
Agent-native: public REST API + hosted remote MCP, usable inside Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor
Upload any competitor CSV and the agent re-verifies and re-scores every contact
Cons
Newer than the legacy incumbents — not the choice if a recognizable enterprise brand name is itself the requirement
Focused on discovery, pitching, and verification rather than broad social-listening or share-of-voice dashboards
Best for: Teams that need APAC coverage plus every other market at enterprise scale.
Pricing: $10K–$30K+/yr
Free option: No free trial
Cision covers APAC markets alongside 225 countries globally — the brute-force alternative to Telum's regional focus. APAC coverage exists but isn't as specialist or deeply curated as Telum's. The trade-offs: $10K–$30K+/yr, annual contracts, and stale-contact complaints.
The enterprise monitoring suite with APAC presence
Best for: Enterprise teams that need monitoring and social listening across APAC and global markets.
Pricing: $6,000/yr
Free option: No free trial
Meltwater has an APAC presence and covers monitoring across the region alongside its global source base. If your need is more monitoring-and-analytics than contact discovery, it's a stronger fit than Telum. Expensive (~$25K/yr median) and annual.
Best for: Teams that want the best journalist data accuracy globally, including APAC coverage.
Pricing: $5K–$15K+/yr
Free option: No free trial
Muck Rack has the strongest data accuracy reputation globally. Its APAC coverage exists but is US-heavy compared to Telum's specialist approach. Annual-only, quote-only (~$5K–$15K+/yr).
Propel is the value option — an inbox-native PRM with database and pitching from ~$99/mo billed annually. It's far cheaper than Telum, though its database is US-heavy and less specialist in APAC. Good for small teams that need basic discovery and pitching without enterprise pricing.
Paste a story. Get your journalist list in minutes.
Drop in a press release, your website URL, or a one-line description of your news. Medialyst reads what's relevant, finds reporters who actually cover it, scores them by fit, and verifies every email — your first list is free, no credit card.
First list free · No credit card
FAQ
Telum Media alternatives — common questions.
What is the best Telum Media alternative?
For global journalist discovery (including APAC), Medialyst. For the largest global database, Cision. For enterprise monitoring, Meltwater.
Is Telum Media APAC-only?
Primarily, yes. Telum specializes in Asia-Pacific media. Coverage outside APAC is minimal.
Can I import my Telum contacts into Medialyst?
Yes. Export as CSV and upload — Medialyst re-verifies and re-scores every contact.
Product names and logos are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here only for purposes of comparison. Medialyst is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of the tools listed. Pricing and feature claims are based on public documentation and customer reviews as of June 2026; please verify with each vendor.
