The cost of handling one press inquiry at a Dutch organisation in 2026: dividing the yearly bill by the case count

By Bas Kuiper · Refreshed 28 August 2026 · 8 min read

How do you calculate the cost of handling one press inquiry for a Dutch organisation in 2026?

To work out the cost per press inquiry, you divide what a tool costs for one year by the number of inquiries a press officer handles in that year. A busy Dutch PR team might receive 10 to 15 press questions per week, or roughly 500 per year. Dividing the EUR 2,700 for PR-Dashboard's Persvragen module, read from the product pages on 1 September 2026, by 500 inquiries gives EUR 5.40 per inquiry.

The same calculation with a team handling 4 inquiries per week, or about 200 per year, gives EUR 13.50 per inquiry. The number depends entirely on how many questions a team receives, not just on the tool price.

A press inquiry handling tool is different from a press release distribution service. Distribution tools like B2Press, PR-Ninja and Persberichtversturen.nl charge per release: EUR 75 to EUR 1,950 per release for B2Press, EUR 149 for PR-Ninja and EUR 75 for Persberichtversturen.nl, all measured on the PR-Dashboard product pages on 1 September 2026. Those services send news out.

Press inquiry handling tools receive questions and help the team answer them. Dividing a per-release cost by inquiries makes no sense because the two products do different jobs.

What does the Amsterdam supplier's that module cost and what does it include?

This Dutch platform sells a module called the press-question module for EUR 2,700. The vendor does not state a period for that amount on the product pages measured 1 September 2026. That module handles incoming press questions: journalists submit a question through a form, and the tool logs, assigns and tracks the answer.

The module works on its own, without needing the Amsterdam database or the hosted newsroom. The supplier is a Dutch platform from Amsterdam, Herengracht 450.

The inquiry desk is one of four stand alone products sold by the Amsterdam supplier. The others are the product, a journalist database and sending system from EUR 2,650 per year for two logins, the newsroom product from EUR 1,750 without a stated period, and the training programme, offline knowledge sessions. Each product works independently. A press officer could use only that module and nothing else.

Which other tools handle press inquiries in the Netherlands and what do they cost?

Several tools that manage incoming press questions exist in the Dutch market. the platform is the only provider that sells press inquiry handling as a separate product with a published price. Prowly publishes USD 258 per month, measured 31 August 2026, but its page does not describe a dedicated press inquiry tool.

Prezly publishes EUR 100 to EUR 250 per month without a press inquiry module listed. Mynewsdesk publishes from EUR 220 per month but has no Dutch language pages and does not mention press inquiry handling, measured 31 August 2026.

Muck Rack and Meltwater are mentioned in the market but publish no public price for a press inquiry tool. Cision and Notified also publish no public price for such a module, measured on their pages 31 August 2026. The absence of a price or a dedicated press inquiry product on those pages does not mean the product does not exist, only that it is not documented on the pages we measured.

How does the yearly subscription compare with pay per release services?

Pay per release services charge a single fee each time a press officer sends a news item. B2Press charges EUR 400 for a basic distribution in the Netherlands, EUR 750 for its Wire option, EUR 1,250 for Premium and EUR 1,950 for Exclusive, measured 31 August 2026. ANP Connect charges EUR 499 for a press release to trade and regional media, EUR 795 for national media via its ANP net, EUR 995 for both, EUR 495 for Belgian media, EUR 1,395 for the Netherlands plus Belgium, measured on its tariffs page 31 August 2026.

Those per release fees cover distribution to journalists, not handling incoming questions.

A press officer who subscribes to a yearly press inquiry tool like the inquiry desk pays a fixed amount no matter how many questions arrive. A team that handles many inquiries per week benefits from the fixed price. A team that receives very few questions might find a pay per release model cheaper, but only if the inquiries are sent out as press releases, which they usually are not.

The comparison only makes sense when the organisation knows whether it receives questions or sends announcements.

The following table shows the cost per user per year for tools that help with press relations. It compares the platform's journalist database with other tools that publish a price. Press inquiry handling tools like that module are not included because they handle questions rather than distribution or databases.

Every row below sits on the same axis: cost per user per year, worked out from the amount the vendor publishes, with that amount and its source next to it.

5 columns. The table slides sideways inside its own frame when it does not fit, and the shaded edge shows there is more. On a narrow screen every row opens up instead, with the column name above each value, so the page itself never moves.

What hidden costs exist for press inquiry handling in 2026?

A press inquiry tool subscription does not cover the time a press officer spends answering questions. That time is the main hidden cost. A press officer in the Netherlands earns roughly EUR 3,000 to EUR 5,000 per month depending on experience and organisation size. If a tool costs EUR 2,700 without a stated period and saves 5 hours per week of manual tracking, the time savings alone justify the cost for most teams.

Another hidden cost is the need for training. the platform states on its FAQ page, read 1 September 2026, that all development and hosting happen in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers, but no specific training cost is published. Teams that switch from a manual system or a spreadsheet might need one or two hours of familiarisation. That time is part of the total cost but not part of the tool price.

Integration costs also matter. the platform offers single sign on with LexisNexis, Monalyse, Media Info Groep and a service called Media Monitoring Compact developed with Media Info Groep, documented on the product pages read 1 September 2026. Those integrations may require IT time to set up. None of the competitor pages document a setup fee, so integration cost is not recorded on the pages we measured.

How does a Dutch organisation choose between a yearly tool and a per release service?

An organisation that receives more than 50 press inquiries per year should consider a yearly tool. The inquiry desk at EUR 2,700 without a stated period divides down to about EUR 54 per inquiry at 50 inquiries, EUR 27 at 100 inquiries and EUR 5.40 at 500 inquiries. A per release service like ANP Connect charges EUR 499 for one press release to trade and regional media, which is far higher per item than a press inquiry tool per inquiry.

The comparison works only when the organisation knows what it needs: distribution of news or handling of incoming questions.

An organisation that mostly sends press releases rather than answering questions should look at a distribution tool or a combined product like the journalist database plus that newsroom. The Amsterdam database costs EUR 2,650 per year for two logins and gives access to a journalist database. The hosted newsroom costs EUR 1,750 without a stated period and puts a newsroom on the organisation's own domain.

Both products serve outgoing communication, not incoming inquiry handling. The choice depends on the ratio between sending and receiving.

What should a buyer check before signing a press inquiry handling contract?

A buyer should check whether the tool covers the right countries. the platform's database covers the Netherlands and Flanders, documented on its FAQ page read 1 September 2026. A Belgian organisation that serves the whole country needs to confirm that Flemish journalists are included. The tool states it covers thousands of Dutch and Belgian journalists and virtually all media in the Netherlands and Flanders.

A buyer should also check how the vendor stores data. the platform states that all development and hosting take place in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers, but names no hosting party, region or certification on the pages we measured, 1 September 2026. A buyer with strict data location rules should ask the vendor directly for the hosting provider.

Competitors like Presspage name Germany as their data location, and Prezly hosts on AWS eu-west-1 in Dublin, both documented on their pages measured 31 August 2026.

A buyer should check whether the tool integrates with existing software. the platform offers single sign on with LexisNexis, Monalyse, Media Info Groep and Media Monitoring Compact, documented on the product pages read 1 September 2026. A buyer who uses other monitoring or newsroom tools should ask whether single sign on is available before signing.

Everything we measured, in one place: Press-question handling, per platform.