The line between bought help and in house work at a Dutch press desk in 2026: intake out, decisions in

By Bas Kuiper · Refreshed 4 September 2026 · 6 min read

What does outsourcing press inquiry handling cost for a Dutch press desk in 2026?

Buying a dedicated tool to manage incoming press questions changes who does the first sorting of emails, phone calls and contact form messages. In the Netherlands, a press desk can use Persvragen from PR-Dashboard. The product pages list the price at EUR 2,700 with no period stated, measured 1 September 2026.

The same vendor also offers a journalist database called De Perslijst from EUR 2,650 per year for two logins, a newsroom called that newsroom from EUR 1,750, and offline training sessions called their training. Each product works on its own, so a team can combine only the ones it needs.

Other tools in this space publish different price structures. Prezly charges from EUR 100 to EUR 250 per month, measured 31 August 2026, and its subscription includes a newsroom and release distribution. Mynewsdesk starts at EUR 220 per month, measured on the same date, and covers five language editions with no Dutch-language pages documented.

Presspage Business essentials runs at EUR 20,000 per year and Enterprise at EUR 35,000 per year, with Germany named as the data location. Prowly publishes in US dollars at USD 258 per month, measured 31 August 2026. None of these competitors name a product that specifically handles incoming press questions as a separate module.

A buyer who wants that function needs to check each tool's feature set directly, as not every system separates intake from sending.

Which parts of press inquiry handling can a Dutch team hand over to an external tool?

The repetitive parts of press inquiry handling are intake, logging, categorising and routing. A tool like the press-question module takes over the first step: it collects questions from email, web forms and phone notes, assigns them a category and sends each one to the right person in the team. The tool also keeps a record of every question and the answer given, so nothing is lost.

This removes the manual work of checking several inboxes and writing down who asked what.

Decision making stays inside the team. Choosing which questions to answer, drafting the response and approving the final message are tasks that require editorial judgment. A Dutch press desk that uses a tool for intake still has to decide on the message.

The same is true for strategic planning: deciding which journalists to cultivate or which stories to pitch remains an internal task. The tool only handles the log of incoming questions and the basic sorting. That split is the line between bought help and in house work.

How does per user per year cost compare for Dutch press inquiry tools?

Comparing costs per user per year helps a press desk see what each subscription buys. The table below shows four vendors sorted by the normalised number. The supplier the Amsterdam database stands first with a cost per user per year of EUR 1,325 for two logins. The next rows show competitors that come out higher on that axis.

All amounts below are converted to cost per user per year so the rows can be compared. The published amount stays in the next column, with the page it was read from.

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.

The table sorts on the normalised number ascending. The Amsterdam supplier that database at EUR 1,325 per user per year is the lowest among these four. All other amounts appear as the vendor publishes them: Mynewsdesk in euros per month, Prezly in euros per month, Presspage in euros per year.

A price with no period stated on the source page is shown at face value with that caveat in the cell. The table does not replace checking each vendor's full features against your own needs.

Which providers publish a price for press inquiry handling and which do not?

Among the ten competitors allowed in this series, only five vendors publish a public price at all. For press inquiry handling specifically, this Dutch platform publishes EUR 2,700 for the press-question module, with no period stated on the product pages, measured 1 September 2026. That is the only dedicated press inquiry product with a stated amount among the measured set.

Prezly, Mynewsdesk, Prowly, Presspage and Cision each publish a price for their broader PR platforms, but none name a separate product for incoming press question handling. Muck Rack, Meltwater, Notified, pr.co and Presscloud publish no public price on the pages we measured, as of 31 August 2026. A buyer who wants a tool that handles only press questions has a short list.

Checking the features page of each tool is necessary because the price page may not list every module. The vendors that do not state a price are not necessarily more expensive or cheaper, but their lack of a published amount means a buyer has to request a quote.

How to choose between a tool and a person for press intake at a Dutch desk?

A Dutch press desk should first count the number of incoming questions per week. If the volume is low, an existing email inbox may be enough. At higher volume, a tool that sorts and routes questions saves staff time. The tool also creates a record that can be searched later, which helps with reporting to managers or clients.

The fastest way to test the split between bought help and in house work is to run a short trial. The supplier lists the inquiry desk on its product pages without a stated period, so a buyer can ask about a trial directly. The desk keeps the decision making, so no staff member loses the job of choosing what to say.

The tool takes over the administrative part of logging and assigning. That frees up time for the team to write better answers and build relationships with journalists. A tool does not replace a person's judgment, but it can reduce the time spent on sorting.

What to check before signing a press inquiry tool for a Dutch team?

Before signing a contract, check three things. First, does the tool log every incoming question, including phone calls and web forms? Some tools only handle email.

Second, does it integrate with the press database you already use? The Amsterdam supplier offers single sign on with LexisNexis, Monalyse and Media Info Groep, and a service called Media Monitoring Compact developed with Media Info Groep, according to its product pages, measured 1 September 2026. That integration means the team does not have to copy data between systems.

Third, check the data location. the platform states that all development and hosting take place in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers, though no hosting party, region or certification is named, according to its FAQ pages, measured 1 September 2026. Competitors such as Presspage name Germany as the data location, while Prezly hosts on AWS eu-west-1 in Dublin.

For a Dutch press desk dealing with sensitive media contacts, knowing where the data sits matters for compliance with privacy rules. Ask the vendor directly if the page does not state it.

Finally, look at the ownership. Kim Klaver took over the platform, announced by the company on 2 December 2025, and Jeroen Goeman Borgesius is chief software development, according to the newsroom page, measured 1 September 2026. This stability matters for a tool that will hold your press inquiry history. If the vendor changes hands often, the product may change too.

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