How to get your startup reviewed or covered by PCMag
TL;DR
PCMag is a technology review and news site owned by Ziff Davis, built around lab tests in its own PC Labs. There is no paid listing and no submission form: you pitch a product to the writer who covers your category or to reviews@pcmag.com, and the editors decide. It fits startups with hardware, software or a SaaS product that a buyer can test.
What is PCMag?
PCMag grew out of PC Magazine, and its About page claims 44 years of experience, 65 tech experts and more than 43,000 product reviews. The site tests hardware, software and SaaS, consumer electronics and mobile products. Its review categories include business software such as accounting, HR, IT management, sales and marketing, e-commerce and website builders, next to laptops, phones and VPNs. Exceptional products earn the Editors' Choice, PCMag's highest recommendation. The digital edition of PC Magazine ended in December 2022, and PCMag now publishes on pcmag.com.
Who should pitch PCMag?
- Hardware startups with a shipping product: laptops, peripherals, smart home devices, drones, wearables.
- Software and SaaS startups in a category PCMag reviews, such as password managers, VPNs, accounting tools or website builders.
- Founders with tech news that PCMag readers care about: a launch, original research or a security finding.
- Skip it if your product is in private beta, has no public price, or sits outside technology. Lab reviews need a finished product the team can test against rivals.
How much does PCMag coverage cost?
Reviews and news coverage are free and cannot be bought. PCMag's mission statement says editorial coverage is decided by the editorial team alone, and that its affiliate team adds buying links to some pages, with a disclosure. The contact page warns that PCMag cannot guarantee coverage and does not accept unsolicited content or link requests, so guest posts and paid links are off the table.
How do you get your startup into PCMag?
- Read the Contact PCMag page and the PCMag staff masthead, which lists each editor and writer with an email address.
- Find the writer who reviews your category: open recent PCMag reviews of products like yours and check the byline.
- Send a short pitch to that writer: what the product does, the price, the release date, and which rivals it beats on which test.
- If you cannot tell who covers your category, email the Reviews team at reviews@pcmag.com, the address the masthead gives for review pitches.
- For news, such as a launch or original research, pitch the news writer on your beat from the masthead, with the facts in the first two sentences.
- Offer a review unit or a full test account with no time limit, and answer test questions fast.
Tips to get more out of a PCMag pitch
- Name the products PCMag has already reviewed in your category and say what you do differently. Reviewers test against rivals.
- Give a public price and a ship date. A review needs both.
- Send a full-featured account for software. A trial with locked features gets a weaker test.
- Read PCMag's testing pages before you pitch and point to the results you expect to win on.
- Follow up once after a week, then wait for the next product update.
Our verdict
PCMag reviews business software as well as gadgets, which opens the door for SaaS startups that consumer tech sites ignore. Coverage is free and impossible to buy, and a precise pitch to the right reviewer is the only way in. Pre-launch startups should come back with a finished product.
More options: see all tech media, blogs and newsletters. Preparing a product launch? The Fe/male Switch startup game walks women founders from idea to first customers.