How to get press coverage for your startup with PromoteHour
TL;DR
PromoteHour is a performance-based PR service: its team pitches your product to journalists and charges per published article. You pay a one-time $299 setup fee, refunded if nothing gets traction in 30 days, then $99, $249 or $399 per placement by outlet tier. It suits consumer product brands with samples to ship and a budget for press.
What is PromoteHour?
PromoteHour sells earned media: product reviews and spots in best-of guides. The team builds a media list for your product, pitches the outlets you approve and bills you only when a piece goes live. The site states that it never pays publications for coverage.
Its success wall lists CNET, Tom's Guide and GearJunkie in October 2026, ZDNET, CNN and Forbes in September, and The New York Times and Wired in August 2026. Most clients sell hardware such as espresso gear, bikes and chargers.
Who should use PromoteHour?
Good fit:
- Consumer hardware and D2C (direct-to-consumer) brands with a product reviewers can test.
- Startups that want reviews and best-of list spots in tech, home, outdoor or lifestyle media.
- Founders who prefer paying per article to a monthly agency retainer.
Skip it:
- Pre-launch startups without a product to review or cash for several placements.
- Anyone looking for a free listing: PromoteHour has no free option.
- SaaS founders without software case studies in hand: the FAQ says PromoteHour pitches software through demo access and press kits, while the success wall shows physical products. Ask for examples first.
How much does PromoteHour cost?
- Setup fee: $299, one time, for research, the media list and pitch writing. Refunded if there is no traction within 30 days.
- Tier 1: $399 per placement: The Verge, WSJ, TechCrunch, Wired, NYT, CNET, TechRadar, CNN.
- Tier 2: $249 per placement: vertical outlets such as Runner's World, Apartment Therapy and Healthline.
- Tier 3: $99 per placement: niche blogs, industry newsletters and specialist sites.
There is no retainer. A campaign runs 4 to 8 weeks, and the site expects about 5 published pieces from a list of 20+ outlets. Setup plus two Tier 1 and three Tier 2 placements comes to $1,844.
One warning: the site's FAQ still quotes older prices ($499 for Tier 1, $299 for Tier 2), so confirm the price in writing before you approve the list.
How do you share your startup with PromoteHour?
- Enter your website on the PromoteHour homepage and click Get Instant Media List.
- Pay the $299 setup fee, then approve, remove or reorder the outlets on your list. Nothing gets pitched before you sign off.
- PromoteHour pitches the journalists. When an outlet shows interest, you ship samples straight to it; software brands give demo access and a press kit.
- You pay the tier fee only after the article is live.
Tips to get more out of PromoteHour
- Choose outlets your buyers read. A Tier 3 newsletter in your exact category sells more units than a Tier 1 name that never covers your product type.
- Have review units, photos and specs ready before kick-off. Slow shipping eats into the campaign window.
- Ask which links will be do-follow. PromoteHour says every placement carries one, but each publisher sets its own link policy.
- Pitch early for gift-guide season. The October 2026 blog posts already cover Black Friday deals and journalist lists by product category.
Our verdict
PromoteHour fits founders with a reviewable product and roughly $1,000 to $2,000 for a first campaign. Pay-on-publish pricing and the 30-day setup refund cap the risk. Pre-revenue software startups get more from free launch sites first.
More options: see all tech media, blogs and newsletters. Planning the launch around this listing? The Fe/male Switch startup game walks women founders from idea to first customers.