Business Wire publishes prices and GlobeNewswire does not. Business Wire’s own website lists $475 for a 400-word U.S. local release and flat-rate packages from $2,595 for five releases. GlobeNewswire, part of Notified, quotes every release. Both run large financial and corporate networks, so for most buyers the deciding factors are circuit, disclosure needs and a written quote.
Every price below is labeled and dated. Published means it appears on the provider’s own website, where we checked it on October 23, 2026; reported means it comes from a named third party and the provider has not confirmed it. Neither wire guarantees coverage. If you are also weighing PR Newswire, see our Business Wire vs PR Newswire comparison.
GlobeNewswire vs Business Wire at a glance (October 2026)
| Business Wire | GlobeNewswire | |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Business Wire, Inc., listed by Berkshire Hathaway among its subsidiaries | Part of Notified, which describes itself as an affiliate of Equiniti Group |
| Prices on its own website | Yes: a $475 starting price and six package prices | No: its /pricing address returns a 404 page |
| Single release, entry circuit | $475, 400 words, U.S. local (published) | Quote only; $350 to $900 estimated (reported, ITQlick, October 19, 2026) |
| Single release, regional and national | From $510 regional and $940 national, 400 words (reported, Prezly, September 21, 2026) | Quote only |
| Five-release package (local / regional / national) | $2,595 / $3,495 / $4,495, unlimited words (published) | Not published |
| Eight-release package (local / regional / national) | $3,595 / $4,895 / $5,895, unlimited words (published) | Not published |
| Package conditions | Non-earnings releases, qualifying U.S. customers | — |
| Words above the allowance | Billed in 100-word increments; rate not published | Not stated |
| Multimedia | Priced per asset; logo included | Supported; price not stated. Notified says logos cost nothing extra |
| Analytics | “Detailed analytics reports” with every release | Notified says analytics, AI bot views and AI citation data are included |
| Network, in its own words | AP, AFP and 92,000+ media points; 26,000+ companies | 1,000+ newslines, 158 countries, 35 languages |
| Regulated disclosure | Disclosure destinations on U.S. circuits; disclosure services for Canada, the UK, Ireland and Europe | Notified cites Reg FD, EDGAR, SEDAR and European filings |
| Account | No membership fee listed on its pricing page | Free registration, paid distribution (reported, Prezly, October 9, 2026) |
Which is cheaper, GlobeNewswire or Business Wire?
Nobody outside a sales process can say, because only one of the two publishes prices. Business Wire’s numbers are on its website. GlobeNewswire’s are in quotes, and the one dated estimate we could trace, ITQlick’s $350 to $900 per release, sits on both sides of Business Wire’s $475 local starting price.
What Business Wire publishes
Business Wire’s pricing page, read on October 23, 2026, gives one single-release price: $475, the “starting price for 400 words, U.S. domestic local distribution.” It says local, regional and national U.S. circuits “each have a starting price” and that international circuits “are priced by market,” but it prints only the local figure. Prezly’s Business Wire pricing guide, updated September 21, 2026, reports regional distribution from $510 and national from $940, both for 400 words. We did not find either figure on Business Wire’s site.
The more useful numbers are the packages. Business Wire’s distribution packages page lists flat-rate packages for non-earnings releases “to qualifying customers,” each with unlimited word count:
- Five releases: $2,595 to any U.S. state, metro or city circuit, $3,495 to a regional or corridor circuit, $4,495 to the U.S. national circuit. That is $519, $699 and $899 a release.
- Eight releases: $3,595, $4,895 and $5,895 for the same three circuits, or about $449, $612 and $737 a release.
So a regular U.S. sender who qualifies can buy a national Business Wire release, with no word limit, for under $740. That is a real advantage for long releases, and Business Wire deserves credit for printing it.
What GlobeNewswire publishes
Nothing with a dollar sign. GlobeNewswire’s /pricing address returned a 404 page when we checked on October 23, 2026, and its distribution services page describes the network and invites you to request a demo. Notified’s own page titled “GlobeNewswire vs. Business Wire: Pricing,” dated April 6, 2026, says GlobeNewswire offers “transparent and predictable pricing” and “does not charge extra for logos, microlists, or additional trade categories.” It contains no price.
Prezly’s GlobeNewswire pricing guide, updated October 9, 2026, found no published price list, reports that registration is free and distribution is quoted, and warns against exact figures that don’t link to a rate card, invoice or dated quote. ITQlick’s $350 to $900 per release is a review site’s estimate, which we last read on October 19, 2026. Treat it as a range to test a quote against, not a price. Our GlobeNewswire pricing guide covers what drives the quote.
The fees that decide the invoice
Both wires price the same four things: words, circuit, multimedia and translation. Business Wire says longer releases are “billed in 100-word increments” and that photos, video and other multimedia are “priced per asset,” with the logo included. It publishes neither rate. Notified says GlobeNewswire includes analytics, metadata and AI visibility features by default, and argues that Business Wire’s costs rise with “word count, multimedia, distribution expansion and premium analytics (such as NewsTrak tiers).” Business Wire, for its part, lists detailed analytics reports in every release.
Both can be true: a standard report included and a premium tier sold on top. The only way to know is to price the same release at both, line by line. A 650-word national release with two photos is a different invoice from a 400-word local one at either wire. Our Business Wire pricing guide sets out what its starting price covers.
Which has the bigger reach?
Each describes its network in its own terms, and the figures are not comparable.
Business Wire says a release “goes out through AP, AFP, and 92,000+ media points” and that more than 26,000 companies use it. Its international page names regional partners from The Canadian Press to Nikkei and Jiji Press. GlobeNewswire says it distributes “across more than 1,000 newslines, 158 countries and 35 languages,” and Notified adds 660+ industry categories and 4,000+ financial, news and investor platforms.
Notified also claims GlobeNewswire delivers “up to 30% more unique views per release” than Business Wire, citing SimilarWeb data from July 2025. We could not check the underlying data, Business Wire publishes no equivalent figure, and page views are not the same thing as journalists choosing to write about your news.
What matters is which outlets are on the circuit you buy. Ask each wire to name the outlets, feeds and terminals on the circuit it quotes, and how much of that is newsrooms rather than websites that republish releases automatically. Automatic republication is syndication: useful as a public record, but not coverage. Editorial pickup happens when a journalist decides your news is a story.
Which is better for a public company?
Neither is better in general. Both sell investor-relations distribution and both reach disclosure destinations, so the right one is whichever circuit meets your obligations at the better quoted price.
Business Wire says its investor-relations circuits “include the disclosure destinations, financial systems, and investor media your filings require,” and it offers disclosure services across Canada, the UK, Ireland and Europe. Notified says GlobeNewswire combines distribution with in-house regulatory filing support, “including Reg FD, EDGAR, SEDAR and European filings in a single, secure workflow,” alongside its IR website and events tools. Notified’s own comparison accepts that Business Wire “remains a trusted option for high-stakes announcements.”
Give both the same brief: the exchanges and jurisdictions involved, filing deadlines, word count, tables and the endpoints your disclosure policy names. Ask each to confirm in writing which of those endpoints its circuit reaches, and what a full year of earnings releases costs.
Who each suits
Business Wire suits buyers who want a number before they speak to sales, regular U.S. senders who qualify for the flat-rate packages, and teams that need its international disclosure network. Unlimited words on a package release is worth a lot if your announcements run long. Its pricing page is built around ongoing plans for PR, investor-relations and agency teams.
GlobeNewswire suits teams that already use, or want, Notified’s wider platform for media monitoring, outreach, IR websites and reporting. It also suits IR teams that want filings and distribution in one workflow, and anyone who values the AI citation analytics Notified bundles. Expect to negotiate, and go in with a competing quote.
Neither may suit a company with one announcement and no disclosure obligation. You would be paying for a financial-grade circuit, and in GlobeNewswire’s case entering a sales process, for reach that your announcement does not need.
When neither wire is the right tool
If the goal is coverage from the reporters who cover your subject, rather than regulated disclosure, a targeted, editorially reviewed send can do the job for less than either wire.
Presswire has distributed press releases from London since 2001 and has a U.S. presence. It charges $250 per release for one region (the UK, Europe, North America or Asia) and $400 worldwide. There are no word-count fees, and images and embedded video are included. Each release gets a bespoke media list and a human editorial check by former BBC journalists, and is normally sent within one hour of receipt. Every release is published on presswire.com and our Google News site. Optional extras are PA Mediapoint, delivery to the Press Association’s newswire, for $235, and online syndication to 400+ sites including AP and USA Today for $290. Prices exclude VAT. Any VAT is shown at checkout before you pay.
Presswire is not the cheapest option, and a single region at $250 is not a U.S. national financial circuit. The full rate card is on the Presswire pricing page, and how Presswire’s press release distribution works explains the process. For every published newswire rate in one table, see our press release distribution pricing guide, and for a wider field, our PR Newswire alternatives.
How to get quotes you can compare
Send both wires the same written brief and ask for an itemized quote.
- Word count, and how headlines, tables and boilerplate are counted.
- Circuit, named precisely, and the same geography from each.
- Media: logo, each image or video, and any per-asset charge.
- Analytics: which report comes as standard and what costs extra.
- Account terms: registration, minimum volumes, package eligibility and what happens to unused releases.
- Volume: how many releases you send a year, so both can price a plan.
Ask Business Wire whether you qualify for a five- or eight-release package. Ask GlobeNewswire whether its figure is a one-off rate or assumes an annual commitment.
Sources
Read on October 23, 2026: Business Wire’s pricing, distribution packages and international distribution pages; GlobeNewswire’s /pricing address (a 404 page) and distribution services page; Notified’s comparisons of GlobeNewswire and Business Wire on pricing, global reach and investor relations, each dated April 6, 2026; Prezly’s Business Wire (updated September 21, 2026) and GlobeNewswire (updated October 9, 2026) pricing guides; and Berkshire Hathaway’s list of subsidiary companies. ITQlick’s GlobeNewswire pricing page was last read on October 19, 2026. Presswire prices are from presswire.com/pricing. Per-release package figures are our arithmetic. Prices change, so check the provider’s page before you buy.
Frequently asked questions
Is GlobeNewswire cheaper than Business Wire?
It cannot be checked against published prices. Business Wire publishes $475 for a 400-word U.S. local release and packages from $2,595 for five releases. GlobeNewswire publishes no prices; Notified says it is better value, and ITQlick estimates $350 to $900 per release. Compare written quotes on the same brief.
How much does a Business Wire press release cost?
From $475 for 400 words on a U.S. local circuit, according to Business Wire’s pricing page. Prezly reports regional releases from $510 and national from $940. Flat-rate packages for qualifying customers run from $2,595 for five local releases to $5,895 for eight national releases, with unlimited words.
How much does a GlobeNewswire press release cost?
GlobeNewswire publishes no rate card, so every release is quoted. Prezly reports that registration is free and distribution is paid. The one dated estimate we found, from ITQlick, is $350 to $900 per release.
Who owns GlobeNewswire and Business Wire?
GlobeNewswire is part of Notified, which describes itself as an affiliate of Equiniti Group. Business Wire is listed by Berkshire Hathaway among its subsidiary companies. The two are competitors.
Do GlobeNewswire or Business Wire guarantee coverage?
No. Each distributes your release through the circuit you buy. Whether a journalist writes about it is the journalist’s decision.