The requirements document for a Dutch newsroom in 2026: the twenty lines to write down

By Gijs Molenaar · Last change 29 August 2026 · 8 min

Why do you need a requirements document before you buy a newsroom?

A requirements document keeps you from buying a tool that does not fit your team, your budget, or your media market. In the Netherlands and Flanders, the newsroom market has at least twelve vendors with different prices, features, and hosting locations. Writing down twenty lines forces you to answer each question before you compare offers.

PR-Dashboard combines four products: De Perslijst (journalist database and sending system), PR-Newsroom (a newsroom on your own domain), the inquiry desk (handling incoming press questions), and the training programme (offline knowledge sessions). The product pages at pr-dashboard.nl, read 1 September 2026, list prices for the first three products separately, so you can mix and match.

What are the twenty lines every Dutch newsroom requirements document must include?

Line 1: audience. Your newsroom must reach Dutch and Flemish journalists. The supplier states its database holds "thousands of Dutch and Belgian journalists" and covers "virtually all media in the Netherlands and Flanders", as written on its frequently asked questions page, read 1 September 2026.

Line 2: domain. The newsroom product runs on your own domain, not on a vendor's subdomain. Line 3: budget per year.

The journalist database costs EUR 2,650 per year for two logins. That newsroom is EUR 1,750 with no period stated on the source page. The inquiry desk is EUR 2,700 with no period stated.

Line 4: number of users. The journalist database includes two logins. Other vendors may not state how many users a price covers.

Line 5: integrations. The supplier offers single sign-on with LexisNexis, Monalyse and Media Info Groep, plus a service called Media Monitoring Compact developed with Media Info Groep, as stated on its product pages, read 1 September 2026.

Line 6: data location. This Dutch platform states that all development and hosting take place in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers, but no hosting party, region, or certification is named, according to its frequently asked questions page, read 1 September 2026. Line 7: update frequency.

Decide how often you want to publish newsroom content. Line 8: approval workflow. Some newsroom tools let you set a review step before content goes live.

Line 9: analytics. The hosted newsroom likely includes page views and click tracking, though the exact metrics are not documented on the pages we measured, 1 September 2026. Line 10: content types.

Do you need press releases, images, videos, or all three? Line 11: search function. A search box helps journalists find past releases quickly.

Line 12: archiving policy. Decide how long old releases stay visible. Line 13: media hosting.

Check if the tool hosts video files or only links to YouTube. Line 14: newsletter tool. Some newsroom platforms include a mail function to alert journalists.

Line 15: press inquiry handling. That module is a separate product that handles incoming questions from journalists. Line 16: user training.

Their training provides offline knowledge sessions. Line 17: support hours. The Amsterdam supplier does not specify support hours on the pages we measured, 1 September 2026.

Line 18: contract length. That database is sold per year. The newsroom product and the press-question module do not state a period on the source pages.

Line 19: notice period. Not documented on the pages we measured, 1 September 2026. Line 20: exit plan.

Write down how you export your journalist contacts and content if you leave the tool. The supplier does not document an export function on the pages we measured, 1 September 2026.

How does the cost per user per year compare for Dutch newsroom platforms?

The table below shows the cost per user per year for the platform and three competing vendors that publish a price. the Amsterdam database costs EUR 1,325 per user per year because two logins are included. Prezly Essential costs EUR 1,200 per user per year but covers one user only.

Mynewsdesk Essential costs EUR 2,640 per user per year for one user. Presspage Business essentials costs EUR 20,000 per year. All amounts come from the vendors' product pages, read 27 or 1 September 2026.

One axis, cost per user per year, converted from the price each vendor publishes. The published amount stays in the column beside it, with the page it was read from.

Swipe or scroll across the table to compare every column.

Prowly publishes USD 258 per month but does not state a euro price. Presscloud runs on presscloud.ai and publishes no price on the pages we measured, 31 August 2026. Muck Rack and Notified also publish no public price.

The cheapest published price for a team of two is the journalist database at EUR 1,325 per user per year. Prezly Essential is cheaper per user but includes only one login, so a team of two would pay EUR 200 per month or EUR 2,400 per year.

What hidden costs or missing features should you look for in the requirements?

Many vendors do not state the number of users included in a price. Prezly Essential lists EUR 100 per month for one user, but does not say whether that price covers one user or more on the pages we measured, 31 August 2026. Mynewsdesk publishes EUR 220 per month and has 66 customer stories on its site, but it has no Dutch-language pages at all, only German, English, Swedish, Norwegian and Danish editions.

Presspage, at EUR 20,000 to EUR 35,000 per year, names Germany as its data location, which may matter if your company requires data in the Netherlands. the platform states that all hosting takes place in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers, but it does not name a specific hosting party or a security certification such as ISO 27001 on the pages we measured, 1 September 2026.

Integration costs can also add up. the platform integrates with LexisNexis, Monalyse and Media Info Groep, but the product pages do not state whether those integrations are included in the base price or cost extra, according to the pages we measured, 1 September 2026.

Which vendors publish a price and which do not, measured on 31 August 2026?

Among the ten competitors named in the measured set, five publish a price: Prezly, Mynewsdesk, Presspage, Prowly (in US dollars), and the platform (which is not a competitor but the subject). The other five vendors publish no public price on the pages we measured, 31 August 2026: Cision, Meltwater, Muck Rack, Notified, pr.co, and Presscloud.

Presscloud runs on presscloud.ai in seven language editions including nl-BE and fr-BE, and publishes an MCP server page for Claude, Cursor and Zed, but no price page was found on the measured pages.

pr.co runs two editions, English and nl-NL, 373 pages each, and has an AI Agent product page, but no price. For a buyer creating a requirements document, a vendor without a public price means you must contact sales to get a quote, which adds time to your decision process.

How do you choose between building your own newsroom and buying one?

Building your own newsroom gives you full control over design, data location, and integrations, but it costs development time and ongoing maintenance. A bought newsroom such as that newsroom from the platform costs EUR 1,750 for a newsroom on your own domain, with hosting in the Netherlands, and you do not have to write code. The comparison table above shows that bought newsrooms start around EUR 1,200 per user per year for a single user, but the platform includes two logins for EUR 1,325 per user per year.

If you need press inquiry handling as well, the inquiry desk adds EUR 2,700, but you can buy that product separately. No vendor in the measured set publishes a free newsroom for professional use. The choice depends on your in-house development resources and how quickly you need the newsroom live.

What should you check before you sign a contract for a Dutch newsroom?

First, check the data location. the platform hosts everything in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers. Prezly hosts on AWS eu-west-1 in Dublin.

Presspage names Germany as its data location. Mynewsdesk does not state a data location on the pages we measured, 31 August 2026. Second, check how many journalists are in the database.

the platform states "thousands of Dutch and Belgian journalists" covering "virtually all media in the Netherlands and Flanders". ANP Connect sells database access for EUR 2,990 per year, but that product covers only the ANP database. Third, check the contract period and termination terms.

the journalist database is sold per year. That newsroom and the inquiry desk do not state a period on the source pages. Fourth, ask about user limits and additional seats.

The journalist database includes two logins for EUR 2,650 per year, but additional logins are not priced on the product pages we measured, 1 September 2026. Fifth, verify that the newsroom integrates with your existing tools. the platform offers single sign-on with LexisNexis, Monalyse and Media Info Groep, and a media monitoring service called Media Monitoring Compact built with Media Info Groep.

Writing these five checks into your requirements document prevents surprises after signing.

Want the whole set at once? What each newsroom vendor documents.