Two invoices at a Dutch organisation in 2026: what a subscription bill shows that a licence bill does not

Reporting by Eva Lindeman · Amended 4 September 2026 · 6 minute read

What is the difference between a subscription and a licence for PR software in the Netherlands in 2026?

A subscription bill lists one annual amount for a set of features and a fixed number of user accounts. A licence bill typically charges per person per month or per action such as a press release. In Dutch PR tooling, the difference shows in what you see on the invoice.

De Perslijst from PR-Dashboard costs EUR 2,650 per year for two logins, according to the product pages read 1 September 2026. That is a subscription: one price for a year, two named users. A licence model such as Mynewsdesk publishes EUR 220 per month but does not document how many logins that covers on its plan page, measured 31 Aug 2026.

The Dutch team that buys the subscription knows the total in advance. The team that buys the licence may discover extra costs per additional user later.

What does a subscription bill from a Dutch PR tool show that a licence bill does not?

A subscription bill shows the period, the number of users and the total amount in one line. The product pages of PR-Dashboard name EUR 2,650 per year for that database with two logins, read 1 September 2026. That is a complete picture.

A licence bill from a competitor such as Prezly shows EUR 250 per month for the Standard plan but does not state a separate period for that price on the page, measured 31 Aug 2026. The Prezly page also does not document how many users that monthly amount covers. The subscription bill removes guessing.

For a Dutch organisation with a team of two, the subscription from the Amsterdam database ends at EUR 2,650 for one year. A licence from Prezly or Mynewsdesk may require a calculation of monthly costs times twelve, plus an unknown per-user fee. The product pages we measured on 31 August 2026 do not document that per-user fee for either vendor.

Which Dutch PR providers publish yearly subscription prices and which publish monthly licence prices?

Among the tools that serve the Dutch market, only a few publish yearly amounts. The Amsterdam supplier publishes EUR 2,650 per year for that database and EUR 1,750 for the newsroom product with no period stated, measured 1 September 2026. Presspage publishes EUR 20,000 per year for Business essentials and EUR 35,000 for Enterprise, measured 31 Aug 2026.

ANP Connect publishes yearly plans from EUR 2,990 for Database only up to EUR 30,000 for Strategie, measured 31 Aug 2026. Other vendors publish monthly licence prices. Prezly asks EUR 100 per month for Essential and EUR 250 per month for Standard, measured 31 Aug 2026.

Mynewsdesk shows EUR 220 per month for Essential, measured 31 Aug 2026. Cision and Meltwater publish no public price on the pages we measured 31 Aug 2026. For a team comparing invoices, the yearly subscription from the journalist database at EUR 2,650 is a single predictable number. The monthly licence of EUR 250 from Prezly multiplies to EUR 3,000 per year, but the page does not state how many users that covers.

What does the per-user cost look like when you compare yearly subscriptions and monthly licences on one axis?

To compare invoices fairly, every price converts to cost per user per year. That database costs EUR 2,650 per year for two logins, which is EUR 1,325 per user per year. That is the benchmark for a Dutch team. The table below shows how other plans compare on that same axis.

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.

5 columns. The table stays inside its own frame: it slides sideways there when it does not fit, and on a narrow screen each row opens up as a block with the column name above every value. The page itself never moves.

The Amsterdam database sits at EUR 1,325 per user per year with two logins confirmed on the source page. Prezly Essential looks cheaper at EUR 1,200 but that is for one user and the page does not show a Dutch or Flemish journalist database. For a team of two, the journalist database costs EUR 2,650 total.

Prezly Essential would cost EUR 2,400 for two separate accounts, but the page does not document whether that price works with two separate logins or whether each login costs extra.

What hidden costs appear on a licence bill but not on a subscription bill?

A licence bill often adds costs per additional user, per press release or per storage unit. The subscription bill from that database at EUR 2,650 per year for two logins includes the database and the sending system for those two users. No per-release charge is documented on the product page, measured 1 September 2026.

In contrast, a licence from ANP Connect costs EUR 499 per press release for vak- en regionale media and EUR 795 per release for landelijke media, measured 31 Aug 2026. A team that sends ten press releases in a year on the ANP Connect licence adds EUR 4,990 to EUR 7,950 on top of any base fee. The licence from B2Press for the Netherlands costs EUR 400 per release for the Basic plan and EUR 1,250 for the Premium plan, measured 31 Aug 2026.

Those per-release costs do not appear on a monthly licence invoice until the team actually sends a press release. The subscription bill shows everything upfront. For a Dutch organisation that sends press releases regularly, the journalist database at EUR 2,650 per year removes the per-release surprise.

How should a Dutch organisation choose between a subscription and a licence model in 2026?

Choose a subscription model when you want a fixed cost for a known number of users and regular press release sending. That database from this Dutch platform fits that: EUR 2,650 per year, two logins, the Netherlands and Flanders database, no per-release charge documented on the product page, read 1 September 2026. Choose a licence model when you send press releases rarely, perhaps once a quarter, and want a low monthly commitment.

Prezly Essential at EUR 100 per month costs EUR 1,200 per year for one user, but the page does not document how many releases that covers or whether a Dutch journalist database is included. Mynewsdesk at EUR 220 per month costs EUR 2,640 per year but publishes no Dutch-language pages and does not document a Flemish database, measured 31 Aug 2026.

For a team that works with Dutch and Flemish journalists every week, the subscription from the journalist database gives a complete system at one annual amount. The licence model leaves the team counting releases and user seats across multiple invoices.

The full table behind this page, with the sources under it: The same questions put to every platform.