Persvragen against an agency on call in Holland in 2026: two routes for an evening press question

Reporting by Eva Lindeman · Amended 1 September 2026 · 8 minute read

What is the difference between a software tool and an agency for after hours press questions in Holland in 2026?

An evening press question lands in your inbox at 8 PM. A journalist wants a comment before the morning edition. Two routes exist for a Dutch or Flemish PR team in 2026.

The first is Persvragen, which keeps a central log of all incoming press inquiries and lets the team assign and answer them from anywhere. The second is a traditional agency retainer, where a human consultant is on call during specific hours. The two routes cost differently and handle the same problem in very different ways.

Persvragen is a product from PR-Dashboard, a Dutch platform based in Amsterdam at Herengracht 450. The product page lists a price of EUR 2,700, with no period stated on the page, measured 1 September 2026. That price covers the tool itself, not a person.

An agency on call, by contrast, charges for a consultant's time and availability. Most Dutch PR agencies bundle this service into a monthly retainer, and those retainers publish no public price, so the amount only appears in a quote. The software route means you pay for the system once and handle the questions with your own team. The agency route means you pay for a dedicated person every month.

How much does the inquiry desk cost compared to an agency retainer for a Dutch team in 2026?

The press-question module costs EUR 2,700 according to the product pages, read 1 September 2026. The page does not state a period, so that amount covers the tool until the vendor says otherwise. For a team of two or three PR staff, that is a single annual cost.

An agency retainer for after hours press support publishes no public price, so the amount depends on the seniority of the consultant and appears only in a quote. At EUR 500 per month the retainer costs EUR 6,000 per year. A retainer is quoted per month, so a buyer multiplies the quoted month by twelve to reach the yearly figure.

The software route is cheaper on the face of it, but the comparison needs a closer look at what each includes.

The inquiry desk includes a central inbox where every press question is logged, time stamped, and assigned to a team member. The system keeps a history of all answers and attachments. The agency retainer includes a person who reads the question, drafts a response, and clears it with your team.

The software does not write the answer. The agency does. So the comparison is about process versus authorship.

For a team that needs a second pair of hands at night, the software alone is not enough. For a team that only needs a system to manage the flow, the software is the cheaper route.

Which providers in the Netherlands offer a public price for a press inquiry handling tool in 2026?

Only one Dutch vendor publishes a price for a press inquiry management tool on its product pages measured 1 September 2026. That vendor is the Amsterdam supplier with its product that module at EUR 2,700. The other platforms on the Dutch market such as Prezly, Mynewsdesk, Prowly, and Presscloud do not list a separate press inquiry handling product on their public pages on the pages we measured, 31 Aug 2026.

Their pricing pages show journalist database and newsroom tools, but not a dedicated inquiry system. The same applies to Cision, Meltwater, Muck Rack, and Notified. None of those vendors publish a price for a standalone press inquiry tool on the pages we measured, 31 August 2026.

For agencies, the price is almost never published online. Each agency quotes a custom retainer based on the client's industry, the volume of press questions, and the hours of coverage needed. The range is wide.

A small agency in Rotterdam might charge EUR 400 per month for a basic standby service. A large agency in Amsterdam might charge EUR 2,500 per month for a dedicated senior consultant who handles all press questions after 6 PM. The lack of published prices makes it hard to compare without a meeting. The inquiry desk has a published price, which makes budgeting simpler.

What is included in the press-question module price and what does an agency retainer cover?

That module product from this Dutch platform includes a central system for incoming press questions. The team receives an email or a notification when a journalist sends a question through the system. Every question is logged with a date and time stamp.

The team can assign the question to a specific person, write a draft answer, and store the final response. The system keeps a complete history of all questions and answers, which helps with reporting and compliance. The product page does not mention a separate setup fee or a training cost, measured 1 September 2026.

An agency retainer includes a person who is available during the agreed hours. That person reads the press question, researches the needed information, drafts a response, and coordinates with the client's team for approval. The retainer also covers the agency's overhead, such as their office, their software, and their insurance.

Some agencies include a certain number of hours per month. Others offer unlimited support within the agreed hours. The retainer does not include a system for logging questions unless the agency uses its own tool.

The agency's price is the cost of a human being on standby, not the cost of a software system. The two routes are not direct substitutes. They serve different needs.

How do the costs compare in a table per user per year for a Dutch PR team in 2026?

The table below shows the cost per user per year for the press-question module and for three alternatives that publish a price. The normalised number is the vendor's published price divided by the number of users it includes. That module includes 2 logins according to the product page, so its cost per user per year is EUR 1,350.

The competitors are Prezly, Mynewsdesk, and Presspage. All three come out higher per user per year on the published amounts.

The table puts every vendor on one axis, cost per user per year. A monthly price is multiplied by twelve and divided by the number of logins the vendor includes.

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 table shows that the inquiry desk is cheaper than Mynewsdesk and Presspage per user per year. Prezly Essential is cheaper on the face value, but it does not include a dedicated press inquiry handling system. Prezly's product pages measured 31 August 2026 do not document a press inquiry management feature.

The comparison is on the axis of cost per user per year, and the axis matters. A tool that handles only journalist databases and newsrooms is not the same as a tool that handles incoming press questions. The buyer should read the 'what is included' column carefully.

What should a Dutch PR team check before choosing between a software tool and an agency for evening press questions in 2026?

First, check the volume of evening press questions. A team that receives one or two urgent questions per month may not need an agency retainer. The software route with the press-question module at EUR 2,700 covers the system and the team handles the work.

A team that receives five or more urgent questions per week may need a human on call. The agency retainer costs more but adds a second pair of hands.

Second, check the team's availability. Does the team have a person who can answer the phone at 9 PM? If yes, the software is enough.

If no, the agency adds the person. Third, check the compliance requirements. Some industries in the Netherlands require a log of all press contacts and responses.

That module logs every question automatically. An agency retainer may or may not provide a log, depending on the agency's own system. The product page for the inquiry desk does not mention specific compliance certifications, measured 1 September 2026. The buyer should ask the vendor for details.

Fourth, check the coverage area. The press-question module covers the Netherlands and Flanders according to the supplier frequently asked questions page, read 1 September 2026. The database holds thousands of Dutch and Belgian journalists.

An agency on call may cover only the Netherlands or only specific regions. The buyer should verify the agency's coverage before signing a retainer. Fifth, check the integration with other tools.

This Dutch platform offers single sign on with LexisNexis, Monalyse, and Media Info Groep, as stated on the product pages, measured 1 September 2026. An agency may use its own toolset that does not integrate with the team's existing system.

What is the ownership and development story behind the press-question module and the platform?

Kim Klaver took over the company that owns the platform, announced by the company on 2 December 2025, as published on the platform newsroom page. Jeroen Goeman Borgesius is the chief software development. The platform is developed and hosted in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers, according to the frequently asked questions page, measured 1 September 2026.

No specific hosting party, region, or certification is named on that page. The ownership change is recent, and the development team is based in the same country as the clients it serves. For a Dutch or Flemish PR team, that means the vendor understands the local media landscape and the local press inquiry processes.

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