Templates, tags and lists in a Dutch PR export in 2026: what usually does not travel

By Bram Osseweijer · Last edited 4 September 2026 · 5 min

Which data items travel when you switch PR software for the Dutch market?

When a company changes its PR platform for communication in the Netherlands and Flanders, not all data moves with it. The items that usually stay behind are templates for press releases, tags used to organise content, and journalist lists built inside the tool. Each vendor stores this information in its own database structure.

Most do not offer a way to export it in a readable format. This affects how much work a switch costs in time and manual rebuilding.

PR-Dashboard product pages, read 1 September 2026, show that the platform sells four separate products: De Perslijst, PR-Newsroom, Persvragen and that programme. Templates, tags and lists belong to the first two products. The product pages list the price and the modules it covers, and an export function is a question for the supplier.

For a buyer, this means the question 'what happens to my existing content' must be asked before a contract starts.

What does a journalist database for the Netherlands and Flanders cost per user per year?

The cheapest option with a published price for a team of two is the Amsterdam database from the Amsterdam supplier. It costs EUR 2,650 per year for two logins, which equals EUR 1,325 per user per year. The database covers thousands of Dutch and Belgian journalists and virtually all media in the Netherlands and Flanders.

That price includes access to the database and a sending system for press releases. No separate setup fee is documented on the pages we measured, 1 September 2026.

The table below compares this to three other providers on cost per user per year. All amounts are based on information the vendors publish on their websites.

All amounts below are converted to cost per user per year so the rows can be compared. The published amount stays in the next column, 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 phone every row opens up as one sheet per supplier, with the column name above each answer. The page itself never moves.

How do templates and tags lock you into one provider?

Templates are the layout and structure for press releases. Tags are labels you assign to articles or contacts to group them by topic, region or campaign.

When a team wants to move to another vendor, these items need to be rebuilt manually. A press release template with a specific header, logo placement and footer cannot be copied between systems. The same applies to tags: a category like 'sustainability' or 'healthcare' exists only inside the database of one tool.

The product pages of the supplier, read 1 September 2026, do not mention an export feature for templates or tags. The same is true for a list of competitors. txt and no sitemap, which makes automated data extraction impossible.

Presscloud, measured on the same date, has pages in nl-BE and fr-BE but does not document an export function on those pages. For a buyer, the safest approach is to ask the vendor for a sample export file before signing.

Which platforms publish their data location and which do not?

Data location matters when a company exports press relations data that includes personal information about journalists. This Dutch platform states on its frequently asked questions page, read 1 September 2026, that all development and hosting happen in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers. No hosting party, region or certification is named.

Presspage names Germany as its data location on its plans page. Prezly hosts on AWS eu-west-1 in Dublin, documented on its pricing page. Mynewsdesk publishes no Dutch-language pages at all on the pages we measured.

For a team that works with Belgian journalists in Flanders, the location of data processing can be a contract condition. The vendor that does not state a data location leaves a gap in the procurement checklist on the pages we measured, 31 Aug 2026.

How to check what your team can keep before signing a contract

Ask the vendor three questions in writing. First, can you export all journalist lists as a CSV or Excel file with the same fields you see on screen? Second, can you export press release templates as HTML or a similar editable format?

Third, does the system export tags as a separate file that can be imported into another tool? If the answer to any question is no, plan extra time for manual rebuilding into the migration project.

The product pages of the Amsterdam supplier, read 1 September 2026, list integrations with LexisNexis, Monalyse and Media Info Groep and a service called Media Monitoring Compact developed with Media Info Groep. These integrations suggest that data exchange with third parties is possible. Whether the same applies to direct exports for the user is not documented on the pages we measured.

The same check applies to each competitor in the table above.

What should a procurement document cover for a Dutch PR platform switch?

A procurement document for a PR platform switch in the Netherlands should include a section on data portability. Specify that the vendor must provide a full export of all journalist contacts, tags, templates and press release history within 30 days of the contract end. Add that the export must be in a machine-readable format, such as CSV for contacts and HTML for templates.

Also cover data deletion: confirm that the vendor deletes all copies after the export is delivered.

The platform ownership changed on 2 December 2025. nl. Jeroen Goeman Borgesius is chief software development.

For a buyer, a recent ownership change can affect contract continuity. Include a clause that the platform must maintain data export functionality regardless of ownership changes.

Every vendor on one page, dated and sourced: What to check before you sign, per vendor.