How to Get Featured in Forbes in 2026
The free way into Forbes is to pitch the one Forbes writer who covers your field, by email, with news, data or a story that fits what they already write. Forbes also has paid routes (Councils and BrandVoice) and its lists. Here is how each works, starting with the steps for the free one, based on Forbes' own pages as of 23 September 2026.
Search Forbes for your category, find the staff reporter or contributor who covers it, and email them a short pitch using the address on their author page. Forbes Councils and BrandVoice are paid; the lists have their own nominations.
Easiest free route: a contributor who writes regularly about your industry.
Hardest free route: Forbes staff reporters, who see the most pitches.
Do not: send pitches to a general Forbes address; Forbes points you to each writer's own page.
We checked every route into Forbes on its own pages on 23 September 2026. Two are free, two are paid, and the lists are separate.
Free: staff reporters; contributors.
Paid: Forbes Councils (application, fee not published); BrandVoice (advertising, labelled "Paid Program").
Lists: 30 Under 30 and others, each with its own nominations page.
Step by step (the free route)
- Decide what you are offering. Forbes writers need a story: numbers from your business or market, a trend with examples, a founder story with a point, or news. "We exist" is not a story.
- Find two or three writers who cover it. Use the search below. Aim for contributors who write about your industry every week; they need material more often than staff reporters do.
- Get their email. Forbes' help centre says to use the address on the writer's own page, or their social accounts.
- Pitch one writer at a time, referencing a piece of theirs, using the template below.
- Follow up once after four or five working days. If there is no answer, pitch the next writer on your list.
Finding the right Forbes writer
- Search Google for
site:forbes.com "your category", for examplesite:forbes.com "dental practice software", and set Tools to the past year. - Open recent articles and look at the byline. Forbes labels its writers, so you can see whether a writer is Forbes staff or a contributor; Council posts carry the council's name.
- Skip Council posts and BrandVoice pages: those writers are publishing their own material, not covering companies.
- Open the writer's author page. Check how often they publish and what they cover. A contributor who writes about your field weekly is your best first target.
Forbes' help centre also points news tips to a tips page on forbes.com. It loads through JavaScript and we could not read it with our checker, so check it in a browser before you rely on it.
A pitch template for Forbes
Forbes writers, contributors especially, often build articles around examples and numbers. Offer both, and make the writer's job easy.
Subject: [The finding or story in one line, not your company name]
Hi [Name],
I read your piece on [their recent article] and thought this might fit your coverage of [their topic]: [the story in one sentence, most surprising fact first].
Some detail: [two or three facts or numbers]. I run [Company], [what it does in one line], which is how we have this [data / experience / access].
Happy to share the full numbers, jump on a call, or connect you with [a customer or expert] if it is useful for a piece. [Link to details.]
Thanks,
[Name, role, phone]
Notice the company comes third. The writer is deciding whether there is a story; your company is the source, not the subject. Our pitch templates have variations, and reactive PR covers getting quoted when your topic is already in the news.
The five ways onto Forbes
| Route | Who writes it | How you get in | Paid? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff coverage | A Forbes staff reporter | Pitch the reporter on your beat | No |
| Contributor article | An outside writer in the contributor network | Pitch a contributor who covers your field | Not for sale |
| Forbes Councils | You, as a member | Apply; a selection committee reviews | Yes, annual membership |
| BrandVoice | A brand's own content | Buy it through Forbes advertising | Yes, labelled "Paid Program" |
| Lists | Forbes' list team | Nominations and the list's criteria | Not stated on the pages we could read |
Readers can tell these apart from the page: the byline shows staff or contributor, Council posts show the council, BrandVoice shows "Paid Program". Only the first two are someone at Forbes choosing to write about you.
Becoming a contributor yourself is a different question. Forbes has no public application page that we could find, and accounts from former contributors describe the role as mostly by invitation. As a founder, contributors are more useful as people to pitch than as a job to chase.
Forbes Councils: who qualifies
Forbes Councils is an application-based membership for executives, and publishing on Forbes.com is one of its benefits. A selection committee reviews applications and Forbes says it replies within two to four business days. The stated qualifications:
| Council | Stated qualification |
|---|---|
| Agency, Business Development, Communications, Finance, HR, Technology | At least $1M in revenue or $1M in financing |
| Business Council | At least $500K in annual revenue |
| Coaches Council | At least three years as a publicly recognised coach |
| Nonprofit Council | At least $500K in donations or revenue |
Forbes does not publish the fee. Its terms refer to "the then-current membership fee", say any initiation fee is non-refundable, and allow a refund of the annual fee within 30 days, subject to conditions. Prices quoted elsewhere online come from third parties.
Council articles run 500 to 1,000 words, go through a four to five week editing cycle, must not have been published anywhere before (including your own blog or LinkedIn), and cannot be press releases, interviews or AI-generated. Members may not sell inclusion in their articles to anyone else. Councils gets you a labelled byline on Forbes.com and a peer network; it is not a Forbes writer choosing to cover you.
BrandVoice
BrandVoice is Forbes' paid content programme. Pages are labelled "Paid Program" and Forbes publishes no prices; its help centre sends advertisers to its advertising team. It buys reach on Forbes' audience, clearly marked as advertising. Compare it with other paid options in our digital PR costs guide.
Getting on a Forbes list
Search "how to get into Forbes" and Google's top result is the Forbes 30 Under 30 nominations page, because many people asking mean the lists. Forbes runs a public nominations page (titled "Nominations 2027" when we checked). We could not read it with our checker because it loads through JavaScript, so check eligibility and the deadline there. For other lists, start from the Forbes list directory: each list has its own criteria.
"Guaranteed Forbes" offers
Firms selling a guaranteed Forbes article appear on nearly every Forbes search. We have not bought from them and do not judge what they deliver. Know Forbes' own rules before you pay: Councils members may not sell inclusion in their articles, Forbes can remove member content, and Forbes' editorial standards (as they appear in search results; the page blocked our checker) bar writers from taking anything of value from the people they cover. A placement that depends on someone breaking those rules can disappear.
Before you pitch Forbes
A Forbes writer deciding whether you are credible will search for you. If they find mentions in your trade press and on the blogs your customers read, you look like a company worth writing about; if they find nothing, you look like a cold pitch. Those smaller mentions are much easier to get, and they are what MentionAgent automates: finding the niche sites in your market, pitching the person behind each one and handling the replies.
For other outlets, see TechCrunch, Inc., Entrepreneur and Business Insider, or the overview, how to get featured in the news. Pitching "best tools" articles instead of reporters is covered in getting listed in SaaS roundups.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get featured in Forbes for free?
Search site:forbes.com with your category, find a staff reporter or contributor who covers it, and email them a short pitch with news, data or a story that fits their recent work, using the address on their author page. Contributors who write about your industry every week are usually the easiest to reach.
How much does it cost to be featured in Forbes?
Earned coverage by a Forbes writer costs nothing. Forbes Councils charges an annual membership fee and BrandVoice is sold as advertising, but Forbes publishes no price for either, as of 23 September 2026. Third parties sell "guaranteed" Forbes placements at their own prices; Forbes' rules bar Councils members from selling inclusion in their articles.
What is the difference between a Forbes contributor and Forbes Councils?
A contributor is an outside writer in Forbes' contributor network who writes about other people and companies. A Councils member is an executive in a paid membership programme who publishes their own articles under a council label, 500 to 1,000 words each, after a four to five week editing cycle.
Who qualifies for Forbes Councils?
Forbes' qualification page asks for at least $1M in revenue or financing for most councils, $500K in annual revenue for the Business Council, $500K in donations or revenue for the Nonprofit Council, and three years as a publicly recognised coach for the Coaches Council. A selection committee reviews each application.
Can I nominate myself for Forbes 30 Under 30?
Forbes runs a public nominations page for 30 Under 30 (titled "Nominations 2027" when we checked). Check the eligibility rules and deadline on that page directly.