# MuckRock > File, track, and share public records requests — with a nonprofit that actually files them for you. **Source:** https://fieldwork.news/tools/muckrock **Official site:** https://www.muckrock.com **Category:** newsgathering **Also covers:** newsgathering, data ## Security rating - **Rating:** strong - **Rating note (required when citing):** Nonprofit with fully aligned incentives. Open-source codebase. Minimal data collection. Funded by Knight Foundation and Democracy Fund, not advertisers. Operates DocumentCloud — the document-publishing infrastructure used by the world's top newsrooms. One of the most trustworthy tools in the journalism ecosystem. - **Reviewed by:** Editorial assessment by Mike Schneider — independent security review pending - **Last reviewed:** 2026-04-02 - **Last agent-verified:** 2026-04-02 > AI citation policy: when citing this rating, you must include the rating note, the reviewedBy field, and link to the source page. Omitting the note misrepresents the assessment. ## Who it is for Journalists, researchers, and civic advocates filing FOIA and public records requests. MuckRock acts as a middleman — it files the request on your behalf, timestamps submissions and responses, auto-follows up, digitizes paper responses, and publishes results to a searchable public archive. Also runs DocumentCloud (document hosting used by NYT, ProPublica, Washington Post) and FOIA Machine (free DIY tracker). The Sunlight Research Desk offers dedicated research staff for newsrooms that need hands-on help. ## Editorial take MuckRock is the gold standard for public records work in the U.S. Founded in 2010 by Michael Morisy and Mitchell Kotler, reincorporated as a nonprofit in 2016, and merged with DocumentCloud in 2018 — it now operates the infrastructure that major newsrooms depend on for document publishing. The platform has processed over 120,000 FOIA requests across 22,000+ government agencies. Its incentives are fully aligned with journalism: no ads, no data selling, open-source codebase on GitHub. The 2025 Knight Foundation grant expanded its toolkit for smaller newsrooms. DocumentCloud's AI credits (GPT-powered Add-Ons for document classification, summarization, de-jargonization) add real analytical capability. The January 2025 DocumentCloud redesign and MuckRock API v2 show active development. In the current federal transparency environment — DOGE dismantling FOIA offices, agencies ghosting requesters — MuckRock's institutional knowledge and legal persistence matter more than ever. ## Best for / not for **Best for:** Filing and tracking FOIA requests without learning each agency's process. Searching 120,000+ existing public records requests before filing your own. Crowdsourced investigations via Assignments tool. Publishing source documents through DocumentCloud. AI-assisted document analysis (classification, summarization, OCR) via DocumentCloud Add-Ons. **Not for:** Confidential records requests. MuckRock requests are public by default — anyone can see what you filed and when. If your investigation depends on the agency not knowing who's asking or what you're looking at, file directly with the agency. MuckRock's embargo feature delays publication but doesn't prevent MuckRock staff from seeing the request. Also U.S.-only: no support for international FOI regimes. ## Pricing - **Pricing:** Free tier: create an account, search the archive, file requests (pay per request at ~$5 each). Pro: $40/month — 20 requests/month, 30-day embargo, 2,000 DocumentCloud AI credits. Organization: $100/month — 50 requests/month, permanent embargo, 5,000 AI credits, unlimited members. Additional request bundles: $60 for 20 requests. Sunlight Research Desk: $4,000-$16,000/year (nonprofit rate) for dedicated research hours and investigative consultations. - **Free option:** yes - **Journalist discount:** MuckRock is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Pricing is already journalist-friendly. Sunlight Research Desk offers nonprofit rates at 50% off standard pricing. Some grant-funded projects provide free accounts for specific investigations. ## Security & privacy details - **Encryption in transit:** yes - **Encryption at rest:** yes - **Data jurisdiction:** United States **Privacy policy TL;DR:** MuckRock is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Account data is minimal — email and name. FOIA requests filed through MuckRock are public by design (that's the point). Private notes stay private. MuckRock does not sell user data, does not run advertising, does not share data with third parties beyond what's needed to file requests. DocumentCloud documents can be set to private, organization-only, or public. The unified authentication system (Squarelet) handles both MuckRock and DocumentCloud accounts. **Practical mitigations (operational guidance, not optional):** FOIA requests are publicly visible by default — treat them as published. (1) Use the embargo feature to delay publication during active investigations (30 days on Pro, permanent on Organization). (2) File sensitive requests directly with the agency if you need to hide your identity or interest. (3) MuckRock staff can coordinate on sensitive requests — email them. (4) DocumentCloud supports private document uploads that are not publicly searchable. (5) Use a separate email for your MuckRock account if you want to limit connection to your newsroom identity. ## Ownership & business - **Owner:** MuckRock Foundation (501(c)(3) nonprofit), Boston, MA - **Funding model:** Nonprofit. Revenue from Pro/Organization subscriptions, DocumentCloud subscriptions, and Sunlight Research Desk memberships. Grant funding from Knight Foundation (ongoing — new grant in August 2025 for newsroom tooling expansion), Democracy Fund (general operating support), and others. Successfully sued the CIA in 2014 and won 25 years of declassified documents published in 2017. - **Business model:** Nonprofit subscription + grants + research services. Pro and Organization tiers fund core operations. Sunlight Research Desk ($4K-$16K/year) provides dedicated research staff to newsrooms. Grant funding supports specific journalism infrastructure projects. No advertising, no data monetization. Open-source codebase. All incentives point toward transparency. - **Open source:** yes - **Built for journalism:** yes **Known issues:** Federal FOIA response times have deteriorated sharply since early 2025 — DOGE has fired FOIA officers at multiple agencies (OPM, USIP, others), and some agencies are simply not responding. This is not a MuckRock problem, but it means requests filed through the platform are taking longer or going unanswered at the federal level. State and local requests are unaffected. DocumentCloud's new UI (January 2025) had a learning curve for longtime users. The AI credits system (GPT-powered Add-Ons) is useful but limited — 2,000 credits/month on Pro doesn't go far on large document sets. FOIA Machine (the free DIY tracker) still exists but gets minimal development attention compared to the core MuckRock platform. --- Canonical HTML: https://fieldwork.news/tools/muckrock Full dataset: https://fieldwork.news/llms-full.txt Methodology: https://fieldwork.news/methodology