Why teams switch from Owler to Distill
If you're doing market research or competitive intelligence, a simple list of syndicated PR links isn't enough.
We track the primary source
Owler relies heavily on traditional news syndication. Distill monitors the places companies actually announce things today: LinkedIn posts, official blogs, Substacks, and direct press pages.
Context over links
Instead of sending you 10 links to the exact same press release, Distill automatically groups the coverage together and gives you a single, AI-generated summary of what happened.
Strict noise filters
Not all news deserves your attention. Distill lets you filter out stock speculation and set thresholds so you only get alerted for "Major" or "Notable" events.
Owler vs. Distill
See how the tools stack up when it comes to tracking your market's news.
| Distill | Owler | |
|---|---|---|
| News summarization | AI groups duplicate stories and summarizes key takeaways in seconds. | A chronological list of links without AI grouping or summaries. |
| Source coverage | News, LinkedIn posts, company blogs, Medium, and official PR. | Standard mainstream news and PR distribution wires. |
| Smart filtering | Filter feeds by specific topics or strictly by importance (e.g., "Major news"). | Limited ability to filter out low-signal or routine updates. |
| Presentation reports | Generate structured, executive-ready PDF briefings in one click. | No native report generation tool for your monitored news. |
| Team alerts | Push filtered, real-time alerts directly to specific Slack channels. | Primarily daily email digests and a web dashboard. |
Turn scattered news into structured insights
Distill is built for the way strategy and intelligence teams actually work.
-
Global translation
Tracking international competitors? Distill automatically translates foreign-language news and PR into English, giving you the full picture.
-
Read the weekly summaries
Receive editorial-style summary emails of your watchlists or specific sectors to grasp the macro trends in minutes.
-
Share the intelligence
Stop copy-pasting links into emails. Turn a month of competitor news into a clean report to circulate before your next leadership meeting.
Frequently asked questions
-
Is Distill a direct replacement for Owler?
If you use Owler primarily for news alerts and competitor monitoring, yes. Distill offers much deeper source coverage, AI summaries, and less noise. If you only use Owler to look up estimated revenue or employee counts, you might want to use both.
-
Does Distill track private companies?
Yes. Because Distill monitors LinkedIn feeds, direct press pages, and company blogs, it excels at tracking early-stage startups that don't get covered by major news outlets yet.
-
How does Distill handle duplicate news?
Our engine automatically identifies when multiple outlets cover the same story. We group them into a single card, summarize the event, and list the top sources so you can dive deeper if you want.
-
Can I try it before switching?
Yes, Distill offers a free 14-day trial. You can set up your exact watchlist and compare the Distill feed side-by-side with your Owler alerts.
A better way to track your industry
Get set up in minutes.
- Step 1
Build your watchlist
Add the companies, competitors, and partners you care about. We track the rest.
- Step 2
Dial in your filters
Tell Distill exactly what matters. Filter by topic, or block out the noise by only surfacing "Major" news.
- Step 3
Stay informed, your way
Read your feed in the app, get an AI-summarized daily email, or push alerts straight to Slack.