AthenaHQ Alternatives for AI Visibility Tracking (2026)

Who is this AthenaHQ alternatives guide for?

This guide is for marketing leads, SEO managers and founders who use AthenaHQ or are weighing it. It sets seven options beside AthenaHQ's plans: Profound, Semrush, Ahrefs, SE Ranking, HubSpot AEO, BrightEdge and seoClarity. Every tool gets its price, its AI engines and its best fit.

For the wider field, see AI visibility trackers compared by price and engines. If you are weighing Profound instead, Profound alternatives and what they cost is the matching guide, and AI SEO tools for classic and AI search covers the suites.

What does AthenaHQ cost today?

AthenaHQ sells three plans, priced in US dollars on 23 October 2026. Starter is $295 a month billed monthly and $245 a month billed yearly.

• Credits are the unit. Starter includes 3,600 credits a month, and 1 credit is 1 AI response.
• Add-ons cost extra. API access and extra credits are optional add-ons billed on top of Starter, with prices on request.
• The free plan is small. Essential has 300 credits and 5 engines, and the other models start on Starter.
• Integrations: GA4, Google Search Console, Shopify, Webflow and Framer, with Tableau, Power BI and Looker on Enterprise.

AthenaHQ

AthenaHQ is an AI visibility platform. It tracks how AI engines name your brand, then suggests on-page and off-page actions to close the gaps. Its plans are Essential (free), Starter and Enterprise, and its unit is the credit: 1 credit is 1 AI response.

Visit AthenaHQAthenaHQ review

How do the alternatives compare with AthenaHQ on price?

All prices are US dollars from 23 October 2026, with AthenaHQ's own plans beside the seven options for reference.

These plans count credits, prompts or checks, not seats. Semrush is the same $99 per domain billed monthly or yearly, and HubSpot AEO is $50 a month. Check the price with the company before you buy.

Which AthenaHQ alternatives start at a lower price?

These four start below AthenaHQ Starter at $295 a month, and each has a plan with a set price.

HubSpot AEO

HubSpot AEO is HubSpot's tool for tracking how ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity talk about your brand. It is a beta product and sits inside HubSpot.

Fits: If you want a low price, a free trial and a tracker that sits beside the rest of your HubSpot account, this fits.

Starts at: $50 a month with 25 prompts included. More prompts can be bought at any time, and a free trial is offered.

Engine coverage

Engine coverage: 6.5 out of 10

Everything included

Everything included: 6.5 out of 10

Teamwork

Teamwork: 7.5 out of 10

Connections

Connections: 8.5 out of 10

Price clarity

Price clarity: 9.0 out of 10

Easy start

Easy start: 9.0 out of 10

What it tracks: ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. It suggests prompts and tells you what content to create or update to close a gap, inside HubSpot.

Good to know:

• HubSpot AEO is a beta product.
• It tracks three engines, and 25 prompts come included.

Visit HubSpot AEO

Semrush

Semrush is a large SEO platform and an Adobe company. Its AI Visibility Toolkit is the part that tracks brand mentions in AI answers.

Fits: If your team already works in Semrush and wants AI tracking in the same account, this fits.

Starts at: The Base plan is $99 per domain a month, the same billed monthly or yearly. It covers 25 custom prompts tracked daily and 1 domain for brand analysis. Extra users start at $45 a month.

Engine coverage

Engine coverage: 7.0 out of 10

Everything included

Everything included: 7.5 out of 10

Teamwork

Teamwork: 7.5 out of 10

Connections

Connections: 8.5 out of 10

Price clarity

Price clarity: 9.0 out of 10

Easy start

Easy start: 8.5 out of 10

What it tracks: Mentions in ChatGPT, Google AI, Gemini and Perplexity, with AI competitor analysis, prompt research and a site audit for AI readiness. Up to 300 AI analysis reports a day.

Good to know:

• The Base plan covers 1 domain for brand analysis.
• Extra users start at $45 a month.

Visit Semrush

SE Ranking

SE Ranking is an SEO platform with an AI Search toolkit. The toolkit follows brand mentions and links in AI answers.

Fits: If you want rank tracking and AI tracking in one plan, with a 14-day trial and no card, this fits.

Starts at: Core is $129 a month, or $103.20 a month billed yearly, with 100 prompts tracked daily. Growth is $279 monthly or $223.20 yearly with 250 prompts. The AI Search add-on is $89 monthly or $71.20 yearly for 200 prompts.

Engine coverage

Engine coverage: 7.5 out of 10

Everything included

Everything included: 8.0 out of 10

Teamwork

Teamwork: 8.0 out of 10

Connections

Connections: 8.5 out of 10

Price clarity

Price clarity: 8.5 out of 10

Easy start

Easy start: 8.5 out of 10

What it tracks: AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT and Gemini, with brand mentions, links, competitor research and the sources AI engines cite. API and MCP access come with Core.

Good to know:

• The free trial runs 14 days and needs no card.
• Yearly plans are billed upfront at the lower rate.

Visit SE Ranking

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is an SEO platform with more than 10 years of web data, and Brand Radar is its AI visibility product. Brand Radar can be bought alone or beside an Ahrefs plan.

Fits: If you want to research any brand across a large prompt database, or track your own prompts by the check, this fits.

Starts at: Custom prompt packages are $50, $100 and $250 a month for 2,500, 7,000 and 25,000 checks, with extra checks at $0.020, $0.015 and $0.010. The AI Visibility Index starts at $199 a month. Ahrefs Lite, Standard and Advanced plans from $129 a month include 5, 10 and 20 prompts a day.

Engine coverage

Engine coverage: 8.0 out of 10

Everything included

Everything included: 8.0 out of 10

Teamwork

Teamwork: 7.5 out of 10

Connections

Connections: 8.5 out of 10

Price clarity

Price clarity: 7.5 out of 10

Easy start

Easy start: 7.5 out of 10

What it tracks: AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot, and Claude on custom prompts. The Index covers 496 million+ prompts.

Good to know:

• One prompt on one platform and one location uses 1 check.
• Claude costs 8 checks for each update.

Visit Ahrefs

Which AthenaHQ alternatives suit large teams?

These three sell through a demo or a custom quote, like AthenaHQ Enterprise.

Profound

Profound is an AI visibility and marketing platform for brands and agencies. It tracks answer engines and adds agents that do marketing work.

Fits: If you want prompt volumes, agent analytics and unlimited seats, and you are happy to start with a demo, this fits.

Starts at: A free 7-day trial runs 50 prompts a day on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. Enterprise is quote only. For agencies, Agency Growth is $99 a month plus add-ons, and a client workspace is $399 a month.

Engine coverage

Engine coverage: 9.0 out of 10

Everything included

Everything included: 9.0 out of 10

Teamwork

Teamwork: 9.0 out of 10

Connections

Connections: 8.5 out of 10

Price clarity

Price clarity: 5.0 out of 10

Easy start

Easy start: 6.0 out of 10

What it tracks: Up to nine answer engines on Enterprise: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, DeepSeek, Claude, Google AI Overviews and Exa Search. Agents run on credits.

Good to know:

• The trial has no history, exports or API.
• Enterprise adds SSO, SOC 2 and dedicated support.

Visit Profound

BrightEdge

BrightEdge is an enterprise SEO platform founded in 2007. Its AI Catalyst product tracks mentions and citations in AI answers and rates how each answer describes your brand.

Fits: If you run SEO for a large site and want AI tracking in the platform that already holds your keyword tracking, this fits.

Starts at: Quote only. Access starts with a demo request.

Engine coverage

Engine coverage: 8.0 out of 10

Everything included

Everything included: 8.5 out of 10

Teamwork

Teamwork: 8.0 out of 10

Connections

Connections: 8.5 out of 10

Price clarity

Price clarity: 4.5 out of 10

Easy start

Easy start: 6.0 out of 10

What it tracks: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini and other AI platforms, broken out by engine, with prompt research, sentiment and content recommendations.

Good to know:

• Pricing is quote only, so start with a demo.
• Reports can be exported to CSV or PNG.

Visit BrightEdgeBrightEdge AI Catalyst review

seoClarity

seoClarity is an enterprise SEO platform, and Clarity ArcAI is its AI search product. ArcAI tracks brand mentions and citations in AI answers and is an optional add-on.

Fits: If you run a large site, want nine engines tracked and need AI shopping results covered, this fits.

Starts at: Quote only. ArcAI is an optional add-on to a seoClarity plan, and a demo is the way in.

Engine coverage

Engine coverage: 9.0 out of 10

Everything included

Everything included: 8.5 out of 10

Teamwork

Teamwork: 8.0 out of 10

Connections

Connections: 8.5 out of 10

Price clarity

Price clarity: 4.5 out of 10

Easy start

Easy start: 6.0 out of 10

What it tracks: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Mode, Copilot, AI Overviews, Claude, DeepSeek and Grok, plus AI shopping results, with competitor benchmarks, topic gaps and content recommendations.

Good to know:

• ArcAI includes an MCP server and an API.
• Plans are priced by domains and keywords tracked.

Visit seoClarity

Which AI engines does each tool track?

An AI engine is an assistant that writes answers, such as ChatGPT or Gemini. Each tool names a different set.

Engine coverage changes often, so check the engines you need on the exact plan you will buy.

Credits, prompts or checks: what does each tool count?

A prompt is one question that a tool asks the AI engines for you. The tools count the work in different units, so a price only compares once you know the unit.

• AthenaHQ counts credits. 1 credit is 1 AI response, and Starter includes 3,600 a month.
• Semrush counts prompts. The Base plan tracks 25 custom prompts daily.
• SE Ranking counts prompts. Core tracks 100 daily, Growth tracks 250, and the AI Search add-on covers 200.
• HubSpot AEO counts prompts. 25 are included, and more can be bought.
• Ahrefs counts checks. One prompt on one platform in one location is 1 check, and the packages include 2,500, 7,000 or 25,000 a month.
• Profound sets a prompt plan for each customer. The trial runs 50 prompts a day for 7 days.
• BrightEdge and seoClarity quote the plan in a demo.

A worked case: 25 prompts a day on 4 engines for 30 days is 3,000 runs. In Ahrefs terms that is 3,000 checks, which is 500 over the Basic package, so $50 plus $10 of extra checks, or $60 a month. In AthenaHQ credits, if each run counts as one AI response, it is 3,000 of the 3,600 credits in Starter.

Which AthenaHQ alternative fits your situation?

Match what you want to change to the options built for it.

AthenaHQ alternatives if you already pay for an SEO suite

Semrush, Ahrefs and SE Ranking add AI tracking to a platform you may already use. Semrush Base is $99 per domain, SE Ranking Core is $129 a month with 100 prompts tracked daily, and the Ahrefs Lite, Standard and Advanced plans include 5, 10 and 20 prompts a day, with extra packages from $50 a month. HubSpot AEO is a separate $50 product that sits inside HubSpot.

AthenaHQ alternatives for a small team on a tight budget

HubSpot AEO is $50 a month with 25 prompts and a free trial. Ahrefs Basic is $50 a month for 2,500 checks. SE Ranking has a 14-day trial with no card, and Semrush Base is $99 per domain. AthenaHQ has a free Essential plan with 300 credits and 5 engines, and Starter is $295 a month, or $245 billed yearly.

AthenaHQ alternatives for a large company

BrightEdge, seoClarity and Profound sell through a demo and a custom quote, the way AthenaHQ Enterprise does. BrightEdge puts AI tracking in the platform that holds your keyword tracking, seoClarity tracks nine engines and AI shopping results, and Profound has unlimited seats, SSO and SOC 2 on Enterprise.

AthenaHQ alternatives for an agency

Profound Agency Growth is $99 a month, with 10 pitch workspaces a month and a client workspace at $399 a month. The SE Ranking Agency Pack adds $69 a month, billed yearly, with 30 projects, 30 client seats and white label reporting.

AthenaHQ alternatives if you want content actions in the same tool

AthenaHQ pairs tracking with a content optimization agent. HubSpot AEO tells you what content to create or update inside HubSpot, BrightEdge turns gaps into a ready-made brief, and seoClarity offers content agents and content recommendations. Ahrefs sells a Content Kit add-on from $99 a month, Semrush has a separate Content toolkit, and SE Ranking offers an AI Writer with its Core and Growth plans.

What should you know before you move off AthenaHQ?

Five facts shape the move.

• Export first. Starter includes data export to CSV, so save your results to a file and write down your prompt list and your competitor list.
• Rebuild the prompts one for one. Each tool counts them in its own unit, so recount before you pick a plan.
• Run both tools for one billing cycle. Each tool asks the AI engines in its own way, so the numbers will not match exactly.
• Check the engine list. The tool you pick must name every engine your buyers use.
• Check API and add-ons. AthenaHQ API access is an add-on on Starter. Ahrefs plans include API and MCP access, and SE Ranking Core includes 25K API credits and MCP access.

How do you choose an AthenaHQ alternative?

Work through these four steps.

1. Write down the 20 prompts your buyers really ask, and list the engines they use.
2. Price each plan in the unit the tool counts: credits, prompts or checks.
3. Decide whether the tool should sit beside an SEO suite you already pay for.
4. Run your 20 prompts through a free trial or a free check on two tools and compare the answers.

The person who acts on the numbers every week should try your final two.

Frequently asked questions

In short: which AthenaHQ alternative should you pick?

• If the entry price matters most, look at HubSpot AEO, Semrush, SE Ranking or Ahrefs.
• If you already use an SEO suite, compare Semrush, Ahrefs and SE Ranking first.
• If you would rather count prompts than credits, look at Semrush and SE Ranking.
• If you run a large company, ask BrightEdge, seoClarity and Profound for a demo.
• If you need many engines, compare AthenaHQ Starter with seoClarity and Profound Enterprise.

Prices are as of 23 October 2026 and can change, so confirm the price with the company before you buy. Whichever you choose, start on a free trial or a free check, run your own prompts through it and compare the answers with AthenaHQ before you pay for a year.