Head to head
AthenaHQ vs Profound (2026)
Want broad engine coverage and API access at a single self-serve price, and can live inside a credit budget → AthenaHQ.
A flat $295/month plan covering up to 9 AI engines with API access included from the start, metered by a credit pool, versus a free 7-day trial on three engines, after which Profound sells only a custom, sales-led Enterprise plan, the one place its API is offered.
Both checked against their own sites 20 September–18 October 2026 · October AI answer share: AthenaHQ 26%, Profound 45%
Reviewed by the CitedIndex editorial team.
How AthenaHQ and Profound compare
| Question |  AthenaHQYours? Claim it freeAEO/GEO platform tracking brand visibility across 11 AI models, with content and technical actions.Visit site |  ProfoundYours? Claim it freeenterprise comms, brand and content teams that need multi-engine depth and a sales-led Enterprise contractVisit site |
|---|---|---|
| The basics | ||
| Price | AthenaHQ: free, then $295/month | Profound: Not stated |
| API | AthenaHQ: YesA documented REST API exists and is included on Enterprise, but on the entry paid plan it is a separately billed add-on with unpublished pricing. | Profound: YesA documented REST API with Python and JavaScript SDKs exists, but the plan table marks API No on both self-serve tiers and access is granted on request. |
| Category | AthenaHQ: AI visibility monitoring, GEO tools | Profound: AI visibility monitoring |
| Pricing model | AthenaHQ: Not stated | Profound: subscription |
| Free tier | AthenaHQ: Not stated | Profound: No |
| Limitations | AthenaHQ: Not stated | Profound: No paid plan has a published price: after the free 7-day trial (ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews), every plan is a custom Enterprise contract. The trial cannot be extended into a self-serve paid plan, so a small team has no way to buy without a sales call. The trial has no exports and no API; both come with Enterprise only. |
| Tags | AthenaHQ: AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity | Profound: AI Overviews, Brand monitoring, ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Enterprise, Free trial, Gemini, Perplexity |
| What it does | ||
| Monitors AI answers | AthenaHQ: Yesathenahq.ai | Profound: Yestryprofound.com |
| Optimises your content | AthenaHQ: Yesdocs.athenahq.ai | Profound: Yestryprofound.com |
| Generates content | AthenaHQ: Yesdocs.athenahq.ai | Profound: Yestryprofound.com |
| Publishes to your site | AthenaHQ: Yesathenahq.ai | Profound: Yesdocs.tryprofound.com |
| Technical AEO | AthenaHQ: Yesathenahq.ai | Profound: Partlytryprofound.com |
| Done-for-you service | AthenaHQ: PartlyEnterprise plan and upathenahq.ai | Profound: Notryprofound.com |
| Answer engines | ||
| ChatGPT | AthenaHQ: Yesathenahq.ai | Profound: Yestryprofound.com |
| Perplexity | AthenaHQ: Yesathenahq.ai | Profound: PartlyEnterprise plan and uptryprofound.com |
| Gemini | AthenaHQ: Yesathenahq.ai | Profound: Yestryprofound.com |
| Google AI Overviews | AthenaHQ: Yesathenahq.ai | Profound: Yestryprofound.com |
| Google AI Mode | AthenaHQ: PartlyStarter plan and updocs.athenahq.ai | Profound: PartlyEnterprise plan and uptryprofound.com |
| Claude | AthenaHQ: PartlyStarter plan and updocs.athenahq.ai | Profound: PartlyEnterprise plan and uptryprofound.com |
| Microsoft Copilot | AthenaHQ: Yesathenahq.ai | Profound: PartlyEnterprise plan and uptryprofound.com |
| Grok | AthenaHQ: PartlyStarter plan and updocs.athenahq.ai | Profound: Notryprofound.com |
| DeepSeek | AthenaHQ: PartlyStarter plan and updocs.athenahq.ai | Profound: PartlyEnterprise plan and uptryprofound.com |
| Meta AI | AthenaHQ: PartlyStarter plan and updocs.athenahq.ai | Profound: Notryprofound.com |
| Coverage in the vendor’s words | AthenaHQ: Yesathenahq.ai | Profound: Partlytryprofound.com |
| What it reports | ||
| Names the cited sources | AthenaHQ: Yesdocs.athenahq.ai | Profound: Yestryprofound.com |
| Competitor tracking | AthenaHQ: Yesathenahq.ai | Profound: Yestryprofound.com |
| Brand sentiment | AthenaHQ: Yesdocs.athenahq.ai | Profound: Yestryprofound.com |
| Recommendations | AthenaHQ: Yesathenahq.ai | Profound: Yestryprofound.com |
| AI crawler analytics | AthenaHQ: PartlyCurrently limiteddocs.athenahq.ai | Profound: Yestryprofound.com |
| Wrong answers about you | AthenaHQ: PartlyEnterprise plan and updocs.athenahq.ai | Profound: Yestryprofound.com |
| Plans and signing up | ||
| Prompt or credit allowance | AthenaHQ: Yesathenahq.ai | Profound: Yestryprofound.com |
| Projects or brands | AthenaHQ: Yesdocs.athenahq.ai | Profound: PartlyEnterprise plan and uptryprofound.com |
| Countries | AthenaHQ: PartlyEnterprise plan and upathenahq.ai | Profound: PartlyEnterprise plan and uptryprofound.com |
| How often it checks | AthenaHQ: Yesdocs.athenahq.ai | Profound: Yestryprofound.com |
| Self-serve signup | AthenaHQ: Yesathenahq.ai | Profound: Partlytryprofound.com |
| Access and integrations | ||
| API | AthenaHQ: PartlyStarter API access add-on add-onathenahq.ai | Profound: PartlyEnterprise plan and updocs.tryprofound.com |
| MCP server | AthenaHQ: Yesathenahq.ai | Profound: Yesdocs.tryprofound.com |
AthenaHQ and Profound both measure how AI answer engines mention a brand, but they split on how they price engine breadth and API access.
AthenaHQ is a Y Combinator-backed platform with a single self-serve tier: Starter, $295/month, billed monthly (about 17% cheaper billed annually). That one tier already covers up to 9 AI engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini, Claude, Copilot and Grok) and includes API access with add-on credits available. Usage is metered in credits rather than seats: Starter includes 3,600 monthly credits (roughly one credit per AI response checked), so a team running frequent prompts across all 9 engines can draw the pool down faster than the flat price suggests, pushing heavy users toward less-frequent monitoring or a custom Enterprise plan. A one-time ~$25 credit allowance (about 300 credits) is available to try it, but there is no ongoing free tier.
Profound offers a free 7-day trial (ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews, 50 prompts a day). After that, the only plan is a custom, sales-led Enterprise contract, which brings API access, up to 9 answer engines, multiple tracked companies and SSO/SOC2.
The real choice is not "which is cheaper" but what a team needs on day one. AthenaHQ's $295/month buys engine breadth and an API immediately, capped by a credit pool that scales with usage, not seats. Profound's door in is a free week on three engines; anything after that, API included, is a sales conversation with no published price.
Who each one is for
Profound
enterprise comms, brand and content teams that need multi-engine depth and a sales-led Enterprise contract
Watch for: The full 9-engine breadth and SSO/SAML stay behind a sales-led Enterprise contract and cannot be evaluated self-serve.
Verdict: AthenaHQ or Profound?
Want broad engine coverage and API access at a single self-serve price, and can live inside a credit budget → AthenaHQ. Want to try enterprise-grade tracking free for a week and can buy through sales afterwards → Profound. Need an API without talking to sales → AthenaHQ; Profound's API is Enterprise-only.
The digest
Who's winning AI citations. The AI visibility tools we add and the guides we write, by email, at most once a week.
Frequently asked questions
- Which is cheaper to start?
- AthenaHQ: its free plan, then Starter at $295/month covering up to 9 AI engines. Profound offers a free 7-day trial and no published paid price.
- Which one has an API?
- AthenaHQ includes API access (with add-on credits available) on its $295/month Starter tier. Profound's API comes only with its custom-priced, sales-led Enterprise plan.
- How does AthenaHQ's credit system affect its real price?
- AthenaHQ's $295/month Starter tier includes 3,600 monthly credits (roughly 1 credit per AI response checked). A team checking frequent prompts across all 9 engines can burn through that pool faster than the flat price implies, which independent reviewers flag as a real cost driver for heavier usage.
- How many AI engines does each track at the entry tier?
- AthenaHQ's $295/month Starter already covers up to 9 engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Grok). Profound's free trial tracks ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews; the full 9-engine set is Enterprise-only.
- Is either billed month-to-month?
- AthenaHQ's Starter tier is billed monthly (with a discount for paying annually). Profound publishes no paid price at all.
Sources and method
We read every price on the tool's own pricing page.
- AthenaHQ: athenahq.ai/plans, checked 20 September 2026
- Profound: tryprofound.com/pricing, checked 18 October 2026
The digestFree
Who's winning AI citations.
The AI visibility tools we add and the guides we write, by email, at most once a week.
Last issue · No. 1 · 13 October 2026GEO and Content Tools for Agencies, plus 3 new tools
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At a glance
A flat $295/month plan covering up to 9 AI engines with API access included from the start, metered by a credit pool, versus a free 7-day trial on three engines, after which Profound sells only a custom, sales-led Enterprise plan, the one place its API is offered.
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Last issue: GEO and Content Tools for Agencies, plus 3 new tools · 13 October 2026