AI Peekaboo is the best AthenaHQ alternative for agencies that need predictable costs across many client brands and reports they can share under their own name. Large enterprise companies that need SSO, SOC 2 and a broader agent layer should choose Profound, while in-house teams tracking up to three countries should choose Peec AI and teams that need wider country coverage should choose Otterly.
AI Peekaboo lets agencies set their tracking scope before they see the bill, with plans starting at $30 a month and white-label reporting from $100 a month. If your 50 prompts need all 11 AthenaHQ AI platforms three days a week, AthenaHQ’s own calculator puts you at 7,145 credits, nearly double what Starter includes.
AthenaHQ's Starter plan is strong on coverage and integrations, but API access costs extra.
Why teams replace AthenaHQ
AthenaHQ becomes difficult to price when your monitoring scope includes heavier AI platforms or prompt expansion. Our AthenaHQ review covers the whole product. For a switch, the narrower question is whether your prompts fit inside Starter’s credits.
AthenaHQ charges one credit per AI response for ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot. Claude, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Mistral use five credits per response. Prompt expansion creates three extra rephrasings, so each response counts four times.
Av. António Augusto de Aguiar 122C 1050-046 Lisboa, Portugal
Minnesota
202 N Cedar Ave, Suite 1 Owatonna, MN 55060, USA
3,600
Additional credits needed
About 3,545
Six one-credit AI platforms, 3 days a week
About 3,897
Six one-credit AI platforms, 2 days a week
About 2,598
Even on the six one-credit AI platforms, the same 50 prompts checked three days a week need about 3,897 credits, still about 300 over Starter. Drop to two days a week and they fit, at about 2,598. The calculator’s example also counts every platform at one credit. At AthenaHQ’s five-credit rate for Claude, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Mistral, keeping those five in the mix costs far more, and you’d buy the difference as extra credits at a price AthenaHQ doesn’t publish.
Starter also covers one country. Multi-region and multi-language support, persona targeting and custom schedules sit on Enterprise. Its agency program has pitch workspaces, centralized client management and discounted licenses, but it requires a booking conversation and doesn’t state a white-label reporting offer.
AthenaHQ alternatives compared
Tool
Best for
How you pay
Starting price
AI Peekaboo
Agencies managing client brands
Brands, prompts, AI platforms and how often prompts run
$30/month
Profound
Large enterprise companies
Custom enterprise plans and agency workspaces
Custom, with a free 7-day trial
Peec AI
Multi-country in-house teams
Prompt and platform capacity
€85/month, billed in euros
Otterly
Small teams on a limited budget
Plan with a prompt allowance
$29/month
Promptwatch
Content and SEO teams
Response allowance
$95/month
Scrunch
AI-agent-ready site work
Per-brand subscription
$250/month
Writesonic
Content teams needing articles and tracking
Plan with prompts and article allowance
$99/month
Semrush
Existing Semrush customers
Semrush One or AI Visibility Toolkit
€94.94/month, billed in euros
AirOps
One-brand content operations teams
Task volume and package scope
Not published
The best AthenaHQ alternatives
1. AI Peekaboo: best for agencies that want predictable cost across many client brands
If AthenaHQ's credit balance makes your monthly bill hard to predict, AI Peekaboo is the alternative I'd point an agency to. You fix the brands, prompts, AI platforms and how often prompts run when you build the plan, and the price stays put instead of shifting with every response. It suits a team that already has writers and wants solid evidence for what to do next.
Say a client's score drops. You can open the AI answers that drove the drop and the sources those answers cited, so you go into the client call with proof in hand and come out of it with a clear task for your team.
Key features
Build the plan around up to 7 AI platforms of your choice: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Microsoft Copilot and Claude API.
Run up to 150 client brands under one subscription. Every brand keeps its own prompts, competitors and dashboard, and each score links back to the AI answers and cited sources behind it.
Use recommendations, prompt suggestions and content briefs to decide what to track next and hand your writers a first outline.
Go after new business with unlimited pitch workspaces, all running on one extra brand slot that you reuse for each prospect's brand.
Send clients a read-only link to their results, or feed the data into Looker Studio or your own reports through the API.
Ask Claude Desktop or Cursor for a client's visibility and top cited sources through the MCP server, included with your AI Peekaboo plan.
Link GA4 and Google Search Console so AI visibility and site traffic show up side by side.
Pricing
There are no credits to keep an eye on. Your price comes from four choices: how many brands, how many prompts per brand, which AI platforms (up to 7) and how often the prompts run, and it updates as you change them. Six of the platforms cost the same for each check, while Claude API costs more, so look at the total before you switch it on. A few sample plans:
Brands
Prompts per brand
AI platforms
How often prompts run
USD monthly
3
50
3
Weekly
30
4
40
3
Weekly
32
10
40
2
Weekly
53
1
100
3
Every 2 days
75
3
150
4
Weekly
120
1
100
4, one of them Claude API
Daily
750
Choose the platforms that suit your clients; the rows price any trio of standard platforms the same, and Claude API is where costs go up.
Pay annually and the price drops by 15%.
White-label reports and client share links switch on when your monthly bill hits $100.
Your whole team can log in without paying for seats.
One schedule covers the whole account, so every client's prompts run at the same frequency. Pick that frequency first, then build the plan around it.
Who should choose it
If you run an agency that reports on many client brands and wants the price settled up front, along with proof of what changed and what to do about it, AI Peekaboo is the one I'd pick. A brand that only wants to see whether it turns up in AI answers, and get pointers on turning up more often, can use it too.
Look elsewhere if your work relies on Grok, DeepSeek or Meta AI, since AI Peekaboo doesn't track them. If you want finished articles rather than briefs, Promptwatch or Writesonic is the better fit. And a large enterprise company that needs SSO, SOC 2 and a deeper enterprise agent offering will be better served by Profound.
2. Profound: best for large enterprise companies
Profound is the best AthenaHQ alternative for a large company that wants AI visibility data together with enterprise controls and AI Marketer agents. It suits teams that run AI search work across marketing, content, PR and growth.
You can try it free first, but the real product is Enterprise, and its price is custom. Expect a sales conversation before you know the bill.
Key features
Track up to nine answer engines on Enterprise, with custom prompt tracking.
Use AI Marketer agents, context management and suggestions to connect research, writing, reporting and recurring work.
Export CSV and JSON data and use the API when AI visibility must feed your existing reports.
Pass security reviews with SSO/SAML and SOC 2 compliance.
Pitch and serve clients on Agency Growth with 10 monthly pitch workspaces and client workspaces of 100 prompts each.
Keep all-time history on Enterprise, so you never lose earlier results.
Pricing
Profound plan
USD monthly
What you get
Trial
Free for seven days
50 prompts run daily across ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews
Enterprise
Custom
Up to nine answer engines, all-time history, API, exports, SSO/SAML
Agency Growth
Not published
Five agency seats, 10 monthly pitch workspaces
Agency Growth client workspace
399 (add-on)
100 prompts per client
Agency Enterprise
Custom
Custom limits and support
Profound doesn't publish a brand-plan starting price.
Who should choose it
Choose Profound if a large enterprise company needs AI visibility monitoring, agents, custom scope and formal controls. It's also the better option when your team needs all-time history and an enterprise API rather than a self-serve plan. If you're deciding whether Profound is worth the step up from AthenaHQ, our Profound vs AthenaHQ comparison sets them side by side.
Skip it if your agency needs predictable reporting costs across many smaller client brands. AI Peekaboo is the better fit for that work.
3. Peec AI: best for in-house marketing teams tracking several countries and languages
Peec AI is the best fit for an in-house marketing team that needs daily AI search tracking across several countries and languages without moving to Enterprise first. AthenaHQ Starter covers one country, while Peec AI's Pro and Advanced plans include three countries and unlimited users.
You also get prompt discovery, source analytics, brand attributes, gap analysis and recommended actions in the same product, so it suits teams that want a broad view of how AI describes them.
Key features
Track 50, 150 or 350 prompts daily on Starter, Pro and Advanced.
Choose three active AI platforms on self-serve plans; Enterprise gives you every listed platform.
Track one country on Starter or three countries on Pro and Advanced, so regional teams can compare markets.
Add unlimited users, competitors and languages on every self-serve brand plan, so the whole team shares one view.
Use the API from Pro and Looker Studio from Advanced for your reports.
Run client work on agency plans with client projects, pitch projects and read-only client links.
Pricing
Peec AI plan
EUR monthly
EUR monthly, billed annually
Prompts
Projects
Countries
Starter
85
70
50
1
1
Pro
205
180
150
2
3
Advanced
425
360
350
5
3
Agency Essential
From 205
Not published
Credits for daily tracking across client projects
Client projects
Not published
Peec AI offers a free trial, but doesn't publish its length or card requirement.
Who should choose it
Choose Peec AI if you are an in-house SEO, content or marketing team that needs daily tracking across up to three countries and wants unlimited users. It is a clearer fit than AthenaHQ Starter when regional coverage is what you need now.
Skip it if you need more than three countries without moving to Enterprise. Otterly lists unlimited countries and languages on every plan. Our Peec AI review covers its analytics in more depth.
4. Otterly: best for solo marketers and small teams on the smallest budget
Otterly is the strongest budget alternative for a solo marketer or small team that needs a small daily monitoring set without paying $295 a month for AthenaHQ Starter. Lite gives you 15 prompts across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot for $29 a month, excluding tax.
Lite's 15 prompts are enough for a test, not a reporting program. Otterly becomes a real reporting tool on Standard, which raises the limit to 100 prompts and adds unlimited workspaces, API access, MCP access and a Looker Studio connector.
Key features
Track four AI search engines daily from Lite, so a small team gets a regular baseline.
See citation sources, sentiment and brand visibility to learn where your brand appears.
Get three recommendations each week on Lite, or unlimited recommendations on Standard and Premium.
Organize work beyond one brand report with separate workspaces on Standard and Premium.
Export raw AI responses as CSV or JSON on every plan, so you can check answers outside the tool.
Track prompts in unlimited countries and languages on every plan, with 70+ countries supported. Available AI engines vary by country, so check yours first.
Pricing
Otterly plan
USD monthly
USD monthly, billed annually
Prompts
Lite
29
25
15
Standard
189
160
100
Premium
489
422
400
Prices exclude tax.
A seven-day trial includes 50 prompts and doesn't require a credit card.
Google AI Mode, Gemini and Claude are paid add-ons, priced by plan.
Who should choose it
Choose Otterly if your team needs affordable daily tracking for a small prompt set and doesn't need a large content or reporting operation. At $29 a month, with a trial that needs no card, a solo marketer can see whether AI answers mention them before committing a real budget. It's also the cheaper route when you need more countries than Peec AI's three.
Skip it if 15 prompts is too tight and Standard's $189 price doesn't fit your budget. Peec AI Starter gives you 50 prompts for €85 a month and adds gap analysis and brand attribute scoring for an in-house team.
5. Promptwatch: best for content and SEO teams that want tracking tied to drafting and publishing
Promptwatch fits content and SEO teams that want AI visibility tracking connected to content work and CMS publishing. Professional and Business pair daily monitoring with AEO articles, content refreshes, a knowledge base, an agent and publishing to Webflow, Framer and WordPress.
You pay for a response limit. One response is one prompt, on one AI platform, run once. That is easier to follow than AthenaHQ's credit weights, but monitoring pauses when you hit the limit.
Key features
See each AI response with its visibility score, sentiment, brands mentioned and citations, so you can spot the prompts where your content needs work.
Create and refresh content in the same tool with the Content Agent and AEO article allowance.
Publish to Webflow, Framer and WordPress, so approved work goes straight into your CMS.
Use MCP and API access on brand and agency plans for reports and automation.
Create unlimited projects and pitch projects on agency plans; the response limit sets how much you can really track.
Give clients branded, read-only reports without showing them other agency projects.
Pricing
Promptwatch plan
USD monthly
Projects
Prompts
Monthly responses
Seats
AEO articles
Essential
95
1
50
6,000
1
None
Professional
245
2
150
18,000
Not published
5
Business
579
5
350
42,000
Not published
Not published
Agency
From 199
Unlimited
Unlimited
10,000, 25,000 or 65,000
Not published
Not published
Essential has no knowledge base or content refresh; Professional adds both.
You get a seven-day free trial on the Essential, Professional, Kick-off and Growth plans. The card requirement isn't published.
Who should choose it
Choose Promptwatch if your content team needs monitoring, drafting, content refreshes and publishing in one workflow. Start at Professional if those content features are part of what you need.
Skip it if response limits would make daily tracking unpredictable at your volume. AI Peekaboo fits an agency that wants to set a fixed monitoring plan across client brands.
6. Scrunch: best for brands that want their website ready for AI agents
Scrunch is the best AthenaHQ alternative for a brand whose main question is whether its website is ready for AI agents, as well as whether it appears in AI answers. Enterprise includes Agent Pages, which serve an AI-optimized version of your site to AI agents at the edge without changing what human visitors see.
That makes Scrunch a technical choice. Core gives you visibility monitoring, citations, site audits and AI agent traffic, but the site delivery layer, advanced APIs and deeper controls need Enterprise.
Key features
Track brand presence, position, sentiment and citations across AI search.
Run site audits that cover AI bot access controls and content delivery, so technical teams find what to fix.
Serve an AI-optimized version of your content to agents with Agent Pages on Enterprise.
Watch AI agent and bot traffic to your site, not just the answers.
Pass enterprise security reviews with SAML/OIDC SSO, SOC 2 Type II and a full API on Enterprise.
Give agencies API-first access for internal dashboards and fully white-labeled outputs.
Pricing
Scrunch plan
USD monthly
Brands
Prompts
Monthly responses
AI platforms
Users
Core
250 per brand
1
125
5,000
4
5
Agency Core
500
3
250
10,000
Not published
Not published
Enterprise and Agency Enterprise
Custom
Custom
Custom
Custom
Custom
Custom
Core has a seven-day trial with 125 prompts, four platforms and five webpage audits.
The trial needs a credit card, and the account becomes paid unless you cancel before it ends.
Who should choose it
Choose Scrunch if your SEO and technical teams need AI visibility data together with site readiness, AI agent traffic and a possible agent-facing content layer. It is a more direct fit than AthenaHQ when your next action is technical site work.
Skip it if you need lower-cost monitoring across several brands. AI Peekaboo is stronger for agencies with many client brands and branded reports. Scrunch's Core price is also per brand, so it gets expensive as a portfolio grows.
7. Writesonic: best for small content teams that want AI articles and visibility tracking in one tool
Writesonic fits a small content team that wants AI visibility tracking, AI articles and site audits in one product. The lower plans track ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews and include a monthly article allowance.
If your bottleneck is getting articles written and refreshed, that trade is worth making. It suits you less if you need many AI platforms below Enterprise, because Starter, Basic and Growth cover only three.
Key features
Track ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews on Starter, Basic and Growth.
Create 15, 25 or 50 AI articles a month on the self-serve plans, so tracking findings turn into content.
Run site audits of 100, 1,200 or 2,500 pages per audit, depending on plan.
See AI bot analytics and AI ad monitoring on every brand plan.
Use limited Action Center work on Growth and full Action Center on Enterprise.
Connect WordPress and Search Console on every plan and the MCP server on paid plans. Google Analytics and Looker Studio need Enterprise.
Pricing
Writesonic plan
USD monthly
USD monthly, billed annually
Prompts
AI articles a month
Pages per audit
Starter
99
79
50
15
100
Basic
249
199
100
25
1,200
Growth
499
399
200
50
2,500
Enterprise
Custom
Custom
Custom
Custom
Custom
Enterprise tracks all nine AI platforms.
The free trial doesn't need a credit card.
Who should choose it
Choose Writesonic if your small content team needs AI visibility tracking and built-in content production. It gives you a more complete content workflow than AthenaHQ when you want articles and audits next to monitoring.
Skip it if you need Claude, Perplexity, Copilot, Grok or Google AI Mode without an Enterprise plan. Promptwatch is a better fit for a team focused on tracking, content refreshes and direct CMS publishing.
8. Semrush: best for marketing teams already working in Semrush
Semrush is the practical choice for a marketing team that already uses Semrush for SEO and wants AI visibility from the same vendor. The AI Visibility Toolkit and Semrush One plans put AI search reports next to the wider SEO platform.
Watch the per-person cost. Each plan includes one user, and each extra AI Visibility Toolkit user needs their own subscription. The standalone toolkit has no trial, while Semrush One plans offer a seven-day trial.
Key features
Track AI visibility across ChatGPT, Google AI, Gemini and Perplexity with the standalone toolkit.
Track 25 custom prompts daily through ChatGPT Search, Google AI Mode and Gemini.
Track 50 or 100 prompts daily on Semrush One Starter and Pro+, next to your SEO features.
Use MCP on all Semrush One plans to bring Semrush data into compatible tools.
Get Looker Studio from Pro+ and API access on Advanced.
Track prompts in 220+ countries and territories; Visibility Overview covers 42 countries.
Pricing
Semrush plan
EUR monthly
EUR monthly, billed annually
Prompts tracked daily
Users
AI Visibility Toolkit (per domain)
94.94
Not published
25
1
Semrush One Starter
190.84
158.40
50
1
Semrush One Pro+
286.74
238
100
1
Semrush One Advanced
Custom
Custom
Unlimited or 200
1
Semrush gives two prompt figures for Advanced, unlimited and 200. Confirm the number before you sign.
The standalone toolkit has no trial. On Semrush One plans, you can try it for seven days after card validation.
Who should choose it
Choose Semrush if your team already works in Semrush and wants AI search data next to its SEO work. You keep keyword and AI search reports in the tool your team already opens every day, and you don't add a second vendor to manage.
Skip it if you need multi-brand client reports or several people in the tool, because every Semrush user needs their own subscription. AI Peekaboo has no per-seat charge and puts client brands in one plan, while Peec AI includes unlimited users on every brand plan.
9. AirOps: best for content operations teams producing and refreshing content at scale for one brand
AirOps is best for a content operations team that needs to produce, review and refresh a lot of content for one brand, with AI visibility insights close to that work. It combines Insights with workflows, Playbooks, Grids, human review, brand context and CMS integrations.
AirOps doesn't publish a price for Solo, Pro or Enterprise, and each self-serve plan covers one brand or project. That makes it a poor fit for agencies that need to work out multi-client monitoring cost before they buy.
Key features
Get ChatGPT Insights on Solo, or insights across seven or more answer engines on Pro.
Combine AI visibility insights with workflows, Playbooks and Grids for content production and refreshes.
Store brand context and knowledge bases so every piece uses the same approved inputs.
Keep human review, approvals, version history and content quality scores inside the workflow.
Connect CMS, SEO, AEO, project management and social sources, depending on the plan.
Give everyone access with unlimited seats on Pro and Enterprise.
Pricing
AirOps plan
USD monthly
Insights
Content tasks
Brand Kits
Knowledge bases
Solo
Not published
ChatGPT
35,000
1
3
Pro
Not published
Seven or more answer engines
100,000
1
5
Enterprise
Not published
Not published
Custom
Unlimited
Unlimited
Enterprise adds enterprise collaboration and SSO.
Solo overage tasks cost $0.025 per task. Pro and Enterprise overage rates aren't published.
Who should choose it
Choose AirOps if one content operation needs a single system for research, workflows, review and production, with AI insights guiding the work. If your team spends most of its week on briefs, drafts and refreshes for one brand, AirOps keeps the tracking next to that work.
Skip it if you need clear public monitoring prices or an agency plan for client reports. AI Peekaboo is the more direct agency option, while Writesonic is easier to compare when your small team wants published pricing for AI articles and visibility tracking.
How to choose an AthenaHQ alternative
Start with the job you need a replacement to do, then price the same prompt set in every tool.
Choose AI Peekaboo if your agency needs many client brands, predictable monitoring scope and branded client reporting. Choose Profound if enterprise controls, custom scope and an AI Marketer layer matter most. Choose Peec AI if several countries and languages are central to your in-house reporting, up to its three-country self-serve limit.
Otterly is the simplest low-budget route for a small prompt set and wider country coverage. Promptwatch and Writesonic fit content teams, but they solve different content problems: Promptwatch emphasizes tracking, content refreshes and CMS publishing, while Writesonic includes article allowances and site audits. Scrunch is the better technical choice for AI-agent-ready site work. Semrush fits existing Semrush customers, and AirOps suits one-brand content operations teams producing at scale.
Compare these points before switching:
The exact prompt count, AI platforms, countries and monitoring schedule you need.
Whether the bill is based on credits, responses, prompt allowances, checks or task volume.
Whether reporting needs white-label views, share links, API access or Looker Studio.
Whether your team needs tracking only, content production, technical site work or enterprise controls.
Which AI platforms are essential, especially if your work depends on Claude, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI or Copilot.
When AthenaHQ is still the right choice
AthenaHQ remains a strong choice for a self-serve team that wants 11 AI platforms, unlimited seats and a content optimization agent in one product. It is also worth keeping if your team relies on its Google Analytics, Search Console or Shopify integrations.
You can try it on the free Essential plan first: 300 credits across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Copilot. Essential also includes prompt and response analysis, sources and competitor insights, content recommendations and the Athena AI agent.
AthenaHQ has the features. Keep it if your prompts, AI platforms and schedule fit inside 3,600 credits. If they don’t, you’ll need unpriced additional credits or an Enterprise plan.
Switching from AthenaHQ
AthenaHQ Starter supports CSV exports, so begin by exporting the prompt and reporting data you need to retain.
Then rebuild your prompt set, competitors, countries and reporting views in the new platform. Keep your first period focused on the same commercial, transactional, sentiment and branded questions, because changing the prompt set at the same time makes trend comparisons less useful.
Run AthenaHQ and the replacement tool together for a short overlap period if the decision depends on trend comparison. Expect different numbers on day one. The tools check different AI platforms and score visibility differently, so compare the new tool’s trend with itself, not with your old AthenaHQ figures.
If you want a quick starting point before setting up full monitoring, use AI Peekaboo’s free AI visibility checker to see where your brand currently appears in AI answers.
How we checked this
Last checked: 17 October 2026.
Prices and plan limits: vendor public pricing pages. Features: vendor help docs, product pages and public documentation.
Frequently asked questions
How much does AthenaHQ cost?
AthenaHQ Essential is free and includes 300 credits. Starter costs $295 a month or $245 a month billed annually, with 3,600 credits. Enterprise has custom pricing. Extra credits and API access are optional paid add-ons on Starter, but AthenaHQ doesn’t publish their prices.
Does AthenaHQ offer a free trial?
No. AthenaHQ has no time-limited trial. Its free Essential plan is the way to try the product, with 300 credits and access to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Copilot.
Are there cheaper AthenaHQ alternatives under $100 per month?
Yes. AI Peekaboo plans start at $30 a month, Otterly Lite costs $29 a month for 15 prompts, Promptwatch Essential costs $95 a month and Writesonic Starter costs $99 a month. Peec AI Starter costs €85 a month, billed in euros, so it can’t be directly classed as under $100. Compare the included prompt and AI platform limits before choosing.
What are the best AthenaHQ alternatives for agencies?
AI Peekaboo is the best overall choice for agencies because it supports many client brands in one subscription and offers white-label reports and client share links from $100 a month. Peec AI and Promptwatch also have agency plans, but their capacity is measured through credits or response allowances.
Is AthenaHQ worth $295 per month?
Yes, AthenaHQ can be worth $295 a month for a self-serve team that uses its 11 AI platforms, content optimization agent and integrations while staying within 3,600 credits. It is less suitable when heavy AI platforms, frequent monitoring or prompt expansion push the required credits beyond that included allowance.
Start with your own visibility.
See where your brand appears in AI answers and which competitors get mentioned.
Filipe Lins Duarte
