Athena HQ: What AthenaHQ Tracks, What It Costs and Alternatives

A marketing lead comparing tools wants a clear answer before booking a demo. The interesting question is not just whether a product tracks AI search. It is whether the credit allowance covers the questions, models and checking frequency the team actually needs.

Our view: Pick Xtrusio if you want a free starting point and visibility check. Pick AthenaHQ if you want credit-based tracking across 11 models with content recommendations.

Athena HQ and its alternatives at a glance

The prices and plan details below come from each vendor's own site and were checked on 3 November 2026.

Prices checked 3 November 2026

Sources: Xtrusio, AthenaHQ pricing, Peec AI pricing and Profound pricing.

Xtrusio

Our product: Xtrusio shows when ChatGPT and Gemini mention a business, which competitors appear instead, and what to work on next. Its site says it tracks perception across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Grok. There is a free self-serve plan and a free AI and search visibility check.

Best for: Teams that want to start without a paid subscription and connect AI visibility findings to practical work.

Strength: The free check gives a business a quick baseline before it decides whether it needs a managed plan.

What Athena HQ does

AthenaHQ says it helps brands track and improve their visibility in AI search. Its free Essential plan covers ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Copilot. Starter expands that coverage to 11 models and allows unlimited topics, prompts and competitors.

The company's homepage describes its coverage as 11 or more large language models. Treat that as AthenaHQ's own product claim and confirm the exact engines available to your account before buying, because the pricing page describes Starter as covering 11 models.

The useful distinction is between coverage and allowance. A plan may list many models, but each returned AI response uses a credit. Your monthly requirement therefore changes with the number of questions, models and checks you run.

Best for: Teams that want AI visibility tracking and content recommendations in one product.

Strength: Starter covers 11 models and allows unlimited topics, prompts and competitors.

Limit: Starter includes 3,600 credits a month, while API access and extra credits cost more.

Skip it if: You need more than 3,600 AI responses a month without buying extra credits.

Athena HQ pricing

AthenaHQ had three plan levels when checked on 3 November 2026:

• Essential: Free, with $25 of free credit and 300 credits. It includes the five named services above and unlimited users.
• Starter: $295 a month, with 3,600 credits each month. It includes 11 models plus unlimited topics, prompts and competitors.
• Enterprise: Custom pricing and a custom credit allowance. It adds SAML or OIDC single sign-on and an organization activity audit log.

One AthenaHQ credit equals one AI response. API access and extra credits are paid add-ons billed on top of Starter. The pricing page also offers annual billing at a 17% discount. These details were checked on 3 November 2026, so revisit the live page before agreeing to a long contract.

Our example: how far 3,600 credits go

Our example: Ridgeway Outdoor is an illustrative brand. These are our calculations from AthenaHQ's published Starter allowance and Peec AI's published Starter plan, checked on 3 November 2026.

• Track one buyer question daily across three models: 1 × 3 × 30 = 90 AI responses a month (our calculation).
• Track four buyer questions daily across three models: 4 × 3 × 30 = 360 AI responses a month (our calculation).
• Divide AthenaHQ Starter's 3,600 credits by three models and 30 days: 40 questions tracked daily (our calculation).
• Divide $295 by 40 questions: $7.38 a month per tracked question (our calculation).
• For a simple price benchmark, divide Peec AI Starter's $95 by its 50-prompt allowance: $1.90 per listed prompt each month (our calculation). That is not a like-for-like response count because AthenaHQ prices responses while Peec lists prompts.

This example shows why the sticker price is not enough. Before comparing tools, write down the questions you want checked, the models you need and how often each question should run.

Peec AI

Peec AI Starter costs $95 a month for 50 prompts and a choice of three models, checked on 3 November 2026. Pro costs $245 a month for 150 prompts, while Advanced costs $495 a month for 350 prompts.

Best for: SEO and content managers who want a published entry price below AthenaHQ Starter.

Strength: The pricing page gives a clear prompt allowance for each plan.

Limit: Starter restricts the account to three chosen models, so teams needing broader coverage should compare the next plan before buying.

Skip it if: Your main requirement is a free ongoing plan rather than a paid prompt allowance.

Profound

Profound offers a free 7-day trial with 50 prompts run daily across ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, checked on 3 November 2026. Its Enterprise plan has custom pricing, a tailored prompt tracking plan and support for up to nine answer engines.

Best for: Larger organizations that want to test an enterprise platform before arranging a tailored package.

Strength: The trial states its prompt count, checking frequency, duration and three included engines.

Limit: The public page does not give a fixed Enterprise price, so a buyer cannot complete a budget comparison without a quote.

Skip it if: You need a public monthly price before speaking with sales.

How to choose

List your buyer questions, count the models you need, turn credits or prompts into a monthly cost, start with a free check, and measure what changes.

• Pick Xtrusio if you want a free self-serve start or a free visibility check before choosing managed help.
• Pick AthenaHQ if you want credit-based tracking across 11 models and content recommendations in the same product.
• Pick Peec AI if a lower published monthly entry price and a clear prompt allowance matter most.
• Pick Profound if you are evaluating a custom enterprise platform and want a seven-day trial first.

For a longer shortlist, see our AthenaHQ alternatives guide.

Our view: Run the same small set of buyer questions in more than one product before committing annually. Compare the answers themselves, not just a summary score, and check whether the product leads your team to work it can actually complete.

Get your free AI visibility check to see where your brand appears and which competitors take its place.

Sources

• AthenaHQ pricing
• AthenaHQ homepage
• Xtrusio homepage and product details
• Peec AI pricing
• Profound pricing