Facts checked: 2 November 2026, on each vendor's own pages.
Profound vs AthenaHQ at a glance
| Profound | AthenaHQ | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | No public price; Enterprise through a demo | Essential free; Starter $295 a month; Enterprise custom |
| Free access | 7-day trial, 50 daily prompts, fixed prompt set | Free Essential tier with 300 credits |
| Pricing unit | Credits for the AI Marketer; prompt plan by quote | Credits; one credit is one AI response |
| Engines | Trial 3; Enterprise up to 9 | Essential 5; Starter 11 models |
| Users | Unlimited | Unlimited, with role-based access on Starter |
| Countries | Trial 1 region; Enterprise custom | Starter country-level; multi-country on Enterprise |
| Exports and API | CSV, JSON and API on Enterprise | CSV on Starter; API a paid add-on on Starter, included on Enterprise |
| Agent analytics | Unlimited domains, with infrastructure integrations | Not listed on the pricing page |
| Security | SOC 2 Type II; SSO | SOC 2 Type 2 claimed on its site; SSO on Enterprise |
| Support | Dedicated Slack or specialist, 24-hour SLA | Dedicated Slack, 2-hour SLA on Enterprise |
Profound's trial covers ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. AthenaHQ's free tier covers ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Copilot.
Price: a quote against a credit meter
AthenaHQ shows what it costs. Essential is free, Starter is $295 a month with 3,600 credits, and extra credits are an add-on with the price on request. Because one credit is one AI response, the credit balance sets how many prompts you can run across how many engines.
Profound publishes no price for brands. The trial is free but fixed: 50 prompts for 7 days on three engines, with no exports, API or history. Real use starts with a demo.
For a team that needs a budget figure this week, AthenaHQ answers the question. For a team that will go through procurement regardless, the comparison happens on quotes. Profound's FAQ adds that its AI Marketer credits either bill overage or pause, depending on the account.
Engines and coverage
AthenaHQ Starter lists 11 models: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Mistral. The free tier leaves out Claude and AI Mode.
Profound Enterprise lists up to nine: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, DeepSeek, Claude, Google AI Overviews and Exa Search. Profound's list includes Exa Search, which AthenaHQ's does not. AthenaHQ's includes Grok, Meta AI and Mistral, which Profound's does not.
AthenaHQ's multi-country tracking and Profound's multi-region tracking both sit behind the top tier.
Agent analytics, content and integrations
Profound's Agent Analytics reads traffic from Akamai, AWS, Cloudflare, Fastly, Google Analytics, Google Cloud, Netlify, Vercel and WordPress, with unlimited domains on both plans. The AthenaHQ pricing page lists no equivalent. It lists integrations with Shopify, Webflow, Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console, and Enterprise BI dashboards for Tableau, Power BI and Looker.
On content, AthenaHQ Starter includes on-page and off-page actions and a content optimization agent. Enterprise adds the Athena Citation Engine, a recommendation engine, persona targeting and a claims knowledge base. Profound offers the AI Marketer, agents, a context manager, suggestions and Profound Sheets, all credit-based.
AthenaHQ's own comparison page with Profound was written by AthenaHQ and refers to a Profound Growth plan that is not on Profound's live pricing page. Check any vendor-written comparison against the other vendor's current page.
When to choose Profound
Choose Profound when you want agent analytics from your own infrastructure beside answer tracking, a security review with a named SOC 2 Type II certification, or a vendor that bundles prompt volume estimates and a marketing agent workspace. It suits an organization that will run a demo and negotiate a package.
The trial helps you see the interface. It cannot test your own prompts.
When to choose AthenaHQ
Choose AthenaHQ when you want to start free, see a price on the page and cover many models, including Claude, Grok and Meta AI, in a self-serve plan. It suits a team that can budget in responses and wants content recommendations in the same tool.
Ask how often prompts run, since credit use depends on it, and what an extra credit costs.
A third option: SearchSeal
SearchSeal sells a competing product. SearchSeal costs $79 a month for 60 questions on Starter, $179 for 150 on Pro and $399 for 400 on Max, with unlimited brands sharing one question pool. It asks every question each day on AI Overview, ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, and saves each answer with its mentions and returned source links. Billing follows the number of questions you track, with no credits. It also reads Search Console and Bing Webmaster data and turns answers into ranked page fixes.
It gives up some reach. SearchSeal does not track crawler traffic or human visits from AI tools, and a returned source link is not proof the answer used that page. It does not offer agent analytics or the model list AthenaHQ Starter has. Choose it when you want a flat monthly price per question count and an owner who works through page fixes.
For the full comparison, see SearchSeal vs Profound and SearchSeal vs AthenaHQ.
FAQ
Is AthenaHQ cheaper than Profound?
AthenaHQ publishes a free Essential tier and a $295 monthly Starter plan. Profound publishes no brand price, so you need a Profound quote to compare.
Which covers more AI engines, Profound or AthenaHQ?
AthenaHQ Starter lists 11 models. Profound Enterprise lists up to nine engines, and its free trial covers three.
Does AthenaHQ have agent analytics like Profound?
Profound lists Agent Analytics with infrastructure integrations. The AthenaHQ pricing page does not list a comparable feature.
Do Profound and AthenaHQ have a free option?
Profound has a free 7-day trial with a fixed set of 50 daily prompts. AthenaHQ has a free Essential tier with 300 credits and no trial period.
How does AthenaHQ pricing work?
AthenaHQ charges in credits. One credit is one AI response. Starter includes 3,600 credits for $295 a month, and extra credits are a paid add-on.