Profound vs AthenaHQ: 2026 Comparison
Published November 3, 2026
Profound and AthenaHQ both sell AI search tracking and optimization to brand marketing teams, and both include unlimited seats. Profound offers a free 7-day trial and a custom-priced Enterprise plan, so its monthly cost comes from a sales quote, while AthenaHQ publishes a free Essential plan and a $295 Starter plan that bills in credits, one credit per AI response. For most teams, the choice comes down to whether they want a published price to start or Profound's agents and enterprise controls under a quote.
Our analysts compared each vendor's pricing pages, newsroom posts, and product blogs as of November 3, 2026, then priced three common tracking workloads on each. In the following sections, we compare the two tools on the points buyers weigh most, price the same work on both where a price exists, and explain which buyer each fits and what changed recently.
| What buyers compare | Profound | AthenaHQ |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price per monthSources 2, 5 | Free trial, then custom pricing. Agency Growth: client workspaces at $399 per month each | Free (Essential, 300 credits). Paid plans from $295 (Starter, 3,600 credits)Published paid plan |
| Plans per monthSources 2, 5 | Trial: free. Enterprise: custom. Agency Growth and Agency Enterprise for agencies | Essential: free. Starter: $295, or less on annual billing. Enterprise: custom |
| Cost: 1 brand, 25 prompts, 3 enginesSources 1, 2, 5 | Custom quote, no published price | $295 per month (Starter)Published price |
| Cost: 1 brand, 40 prompts, 3 enginesSources 1, 2, 5 | Custom quote, no published price | $295 per month (Starter, 3,600 credits used in full)Published price |
| Cost: 1 brand, 100 prompts, 3 enginesSources 1, 2, 5 | Custom quote, no published price | $295 per month plus 5,400 extra credits, price not published |
| Prompt limitsSources 2, 5 | Trial: 50 unique prompts, daily for 7 days. Enterprise: tailored prompt tracking plan | Unlimited topics and prompts, limited by credits |
| How usage is countedSources 2, 5 | Prompts tracked per plan, plus AI Marketer credits for agent work | 1 credit equals 1 AI response. Starter includes 3,600 credits per month, and extra credits are a paid add-on at a price AthenaHQ does not publish |
| AI engines coveredSources 2, 5 | Trial: ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews. Enterprise: up to 9, from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, DeepSeek, Anthropic Claude, Google AI Overviews, and Exa Search | Starter: 11 models, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI, and Mistral. Essential: 511 models on Starter |
| Update frequencySources 2, 5 | DailyPublished frequency | Not published |
| Countries and regionsSources 2, 5, 6 | Not published | Country-level support on Starter. Multi-region and multi-language support on Enterprise. Tracking in 185 markets down to the city level since August 2026City-level tracking |
| Team seatsSources 2, 5 | Unlimited on the trial and on Enterprise | Unlimited on every plan, with role-based access control |
| Agents and automationSources 2, 5 | AI Marketer agents on credits, with a Context Manager, Projects, and Profound Sheets for running agents at scaleAgents at scale | Athena AI agent on every plan. Content optimization agent and on-page and off-page actions on Starter |
| AI traffic and crawler dataSources 2, 5 | Agent Analytics with unlimited domains and integrations for Akamai, AWS, Cloudflare, Fastly, Google Analytics, Google Cloud Platform, Netlify, Vercel, and WordPressCrawler integrations | Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console integration, and AI crawler access managed through robots.txt and llms.txt |
| Reporting and exportsSources 2, 5 | Enterprise: CSV and JSON exports, API, and all-time history. Trial: none | CSV export and integrations on Starter. API access is a paid add-on on Starter. Enterprise adds BI dashboards for Tableau, Power BI, and Looker |
| Security and supportSources 2, 5 | Enterprise: SSO/SAML, SOC 2 compliance, and dedicated support, with options for Slack and a specialist on a 24 hour SLA | Enterprise: SAML and OIDC SSO, audit logs, and white-glove setup. SOC 2 listed in its trust center |
| Free trialSources 2, 5 | Free, 50 prompts run daily for 7 days on 3 engines, with limited AI Marketer credits | Free Essential plan with a $25 free credit and 300 creditsFree plan |
| Best forSource 1 | Large brand teams that want agents at scale and enterprise security, and will take a quote | Teams that want to start free or on a published $295 plan with many engines included |
Starting price per month
- Profound
- Free trial, then custom pricing. Agency Growth: client workspaces at $399 per month each
- AthenaHQ
- Free (Essential, 300 credits). Paid plans from $295 (Starter, 3,600 credits) Published paid plan
Plans per month
- Profound
- Trial: free. Enterprise: custom. Agency Growth and Agency Enterprise for agencies
- AthenaHQ
- Essential: free. Starter: $295, or less on annual billing. Enterprise: custom
Cost: 1 brand, 25 prompts, 3 engines
- Profound
- Custom quote, no published price
- AthenaHQ
- $295 per month (Starter) Published price
Cost: 1 brand, 40 prompts, 3 engines
- Profound
- Custom quote, no published price
- AthenaHQ
- $295 per month (Starter, 3,600 credits used in full) Published price
Cost: 1 brand, 100 prompts, 3 engines
- Profound
- Custom quote, no published price
- AthenaHQ
- $295 per month plus 5,400 extra credits, price not published
Prompt limits
- Profound
- Trial: 50 unique prompts, daily for 7 days. Enterprise: tailored prompt tracking plan
- AthenaHQ
- Unlimited topics and prompts, limited by credits
How usage is counted
- Profound
- Prompts tracked per plan, plus AI Marketer credits for agent work
- AthenaHQ
- 1 credit equals 1 AI response. Starter includes 3,600 credits per month, and extra credits are a paid add-on at a price AthenaHQ does not publish
AI engines covered
- Profound
- Trial: ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews. Enterprise: up to 9, from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, DeepSeek, Anthropic Claude, Google AI Overviews, and Exa Search
- AthenaHQ
- Starter: 11 models, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI, and Mistral. Essential: 5 11 models on Starter
Update frequency
- Profound
- Daily Published frequency
- AthenaHQ
- Not published
Countries and regions
- Profound
- Not published
- AthenaHQ
- Country-level support on Starter. Multi-region and multi-language support on Enterprise. Tracking in 185 markets down to the city level since August 2026 City-level tracking
Team seats
- Profound
- Unlimited on the trial and on Enterprise
- AthenaHQ
- Unlimited on every plan, with role-based access control
Agents and automation
- Profound
- AI Marketer agents on credits, with a Context Manager, Projects, and Profound Sheets for running agents at scale Agents at scale
- AthenaHQ
- Athena AI agent on every plan. Content optimization agent and on-page and off-page actions on Starter
AI traffic and crawler data
- Profound
- Agent Analytics with unlimited domains and integrations for Akamai, AWS, Cloudflare, Fastly, Google Analytics, Google Cloud Platform, Netlify, Vercel, and WordPress Crawler integrations
- AthenaHQ
- Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console integration, and AI crawler access managed through robots.txt and llms.txt
Reporting and exports
- Profound
- Enterprise: CSV and JSON exports, API, and all-time history. Trial: none
- AthenaHQ
- CSV export and integrations on Starter. API access is a paid add-on on Starter. Enterprise adds BI dashboards for Tableau, Power BI, and Looker
Security and support
- Profound
- Enterprise: SSO/SAML, SOC 2 compliance, and dedicated support, with options for Slack and a specialist on a 24 hour SLA
- AthenaHQ
- Enterprise: SAML and OIDC SSO, audit logs, and white-glove setup. SOC 2 listed in its trust center
Free trial
- Profound
- Free, 50 prompts run daily for 7 days on 3 engines, with limited AI Marketer credits
- AthenaHQ
- Free Essential plan with a $25 free credit and 300 credits Free plan
Best for
- Profound
- Large brand teams that want agents at scale and enterprise security, and will take a quote
- AthenaHQ
- Teams that want to start free or on a published $295 plan with many engines included
List prices in US dollars before tax, billed monthly unless the row says otherwise. Workload costs are the cheapest published plan that covers the job with daily tracking. Profound brand plans and AthenaHQ's extra credits have no published price.
Profound vs AthenaHQ Cost for the Same Workload
Profound does not publish a price for brand plans, and AthenaHQ bills in credits, one per AI response, so the Top GEO Agencies research team priced each workload on AthenaHQ and show Profound as a quote. Each workload is tracked daily for 30 days:
- One brand with 25 prompts on ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity, tracked daily, which is 2,250 AI responses per month.
- One brand with 40 prompts on those three engines, which is 3,600 AI responses per month, the full Starter allowance on AthenaHQ.
- One brand with 100 prompts on those three engines, which is 9,000 AI responses per month.
Each AthenaHQ cost is the cheapest published plan that covers the workload.
| Workload | Profound | AthenaHQ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 brand, 25 prompts, 3 engines | Custom quote | $295 (Starter) |
| 1 brand, 40 prompts, 3 engines | Custom quote | $295 (Starter, 3,600 credits) |
| 1 brand, 100 prompts, 3 engines | Custom quote | $295 (Starter) plus 5,400 extra credits at an unpublished price |
- AthenaHQ's Starter includes 3,600 credits, which covers 25 or 40 prompts on three engines tracked daily. At full use, that equals about $0.082 per AI response. 100 prompts need 9,000 credits, so a team pays for 5,400 extra credits at a price AthenaHQ quotes on request.
- Profound's pricing page lists a free trial of 50 prompts for 7 days and a custom Enterprise plan with a tailored prompt tracking plan. Agency Growth adds client workspaces at $399 per month each.
Profound or AthenaHQ: Which Fits Which Buyer
The deciding factor is whether a team needs a published price or Profound's agent platform, since AthenaHQ starts at $295 per month and Profound is quoted per buyer.
Choose Profound if
- You want agents to do the work. AI Marketer runs on credits, with a Context Manager and Profound Sheets for running agents at scale.
- You need DeepSeek or Exa Search tracked. Profound lists both among its Enterprise engines.
- You want crawler data from your hosting stack. Agent Analytics connects to Akamai, AWS, Cloudflare, Fastly, Netlify, Vercel, and WordPress.
- Your security team wants a named support specialist. Enterprise support options include Slack and a specialist on a 24 hour SLA.
Choose AthenaHQ if
- You want to start free. Essential includes a $25 free credit and 300 credits across five engines.
- You want a published price. Starter costs $295 per month and covers 40 prompts on three engines with daily tracking.
- You track many engines on one plan. Starter covers 11 models, including Grok, Meta AI, and Mistral.
- You sell online or across many locations. AthenaHQ added Shopify-synced shopping pages and city-level tracking in 185 markets in August 2026.
Recent Changes to Profound and AthenaHQ
Both vendors ship often, and the dates show how current any price quote is.
- February 24, 2026: Profound announced a $96 million Series C at a $1 billion valuation and introduced Profound Agents.
- August 19, 2026: AthenaHQ's August release added Shopping Pages with Shopify catalog sync, ChatGPT Ads reporting on Enterprise and Agency plans, and visibility tracking in 185 markets down to the city level.
- September 15, 2026: Profound announced a $180 million Series D at a $1.8 billion valuation, co-led by Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins, and said it serves more than 1,000 enterprise brands.
- October 30, 2026: AthenaHQ began breaking YouTube citations down by channel, video category, length, and the moment in a video that an AI answer links to.
Where the Two Tools Are Headed in 2027 and Beyond
Profound: Profound's September 15, 2026 announcement describes AI Marketer as an agent orchestrator that works alongside every function of a marketing team, and its pricing page sells credits for that agent work alongside prompt tracking.
AthenaHQ: AthenaHQ's pricing page lists the Athena Citation Engine and the Athena Recommendation Engine under Enterprise, and its Starter plan sells API access and extra credits as paid add-ons. Its August 2026 release moved the product toward commerce and local search, with Shopify-synced shopping pages and city-level tracking.
Both vendors are building agents on top of tracking, and Profound sets its price per quote while AthenaHQ publishes its entry plans.
Data Collection and Methodology
Prices and plan details come from each vendor's pricing, newsroom, and blog pages as of November 3, 2026, except where a source line shows another capture date. All prices are list prices in US dollars per month before tax, billed monthly unless the row says otherwise. A "prompt" is one question the tool asks the AI engines. AthenaHQ bills in credits, where one credit is one AI response.
Profound Enterprise prices and AthenaHQ's extra-credit prices are quoted privately, so neither appears in the cost table. We computed AI responses for each workload as prompts times engines times 30 days.
We calculated products, differences, and ratios from the published values.
Profound publishes a free trial, a custom Enterprise plan, and agency plans with client workspaces at $399 per month each. AthenaHQ publishes a free plan, one paid plan, and a custom tier.
Profound's engine list and agency workspace price are from its pricing page. AthenaHQ's market and shopping features are from its August 2026 release notes.
Sources
- Top GEO Agencies analysis of Profound and AthenaHQ plans, prices, and limits, conducted November 2026. Download the data (CSV)
- Profound, Pricing, https://www.tryprofound.com/pricing, captured November 3, 2026.
- Profound, Series D announcement, https://www.tryprofound.com/newsroom/profound-raises-usd180m-series-d-at-usd1-8b-valuation-to-build-the-ai-platform-for-marketing-teams, captured November 3, 2026.
- Profound, Series C announcement, https://www.tryprofound.com/blog/profound-raises-96m-series-c, captured November 3, 2026.
- AthenaHQ, Plans and Pricing, https://www.athenahq.ai/pricing, captured November 3, 2026.
- AthenaHQ, What's new in Athena: August 2026, https://athenahq.ai/blog/athena-august-2026-feature-drop, captured November 3, 2026.
- AthenaHQ, YouTube in AI search, https://athenahq.ai/blog/youtube-citations-in-ai-search, captured November 3, 2026.