AthenaHQ and Peec AI both sell AI search visibility to marketing teams, and they price it in opposite ways. AthenaHQ meters everything in credits: a free Essential plan with 300 credits, then a $295-a-month Starter plan with 3,600 credits across 11 models. Peec AI sells prompts: $95 a month for 50 prompts run daily on 3 models of your choice, with unlimited users. Every price and limit below was read on both vendors' live sites on 2 November 2026 and is linked in the sources. We make Mentionova, a third option, and we cover it last and plainly.
Comparing AthenaHQ and Peec AI? Run your own buying questions in a Mentionova free trial, no card.
What are the key takeaways?
- Peec is cheaper to start and cheaper per answer. Peec Starter is $95 a month for 4,500 AI answers, about $0.021 each. AthenaHQ Starter is $295 for 3,600 credits, about $0.082 per one-credit response.
- AthenaHQ has the free plan. Essential costs nothing and holds 300 credits on five engines. Peec offers a free trial, not a free plan.
- AthenaHQ covers more engines without a contract. Starter includes 11 models, Claude and Grok among them. Peec's self-serve plans run 3 models, with more sold as add-ons from $30 a month.
- Peec runs every prompt daily by design. AthenaHQ lets you choose 1 to 7 run days a week and charges credits for each run.
- AthenaHQ publishes to your CMS. It lists eight publishing targets, from WordPress to Payload CMS. Peec offers ranked actions, a content optimizer and an agent, but its pricing page lists no CMS publishing.
- Mentionova is the flat-price third route: from $99 a month billed annually, drafts pushed to your CMS and Reddit threads tracked, with scheduled runs weekly rather than daily.
How do AthenaHQ and Peec AI compare at a glance?
AthenaHQ is a credit-metered platform with a free tier, an 11-model Starter plan at $295 and agents that optimise and publish content. Peec AI is a prompt-based tracker with three self-serve tiers from $95, daily runs, unlimited users and an agent that turns data into ranked actions. The table compares both, read 2 November 2026.
| AthenaHQ | Peec AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Free option | Essential: free, 300 credits | Free trial |
| Entry paid plan | Starter $295 a month | Starter $95 a month |
| Annual billing | 17% off | 15% off |
| Usage unit | Credits: 1 credit = 1 AI response | Prompts x models x days = AI answers |
| Engines on entry paid plan | 11 models | 3 models you choose |
| Cadence | 1 to 7 days a week, your choice | Daily |
| Seats | Unlimited, with role-based access | Unlimited on every plan |
| Prompt demand data | Prompt volume estimation | Relative demand score, 1 to 5 |
| Action layer | Content optimization agent, on-page and off-page actions | Recommended actions, Peec Agent |
| CMS publishing | 8 publishing targets | Not listed |
| API | Paid add-on on Starter; included on Enterprise | Pro and above |
| MCP | Listed on integrations page | Every plan |
| SSO | Enterprise (SAML and OIDC) | Enterprise |
Is AthenaHQ or Peec AI cheaper?
Peec AI is cheaper at every paid step. Starter costs $95 a month against AthenaHQ Starter at $295, and Peec's Pro plan runs 150 prompts daily for $245, still below AthenaHQ's entry price. AthenaHQ is cheaper only at zero: its Essential plan is free, while Peec offers a trial.
| Tier | AthenaHQ (athenahq.ai/pricing) | Peec AI (peec.ai/pricing) |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Essential: 300 credits, 5 engines, unlimited users, sources and competitor insights, content recommendations, Athena AI agent | Free trial from the pricing page |
| Entry paid | Starter $295/mo: 3,600 credits, 11 models, unlimited topics, prompts and competitors, CSV export | Starter $95/mo: 50 prompts, 3 models, daily, 1 project, 1 country, 4,500 answers |
| Middle | None published | Pro $245/mo: 150 prompts, 3 models, 2 projects, 3 countries, 13,500 answers |
| Upper self-serve | None published | Advanced $495/mo: 350 prompts, 3 models, 5 projects, 31,500 answers, Looker Studio |
| Enterprise | Custom credits, SAML and OIDC SSO, audit log, Knowledge Base and claim review | Custom, annual: all models, daily or weekly, unlimited projects, API, SSO |
| Add-ons | API access and extra credits on Starter, price on request | Extra model: $30/mo on Starter, $70 on Pro, $140 on Advanced |
Cost per answer, by our arithmetic from list prices: Peec Starter works out at about $0.021 per AI answer, Pro at about $0.018 and Advanced at about $0.016. AthenaHQ Starter works out at about $0.082 per response on its 1-credit models and about $0.41 on its 5-credit models.
Per tracked prompt, Peec costs $1.90 a month on Starter, $1.63 on Pro and $1.41 on Advanced. AthenaHQ lists prompts as unlimited, so the credit pool, not the prompt count, sets its ceiling.
How far do AthenaHQ's 3,600 credits go against Peec's 4,500 answers?
AthenaHQ's calculator multiplies prompts, locations, credits per response, run days per week and 4.33 weeks. Run daily on three 1-credit engines, 3,600 credits cover about 39 prompts. Peec Starter runs 50 prompts daily on three models for $95. Run weekly instead, AthenaHQ Starter covers about 277 prompts.
Worked examples using AthenaHQ's own formula, one location, prompt expansion off:
| Setup | AthenaHQ credits a month | Fits AthenaHQ Starter? | Peec plan that covers it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 prompts, 3 engines, daily | 50 x 3 x 7 x 4.33 = 4,547 | No | Starter, $95 |
| 39 prompts, 3 engines, daily | 39 x 3 x 7 x 4.33 = 3,546 | Yes | Starter, $95 |
| 150 prompts, 3 engines, daily | 150 x 3 x 7 x 4.33 = 13,640 | No | Pro, $245 |
| 277 prompts, 3 engines, once a week | 277 x 3 x 1 x 4.33 = 3,598 | Yes | Advanced, $495 (runs them daily) |
| 10 prompts, Claude only, daily | 10 x 5 x 7 x 4.33 = 1,516 | Yes | Enterprise only |
Prompt expansion multiplies AthenaHQ's bill again. When it is on, AthenaHQ runs 3 extra rephrasings of each prompt and every response counts 4 times toward credits.
Peec counts answers the simple way. Its pricing FAQ gives the formula: 25 prompts across 3 models for 30 days is 2,250 AI answers.
The rule of thumb: for a daily read on a few engines, Peec buys more data per dollar. For a weekly read across many engines, including Claude, Grok and DeepSeek, AthenaHQ's credit pool stretches further than Peec's self-serve plans, which stop at three models plus paid add-ons.
Which AI engines does each tool track?
AthenaHQ Starter includes 11 models with no contract, and more are available on request. Peec's self-serve plans run 3 models chosen from six, with Perplexity and extra models sold as add-ons. Peec Enterprise reaches up to 13 models, adding API-based models such as Claude Sonnet 4, Grok and DeepSeek.
| Engine | AthenaHQ Essential | AthenaHQ Starter | Peec self-serve (pick 3) | Peec Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Google AI Overviews | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Gemini | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft Copilot | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Perplexity | Yes | Yes | Add-on | Yes |
| Google AI Mode | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Naver AI | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Claude | No | Yes (5 credits) | No | Yes (API) |
| Grok | No | Yes (5 credits) | No | Yes (API) |
| DeepSeek | No | Yes (5 credits) | No | Yes (API) |
| Mistral | No | Yes (5 credits) | No | Yes (API) |
| Meta AI / Meta Spark | No | Yes (5 credits) | No | Yes (API) |
| GPT 5 Search, Qwen | No | No | No | Yes (API) |
The trade-off is plain. If you need Claude, Grok or DeepSeek without an enterprise contract, only AthenaHQ includes them. If you sell in Korea, only Peec lists Naver AI. If your three engines are ChatGPT, AI Overviews and Gemini, both tools cover them on their entry plans.
On cadence, Peec's FAQ says it executes each prompt once every 24 hours on every model you selected, which gives "apples-to-apples trend data across dates, models, and regions". AthenaHQ's calculator lets you pick 1 to 7 run days a week, and each run spends credits.
What does each tool do with the data?
Both go past dashboards. AthenaHQ runs a content optimization agent, recommends on-page and off-page actions and publishes to eight CMS and commerce platforms. Peec ranks earned and owned actions, opens existing pages in a content optimizer and runs the Peec Agent, with 500 to 1,000 agent credits by plan.
AthenaHQ, from its pricing page and integrations page:
- Actions. On-page and off-page GEO/SEO actions and a content optimization agent on Starter; the Athena Recommendation Engine and Athena Citation Engine on Enterprise.
- Publishing. WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Contentful, Sanity, Framer, Wix and Payload CMS. Contentful and Wix can receive drafts.
- Crawler control. A smart robots.txt and llms.txt to manage AI crawler access.
- Analytics. GA4 and Google Search Console, plus an MCP connection to ChatGPT or Claude.
- Governance. Its homepage FAQ states SOC II Type 2 certification and GDPR compliance.
Peec AI, from its pricing page and changelog:
- Actions. Gap analysis of sources that name competitors but not you, and ranked recommended actions grouped by earned and owned, on every plan.
- Content optimizer. Opens an existing page in an in-app editor with suggested changes you accept, edit or reject.
- Peec Agent. 500, 750 or 1,000 agent credits by plan, 30 built-in skills and 20+ MCP connectors such as Notion and Linear.
- Agent analytics. A robots.txt audit across 40+ AI bots, AI referrals and crawl insights, with 4.5 million bot visits on Starter.
- Fact-checking. Claims about your brand checked against facts you set: 5 prompts on Starter, 10 on Pro, 25 on Advanced.
- Governance. SOC 2 and role-based permissions on every plan.
Which tool fits which team?
AthenaHQ fits teams that want a free plan to start, many engines including Claude and Grok on one self-serve bill, and content pushed straight into their CMS. Peec AI fits teams that want daily data, unlimited users, the most prompts per dollar and an action list, and will publish content themselves.
Choose AthenaHQ if:
- You want to start free and stay free for a while on 300 credits.
- You need Claude, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI or Mistral without an enterprise contract.
- You want the tool to publish to WordPress, Shopify, Webflow or another supported CMS.
- You are happy to plan cadence against a credit budget.
Choose Peec AI if:
- You want every prompt run daily without doing credit maths.
- Your engines are ChatGPT, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Copilot, Gemini or Naver AI.
- You want 150 to 350 prompts on a self-serve plan.
- You want MCP and SOC 2 from the entry plan, and API access from Pro.
What is the verdict, criterion by criterion?
Peec wins on entry price, cost per answer, cadence and prompts per dollar. AthenaHQ wins on the free plan, self-serve engine coverage and CMS publishing. Mentionova wins only where flat pricing, Reddit threads and drafts pushed to a CMS matter more than daily runs. Every verdict below uses the vendors' live pricing pages.
| Criterion | AthenaHQ | Peec AI | Mentionova | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free option | Free plan, 300 credits | Free trial | Free trial, no card | AthenaHQ |
| Entry price | $295/mo | $95/mo | $125/mo, $99 annual | Peec |
| Cost per answer at entry | About $0.082 | About $0.021 | Not metered per answer | Peec |
| Cadence | 1 to 7 days a week | Daily | Weekly, every two weeks or monthly | Peec |
| Seats | Unlimited | Unlimited | 3 per plan | Tie: AthenaHQ and Peec |
| Engines, entry paid plan | 11 | 3 of 6 | 3 | AthenaHQ |
| Claude self-serve | Yes, 5 credits | No | Yes, on Scale | AthenaHQ and Mentionova |
| Content to CMS | 8 publishing targets | Not listed | WordPress, Webflow, Ghost, Sanity, webhook | AthenaHQ |
| Reddit as a tracked engine | Not listed | Not listed | Yes, on Scale | Mentionova |
Want drafts in your CMS at a flat price? Start a Mentionova free trial, no card.
Where does Mentionova fit as a third option?
Mentionova publishes flat prices, from $99 a month billed annually, and pushes finished drafts into your CMS. Scale tracks six engines, including Claude, Gemini and Reddit, for $400 a month or $320 billed annually. Scheduled runs are weekly, every two weeks or monthly, each brand plan has 3 seats, and there is no credit maths.
| Mentionova (pricing, read 2 Nov 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Starter | $125/mo, or $99/mo billed annually: 25 prompts, 3 engines, 100 agentic tasks a month |
| Scale | $400/mo, or $320/mo billed annually: 100 prompts, 6 engines, 500 agentic tasks |
| Enterprise | $999/mo, or $799/mo billed annually: 250 prompts, 6 engines, 2,500 agentic tasks |
| Engines | Starter: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google. Scale and Enterprise add Claude, Gemini and Reddit |
| Cadence | Weekly, every two weeks or monthly, plus on demand; daily through the API |
| Seats | 3 team seats on each brand plan |
| Content | Drafts pushed to WordPress, Webflow, Ghost, Sanity or a webhook, always as drafts |
| Lists the threads your engines cite and drafts a reply for you to post; Mentionova never posts for you | |
| Trial | Free trial on every paid plan, no card |
Where Mentionova is weaker than both: no daily scheduled runs, fewer seats, no Copilot or Google AI Mode, and no prompt-demand score. Pick it if the job is turning citation gaps into published pages at a price you can see in advance, and Reddit sits among the sources that shape answers in your category.
More detail: Mentionova vs Athena, Mentionova vs Peec AI and Peec AI alternatives.
Why does AI cite your competitors and not you, and which tool shows it?
AI engines name the brands that appear in the sources they retrieve. If competitors own the review sites, listicles and forum threads an engine reads, they get the mention. All three tools show which sources each engine cited. They differ in what they hand you once you see the gap.
What each tool does next:
- AthenaHQ shows sources and competitor insights, recommends on-page and off-page actions, and can publish the optimised content to your CMS.
- Peec AI runs a gap analysis of sources that name competitors but not you, ranks earned and owned actions, and lets the agent or the content optimizer work on them.
- Mentionova shows the cited sources across six engines on Scale, lists actionable opportunities with ready briefs, and drafts the content or the Reddit reply for a person to publish.
If your brand is missing from ChatGPT answers today, start with the cited sources, not your own homepage. Our guide on how to check if ChatGPT mentions your brand walks through a manual check you can run before any trial.
How do you test AthenaHQ and Peec AI before you commit?
Open AthenaHQ's free Essential plan and start Peec's free trial in the same week. In Peec, pick ChatGPT, AI Overviews and Gemini so the engines match what both cover for free. Load the same unbranded buying questions, compare mention rate and cited sources, then price your real workload.
A one-week plan:
- Day 1. Open both accounts. Add the same 10 to 20 unbranded prompts, such as "best [category] software for [use case]".
- Days 2 to 6. Let both collect data. Watch AthenaHQ's balance; Essential holds 300 credits, and 20 prompts on three engines once a day for five days spends exactly 300.
- Day 6. Compare mention rate, position and cited sources per engine.
- Day 7. Take the biggest gap to each tool's action layer: AthenaHQ's content recommendations, Peec's recommended actions. Note which gives you something to ship that week.
- Before you buy. Put your real prompt count, models and run days into AthenaHQ's credit calculator, and set the same workload against Peec's prompt tiers.
Where does each number come from?
All pages read on 2 November 2026.
- AthenaHQ: athenahq.ai/pricing (Essential, Starter, Enterprise, credits, models, annual discount, add-ons, seats, prompt volume); credit calculator (credits per model, formula, prompt expansion, Enterprise credits); integrations (publishing targets, GA4, Search Console, MCP); athenahq.ai (SOC II Type 2, GDPR).
- Peec AI: peec.ai/pricing (tiers, models, answers, add-on models, features, annual discount, API, MCP, SSO, SOC 2, agent credits); peec.ai (daily cadence FAQ); changelog (actions, content optimizer, agent skills and connectors).
- Mentionova: pricing; plans overview (seats, engines); AI visibility tracker (schedules); publishing targets.
What else do people ask about AthenaHQ and Peec AI?
Is AthenaHQ or Peec AI better?
Neither wins for every team. Peec is better for daily tracking, unlimited users and more prompts per dollar on self-serve plans. AthenaHQ is better if you want a free plan, 11 models including Claude and Grok without a contract, and direct publishing to your CMS.
How much does AthenaHQ cost?
Essential is free with 300 credits. Starter is $295 a month for 3,600 credits, with 17% off on annual billing. Enterprise is custom. API access and extra credits are paid add-ons on Starter.
How much does Peec AI cost?
Starter is $95 a month for 50 prompts, Pro $245 for 150 and Advanced $495 for 350, each on 3 models run daily. Enterprise is custom and annual. Annual billing takes 15% off, and each extra model costs $30 to $140 a month by plan.
Does Peec AI track Claude or Perplexity?
Perplexity is an add-on model on self-serve plans and part of Enterprise. Claude Sonnet 4 is listed as an API model on Enterprise only. Self-serve plans choose three from ChatGPT, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Copilot, Gemini and Naver AI.
What is an AthenaHQ credit?
One credit is one AI response. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini and Copilot cost 1 credit per response. Claude, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Mistral cost 5.
Can AthenaHQ or Peec AI publish content to my website?
AthenaHQ can: it lists WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Contentful, Sanity, Framer, Wix and Payload CMS. Peec's pricing page lists no CMS publishing; its content optimizer suggests edits to existing pages inside Peec.
Is there a cheaper alternative to AthenaHQ and Peec AI?
Mentionova starts at $99 a month billed annually ($125 monthly) for 25 prompts on 3 engines, and Scale covers six engines, including Claude and Reddit, for $320 a month billed annually. It drafts content into WordPress, Webflow, Ghost, Sanity or a webhook.
See which engines name you before you pick a tracker. Start a Mentionova free trial, no card.