AthenaHQ vs KIME (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, AthenaHQ and KIME share a 2.2 GPA, and only AthenaHQ has a free plan.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
AthenaHQ grades higher on features. KIME grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
AthenaHQ
Credit-based AI search tracking with content optimization agents
KIME
AI visibility tracking with an agent that carries out fixes
Which one is for you
Pick AthenaHQ if
- Fits if you want to look at real AI answers about your brand before paying anything
- Works for shops checking their products in ChatGPT, AI Mode and Gemini shopping results
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you outgrow the free credits, as the next step is $245 a month on yearly billing
- Tight if you track lots of prompts every day, because every answer spends a credit
- Skip it if you need Claude, AI Mode or Grok on the free plan, as they start on Starter
- Watch out: the API and extra credits on Starter are add-ons priced only on request
- Not for you if you need SSO, audit logs or multi-region tracking without an Enterprise contract
Pick KIME if
- Fits if you want an agent to carry out some fixes, within 10 actions a month on Explorer
- Works for teams starting to run ChatGPT ads, as the campaign builder is on every plan
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you need Perplexity too, as a third engine means Core at $459 a month
- Skip it if Claude tracking matters, as KIME prices it well above the other engines
- Tight if you want lots of agent work, with 10 actions a month on Explorer and 30 on Core
- Watch out: quarterly and annual plans keep running to the end of the term when you cancel
- Watch out: Grok, DeepSeek, Copilot and Meta AI are only on Enterprise, and prices show in euros by default
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAthenaHQFair | 2.2GPAKIMEFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DStarter is $245 a month billed annually, $295 monthly, for 3,600 credits. That sits in this category's dearest tenth, which starts at $129, and the API and extra credits are add-ons priced only on request. | CExplorer is $109 a month (€99) for 50 prompts on 2 engines, 10 agent actions, 5 seats, MCP and the API. That's above this category's dearer quarter, short of its dearest tenth. Yearly billing saves 15%. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan, Essential, with 300 credits on ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, Gemini and Copilot and unlimited users. But one credit is one AI answer, so 10 prompts on 5 models spend 50 credits a run. You'll hit the wall fast. | CA 7-day free trial of Explorer or Core with the full features, started from the pricing page with no sales call. There's no free plan. |
| Features | BUp to 11 models on Starter, Claude, AI Mode and Grok among them, with competitor benchmarks, sentiment and source insights. It adds an optimization agent, AI shopping results and robots.txt and llms.txt controls. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core job. | CDaily tracking by country and language, sentiment, citations, prompt volume estimates, an agent that writes content or outreach, ChatGPT ads and a site check. The gaps: Explorer covers 2 engines, Core 3, and agent actions are capped monthly. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. Credits take some working out: there's a whole calculator just for estimating how prompts, locations, models and cadence add up. | CNo rating on record. It suggests prompts, but you still pick engines, countries and competitors, and decide what the 10 agent actions go on. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app. It links to Google Analytics, Search Console, WordPress, Shopify and Webflow, and works inside ChatGPT or Claude over MCP. The API is a paid add-on. | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app. Every plan has MCP for ChatGPT and Claude, an API and a Looker Studio connection. |
| Best for | a free start on credit-based AI answer tracking | AI visibility tracking with an agent that does the fixes |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: AthenaHQ and KIME. How we grade
Price against what you get
AthenaHQ starts at $245 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. KIME starts at $109 a month and scores 2.3.
AthenaHQ scores higher, and starts $136 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other AI search visibility tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than AthenaHQ for less, and 22 score higher than KIME for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- AthenaHQ also covers content optimization.
- KIME also covers site audit and dashboards.
At a glance
| AthenaHQ | KIME | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $245 per month, billed annually ($295 billed monthly) | $109 per month for 50 prompts on 2 AI engines, billed monthly |
| Free plan | Essential plan: $25 of credit (300 credits, 1 credit = 1 AI response) across ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, Gemini and Copilot, with unlimited users. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial of Explorer or Core with the plan's full features |
| Web | ||
| Made by | AthenaHQ | KIME |
| Price read from | athenahq.ai | kime.ai |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
AthenaHQ
- Everything runs on credits: 3,600 a month on Starter. A free credit calculator helps estimate use by prompts, locations, models and cadence.
- API access and extra credits on Starter are paid add-ons whose prices are given only on request.
- The free Essential plan covers 5 models; Claude, AI Mode, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Mistral need Starter.
- SSO, audit logs, multi-region tracking and BI dashboards come only with Enterprise.
KIME
- Prices show in euros by default; the dollar figures here come from the page's currency switcher data.
- Explorer covers 2 AI engines and Core 3; each extra engine raises the price, with Claude priced well above the others.
- Agent executions are capped each month: 10 on Explorer, 30 on Core, 40 to 100 on Enterprise.
- Quarterly and annual plans run to the end of the committed term when cancelled.
Key features
AthenaHQ
- AI answer monitoring
- Analyzes prompts and responses for brand mentions, competitor benchmarking and real-time sentiment across up to 11 models on Starter.
- Sources and citation intelligence
- Shows which sources AI answers draw on and where competitors are cited instead of you.
- Content optimization agent
- Recommends on-page and off-page actions and rewrites content against brand guidelines; drafts can be published to WordPress, Shopify and other CMSs.
- Shopping insights
- Shows how a site's products appear in AI shopping results in ChatGPT, AI Mode and Gemini carousels, with position and competitor pricing.
- AI crawler controls
- Manages AI crawler access through a generated robots.txt and llms.txt.
- MCP and analytics connections
- Connects Google Analytics and Search Console to tie AI visibility to traffic, and works inside ChatGPT or Claude through MCP.
KIME
- Prompt tracking
- Runs chosen prompts daily by country and language and reports visibility, placement, share of voice, sentiment and citations against competitors.
- AI Perception
- Shows how AI models describe and perceive a brand, with a prompt volume estimator and prompt suggestions.
- AWX agentic execution
- An action center ranks opportunities, and the agent carries some out: writing content, drafting outreach or fixing structure. 10 a month on Explorer, 30 on Core.
- ChatGPT ads
- A campaign builder and ads manager for ChatGPT ads, and a library of ads seen across AI search engines, on every plan.
- AI website health check
- Scores how ready a website is for AI crawlers and answer engines.
- MCP, API and Data Studio
- Every plan can connect KIME's data to AI agents through MCP, query it by API, or pull it into Data Studio.
Plans
AthenaHQ
Essential$0
300 credits on 5 models, unlimited users, prompt and source analysis, content recommendations and the Athena AI agent.
Starter$245
per month for 3,600 credits, billed annually ($295 monthly)
11 models including Claude, AI Mode, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Mistral; unlimited topics, prompts and competitors, CSV export and the optimization agent.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom credits and websites, API access, knowledge base and claim review, multi-region tracking, BI dashboards, SAML SSO, audit logs and a 2-hour SLA.
KIME
Explorer$109
per month for 50 prompts on 2 AI engines, billed monthly
ChatGPT and Google AI Mode included, 3,000 AI responses and 10 agent executions a month, 5 seats, MCP and API access. €99 in euros.
Core$459
per month for 200 prompts on 3 AI engines, billed monthly
Adds Perplexity, 18,000 AI responses and 30 agent executions a month, 10 seats and onboarding. €399 in euros.
Agency starter$569
per month for 200 prompts, billed monthly
For agencies: 10 seats, unlimited client and pitch workspaces, and view-only access for clients. €499 in euros.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom prompt volume, all engines including Grok, DeepSeek, Copilot and Meta AI, 30 to 50 seats, Slack support and quarterly workshops.
Ways to pay less
AthenaHQ
- Annual discount
17% off with annual billing
AthenaHQ's plans page takes 17% off for annual billing, described as two months free: Starter is $245 a month instead of $295.
KIME
- Annual discount
Save 15% with annual billing
KIME's pricing page says annual billing saves 15% and quarterly billing 5% compared with paying monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, AthenaHQ or KIME?
As of Oct 23, 2026, KIME is cheaper to start with: $109 a month, against $245 a month for AthenaHQ. AthenaHQ starts at $245 per month, billed annually ($295 billed monthly), and KIME starts at $109 per month for 50 prompts on 2 AI engines, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, AthenaHQ or KIME?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only AthenaHQ has a free plan. KIME does not, though it has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.