AthenaHQ vs Parse (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, AthenaHQ and Parse share a 2.2 GPA, both have a free plan, and Parse starts cheaper, at $79 a month against $245 a month.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
AthenaHQ grades higher on features. Parse 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
Parse
AI visibility tracking with outreach tasks handled for you
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 Parse if
- Fits if you want outreach drafted and sent for you, up to 4 tasks a month on Pro
- Works for online and national brands tracked one brand at a time
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you're a local business, as questions aren't tailored to a location
- Too light for wide engine coverage, with only ChatGPT and Google AI Mode, and free topics on ChatGPT only
- Pricey if you run several brands, as Pro is charged per brand
- Watch out: $79 is a launch price against a planned $129, with no date for the change
- Tight if you want more than 4 tasks a month, as extra work is a custom Managed deal
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAthenaHQFair | 2.2GPAParseFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CPro is $79 a month per brand, a launch price shown against a planned $129, with no date for the change. That's a little above this category's middle, and it includes up to 4 tasks a month with the outreach handled. |
| 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 free plan with no card: one brand, weekly updates, 3 topics of your own on ChatGPT only and a preview of 3 tasks. The caps come quickly. |
| 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. | CA mentioned-in score, buyer questions found for you, what AI says about you with the pages behind it, and outreach done for you on Pro. The gaps: only ChatGPT and Google AI Mode, and questions aren't tailored to a location. |
| 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. Parse finds the questions for you, and there are still tasks and outreach drafts to review each month. |
| 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 an MCP server that connects it to Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor, where you can list tasks and edit outreach drafts. |
| Best for | a free start on credit-based AI answer tracking | AI visibility with the outreach done for you |
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 Parse. 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. Parse starts at $79 a month and scores 2.3.
AthenaHQ scores higher, and starts $166 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 13 score higher than Parse 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 AI agents and content optimization.
- Parse also covers link outreach.
At a glance
| AthenaHQ | Parse | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $245 per month, billed annually ($295 billed monthly) | $79 per brand / month (launch price; $129 planned) |
| 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. | One brand with weekly updates, up to 3 topics of your own (asked on ChatGPT only), a preview of up to 3 suggested tasks and a Monday change email. No card required. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | AthenaHQ | Parse, Inc. |
| Price read from | athenahq.ai | parse.gl |
| 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.
Parse
- It tracks only ChatGPT and Google AI Mode; topics added on the free plan are asked on ChatGPT only.
- Pro is $79 per brand at launch, against a planned $129; the page gives no date for the change.
- Questions are not tailored to a buyer's location, so Parse says it suits online and national brands better than local ones.
- Pro includes up to 4 tasks a month; more work is a custom arrangement.
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.
Parse
- Mentioned-in score
- The share of tracked answers that mention your brand, across questions about you and your rivals, with weekly or daily updates by plan.
- Buyer questions found for you
- Parse works out what buyers in your market ask AI; you can add your own topics too, up to 3 on Free and 15 on Pro.
- What AI says about you
- Summarizes the strengths, criticisms and rival comparisons that appear in answers, and shows the answers and cited pages behind each result.
- Tasks and outreach
- Suggests pages to pitch, threads to answer and site fixes such as a robots.txt block; Pro drafts and sends the outreach and follows up.
- Public brand index
- Free brand checks without sign-up, drawing on an index Parse puts at over 800,000 brands and 4 million AI answers.
- MCP server
- Connects to Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor; public lookups are free, and a connected workspace can list tasks and edit outreach drafts in chat.
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.
Parse
Free$0
One brand, weekly updates, up to 3 custom topics on ChatGPT only, and a preview of 3 suggested tasks.
Pro$79
per brand / month
Launch price, shown against a planned regular $129. Daily tracking, 15 custom topics, and up to 4 tasks a month with outreach handled.
ManagedCustom
Custom work for more than 4 tasks a month or larger campaigns, arranged by contacting Parse.
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.
Parse
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, AthenaHQ or Parse?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Parse is cheaper to start with: $79 a month, against $245 a month for AthenaHQ. AthenaHQ starts at $245 per month, billed annually ($295 billed monthly), and Parse starts at $79 per brand / month (launch price; $129 planned).
Which has a free plan, AthenaHQ or Parse?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both AthenaHQ and Parse have a free plan.
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.