AthenaHQ vs Ranketta (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, AthenaHQ grades higher than Ranketta: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
AthenaHQ grades higher on the free plan and features. Ranketta grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on 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
Ranketta
AI shopping visibility tracking and catalog merchandising for stores
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 Ranketta if
- Fits if you run a Shopify or Adobe Commerce store and want to see how AI assistants list your products
- Works for agencies reporting AI visibility across several client stores
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as there is only a 7-day trial
- Tight if you are on Tracker: 2 AI models, 30 prompts each and no merchandising credits
- Pricey if you need more than one site or country, which starts at €199 a month on Growth
- Watch out: merchandising, Agent Mode and article generation share monthly credits, and extra packs cost from €10 a month
- Watch out: prices are in euros and the page shown is the Online Stores view, with separate Brands and Agencies tabs
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAthenaHQFair | 2.0GPARankettaFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | C€29 a month for Tracker, which is the edge of the category's cheaper quarter ($29), but the merchandising needs Starter at €79 a month. |
| 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. | DA 7-day trial on every plan and no free plan. The pricing page does not say whether a card is needed. |
| 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. | CAI visibility tracking, catalog merchandising, content drafting and AI traffic attribution. Tracker has no merchandising credits and covers just 2 AI models. |
| 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 store rating on record, and it works from your store, a feed and Google Merchant Center that you have to connect first. |
| 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 app with Shopify, Adobe Commerce, Shoptet, Google Merchant Center, Looker Studio and ChatGPT connections. No desktop or phone apps. |
| Best for | a free start on credit-based AI answer tracking | AI shopping visibility for online stores |
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 Ranketta. 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. Ranketta starts at about $32.40 a month and scores 2.3.
AthenaHQ scores higher, and starts $212.60 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 7 score higher than Ranketta 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.
- Ranketta also covers reports.
At a glance
| AthenaHQ | Ranketta | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $245 per month, billed annually ($295 billed monthly) | €29 per month for 2 AI models and 30 prompts per model, 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 on every plan |
| Web | ||
| Made by | AthenaHQ | Ranketta |
| Price read from | athenahq.ai | ranketta.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Nov 13, 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.
Ranketta
- Prices are listed in euros; the pricing page shown is the Online Stores view, and Brands and Agencies have their own tabs.
- The number of AI models you can track steps up with the plan, from 2 on Tracker to 5 on Scale, and the Tracker plan has no merchandising credits.
- Merchandising, Agent Mode and article generation draw on shared monthly credits; extra credit packs start from €10 per month.
- There is no free plan, only a 7-day trial.
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.
Ranketta
- AI visibility monitoring
- Tracks how often AI assistants recommend a store's products and brand across a chosen set of prompts and AI models, with sentiment around the mentions.
- Catalog merchandising
- Rewrites product titles, attributes and descriptions to fill the gaps AI engines look for, using a monthly pool of credits on Starter and above.
- Content drafting with approval
- Drafts articles to close content gaps. The FAQ says nothing goes live without the customer's approval before it syncs to the site.
- AI traffic attribution
- A capabilities page covers attributing site traffic that arrives from AI platforms.
- Agency reporting
- Agencies can run several clients from one account, with share-of-voice reports and Looker Studio reporting per the FAQ.
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.
Ranketta
Tracker€29
per month for 2 AI models and 30 prompts per model, billed monthly
1 website and 1 country, with MCP access. The page shows a saving of €60 a year on annual billing.
Starter€79
per month for 3 AI models and 50 prompts per model, billed monthly
Adds merchandising and 5k credits a month, for 1 website and 1 country. Annual billing saves €180 a year.
Growth€199
per month for 4 AI models and 100 prompts per model, billed monthly
15k credits a month, 2 websites and 3 countries. Annual billing saves €420 a year.
Scale€449
per month for 5 AI models and 300 prompts per model, billed monthly
45k credits a month, 5 websites and 10 countries. Annual billing saves €900 a year.
EnterpriseCustom
For large catalogs: 10+ AI models, 1000+ prompts, multi-site, custom feeds and a dedicated specialist. Sold through a demo call.
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.
Ranketta
- Annual discount
Annual billing saves 2 months
The pricing page offers yearly billing with '2 months free' and shows the yearly saving on each plan, for example €60 a year on Tracker.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, AthenaHQ or Ranketta?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Ranketta is cheaper to start with: about $32.40 a month, against $245 a month for AthenaHQ. AthenaHQ starts at $245 per month, billed annually ($295 billed monthly), and Ranketta starts at €29 per month for 2 AI models and 30 prompts per model, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, AthenaHQ or Ranketta?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only AthenaHQ has a free plan. Ranketta 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.