AthenaHQ vs RivalSee (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, AthenaHQ grades higher than RivalSee: 2.2 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
AthenaHQ grades higher on the free plan, features and platforms. RivalSee grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on ease of use.
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
RivalSee
Persona-based AI visibility tracking for businesses and agencies
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 RivalSee if
- Fits if you think in customer types rather than keyword lists, and weekly data is enough
- Works for agencies that pitch clients with co-branded reports, on the Enterprise / Agencies plan
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need daily numbers, as it refreshes weekly on Startup or twice a week on Pro
- Not for you if reports must stay private without you changing a setting, as they're public links by default
- Pricey if you run lots of sites, at $59.99 a month for each extra one, or $109.99 on Pro
- Watch out: there's no free plan or trial, only one baseline scan with a single persona on ChatGPT and Gemini
- Watch out: the FAQ says plans start at $59, but the pricing table shows $69.99, and no integrations or API are listed
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAthenaHQFair | 1.8GPARivalSeeWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CStartup is $69.99 a month for one site checked weekly, above this category's $49 middle. Each extra site is $59.99, and twice-weekly checks need Pro at $129.99. |
| 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. | DNo free plan or trial. There's one free baseline scan with a single persona on ChatGPT and Gemini, plus a 7-day money-back guarantee. |
| 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. | CPersonas built from your site, five engines including ChatGPT's search mode, rival win and loss analysis, cited pages and content gaps. The gap is in its own listing: data refreshes weekly on Startup and twice a week on Pro, never daily. |
| 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 builds the personas and questions itself, and you'll want to check them before trusting the numbers. |
| 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. | CWeb only, and the listing names no integrations or API. Reports go out as shareable links. |
| Best for | a free start on credit-based AI answer tracking | tracking AI answers through your buyers' eyes |
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 RivalSee. 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. RivalSee starts at $69.99 a month and scores 2.0.
AthenaHQ scores higher, and starts $175.01 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 54 score higher than RivalSee 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.
- RivalSee also covers reports.
At a glance
| AthenaHQ | RivalSee | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $245 per month, billed annually ($295 billed monthly) | $69.99 per month for 1 site, checked weekly |
| 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 | One free baseline scan: 1 persona, ChatGPT and Gemini only |
| Web | ||
| Made by | AthenaHQ | Second Coffee, LLC |
| Price read from | athenahq.ai | rivalsee.com |
| 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.
RivalSee
- Data refreshes weekly on Startup and twice a week on Pro, not daily.
- Reports are public, shareable links by default; paid plans can switch them to private.
- There is no ongoing free plan; paid plans carry a 7-day money-back guarantee.
- The homepage FAQ says plans start at $59 a month, but the pricing table shows $69.99 for the first site.
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.
RivalSee
- Automatic personas
- Reads your site to create customer segments and personas, then has each persona ask questions in its own context instead of using a keyword list.
- Multi-model tracking
- Scans ChatGPT (standard and Search mode), Google AI Overviews, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini, with share of voice and trends over time.
- Competitor benchmarks
- Tracks top competitors automatically, with win/loss analysis and the pages and sources AI cites when it recommends them.
- Content recommendations
- Flags prompts where you are missing, the pages models favor, the web searches AI runs and the content gaps to fill.
- Agency Mode
- Manages many client sites in one dashboard, with co-branded reports, shareable public links and view-only client access.
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.
RivalSee
Startup$69.99
per month for 1 site, checked weekly
3 customer segments, 6 personas and 150+ queries per analysis across several AI models. Extra sites $59.99 a month each.
Pro$129.99
per month for 1 site, checked twice a week
5 segments, 10 personas and 250+ queries per analysis, historical tracking and priority support. Extra sites $109.99 a month each.
Enterprise / AgenciesCustom
Custom tracking cadences, Agency Mode for many client sites, white-label reporting and dedicated support.
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.
RivalSee
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, AthenaHQ or RivalSee?
As of Oct 23, 2026, RivalSee is cheaper to start with: $69.99 a month, against $245 a month for AthenaHQ. AthenaHQ starts at $245 per month, billed annually ($295 billed monthly), and RivalSee starts at $69.99 per month for 1 site, checked weekly.
Which has a free plan, AthenaHQ or RivalSee?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only AthenaHQ has a free plan. RivalSee 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.