AthenaHQ vs Searchable (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, AthenaHQ and Searchable 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. Searchable 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
Searchable
AI search visibility tracking with an agent, articles and site audits
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 Searchable if
- Fits if you want tracking, articles and site audits on one bill
- Works for teams where many people need access, as projects and seats are unlimited on every plan
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if Gemini or AI Mode matter, as both are add-ons priced only through sales
- Tight if you need the API, Looker Studio or white-label reports, which start at Scale for $400 a month
- Not for you if you want live citations from Claude or Grok, as the Lite add-ons have web search off
- Watch out: Pro keeps only 12 months of data, and yearly prices are hidden until you flip the toggle
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAthenaHQFair | 2.2GPASearchableFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 $125 a month, billed monthly, for 100 prompts per model, 20 articles and 200 audits. That's the top of this category's usual range, just under the dearest tenth at $129, and add-on engines are priced only through sales. |
| 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. | CNo free plan, but a 14-day free trial of Pro with no credit card needed. Two weeks is longer than most here give. |
| 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 mentions and citations, an AI agent, a content studio, technical audits, agent analytics and AI shopping data. The gap the listing names: only ChatGPT, AI Overviews and Perplexity are included, so Gemini, AI Mode, Copilot and Claude cost extra. |
| 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. Projects, prompts and countries to set up, and any add-on engines arranged through sales before you see the full picture. |
| 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. It connects to Google Analytics, Search Console, HubSpot and Salesforce, with MCP on every plan; Looker Studio and the API start at Scale. |
| Best for | a free start on credit-based AI answer tracking | AI tracking with articles and site audits bundled |
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 Searchable. 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. Searchable starts at $125 a month and scores 2.3.
AthenaHQ scores higher, and starts $120 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 23 score higher than Searchable 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.
- Searchable also covers long-form writing, reports, site audit and schema markup.
At a glance
| AthenaHQ | Searchable | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $245 per month, billed annually ($295 billed monthly) | $125 per month for 100 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 | 14-day free trial of Pro, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | AthenaHQ | Searchable Limited |
| Price read from | athenahq.ai | searchable.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.
Searchable
- Only ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity are included; Copilot, Gemini, AI Mode, Claude, Grok and DeepSeek are paid add-ons priced through sales.
- Claude Lite and Grok Lite add-ons answer from training data with web search off, so they show no live citations.
- Pro keeps 12 months of data and has no API, Looker Studio or white-label reports.
- Annual billing is offered, but the page does not show its prices without switching the toggle.
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.
Searchable
- AEO Insights
- Tracks mentions, citations and competitor visibility in AI answers daily, across unlimited countries and projects.
- AI agent
- A chat agent that learns the brand and answers questions like where competitors are winning, then drafts fixes such as an llms.txt file.
- Content Studio
- Writes blog posts, landing pages and product descriptions aimed at AI citation: 20 a month on Pro, 80 on Scale and 200 on Enterprise.
- Technical audits
- Site audits look for schema markup gaps, content structure issues and crawlability problems that affect AI engines.
- Agent analytics and AI shopping
- Reports AI crawler and agent visits to the site, with region-level analytics and data on AI shopping answers.
- Reports, MCP and API
- Every plan creates reports and exports data and includes MCP; Looker Studio, white-label reports and the API start at Scale.
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.
Searchable
Pro$125
per month for 100 prompts per model, billed monthly
ChatGPT, AI Overviews and Perplexity checked daily, 20 articles and 200 site audits a month, unlimited projects and seats, 12 months of data.
Scale$400
per month for 500 prompts per model, billed monthly
80 articles and 1,000 audits a month, with Looker Studio, white-label reports, the API and unlimited data retention.
Enterprise$999
per month for 1,250 prompts per model, billed monthly
200 articles and 3,000 audits a month and a dedicated specialist. Sold through sales.
CustomCustom
Custom prompt tracking on any models, daily or weekly checks, unlimited projects, SSO and a dedicated AEO specialist.
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.
Searchable
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, AthenaHQ or Searchable?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Searchable is cheaper to start with: $125 a month, against $245 a month for AthenaHQ. AthenaHQ starts at $245 per month, billed annually ($295 billed monthly), and Searchable starts at $125 per month for 100 prompts per model, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, AthenaHQ or Searchable?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only AthenaHQ has a free plan. Searchable 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.