Elmo vs LLMrefs (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 24, 2026, Elmo and LLMrefs share a 2.2 GPA, and only Elmo has a free plan.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 and Oct 24, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Elmo
Open-source AI visibility tracker, self-hosted free or as a cloud app
LLMrefs
Keyword-based AI search visibility tracker with one flat plan
Which one is for you
Pick Elmo if
- Fits if your prompt data must stay on your own servers and you can run Docker
- Works for developer teams that want an API, SDKs and MCP on every plan
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need more than ChatGPT for under $99 a month, as Starter covers ChatGPT only, once a day
- Not for you if you can't run servers, since the free edition is self-hosted and the hosting and AI API keys are on you
- Watch out: cloud plans cover any 4 platforms, and Claude (web) and Grok (web) are Pro and up, with extra pairings at $5 a month each
- Pricey if you track several brands, as 2 brands need Pro at $299 a month and 5 need Business at $649
Pick LLMrefs if
- Fits if you already track SEO keywords and want the same lists checked in AI answers
- Works for agencies, since projects and seats are unlimited on one plan
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need daily data, as it refreshes about once a week per keyword
- Not for you if you need SSO, white-label reports or an enterprise tier, as none are listed
- Skip it if you need a price you can count on, as $79 is marked limited time only
- Watch out: no integrations are listed beyond the API and CSV export
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAElmoFair | 2.2GPALLMrefsFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CStarter is $29 a month for 50 prompts, at the edge of this category's cheaper quarter, but it's ChatGPT only, once a day. Four engines and 4 checks a day start at Basic for $99, above the dearer quarter at $95. Self-hosting is free, but you pay for servers and API keys. | C$79 a month for 500 prompts on every engine, with unlimited projects and seats. That's mid-range for this category, between $29 and $95. But the price is marked limited time only, with no end date or regular price given. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free cloud plan or trial. The free edition is the full product with unlimited prompts, but you host it yourself with Docker and pay for the servers and the AI providers' API keys. | CNo free plan, but a 7-day free trial, and signing up needs no credit card. |
| Features | CVisibility, share of voice, sentiment, position, citations and the searches a model ran, read from real chat screens or APIs, plus prompt suggestions. The gap the listing names: cloud plans cover any 4 platforms, and Claude (web) and Grok (web) start at Pro. | CFan-out prompts built from your keywords, share of voice and position across ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Grok, Copilot, Meta AI and DeepSeek, and cited sources in 50+ countries. The gap: data refreshes weekly, not daily. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. The cloud app suggests prompts, but you still choose four platforms and what to track. The free edition needs Docker, a CLI and your own PostgreSQL database. | CNo rating on record. Importing an SEO keyword list is a familiar start, but you still set up projects, countries and competitors before the rankings say much. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app. Every plan has a REST API with TypeScript and Python SDKs and an MCP server for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and VS Code. | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app and no integrations on record. The one plan includes an API and CSV export. |
| Best for | self-hosted AI visibility tracking | tracking AI visibility by keyword, not prompt |
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: Elmo and LLMrefs. How we grade
Price against what you get
Elmo starts at $29 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. LLMrefs starts at $79 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Elmo starts $50 a month lower. Of the other AI search visibility tools on the chart, 6 score higher than Elmo for less, and 13 score higher than LLMrefs 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
- Elmo is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
At a glance
| Elmo | LLMrefs | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $29 per month for 50 prompts on ChatGPT, billed monthly | $79 per month for 500 prompts |
| Free plan | The self-hosted edition is free and open source, with unlimited prompts and every model; you pay for your own servers and AI provider API keys. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial; signing up needs no credit card |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Blue Whale Software, LLC | LLMrefs |
| Price read from | elmohq.com | llmrefs.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Elmo
- Starter tracks ChatGPT only, once a day; other engines and 4 daily checks start at Basic for $99 a month.
- Paid cloud plans cover any 4 platforms; premium models such as Claude (web) and Grok (web) are Pro and up, with extra pairings at $5 a month each.
- Self-hosting is free but you pay for your own servers and for the AI provider API keys it uses.
- White-label deployments for agencies are quoted on request.
LLMrefs
- There is one plan; the $79 price is labeled limited time only, with no end date or regular price given.
- Dashboard data refreshes at least once a week per keyword, not daily.
- The pricing page lists no enterprise tier, SSO or white-label options.
Key features
Elmo
- Visibility, share of voice and sentiment
- Each prompt gets a visibility score from 0 to 100%, plus share of voice against competitors, a sentiment score and the brand's position in the answer.
- Real interfaces and APIs
- ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Perplexity and other consumer apps are scraped from the screens users see; Qwen, DeepSeek, Mistral and Claude are queried through their APIs.
- Citation and search analysis
- Breaks each answer into the domains and URLs cited and the web searches the model ran to find them.
- Prompt Wizard
- Suggests the questions buyers are likely to ask, based on the site's products, competitors and personas, and starts tracking them.
- REST API and MCP server
- Every plan includes a REST API with TypeScript and Python SDKs, and an MCP server for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and VS Code.
- Self-hosting
- Runs as a Docker Compose stack set up with a CLI, storing brands, prompts and answers in your own PostgreSQL database.
LLMrefs
- Keyword-based tracking
- Import SEO keyword lists; LLMrefs generates fan-out prompts for each keyword from real AI conversations and aggregates the answers.
- Share of voice rankings
- Ranks brands against competitors per keyword by share of voice and average position, weighted across every prompt.
- Source and citation lists
- Shows and filters the URLs AI engines cite when answering about your products, to find content and outreach targets.
- Countries and languages
- Geo-targeted tracking in 50+ countries and 20+ languages, filterable by engine and country.
- Agency projects
- Unlimited projects and seats under one subscription, with client dashboards and keywords spread across projects.
- Free AI SEO tools
- An AI crawlability checker, a Reddit threads finder and an llms.txt generator come with the plan.
Plans
Elmo
Self-hosted$0
The same product on your own servers via Docker, with unlimited prompts and any model. You host it yourself.
Starter$29
per month for 50 prompts on ChatGPT only, billed monthly
1 brand, each prompt checked once a day in ChatGPT, unlimited seats, and API and MCP access.
Basic$99
per month for 50 prompts on 4 AI platforms, billed monthly
1 brand, with prompts checked 4 times a day on any 4 platforms picked from ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews, Copilot, Perplexity, Gemini and others.
Pro$299
per month for 150 prompts on 4 AI platforms, billed monthly
2 brands, checks 4 times a day, plus 20 daily premium pairings on Claude (web), GPT Search or Grok (web).
Business$649
per month for 350 prompts on 4 AI platforms, billed monthly
5 brands, checks 4 times a day, plus 30 daily premium prompt and model pairings.
CustomCustom
More brands, custom prompt limits, more frequent sampling and any models, by contract.
LLMrefs
All in One$79
per month for 500 prompts
All AI engines, weekly reports, citations, 50+ countries, unlimited projects and users, CSV export and API. Marked limited time only.
Ways to pay less
Elmo
- Annual discount
Two months free with annual billing
Elmo's pricing page says annual billing saves two months: Starter is $290 a year instead of $29 a month, and Basic $990 instead of $99 a month.
LLMrefs
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Elmo or LLMrefs?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Elmo is cheaper to start with: $29 a month, against $79 a month for LLMrefs. Elmo starts at $29 per month for 50 prompts on ChatGPT, billed monthly, and LLMrefs starts at $79 per month for 500 prompts.
Which has a free plan, Elmo or LLMrefs?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Elmo has a free plan. LLMrefs 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.