Elmo vs Otterly.AI (2026): which should you pick?

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 Otterly.AI if

• Fits if a daily read on ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews and Copilot is what you need
• Works for agencies that brand client reports through Looker Studio, from Standard

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if Gemini, AI Mode or Claude matter to you, as they're paid add-ons on every plan, and all seven engines add $227 a month on Standard
• Not for you if you need white-label reports, as there aren't any
• Tight if you start on Lite, with 15 prompts, one workspace, no API or MCP, and no extra prompt packs
• Pricey if you outgrow Lite, as Standard is $160 a month yearly and extra prompts are $99 per 100, with 300 at most before Premium at $422
• Watch out: Claude is tracked through its API using the Haiku model, and crawler analytics needs server log files you upload

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.

Otterly.AI

• Google AI Mode and Gemini cost $9, $59 or $149 a month each by plan, and Claude $29, $109 or $439, so all seven engines on Standard add $227 a month.
• Google AI Mode, Gemini and Claude are paid add-ons on every plan; Claude is tracked through its API using the Haiku model.
• Lite has one workspace; extra prompts are sold in packs of 100 on Standard and Premium only.
• There is no white-label option; the Looker Studio connector is the suggested way to brand client reports.

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.

Otterly.AI

Daily prompt monitoring

Tracks set prompts every day and reports brand mentions, coverage, share of voice and sentiment per engine, in more than 70 countries.

Link citation analysis

Shows which URLs and domains each AI engine cites for a prompt, with a domain ranking to find the sources worth targeting.

AI prompt research

Suggests prompts customers are likely to ask AI search tools about a brand or topic, as a starting set to monitor.

GEO audit

A technical audit of site URLs for generative engine readiness; Lite allows 1,000 audited URLs a month, Premium 10,000.

Agent Analytics

Reports AI agent and crawler visits to your site from server log files you upload.

API, MCP and Looker Studio

An API and MCP server give programmatic access to the data; the Looker Studio connector comes with Standard and above.

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.

Otterly.AI

• Lite$25

  per month, billed yearly ($29 billed monthly)

  15 prompts tracked daily on ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Copilot, unlimited team members, one workspace. No API, MCP or extra prompts.

• Standard$160

  per month, billed yearly ($189 billed monthly)

  100 prompts, API, MCP and Agent Analytics. Extra prompts are $99 per 100 a month, up to 300 more before you must move to Premium.

• Premium$422

  per month, billed yearly ($489 billed monthly)

  400 prompts with everything in Standard. Extra prompts are $99 per 100 a month.

• EnterpriseCustom

  From 1,000 prompts, with SSO, custom terms, a quarterly GEO health check and a dedicated success manager.

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.

Otterly.AI

No public discounts listed.