Known Agents vs llms-txt.io (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 24, 2026, llms-txt.io grades higher than Known Agents: 3.0 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 and Oct 24, 2026 by ToolGPA
llms-txt.io grades higher on value for money and ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Known Agents
Analytics and access control for the AI bots that visit your site
llms-txt.io
llms.txt generator, validator, API and auto-updating managed files
Which one is for you
Pick Known Agents if
- Fits if you publish online and want to choose which AI crawlers can read your site
- Works for developers who need to verify AI agents in their own code through an API
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to know what ChatGPT says about your brand, as it doesn't check answers
- Tight if your site is busy: every API call and batch item counts, so budget about twice your human visits
- Not for you if you can't touch your server, CDN or WordPress setup, as there's no pasted script
- Watch out: the free plan stops at 100,000 events a month, with 1 project and only the basic features
- Watch out: custom features, a custom API and live support are on Enterprise, arranged through a demo
Pick llms-txt.io if
- Fits if your docs are read by AI coding assistants and you want an llms.txt for them
- Works for teams that want the file regenerated when the docs change, from $15 a month
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want to know whether AI search mentions or cites you, as it doesn't track that
- Tight if your site is big: llms-full.txt stops at 20 pages free, 50 on Starter and 100 on Pro
- Watch out: the free API returns only the short llms.txt, and calls past the monthly quota fail until the month resets
- Pricey if you need more than 10 managed sites or a white-label generator, which need the sales-priced Business plan
- Skip it if you want yearly billing, as plans are monthly only
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAKnown AgentsGood | 3.0GPAllms-txt.ioVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BStartup is $25 a month billed yearly, or $29 monthly, for 3 projects and 1 million events. That's inside the cheaper quarter of this category, which starts at $29, and well under Siteline's $49. | AThe web generator is free with no account, and a managed site that stays current is $15 a month, under $17.40, which is 60% of where this category's cheaper quarter starts. Pro is $49 for 10 sites. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree with no card and no time limit: 1 project and 100,000 events a month, which the vendor says covers most websites. It's a hard cap, though, and the premium features are paid. | BUnlimited web generation with no account, plus an API key with 25 generations and 2,000 validations a month. The limits: llms-full.txt stops at 20 pages, and keeping files current needs a paid plan. |
| Features | CBot and agent analytics, AI chat referrals, a robots.txt that updates itself and an API to verify agents. It does that job fully, but it's a smaller one: it doesn't check what AI engines say about your brand. | CA generator, a validator, an agent readiness scan, an API and files that regenerate when content changes. It does the llms.txt job fully, but that's a smaller job than this category's, with no tracking of AI answers. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. Data comes from your server, CDN or WordPress rather than a pasted script, so there's a bit of plumbing before anything shows up. | BNo rating on record, but the web generator needs only a URL and no account. The API and webhooks are there for developers who want them. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app. It hooks into WordPress, Cloudflare, Fastly, Akamai, AWS, Google Cloud, Vercel and Node.js, and has an agent identification API. | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app and no named integrations. An API on every plan, the free one included, and webhook delivery let scripts and CI use it. |
| Best for | seeing which AI bots visit your site | llms.txt files that keep up with your docs |
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: Known Agents and llms-txt.io. How we grade
Price against what you get
Known Agents starts at $25 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. llms-txt.io starts at $15 a month and scores 2.7.
llms-txt.io scores higher and starts $10 a month lower. Of the other AI search visibility tools on the chart, 4 score higher than Known Agents for less, and none scores higher than llms-txt.io 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
- Known Agents also covers web analytics and AI search visibility.
- llms-txt.io also covers site audit.
At a glance
| Known Agents | llms-txt.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $25 per month for 1M events, billed yearly ($29 billed monthly) | $15 per month for 1 managed site, billed monthly |
| Free plan | 1 project and 100,000 events a month with the basic features; the event limit is a hard cap. No credit card needed. | Unlimited use of the web generator with no account, llms-full.txt up to 20 pages, and an API key with 25 generations and 2,000 validations a month. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Bit Flip LLC | Lemon Tree Ventures, LLC |
| Price read from | knownagents.com | llms-txt.io |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Known Agents
- It measures bot visits and AI referrals to your site; it does not check what AI engines say about your brand in their answers.
- Events include every API call and each item in a batch; the vendor suggests budgeting about twice your monthly human visits.
- The free plan stops at its monthly event limit; paid plans get an email suggesting an upgrade when they run over.
- It needs a server, CDN or WordPress integration to collect data, rather than a script pasted into the page.
llms-txt.io
- It produces and checks llms.txt files; it does not track whether AI search engines mention or cite a brand.
- Through the API, llms-full.txt needs Starter or above; the free API plan returns only the shorter llms.txt.
- API calls past the monthly quota return errors until the next month, and unused quota does not roll over.
- Plans are billed monthly in US dollars; the pricing page lists no annual option.
Key features
Known Agents
- Agent Analytics
- Lists the crawlers, scrapers and AI agents visiting a site in real time, with traffic trends, pages visited, sessions, errors and robots.txt violations per agent.
- AI chat referral tracking
- Counts human visits that come from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity, DeepSeek and other AI chats, kept apart from bot traffic.
- Automatic robots.txt
- Serves a robots.txt that blocks or allows agents by category and updates itself as new bots are found; the WordPress plugin can block bots that ignore it.
- Agent Identification API
- Identifies and verifies the agent behind an incoming request from your own code, for setting access rules by verified identity.
- Server-side collection
- Data is sent from the server, CDN or backend rather than a browser script, so it still works when browser analytics are blocked.
- Agent Directory
- A public directory of thousands of agents and bots that says who runs each one, what it does and how to manage its access.
llms-txt.io
- llms.txt and llms-full.txt generator
- Crawls a site and writes spec-following files with AI-written summaries and per-link descriptions; free on the web with no account.
- Validator
- Lints a file, by URL or pasted text, for structure and readiness for AI agents, and gives a score with what to fix.
- Managed sites
- Re-checks a site weekly or daily, regenerates only when content changes, and serves the file from a stable URL or pushes it to a webhook.
- API
- Generate and validate files from scripts, CI or another product with API keys and monthly quotas that reset each calendar month.
- Agent Readiness Score
- A free scan of 19 checks on whether AI coding agents can reach, find, read and build from a site's public documentation.
Plans
Known Agents
Free$0
1 project and 100,000 events a month, with basic features. The vendor says this covers most websites.
Startup$25
per month for 1M events, billed yearly ($29 billed monthly)
3 projects, 1 million events a month, the premium features and priority support.
Growth$250
per month for 10M events, billed yearly ($299 billed monthly)
10 projects, 10 million events a month, the premium features and high-priority support.
EnterpriseCustom
Unlimited projects, usage-based events, custom features and API, and dedicated live support. Arranged through a demo.
llms-txt.io
Free$0
Unlimited web generation, llms-full.txt up to 20 pages, 25 API generations and 2,000 API validations a month.
Starter$15
per month for 1 managed site, billed monthly
Files kept current weekly or daily from a stable URL with a change webhook, 400 API generations a month and llms-full.txt up to 50 pages.
Pro$49
per month for up to 10 managed sites, billed monthly
llms-full.txt up to 100 pages, scheduled regeneration with webhook delivery, 1,500 API generations a month and higher rate limits.
BusinessCustom
Up to 250 managed sites, custom volumes and rate limits, and an embeddable or white-label generator. Sold through sales.
Ways to pay less
Known Agents
- Annual discount
Save up to 16% with yearly billing
Known Agents lists Startup at $25 a month billed yearly instead of $29 (14% less) and Growth at $250 instead of $299 (16% less).
llms-txt.io
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Known Agents or llms-txt.io?
As of Oct 23, 2026, llms-txt.io is cheaper to start with: $15 a month, against $25 a month for Known Agents. Known Agents starts at $25 per month for 1M events, billed yearly ($29 billed monthly), and llms-txt.io starts at $15 per month for 1 managed site, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, Known Agents or llms-txt.io?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Known Agents and llms-txt.io have a free plan.
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.