For startups · checked November 8, 2026
Profound stopped selling self-serve plans to brands between September 14 and October 14, 2026. A startup can still buy SE Visible from $89 a month, Peec AI from $95, Otterly.AI from $29, or Rankscale from $17 billed yearly. If nobody on the team has time to act on the data, supereo starts at $149 and does the work.
See where you stand today, free: supereo's free audit ours (20 buyer questions on six engines, no card), Otterly.AI's 7-day trial (no card), or AthenaHQ's free plan (300 credits).
Track daily for under $100: SE Visible Basic ($89), Peec AI Starter ($95), Rankscale Pro ($99) or an Ahrefs prompt package ($50).
No one to do the work: supereo. $149 a month tells you exactly what to change, and $499 a month ships it to Next.js and Astro sites, with a verdict on every change.
A free 7-day Trial: 50 prompts a day on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, from a preset set chosen for your industry that you can't edit, with no history or exports. After that, Enterprise through sales. The Starter plan a startup could buy for $99 a month was last listed on September 14, 2026. Profound's pricing history.
“I'd love to test out Profound, but they don't have a trial and it's $$$.”u/MindyAtStateshift on r/SEO_tools_reviews · Nov 18, 2025 · Read the post
What helpsProfound added a free 7-day trial in October 2026, but it runs a preset prompt set on three engines. The tools below track your own questions from day one.
“Profound is very expensive and there is no model for consultants or agencies to take advantage of the data/recos in a free or light way like SEM rush does for SEO.”u/According_Weather_22 on r/GenEngineOptimization · Sep 18, 2025 · Read the post
What helpssupereo, Peec AI, Otterly.AI and SE Visible all sell monthly plans online, and supereo's audit is free.
Fewer than the plans suggest. A startup usually has a handful of buying situations, and 20 well-chosen buyer questions cover most of them. That's the number supereo's free audit writes from your site. Track them daily on the three engines your buyers use most and you need about 60 tracked prompt-engine pairs, or 1,800 AI answers a month.
| Tool | Smallest plan that covers it | Price / month | Headroom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs Brand Radar | Custom prompt package, Basic | $50 | 2,500 checks a month |
| SE Visible | Basic | $89 ($71 yearly) | 75 prompts on 5 engines |
| Peec AI | Starter | $95 | 50 prompts on 3 models, unlimited seats |
| Rankscale | Pro | $99 ($84 yearly) | Up to 4,800 answers a month |
| Otterly.AI | Standard (Lite stops at 15 prompts) | $189 | 100 prompts on 4 engines |
| Semrush | SEO + AI Search Starter | $199 | 50 prompts, plus the SEO toolkit |
| Scrunch | Core | $250 | 125 prompts on 4 engines |
| AthenaHQ | Starter | $295 | 3,600 credits on 11 models |
| Profound | No self-serve plan | Trial, then custom | Trial prompts are preset |
Our sizing against each vendor's published limits, November 8, 2026. Rankscale's $17 Essentials plan (yearly only) covers the same 20 questions about twice a week instead of daily.
The cheapest plans often leave out engines your buyers use. One person who modelled six tools on the same scenario found the gap:
“The $29/mo tool (Otterly) lands at $638/mo in the same scenario because Claude, Gemini, and AI Mode are all separate add-ons.”u/Informal-Dust4499 on r/AI_Agents · Sep 3, 2026 · Read the post
Worth knowingOn supereo, all six engines, Claude included, come with every plan.
For a startup with no one to spare for AI visibility. supereo writes your buyers' questions, tracks six engines including Claude, and tells you exactly what to change on each page ($149 a month). On Autopilot ($499 a month, Next.js and Astro sites) it ships the fixes and new pages itself, each with an Undo, and gives every change a verdict against control questions. The audit is free with no card, and both plans have a 7-day trial. Run the free audit.
The most tracking per dollar: 75 prompts on five engines for $89 a month, with API and MCP access and a 10-day trial. Claude needs the $399 Agency plan. Pricing.
A clean tracker for a small team that will grow: 50 prompts on three models of your choice for $95 a month, unlimited seats, MCP on every plan. Pricing.
The cheapest real start: $29 a month for 15 prompts on four engines, with a 7-day, 50-prompt trial and no card. Gemini, Claude and AI Mode are paid add-ons. Pricing.
Nine engines, Claude included, from $17 a month billed yearly, on credits. Pro at $99 covers daily tracking for a startup's question set. Pricing.
Not online. Brands get a free 7-day trial and then Enterprise through sales. Agencies can still buy client workspaces at $399 a month each.
For 20 questions on three engines, an Ahrefs prompt package at $50 a month, then SE Visible at $89 and Peec AI at $95. Check that the engines you need are included before you buy.
If someone on your team will act on the data every week, a tracker is enough. If not, pick a tool that tells you what to change, or makes the change, and shows whether it worked.