Compare · Updated October 31, 2026

Profound alternatives in 2026: 8 options now its self-serve plans are gone

Profound is the best-funded AI visibility platform, built for enterprise marketing teams. In September 2026 it removed its self-serve plans for brands (Starter at $99, Growth at $399): brands now get a free 7-day trial, then a custom Enterprise price, and only agencies can still buy a plan on the page. If you need a plan you can buy today, or a smaller budget, here are eight alternatives.

Who wrote this: we make Askadia, one of the alternatives below. Every price and feature comes from each vendor's own website, checked on October 31, 2026; Profound's plan change from dated snapshots of its pricing page (PricingSaaS). Spot something out of date? Tell us.

Profound today

• Price: a free 7-day trial (50 prompts Profound picks, 3 engines, no API), then Enterprise at a custom price (Profound pricing). Its Starter ($99, ChatGPT only, 50 prompts) and Growth ($399, 3 engines, 100 prompts) plans were removed between September 14 and 21, 2026; many articles still quote them. Agencies can buy Agency Growth: $99 a month plus $399 per client workspace (100 prompts on ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overviews).
• Engines: up to 9 on Enterprise, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews, Gemini, Copilot and Claude.
• How: daily, through the assistants' own interfaces, “not API calls”, by Profound's account.
• Beyond tracking: real-user prompt volumes, content agents, shopping, SSO; it raised $180M in September 2026 to build “the AI platform for marketing teams”.

Stay with Profound if you're a large marketing team that wants the most engines, prompt-volume data, content agents and enterprise security in one platform, and has the budget for a sales-led contract.

Why people look for an alternative

• No plan to buy today: since September 2026, brands talk to sales for a custom price; the self-serve plan left is for agencies.
• The old Starter is gone: a small team on, or planning, the $99 ChatGPT-only plan has no self-serve Profound option.
• Features on Enterprise only: the API, the MCP server and the fullest prompt-volume data.
• More than you need: a platform built for big teams has a learning curve a founder may not want.

The alternatives at a glance

Eight alternatives

1. Peec AI

$95 a month ($80 yearly) for 50 prompts, about 4,500 answers a month on 3 engines, from the apps' interfaces, daily. Unlimited seats, MCP on every plan, API from $245. Perplexity as an add-on.

Pick it if you want a self-serve tracker for a marketing team or agency, priced in public.

2. Scrunch

$250 a month (Core) for 125 prompts and 5,000 answers on ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews and Copilot, with buyer personas; nine assistants and a version of your site served to AI agents on Enterprise; 7-day free trial. A Sitecore company since June 2026.

Pick it if you want enterprise-style depth (personas, many prompts) on a published price.

3. AthenaHQ

A free plan (300 credits, once) on 5 engines, then $295 a month for 3,600 credits on up to 11 (an answer costs 1 credit on ChatGPT and Google's, 5 on Claude and some others); content agents and Shopify blog publishing.

Pick it if you want Profound-style content tools and many engines, starting free.

4. SE Visible

$89 a month ($71 yearly) for 75 prompts, about 11,250 answers a month on 5 engines, from the apps' interfaces, daily; API and MCP on every plan.

Pick it if you want lots of real-app answers on a self-serve plan.

5. Semrush

$99 a month (billed yearly) for 25 prompts tracked daily, with prompt research built on Semrush's keyword data; Semrush Enterprise AIO for large teams.

Pick it if your SEO team already lives in Semrush.

6. Ahrefs Brand Radar

Research any brand across a large set of pre-run prompts without writing any; your own prompts from the Ahrefs plan ($129 and up) plus packs from $50.

Pick it if you want market-wide research next to your SEO data.

7. Otterly.AI

$29 a month for 15 prompts on ChatGPT, AI Overviews, Perplexity and Copilot, from the apps' interfaces, daily; API and MCP from $189.

Pick it if you want the cheapest self-serve start across several engines.

8. Askadia (ours)

$29 a month for 2,000 answers on ChatGPT (the real one, not the API), Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode; you choose the days (daily, weekdays, Mon/Wed/Fri, weekly or any you pick), and which assistants, for each question. Counts by question with every answer readable, competitors and cited pages; an API, MCP server and agent skill on the one plan, so your agent can review your questions, pause, resume and reschedule them, and read every answer with its raw page.

Pick it if you were looking at Profound's old ChatGPT-only Starter: the same, plus Google's two AI answers, self-serve, for a founder's budget.

Askadia next to Profound, honestly: Profound's old Starter asked ChatGPT 50 prompts a day, about 1,500 answers a month, for $99; Askadia gives 2,000 answers for $29, on ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode. It has none of Profound's other engines (Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude), prompt-volume data, content agents or enterprise security. If you need those, Profound or Scrunch fit better.

Questions

How much does Profound cost?

There's no public price for brands since September 2026: a free 7-day trial, then a custom Enterprise contract. Its former Starter ($99) and Growth ($399) plans are no longer offered; agencies can buy Agency Growth at $99 a month plus $399 per client workspace.

Is there a free Profound alternative?

AthenaHQ has a free plan (300 answers on 5 engines). Askadia's free checkup asks ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode 10 of your buyers' questions once, with no sign-up; tracking starts at $29.

Profound or Peec AI?

Profound for an enterprise team that wants the widest platform and has a budget; Peec AI for a marketing team or agency that wants a self-serve plan with a public price. Peec AI's alternatives are compared here too.

More: Peec AI alternatives · Best AI visibility tools, by who they're for · What is AI visibility, and how to measure it