AthenaHQ vs SE Ranking
AthenaHQ is a AEO platform (credit-metered); SE Ranking is a all-in-one SEO platform. Below they are compared row by row on the thirteen things buyers in this category actually ask about — with SERP Checker in the third column, because the honest answer to “which of these two” is sometimes “neither”.
Quick answer
Start with AthenaHQ if…
You need the widest engine coverage available, including Grok and Copilot, on one bill.
Start with SE Ranking if…
You track thousands of keywords — SE Ranking's daily keyword capacity (2,000–5,000+) is far larger than ours.
At a glance
| AthenaHQ | SE Ranking | SERP Checker | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | Free Essential tier ($25 credit, 300 credits); Starter $295/mo (3,600 credits/mo) | ~$52–129/mo | From $19/mo — 7-day trial + free one-off audit at /audit |
| Classic Google rank tracking | No (AEO only) | Yes | Yes — every plan |
| AI-visibility (AEO) in the same workspace | Yes (core product) | Paid add-on / separate product (SE Visible) | Yes — same workspace, every paid plan from $19/mo |
| AI engines tracked | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Grok, AI Mode (8; more on request) | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Mode + AI Overviews | ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews — all 6 in the AEO module, no per-engine add-on |
| Multi-client agency workspace | Unlimited topics and unlimited members with role-based access | Yes | Yes — 1 client on the $19 Monitor or $39 AI Visibility tier, 3 on Starter, 15 on Pro, 50 on Business |
| MCP server (AI-agent native) | Their own pages document an API add-on and the Ask Athena copilot; an MCP server is not mentioned on either the homepage or the pricing page (checked 2026-08-15) | Yes (official, ~160 tools, all paid plans) | Yes — queried with a REST API key, so Business tier |
Where the two actually differ
5 of the 13 compared rows come out differently for these two tools. The rest they answer the same way, so they will not decide anything for you.
| AthenaHQ | SE Ranking | |
|---|---|---|
| Classic Google rank tracking | No (AEO only) | Yes |
| AI-visibility (AEO) in the same workspace | Yes (core product) | Paid add-on / separate product (SE Visible) |
| Technical SEO audit | No classic SEO audit | Yes |
| GA4 + Search Console analytics | Not documented on the pricing page | Yes |
| White-label client reports | Not documented on the pricing page | Yes (deep) |
Full comparison
| Feature | AthenaHQ | SE Ranking | SERP Checker |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic Google rank tracking | No (AEO only) | Yes | Yes — every plan |
| AI-visibility (AEO) in the same workspace | Yes (core product) | Paid add-on / separate product (SE Visible) | Yes — same workspace, every paid plan from $19/mo |
| AI engines tracked | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Grok, AI Mode (8; more on request) | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Mode + AI Overviews | ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews — all 6 in the AEO module, no per-engine add-on |
| Technical SEO audit | No classic SEO audit | Yes | Yes — every plan |
| AI-crawler log analytics | Not documented on the pricing page | Not documented | Yes — access-log ingest via the REST API, so Business tier; per-bot hits, crawled paths and refusals |
| Competitor gap analysis | Yes (AI answer share) | Yes | Yes — every plan |
| GA4 + Search Console analytics | Not documented on the pricing page | Yes | Yes — verified first-party GA4/GSC data from the Pro tier ($158/mo); CSV/JSON export plus a Looker Studio connector (source in integrations/, one-time deploy to your own Google account) |
| White-label client reports | Not documented on the pricing page | Yes (deep) | Yes (Business tier) |
| Interface languages | Multi-region and multi-language on Enterprise; interface English | ~10 incl. RU (no Ukrainian UI) | EN / RU / UK / PL / SK / CS / DE (tracks any region) |
| REST API | Paid add-on on Starter; included on Enterprise | Paid add-on | Yes (Business tier) |
| MCP server (AI-agent native) | Their own pages document an API add-on and the Ask Athena copilot; an MCP server is not mentioned on either the homepage or the pricing page (checked 2026-08-15) | Yes (official, ~160 tools, all paid plans) | Yes — queried with a REST API key, so Business tier |
| Multi-client agency workspace | Unlimited topics and unlimited members with role-based access | Yes | Yes — 1 client on the $19 Monitor or $39 AI Visibility tier, 3 on Starter, 15 on Pro, 50 on Business |
| Entry price | Free Essential tier ($25 credit, 300 credits); Starter $295/mo (3,600 credits/mo) | ~$52–129/mo | From $19/mo — 7-day trial + free one-off audit at /audit |
Pricing
AthenaHQ
AthenaHQ publishes a free Essential tier with $25 of credit and 300 credits, Starter at $295/mo with 3,600 credits a month, and a custom Enterprise tier. One credit is one AI response on every tier, and topics and seats are unlimited throughout. API access is a paid add-on on Starter. SERP Checker starts at $39/mo. See /pricing.
SE Ranking
SE Ranking's base plans don't fully include AI-visibility — it's SE Visible (~$189/mo) or an add-on, and the API is a separate add-on too. SERP Checker bundles SERP + AEO from $39/mo. Compare current tiers on /pricing.
What neither of them does
Derived from the same two columns above: rows where SERP Checker ships the capability outright and neither AthenaHQ nor SE Ranking does. Both of their recorded values are printed so you can check the claim.
| AthenaHQ | SE Ranking | SERP Checker | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI-crawler log analytics | Not documented on the pricing page | Not documented | Yes — access-log ingest via the REST API, so Business tier; per-bot hits, crawled paths and refusals |
| REST API | Paid add-on on Starter; included on Enterprise | Paid add-on | Yes (Business tier) |
FAQ
Is AthenaHQ or SE Ranking cheaper?
On published entry pricing, AthenaHQ starts lower: Free Essential tier ($25 credit, 300 credits); Starter $295/mo (3,600 credits/mo) against ~$52–129/mo for SE Ranking. SERP Checker starts at $39/mo and includes both Google rank tracking and AI-visibility in that price.
Do AthenaHQ and SE Ranking both track AI answers?
AthenaHQ: Yes (core product) Engines: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Grok, AI Mode (8; more on request). SE Ranking: Paid add-on / separate product (SE Visible) Engines: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Mode + AI Overviews. SERP Checker tracks ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Google AI Overviews in the same workspace as Google rankings.
Is there a cheaper alternative to AthenaHQ?
Yes. AthenaHQ’s first paid tier is $295/mo. SERP Checker starts at $39/mo and adds daily Google rank tracking, technical audits and white-label reports that AthenaHQ does not offer.
Does SE Ranking include AI-visibility tracking?
Only partially. Beyond a small daily prompt allowance, SE Ranking's AI-visibility is sold as SE Visible (a separate product) or a paid add-on. SERP Checker includes AEO in the base workspace.
Related comparisons
AccuRanker vs AthenaHQ · AccuRanker vs SE Ranking · Ahrefs vs AthenaHQ · Ahrefs vs SE Ranking · AthenaHQ vs BeVisible · AthenaHQ vs Mangools
AthenaHQ review · SE Ranking review
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https://www.athenahq.ai · https://seranking.com
Competitor pricing and features are taken from their public pages as of July 2026 and may change — verify on their site before deciding. Where a vendor's docs were unclear we say so rather than guess. Every value in the tables above is a figure recorded from the vendor's own public pages, not an estimate. Product and company names are the trademarks of their respective owners.