The best Profound alternatives in 2026 are tools with public prices that track 50 or more buyer questions across several AI engines for $29 to $99 a month: Otterly.AI, AI Peekaboo, Knowatoa, LLMrefs, Howseen, Peec AI and PromptWatch. Agencies that need white-label reports can look at Rankscale, AI Peekaboo, Goodie AI and Howseen. Profound itself now shows custom pricing only, with a 7-day free trial, on its official pricing page checked on 3 October 2026.
Profound is the name AI assistants give first when someone asks for an AI visibility tool. We know because we track it: across 50 buyer questions on 5 engines, between 23 September and 2 October 2026, the AI engines named Profound and Peec AI on the questions where they did not name us. So it is normal that Profound is the first tool on your list. This page is for when it does not fit your budget or your team.
Why look for a Profound alternative?
Three reasons come up: no public price, an enterprise focus, and a trial that covers fewer engines than most paid plans elsewhere.
- Custom pricing. On 3 October 2026, Profound's pricing page lists no monthly price. Some popular roundups still say $499 a month; that price is no longer on the vendor's page.
- Built for large teams. Profound positions itself as an enterprise platform, and its plans go through sales. Great for a global brand, heavy for a founder or a 3-person agency.
- The trial. The free trial tracks 50 prompts on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews for 7 days. Useful for a first look, but Perplexity and AI Mode are not in it.
If none of this matters to you, Profound is a serious choice. If it does, here are the options with prices you can read today.
What are the best Profound alternatives in 2026?
Here are 8 alternatives with public prices, read on each vendor's official pricing page on 3 October 2026.
| Tool | Entry plan | Prompts | AI engines on entry plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otterly.AI | $29/mo ($25 billed annually) | 15 | ChatGPT, AI Overviews, Perplexity, Copilot | Testing the idea on a few questions |
| AI Peekaboo | From $30/mo | 40, every 2 days | 3 models of your choice | Small budgets, white-label from $100 |
| Knowatoa | $59/mo | Not stated | 7 incl. ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, AI Overviews, AI Mode | Broad engine coverage |
| LLMrefs | $79/mo (limited time) | 500 | 8 incl. ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Mode, Claude | Many prompts for the price |
| Howseen | €79/mo (€63 billed annually) | 50, every 3 days | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, AI Mode | Tracking plus the fixes: audit, action plan, 15 articles a month |
| Peec AI | About €85/mo* | 50, daily | 3 models of your choice | Daily tracking for marketing teams |
| PromptWatch | $95/mo | 50 | 4 models | 50 prompts plus agent credits |
| Scrunch | $300/mo ($250 billed annually) | 350 | 7 incl. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Mode | Mid-size teams that want volume without enterprise contracts |
*Peec AI loads its prices with a script, so we could not read them on the official page; the figure comes from third-party reviews. Disclosure: Howseen is our product; we included it with the same criteria as the others. For all 14 tools, see what AI visibility tracking costs in 2026.
What is the best Profound alternative for small businesses?
For a small business, the right alternative tracks around 50 buyer questions on the engines your customers use, for under $100 a month. Fifteen prompts is enough to see the problem; 50 covers a real buying journey (category questions, "alternatives to" questions and comparisons).
- Lowest cost to start: Otterly.AI ($29) or AI Peekaboo (from $30). Good to confirm whether AI mentions you at all.
- Most prompts per dollar: LLMrefs, 500 prompts for $79 at its current promotional price.
- Most engines: Knowatoa (7 engines from $59) and LLMrefs (8).
- Daily runs: Peec AI and PromptWatch, 50 prompts with a choice of models.
- Tracking plus the work: Howseen covers the 5 surfaces buyers use (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, AI Mode) on 50 prompts every 3 days, and adds a technical audit, an off-page action plan and 15 articles a month written from the pages AI already cites. It does not track Claude or Copilot today.
What is the best Profound alternative for agencies?
For an agency, the deciding features are white-label reports and a price per client that leaves margin. On official pricing pages checked on 3 October 2026:
| Tool | White-label | Price signal |
|---|---|---|
| Rankscale | On the Growth plan | $385/mo |
| AI Peekaboo | Yes | From $100/mo |
| Goodie AI | Agency plan | $275/mo |
| Howseen | Yes, reports under your brand | €79 per client brand per month, volume discounts |
| Profound | Contact sales | Custom |
A per-client price is easier to resell than one large platform fee: each new client pays for its own tracking from day one. We go deeper in our guide to AI visibility tools for agencies with white-label reports.
How to choose between them
- Write your 20 to 50 buyer questions first. If you only have 10, a $29 plan is enough.
- Count the engines your buyers use. Google AI Overviews and AI Mode sit on top of Google search; skipping them hides a big share of answers.
- Check the frequency. Daily, every 2 days or every 3 days all work. A monthly snapshot does not: answers move every week.
- Ask what happens after the chart. Tracking shows the gap. Closing it means getting listed on the pages AI quotes and publishing pages that answer the exact question. Either the tool helps with that, or you budget the time.
If you want to compare head to head, read Howseen vs Profound and Howseen vs Peec.
FAQ
Is there a cheaper alternative to Profound?
Yes. Profound uses custom pricing. Otterly.AI ($29/mo), AI Peekaboo (from $30/mo), Knowatoa ($59/mo), LLMrefs ($79/mo), Howseen (€79/mo), Peec AI (about €85/mo) and PromptWatch ($95/mo) all publish their prices. Prices checked on official pages on 3 October 2026.
What is the best Profound alternative for small businesses?
A tool that tracks around 50 buyer questions on the engines your customers use for under $100 a month. LLMrefs gives the most prompts, Knowatoa the most engines, Peec AI and PromptWatch run daily, and Howseen adds an action plan and content on top of tracking.
What is the best Profound alternative for agencies?
Pick a tool with white-label reports and a price per client. Rankscale (white-label on its $385 Growth plan), AI Peekaboo (white-label from $100/mo), Goodie AI (agency plan at $275/mo) and Howseen (€79 per client brand with volume discounts) all offer it.
How much does Profound cost in 2026?
Profound shows no public price on its pricing page as of 3 October 2026: plans are custom, after a 7-day free trial that tracks 50 prompts on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. Older articles quoting $499 a month are out of date.
Bottom line
Profound is built for enterprise teams. If you want a public price, the strongest alternatives track 50 or more questions across several engines for $29 to $99 a month, and agencies can get white-label reports from about $100 a month or per client.
Want to see which tools AI recommends in your category, and whether it names you? Run the free AI visibility scan on your domain.
