Your marketing director had the purchase order ready: Profound’s Growth plan, US$399 a month, to track how ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews describe your company. Then she opened the pricing page and the plan was gone. In its place sat a short free trial and a button to book an enterprise sales demo.
That is now the situation for many buyers. According to Eclincher’s 8 October 2026 analysis, Profound removed its self-serve Starter (US$99 a month) and Growth (US$399 a month) plans for brands in mid-September 2026, around the time it announced a US$180 million Series D. This page sets out who should still choose Profound, which alternatives publish real prices, what each one cannot do, and which fits a Hong Kong enterprise.
What changed with Profound's pricing in 2026?
In mid-September 2026, Profound withdrew its self-serve Starter plan at US$99 a month and Growth plan at US$399 a month for brands. Brands now choose between a limited free trial and a custom-priced Enterprise plan reached through a sales demo. Agencies can still self-serve at US$399 a month per client workspace.
--- Starter (withdrawn): US$99 a month billed annually, ChatGPT only, 50 prompts.
--- Growth (withdrawn): US$399 a month billed annually, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, 100 prompts.
--- Enterprise: custom pricing, tracking up to nine answer engines including Gemini, Claude, Microsoft Copilot and Google AI Mode.
--- Agencies: US$399 a month per client workspace, still self-serve.
Profound does not publish Enterprise prices. Third-party reviewers cited by Eclincher report contracts of roughly US$1,500 to US$5,000 or more a month, but those figures are unconfirmed until you receive a quote. Many review sites still quote the old plans, so check the date on anything you read.
Why are Hong Kong enterprises looking for Profound alternatives?
Hong Kong buyers are looking elsewhere for four reasons: the entry price moved from a known US$399 to an unpublished enterprise quote, procurement now requires a sales cycle and annual commitment, most trackers report in English only, and few tools check whether a Traditional Chinese website is readable by AI in the first place.
Budget certainty. A department head can approve US$399 a month on a card. An unquoted enterprise contract, potentially several thousand US dollars a month, goes to procurement and often to the CFO.
Annual commitment. The withdrawn plans were already annual. Enterprise contracts typically are too, which is a large commitment for a function many organisations are still testing.
Language and market fit. Hong Kong buyers ask AI assistants questions in English, Traditional Chinese and Cantonese phrasing. A tracker built for US English prompts may miss how local customers actually search.
The fix comes before the tracking. If AI crawlers cannot read your site structure, a tracker will only measure your absence more precisely.
What are the best Profound alternatives in 2026?
The strongest Profound alternatives with published prices are Otterly.AI from US$29 a month, Peec AI from US$80 to US$95, AthenaHQ with a free tier then US$295, Scrunch from US$250, and Semrush's AI Visibility Toolkit at US$99 per domain. UD's AEO Auditor is a free website readiness audit rather than a prompt tracker.
Prices below come from Eclincher’s October 2026 comparison and AI-Advisors’ comparison verified on 9 August 2026. Both publishers sell competing tools, so treat their rankings as one view and confirm prices on each vendor’s page. Hong Kong dollar figures use HK$7.8 to US$1.
The shortlist
--- Otterly.AI: Lite at US$29 a month (about HK$226) for 15 prompts across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Copilot. Standard US$189 for 100 prompts, Premium US$489 for 400. Unlimited seats.
--- Peec AI: from US$95 a month billed monthly or US$80 billed annually (about HK$624 to HK$741), 50 prompts, any three engines, unlimited users.
--- AthenaHQ: free tier with roughly 300 AI responses across five engines; Starter at US$295 a month (about HK$2,301) with nine to eleven engines depending on source.
--- Scrunch: US$250 a month billed annually, US$300 monthly (about HK$1,950 to HK$2,340), with AI crawler analytics.
--- Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit: US$99 a month per domain (about HK$772), and requires a Semrush subscription.
--- Ahrefs Brand Radar: quoted between US$129 and US$398 a month depending on source and plan.
--- UD AEO Auditor: free, no sign-up or card, report in about 30 seconds, more than 170 AEO structure checks plus an AI brand-mention scan, in English or Traditional Chinese.
Is a visibility tracker or a website readiness audit the right first purchase?
For most Hong Kong enterprises, run a readiness audit first and buy a tracker second. A tracker measures how often AI engines mention you across chosen prompts. A readiness audit checks whether your site's structure, schema and content can be read and cited at all. Tracking a site AI cannot read only measures the gap.
The two tools answer different board questions. A tracker answers: are we being recommended, and is that improving? A readiness audit answers: what is stopping us from being recommended, and what should the web team fix first?
Our earlier comparison of free AI visibility checkers covers the free perception tools in more detail. The practical sequence is: free audit, fix the structural gaps, then a paid tracker for a defined set of 30 to 100 buyer prompts.
Migration effort if you are leaving Profound
Switching is light. Export your prompt list and recent results, recreate the prompts in the new tool, and run both for one to two weeks to establish a new baseline. Expect numbers to differ between tools, because each samples engines differently. Do not compare a Profound score with an Otterly score directly.
What are the limitations of each Profound alternative?
Every alternative trades something away. Otterly's entry tier tracks only 15 prompts. Peec caps standard plans at three engines. AthenaHQ jumps from free straight to US$295. Scrunch changed ownership in 2026. Semrush and Ahrefs need their parent suites. UD's AEO Auditor diagnoses your site but does not track prompts week by week.
--- Otterly.AI: 15 prompts tests the idea but will not run a full programme; Gemini, Google AI Mode and Claude are paid add-ons.
--- Peec AI: reporting only, with no content or site remediation; extra engines beyond three cost more; the lowest price requires annual billing.
--- AthenaHQ: credit-based billing takes modelling, and API access is a paid add-on on Starter.
--- Scrunch: Eclincher reports that Sitecore acquired it in June 2026 and that packaging changed several times this year, so confirm the roadmap.
--- Semrush and Ahrefs: sensible only if you already pay for the suite; costs stack per domain.
--- UD AEO Auditor: a point-in-time audit with brand-mention checks, not a weekly prompt-level trend dashboard; implementation consulting is quoted per project rather than published.
No tool on this list, including Profound, can guarantee that an AI engine will recommend you. They measure and diagnose. The improvement comes from changes to your content, structure and third-party reputation.
When is Profound Enterprise still the right choice?
Profound Enterprise remains the right choice when procurement requires SOC 2 and single sign-on, when you need eight or more engines tracked from one platform, when monitoring volume runs to thousands of responses a month, or when you want vendor-supported content agents. Large regional brands with an analytics team fit this profile best.
Even competitors concede this. AI-Advisors’ comparison states that if procurement requires SOC 2 and SSO, or you need more than eight engines tracked, Profound’s Enterprise tier is built for exactly that and none of its listed alternatives fully matches it.
For a Hong Kong bank, insurer or listed company with a central marketing analytics function and strict vendor security reviews, the sales conversation may be worth having. Ask for the quote in writing, the renewal terms, and whether Traditional Chinese prompts are supported.
Already on a legacy Starter or Growth plan? Ask Profound in writing what your renewal will cost before the date arrives. Eclincher notes that it has seen no public terms for existing customers, so do not assume your current price carries over. Start a parallel trial of one alternative a month before renewal so you have a fallback.
Which Profound alternative should a Hong Kong enterprise choose?
Choose by the job you need done. Start with UD's free AEO Auditor to fix site readiness. Then pick Otterly to prove value cheaply, Peec or Scrunch for mid-market analytics, Semrush or Ahrefs if you already own the suite, and Profound Enterprise only if security reviews and engine breadth demand it.
Verdict by buyer type
--- Head of Digital who needs a fix list for the web team: UD AEO Auditor first, because it is free and reports in Traditional Chinese.
--- Marketing lead proving AI visibility deserves budget: Otterly.AI Lite at US$29, or AthenaHQ’s free tier.
--- Mid-market team that wants analytics without a sales call: Peec AI or Scrunch.
--- Existing Semrush or Ahrefs customer: add the AI module you can already buy.
--- Regulated enterprise with SSO and SOC 2 requirements: request a Profound Enterprise quote and compare it with Scrunch Enterprise.
Whichever you choose, run the top two candidates side by side for a week with the same 20 to 30 buyer prompts, including Traditional Chinese phrasing. Seeing your own brand in each tool is more useful than any comparison table.
Key facts at a glance
--- Profound change: Starter (US$99) and Growth (US$399) self-serve plans for brands withdrawn mid-September 2026; Enterprise is custom-priced; agencies pay US$399 per client workspace.
--- Cheapest paid alternative: Otterly.AI at US$29 a month for 15 prompts and four engines.
--- Free options: AthenaHQ free tier for tracking; UD AEO Auditor for a free site readiness audit in about 30 seconds.
--- Mid-market: Peec AI from US$80 to US$95, Scrunch from US$250, AthenaHQ Starter US$295.
--- Price check date: sources dated 9 August and 8 October 2026; confirm with each vendor.
Conclusion: fix first, then measure
Profound’s move upmarket is a sensible strategy for Profound, and its Enterprise tier remains strong for organisations that need it. For most Hong Kong enterprises, though, the better sequence is clear: find out whether AI can read your site, fix what blocks it, and only then pay to track the result against the prompts your buyers actually use.
We understand AI. We understand you. With UD by your side, AI never feels cold.
Reviewed by the UD enterprise AI team. Prices were checked on 15 October 2026 against the dated sources linked above, both of which are published by vendors in this category. UD publishes the AEO Auditor listed on this page.
See what AI can and cannot read on your site
Before you sign any tracking contract, find out what is stopping AI engines from citing you. Run the free AEO Auditor in about 30 seconds, and if you want help acting on the results, we’ll walk you through every step, from the structural fix list to content changes and re-scanning.
