The best Profound alternative for AI visibility in 2026

Which Profound alternative has no subscription?

MentionChecker is a pay-as-you-go AI visibility checker. It asks ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot the questions people ask about what you do, and tells you whether your brand is mentioned in the answers. A check is paid for on its own, with credits bought once, so nothing is owed in a month you do not run one. A mention is your brand's name in the words of an answer.

A check asks the questions drafted from your website, or the list you already hold. Four AI engines are ticked by default, ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Perplexity, and all six run when you tick the other two. The report opens on three numbers: how often the answers mentioned you, your share of voice among every name they mentioned, and your average rank when the answer is a list. Together they are your AI visibility score, and each number opens to the answers it was counted from.

Why do people look for an alternative to Profound AI?

Because Profound shows a brand no price at all. Its pricing page offers a brand two things: a free Trial of 10 questions the page picks, run once on ChatGPT only, and an Enterprise plan whose price is Custom behind a Get a Demo button, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's pricing page.

Here every price is on the pricing page, from $9, and a month with no check costs nothing. Every check can ask all six AI engines on every pack. The first check is free, with no card and no call, on the questions you choose.

Profound AI review: what does it do and what does it cost?

Profound is an AI visibility and marketing platform for enterprise brands and large agencies that tracks how the AI engines mention, rank and describe a brand and runs marketing agents on what it finds. It counts more than 700 of them, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's own facts page. Its pricing page is one page with a switch, For brands and For agencies. The brand side has two cards, the free Trial and Enterprise, and neither carries a price, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's pricing page. On 14 September 2026 the same page carried a Starter tier at 99 dollars a month, ChatGPT only, 50 questions, and a Growth tier at 399 dollars a month for three AI engines, read on that day on Profound's pricing page, and on 21 September 2026 both are gone from it.

Prices as of 21 September 2026. The Trial runs in one language and one region, and its questions are a recommended set for your industry that cannot be changed, by the page's own FAQ.

The agency side is the only one with a price, and Agency Enterprise is Custom again. Profound also meters its marketing agents in what it calls credits, which are not the credits a MentionChecker check spends.

What do the AI engines say about Profound AI and its competitors?

Profound was mentioned in 19 of the 46 answers that ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot gave to eight questions about AI visibility tools, asked from the United States on 13 September 2026, and its own website was listed as a source under 7 of the 46. Eight questions on six AI engines is 48, and two came back with no answer. Asked for the best AI visibility tool, all six AI engines mentioned Profound. Asked for alternatives to another AI visibility tool, every one of the five that answered mentioned Profound. Asked for the cheapest AI visibility tool, two of the six did, and asked for an AI visibility tool without a subscription, none of the six did.

A check asks the same six AI engines the questions people ask about what you do and shows where your brand stands in those answers. The standings on every report rank every name the answers mentioned, yours among them, next to the websites those answers cited as their sources.

Profound AI vs MentionChecker side by side

Profound and a MentionChecker check count the same unit, one question on one AI engine once, and differ on how it is sold: a trial and a contract, or the check. The Profound column comes from Profound's pricing page and the other column from the pricing page, both read on 21 September 2026. Profound counts 150 or more regions for the platform as a whole, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's own facts page.

Those 50 credits run 12 questions once on the four AI engines a check ticks by default, or 8 on all six.

What are Profound AI's limits, and what does a check do instead?

For a brand, Profound's limits are a price it does not show and a free Trial that is one fixed run on ChatGPT, with a demo for anything beyond it. Every limit below is from Profound's pricing page, read on 21 September 2026, and under each one is what a check does instead.

• A pitch workspace closes after seven days. On the agency side, a prospective client's series ends when the workspace does, and a full client workspace is a separate add-on. Here a repeat runs until you pause it, with no fixed end.
• One language and one region on the Trial. Enterprise is Custom on both. Here the country is picked per check, and a brand with people in two countries is checked from both.
• The Trial's questions cannot be changed. They are a recommended set for your industry, and editing, disabling or adding a question is listed only under Enterprise. Here the questions are yours from the first check, edited before it runs.
• Nothing comes out of the Trial. It keeps no history and exports nothing, so its 10 questions have to be copied off the screen. Here every check goes out as a link with no login, or as a PDF, Markdown or JSON export.

What does MentionChecker do differently from Profound AI?

Nothing is charged by the month. One question on one AI engine is one credit, so a check costs the questions you ask times the AI engines you tick. At the same volume it costs less than Profound, without a monthly plan: the one full brand workspace its page prices, a client workspace at 399 dollars a month, asks 100 questions on three AI engines every day, 9,000 in total across a 30-day month, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's pricing page, and that count here is the 10,000-credit pack on the pricing page, $109, bought once.

Run the same check again and you are tracking AI visibility week to week: History puts the two reports side by side, with the movement on each of the three numbers between them.

Which one to pick: Profound AI or MentionChecker?

MentionChecker, for one check and for daily tracking alike. Profound prices a brand plan by demo, after a free Trial of 10 questions on ChatGPT, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's pricing page. Every check asks all six AI engines on your own questions and shows the answers themselves. A repeat runs the same check daily, weekly or monthly, each run paid from the balance, so even a daily check needs no monthly plan. Credits last 12 months, packs start at $9, and the first check is free.

How to move off Profound

Profound's pricing page, read on 21 September 2026, lists CSV and JSON exports on Enterprise and on client workspaces and none on the Trial, so a Trial's 10 questions are copied from its screen and everything else comes out as a file.

1. Paste the questions one per line, or upload the CSV, when you set up the check. Duplicates are dropped, there is no cap, and the questions drafted from your website sit beside them.
2. Pick the AI engines and the country. All six if you want them. The country is preselected from your web address and can be changed per check.
3. Run the check. The report stays in the account.
4. Set a repeat if you want a series, daily, weekly or monthly, paid per run, and let the two overlap for a month so History holds two points before the contract ends.

Questions people ask about Profound alternatives

What is Profound AI?

Profound is an AI visibility and marketing platform for enterprise brands and large agencies that tracks how the AI engines mention, rank and describe a brand and runs marketing agents on what it finds. A brand is priced by demo, after a free Trial of 10 questions run once on ChatGPT, and an agency plan is 99 dollars a month, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's pricing page. MentionChecker is the Profound alternative paid per check: credits bought once, six AI engines, the first check free.

How much does Profound AI cost?

Profound's pricing page shows no price for a brand: the Trial is free and Enterprise is Custom, behind a Get a Demo button. The agency side is priced, Agency Growth at 99 dollars a month plus add-ons and a full client workspace at 399 dollars a month each, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's pricing page. A MentionChecker check costs one credit per question per AI engine, and the smallest pack is 50 credits for $9, bought once.

Does Profound still have a Starter plan?

Not on its pricing page, read on 21 September 2026: the brand side offers the free Trial and Enterprise by demo. On 14 September 2026 the same page carried a Starter tier at 99 dollars a month, ChatGPT only with 50 questions, and a Growth tier at 399 dollars a month for three AI engines, read that day on Profound's pricing page. A MentionChecker check has one price list and no tier: one credit per question per AI engine.

Is Profound AI free?

Profound's Trial is free: 10 questions its page picks for your industry, run once, on ChatGPT only, with no history and no export, and the questions cannot be changed, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's pricing page. Your first MentionChecker check is free too, with no card: 5 questions on ChatGPT and Gemini, asked once, on questions you can edit, with the report and every answer kept. After it, credits start at 50 for $9 and last 12 months.

What are the best Profound alternatives?

MentionChecker is the best Profound alternative, and its price is on the pricing page with no demo to book. Packs start at $9, are bought once and are spent only when a check runs. Every check can ask all six AI engines, on questions you edit, and keeps each answer word for word. A repeat runs daily, weekly or monthly, paid per run, so tracking every day needs no contract, and the first check is free.

What should you look for in a Profound alternative?

Whether you can see the price and buy without a demo, which AI engines it covers, whether you pay for a month or for a check, whether the questions are yours to edit, whether you can read the answers or only a score, and how a report is shared. A MentionChecker check is bought on the pricing page, asks any of six AI engines, is paid per check, runs on questions you edit, keeps every answer word for word, and goes out as a link with no login.

Do you need a demo to use Profound?

For anything beyond the free Trial, yes: the Enterprise card and the Agency Enterprise card both say Custom and both end in a Get a Demo button, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's pricing page. The Trial and Agency Growth start from a Get Started button. A MentionChecker check needs no call: enter your website, pick the AI engines and the country, run the free check, and buy a pack from $9 when you want the next one.

Which AI engines does Profound track?

ChatGPT only on the Trial, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews on the agency side, and capability for nine on Enterprise, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, DeepSeek, Anthropic Claude, Google AI Overviews and Exa Search, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's pricing page. A MentionChecker check asks any of ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot on every paid check, and the free first check asks ChatGPT and Gemini.

Is Profound worth it?

Profound's fee buys up to nine AI engines, agents, single sign-on and an API, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's pricing page, with the brand plan priced by demo and owed in a month nobody opens the dashboard. MentionChecker is the better buy: all six AI engines on every check, a daily, weekly or monthly repeat paid per run from the balance, credits that last 12 months, and the first check free.

Does Profound track competitors?

Yes. Profound's tracking shows share of voice, citation sources, sentiment and a competitive comparison, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's own facts page. A MentionChecker report ranks every name the answers mentioned, most mentioned first, with your brand marked, so who the AI engines recommend instead of you is read from the answers. A rival's name can be tracked on the History chart, and a name that is not a rival left out of the numbers.

Does Profound track sentiment?

Yes. Profound's tracking shows a sentiment score, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's own facts page. A MentionChecker report does not score it: every answer is kept word for word with your name marked where it appears, so what an AI engine said about you is read in its own words, under the question that produced it, on the day of the check.

How do I move my questions from Profound to MentionChecker?

Export them if you can: Profound's pricing page lists CSV and JSON exports on Enterprise and on client workspaces, and none on the Trial, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's pricing page, so a Trial's 10 questions are copied from its screen. Then paste them one per line or upload the CSV in the check wizard or in the brand's Settings. Duplicates are not added twice, there is no cap, and each question is one credit per AI engine when the check runs.

Is there a Profound alternative for agencies?

The MentionChecker AI visibility agency tool holds as many brands as an agency adds, every brand paid from one balance with no fee per seat, per brand or per client, and each report goes to the client by link or as a PDF. Profound's Agency Growth plan is 99 dollars a month for ten pitch workspaces open seven days each, plus 399 dollars a month per full client workspace, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's pricing page.

How often does Profound check?

Once on the Trial, and every day on Enterprise and on the agency side's pitch and client workspaces, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's pricing page. A MentionChecker check runs once when you run it, or on a repeat, daily, weekly or monthly, paid from the balance one check at a time, and a repeat pauses on its own when the balance is short and resumes when credits are bought.

Does Profound work for a small business?

Profound's facts page lists its customers as enterprise brands, large consumer companies, large agencies and later-stage companies, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's own facts page, and its brand plan is priced by demo. A small business, a clinic, a game studio or a charity that wants to know whether the AI engines mention it runs a MentionChecker check on the questions people ask about what it does, reads the report, and pays for the next check when it wants one.

How many countries does Profound track?

One region and one language on the Trial, Custom on Enterprise, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's pricing page, and 150 or more regions and 30 or more languages for the platform as a whole on Profound's own facts page, read the same day. A MentionChecker check asks from the country you pick, preselected from your web address, and a brand with people in two countries is checked from both, each with its own report and History.

Does Profound have an API?

On Enterprise, yes, and the Trial and Agency Growth have none, by the pricing page's matrix, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's pricing page. A MentionChecker AI visibility report has no API: it goes out as a link that opens with no login, or as a PDF, Markdown or JSON export with every answer in it.

Is there a cheaper Profound alternative?

At the same volume, yes. The one full brand workspace Profound prices on its page, a client workspace on the agency side, is 399 dollars a month for 100 questions on three AI engines every day, 9,000 in total across a 30-day month, read on 21 September 2026 on Profound's pricing page. The same count here is the 10,000-credit pack, $109, bought once and spent only when a check runs, on any of six AI engines, and a month with no check costs nothing.