Both platforms track brand visibility across major AI engines. Athena HQ Self-Serve is $295/month monthly or $95/month annual for AI mention tracking. Apex Radar Founder Beta is $79/month locked for life and bundles AI Visibility with five other intelligence modules. If you only need GEO, Athena annual is competitive. If you also want competitor pricing, content monitoring, or SEO audits, Apex Radar covers all six functions for less.
Athena HQ wins on LLM breadth and enterprise compliance features. Apex Radar wins on price, modules, and delivery format.
| Feature | Apex Radar | Athena HQ |
|---|---|---|
| AI citation tracking, ChatGPT | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| AI citation tracking, Claude | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| AI citation tracking, Perplexity | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| AI citation tracking, Gemini | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| AI citation tracking, Google AI Overviews | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Total LLMs covered | ~ 4 priority engines, deep testing | ✓ 8+ engines, broad coverage |
| Free baseline audit | ✓ One-shot, no card | ✗ No |
| Starting paid price (no annual lock-in) | $79/mo Founder Beta | $295/mo monthly |
| Best annual rate | $79/mo locked for life | $95/mo (annual commit) |
| Competitor price monitoring (daily) | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Competitor content diffs (weekly) | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Business Intel (hiring, sentiment, SEO) | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| AEO + SEO audit (103 checks) | ✓ Yes | ~ Content optimization only |
| Self-Audit (reverse-BI on you) | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Slack-native delivery | ✓ Yes | ✗ Dashboard only |
| SAML / OIDC SSO | ✗ No | ✓ Enterprise tier |
| Audit logging | ✗ No | ✓ Enterprise tier |
| Dedicated GEO specialist | ✗ DIY + Slack support | ✓ Enterprise tier |
| 2-hour support SLA | ✗ Best-effort | ✓ Enterprise tier |
| Bilingual EN + FR-CA | ✓ Yes | ✗ EN only |
Athena HQ pricing (verified May 2026):
Apex Radar pricing:
Apex Radar Founder Beta is 17% cheaper than Athena annual ($79 vs $95) and 73% cheaper than Athena monthly ($79 vs $295), while bundling five additional intelligence modules. Where Apex Radar does not compete: enterprise compliance features (SSO, audit logs, 2-hour SLA) are Athena-only.
Possible but rarely necessary. Both platforms cover the AI mention tracking job. The cleaner consolidation: use Apex Radar for AI Visibility plus the five intelligence modules Athena HQ does not offer. If your enterprise specifically requires SAML/OIDC SSO and audit logging today, you may need Athena Enterprise for compliance and Apex Radar for the broader intelligence layer. For most SMBs and agencies, Apex Radar replaces Athena HQ entirely.
ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini. All four engines. 90 seconds. No credit card.
Start free audit →Yes. Athena HQ Self-Serve is $295/month monthly or $95/month annual. Apex Radar Founder Beta is $79/month locked for life and includes five additional intelligence modules: Price Monitor, Business Intel, Content Monitor, AEO + SEO Audit, and Self-Audit.
Self-Serve is $295/month monthly or $95/month annual (17% discount, requires annual commitment). 67% off the first month. 3,600 credits per month. Enterprise pricing is custom and adds SAML/OIDC SSO, audit logging, ACE Citation Engine, dedicated GEO specialist, and 2-hour support SLA.
Yes. Athena HQ tracks 8+ major LLMs including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Claude, and Gemini. Apex Radar focuses citation testing on the four engines that drive the most buyer-intent traffic (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini) with deeper testing per engine.
Broader LLM coverage (8+ engines), Enterprise tier with SAML/OIDC SSO and audit logging, Athena Citation Engine (ACE), AI agent-driven content workflows, LLM traffic analysis, dedicated GEO specialist, and 2-hour support SLA. If your organization needs enterprise compliance features today, Athena Enterprise covers needs Apex Radar does not currently offer.
Five intelligence modules Athena does not offer: Price Monitor (daily competitor pricing), Business Intel (positioning, hiring, sentiment), Content Monitor (weekly competitor sitemap diffs), AEO + SEO Audit (103 checks plus live AI citation tests), and Self-Audit (reverse-BI on your own brand). Plus Slack-native delivery, bilingual EN/FR-CA, and founder pricing at $79/mo locked for life.
Use Athena HQ if your priority is broad LLM coverage and you need enterprise features like SSO and audit logging. Use Apex Radar if you want one platform covering AI Visibility plus five other intelligence functions, you prefer Slack delivery, you need bilingual EN/FR support, and you want $79/month founder pricing locked for life with no annual commitment.