AirOps vs AthenaHQ: content workflows vs credit-based AI visibility
By Jean Luc Poitier, SEO and growth marketing strategist · AirOps Reviews · Updated October 5, 2026
AthenaHQ is a young AI visibility platform with a free tier, a $295-a-month Starter plan, and agents that publish recommended changes to your CMS or Shopify store. AirOps is an older content workflow platform with deeper customization and a larger review base.
Pick AthenaHQ if you want broad engine coverage (11 models on Starter), a free plan, and a published price, especially as an ecommerce brand. Pick AirOps if you need to build and run your own content processes at scale with human review.
AirOps vs AthenaHQ at a glance
| Compared on | AirOps | AthenaHQ |
|---|---|---|
| Paid plan price | Not published; 14-day free trial, no payment details | Starter $295/mo; Enterprise custom; 17% off annually |
| Free entry | 14-day trial, no payment details | Free Essential plan with 300 credits (1 credit = 1 AI response) |
| AI search tracking | Solo: ChatGPT only; Pro: 7+ answer engines | 5 engines on Essential; 11 on Starter, including Claude, Grok, and DeepSeek |
| Custom workflow builder | Yes: workflows, playbooks, and grids you build | Not shown; an action center and content agent |
| Publishing to your CMS | Yes, native CMS integrations with a review step | WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Contentful, Sanity, Framer, Wix, Payload |
| Company | Founded 2021 (LinkedIn), $62.5M raised | Y Combinator Winter 2025, founded 2025 |
| G2 rating | 4.7 / 5 (134 reviews) | 4.9 / 5 (48 reviews) |
| Awards | None found | G2 High Performer, Spring 2026 (Answer Engine Optimization), per its pricing page |
Figures checked against each company's published pages and review-platform listings as of 2026-10-05. “Not published” means the company does not publish that figure.
Tracking breadth vs workflow depth
AthenaHQ's Starter plan tracks 11 models, from ChatGPT and Gemini to Grok, DeepSeek, and Mistral, and meters usage in credits where one credit is one AI response. AirOps tracks fewer engines (7+ on Pro) but lets you build multi-step workflows that act on what it finds.
Ecommerce
AthenaHQ can publish to a Shopify store's blog and update product titles, descriptions, and FAQs, and it targets consumer brands. AirOps' reviewers are mostly B2B content and SEO teams.
Maturity
AthenaHQ came out of Y Combinator's Winter 2025 batch and lists about a dozen staff on YC. AirOps raised a $40M Series B in 2025 and has 134 G2 reviews. On G2, AthenaHQ rates higher (4.9 from 48 reviews against AirOps' 4.7 from 134), on a much smaller sample.
Where AthenaHQ wins
- A higher G2 rating (4.9), though from 48 reviews against AirOps' 134
- A free plan and a published $295 Starter price
- Tracks more models on its entry paid plan (11)
- Shopify publishing and product-level ecommerce features
- A G2 High Performer badge for Spring 2026 in Answer Engine Optimization
AirOps vs AthenaHQ FAQ
Is AirOps or AthenaHQ cheaper?+
AthenaHQ has a free plan and publishes Starter at $295 a month. AirOps doesn't publish its prices but offers a 14-day free trial.
Which tracks more AI engines?+
AthenaHQ's Starter plan tracks 11 models; AirOps tracks ChatGPT on Solo and 7+ answer engines on Pro.
Does AthenaHQ have a workflow builder?+
Its site shows an action center and a content optimization agent rather than a general workflow builder like AirOps'.
How do AthenaHQ credits work?+
One credit is one AI response. The free plan includes 300 credits and Starter includes 3,600 a month; extra credits and API access are add-ons.