OpenHelm vs Profound
Choose Profound if you are a larger brand or agency that needs AI visibility tracked across up to nine engines, with bot analytics, an API and enterprise security. Choose OpenHelm if you are a small team that wants a published price and agents that write, publish and audit for answer engines rather than only measure them.
Facts checked . OpenHelm wins 4 rows, Profound wins 4.
| OpenHelm | Profound | Better at it | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, then from $9 per seat a month billed yearly ($11 monthly) | Free trial; paid brand plans are Enterprise, priced by quote. Reviews report its self-serve $99 and $399 plans were withdrawn in September 2026 | OpenHelm |
| Engines tracked | Whatever answer-engine connections you have; with none connected it reports that it is blocked | Enterprise: ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Mode, Gemini, Copilot, DeepSeek, Claude, AI Overviews and Exa. Trial: ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews | Profound |
| Scale | Built around one product at a time | Unlimited domains and seats | Profound |
| AI bot analytics | Checks robots.txt lets AI crawlers in; no crawler traffic analytics | Agent Analytics shows how AI agents visit your site | Profound |
| Content | A blog publisher writes against the keyword plan, commits to your repo and confirms the post is live | Profound Agents and an AI Marketer, paid for in credits | Tie |
| Technical GEO audit | Checks llms.txt, JSON-LD, crawler access, citable facts, headings and authorship | Opportunities flag what to improve | Tie |
| API | REST API, MCP servers and webhooks | API access and CSV or JSON exports on Enterprise | Tie |
| Security and compliance | Row-level security per organisation; no SOC 2 or ISO certification | SSO/SAML and SOC 2 on Enterprise | Profound |
| Classic SEO | Keyword plan, indexing checks and weekly Search Console reporting | AI search only | OpenHelm |
| Work beyond marketing | Also fixes reported bugs, answers customer email and maps user funnels | Marketing only | OpenHelm |
| Getting started | Self-serve, with a free tier | Free trial, then a sales conversation | OpenHelm |
Choose Profound if
- You need visibility across nine engines, including Claude, DeepSeek and Copilot.
- You want to see how AI agents crawl your site.
- Procurement needs SSO and SOC 2.
- You manage many brands or domains and want unlimited seats.
Choose OpenHelm if
- You're a founder or small team without an enterprise budget.
- You want to self-serve on a published price.
- You want agents that publish the content and audit the GEO basics, not just report on them.
- You want SEO, AI visibility, bug fixing and support run from one workspace.
Price. As published on the day we checked.
- OpenHelm
- Free, then from $9 per seat a month billed yearly ($11 monthly). Runs on your own Claude Code or Codex subscription use no credits. Live prices
- Profound
- Profound's pricing page shows a free trial (50 prompts a day for 7 days) and Enterprise at a custom price. Reviews report the self-serve Starter ($99) and Growth ($399) plans were withdrawn in September 2026. See their pricing page.
Questions
How much does Profound cost?
Its pricing page lists a free 7-day trial and Enterprise at a custom price. Reviews from September 2026 say the $99 and $399 self-serve plans for brands were withdrawn, so expect to talk to sales.
Which AI engines does Profound track?
Enterprise lists ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, DeepSeek, Claude, Google AI Overviews and Exa. The trial covers ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews.
Is OpenHelm a Profound alternative for startups?
If what you need is to be cited more, yes: it audits your site for answer engines and publishes content against a plan. If you need enterprise-grade measurement across many engines, Profound is the stronger tool.
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