Side-by-side matrix
| What you get | CitunaThat’s us | AthenaHQ | Scrunch AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price / month | $39 | $0 → $295 | $300 |
| Pricing model | Flat tiers | Credit-based | Flat tiers |
| AI engines at entry | 6 | 5 free / 9 paid | 5 reported |
| Claude tracked | |||
| Grok tracked | Paid ($295) | Enterprise | |
| Microsoft Copilot | Paid ($295) | ||
| Google AI Overviews | Not published | Not published | |
| Refresh cadence | Daily | Not published | Not published |
| Search Console integration | |||
| MCP access at entry | |||
| Generated fixes | Paid agent | 5 page audits | |
| Free trial | 3 days (card) | Free tier | 3 days (no card) |
Compiled from each vendor’s public pricing page: AthenaHQ figures from www.athenahq.ai/pricing, checked July 16, 2026; Scrunch AI figures from www.scrunch.com/pricing, checked July 16, 2026. AthenaHQ: free Essential tier stepping up to a $295/mo Starter. Scrunch AI: $250 billed annually; 3 seats, 350 prompts, 5 page audits. “Not published” marks a row the vendor does not state publicly; it is not a “no”. Cituna checks all six engines daily and does not track Microsoft Copilot. MCP read tools are included from $39, write tools from Pro ($119); MCP is not exclusive to us. Prices change often: verify before buying. Spot an error? Tell us and we will correct it.
Reading the difference
On cost per engine at entry, the crudest useful way to normalise these two, AthenaHQ works out at about $32.78 per engine per month ($0 → $295 across 5 free / 9 paid) and Scrunch AI at about $60.00 ($300 across 5 reported). AthenaHQ is the better ratio, by roughly $27.22 per engine. Treat that as a sanity check rather than a verdict: an engine you do not care about is not worth anything, and Scrunch AI’s number improves immediately if its engine mix happens to be the one you need.
The confirmed capability split between these two is narrow enough to state exactly: AthenaHQ covers Search Console integration and Scrunch AI does not. That is the whole difference on the rows both vendors publish, everything else in the matrix either matches or is unpublished by one of them, and an unpublished row is not a “no”.
Worth knowing before you shortlist either: neither AthenaHQ nor Scrunch AI offers an MCP server. If any of those is a requirement, this comparison is the wrong shortlist and you should widen it rather than pick the better of two tools that both miss what you need.
The tier ladders are worth reading side by side, because the entry price means something different on each. AthenaHQ: Essential $0 (5 engines) · Starter $295 (9 engines). Scrunch AI: Starter $300 ($250 annual) · extra seats $25/mo. That is where most of the apparent price gap between these two either disappears or widens sharply, depending on which engines you actually need.
They also genuinely overlap on Claude, Grok, Microsoft Copilot and generated fixes, so those rows should not carry weight in the decision even though both vendors market them.
One practical difference that does not appear in any feature list: AthenaHQ bills as credit-based and Scrunch AI as flat tiers. A credit-metered plan and a flat plan are hard to compare over a year because only one of them has a predictable ceiling, so run your expected prompt volume through both before treating the entry prices as comparable at all.
Which to choose
Choose AthenaHQ if…
AthenaHQ is the most engine-complete tool in the category, if you can clear the $295 step. Against Scrunch AI specifically, it is the cheaper entry by $5 a month, it covers more engines at entry (5 free / 9 paid against 5 reported) and and it bills as credit-based where Scrunch AI bills as flat tiers.
- the widest published engine list here: nine on the $295 Starter, including Grok and Microsoft Copilot
- a genuinely free Essential tier covering five engines including Claude, with no card, which is the least risky way to start in this whole category
- a native Search Console integration, still uncommon among the self-serve tools
What you give up:
- the jump from free to paid is a $295 cliff with nothing in between, which prices out most small teams the free tier attracts
- billing is credit-metered rather than flat, so the monthly cost moves with usage and needs a calculator to predict
- no MCP server at entry, so the data cannot be queried from an AI client without export
Choose Scrunch AI if…
Scrunch AI is the mid-market platform, sold to teams rather than to individuals. Against AthenaHQ specifically, you are paying $5 a month more than AthenaHQ for it, it covers fewer engines at entry (5 reported against 5 free / 9 paid) and and it bills as flat tiers where AthenaHQ bills as credit-based.
- a no-card 3-day trial, so the product can be evaluated before any payment details change hands
- three seats included at entry rather than one, with additional seats at a published $25/mo
- Claude and Microsoft Copilot both covered, a combination few tools here manage
What you give up:
- a $300 floor with no smaller plan beneath it, which rules it out for solo operators and early-stage teams
- its engine list is reviewer-reported rather than published, and the Grok tier mapping is unverified
- no Search Console integration and no MCP server
Drafted with AI assistance from our own research and Search Console data, and reviewed by Rahul A before publishing. Rules and prices change; check the linked official source before you act.