PromptMonitor is $29/mo and built by a solo indie founder named Yogesh. Its publisher contact extraction feature—surfacing author emails and social profiles from AI-cited sources—is genuinely unique.
But it has no G2 reviews, no named customer case studies, and a 1,300-subscriber newsletter as its primary support channel. For teams that need more than one person behind their AEO tooling, the question isn’t whether PromptMonitor is clever—it is—but whether that’s enough.
Three platforms deliver serious AI visibility tracking for under $50/mo with funded teams, verified reviews, and more validation than a solo-built product can provide.
What are the best PromptMonitor alternatives under $50?
The top 3 PromptMonitor alternatives under $50 are Airefs, Otterly AI, and RankScale.
Airefs starts at $24/mo—$5/mo less than PromptMonitor—with Reddit keyword monitoring and a done-for-you option that PromptMonitor doesn’t offer. Otterly AI matches PromptMonitor at $29/mo with Gartner Cool Vendor 2025 recognition, a G2 High Performer badge, and 4.9/5 across 250 verified reviews. RankScale is the cheapest entry point in the AEO category at EUR 20/mo with a granular credit-based system for data-savvy teams.
Top affordable PromptMonitor alternatives — Comparison table
| Platform | Starting Price | AI Platforms | Best For | Key Differentiator | Free Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airefs | $24/mo | ChatGPT by default (+ other LLMs on request) | Startups, SMBs, agencies | Reddit monitoring + done-for-you option | Yes (7-day) |
| Otterly AI | $29/mo | ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot | Teams needing validated credentials | Gartner Cool Vendor 2025 + 250 G2 reviews | Yes (14-day) |
| RankScale | EUR 20/mo (~$21/mo) | ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Mistral, Grok, AI Overviews (7) | Data-savvy teams wanting granular control | Most affordable entry + credit-based flexibility | Not listed |
1. Airefs: The proactive choice under $50
PromptMonitor tracks citations after the fact and emails you the sources. Airefs shows you the Reddit threads worth joining now—before they become established AI sources—and the content gaps your competitors are filling while you’re not.
At $24/mo, it undercuts PromptMonitor’s $29/mo Starter for a more action-oriented approach.
The core difference in philosophy: PromptMonitor is built around monitoring and outreach (find citations, contact authors). Airefs is built around opportunity discovery (find what AI could cite you for, then create it).
Both approaches are valid—but for teams that want to improve visibility rather than just measure it, Airefs’ Reddit monitoring surfaces earlier-stage opportunities that monitoring tools miss by design.
The Expert plan ($83/mo, outside this guide’s under-$50 scope) adds unlimited domains, an AEO strategist, and 30 Reddit keywords—all still below PromptMonitor’s Pro plan at $129/mo.
Key features
- ChatGPT-first tracking: Prompt tracking on ChatGPT by default; other LLMs available on request; daily refresh on Pro+
- Reddit keyword monitoring: Track up to 30 keywords to catch conversations before they become established AI sources
- AI Search Analytics: Identify traffic from AI platforms and monitor crawler behavior on your site
- Competitor source analysis: See which sources competitors are cited in that you’re not
- Content opportunity identification: Surface specific articles and discussions AI models cite in your market
Pricing
- Lite: $24/mo — 1 domain, 3 competitors, 25 prompts, 2-day refresh, 3 Reddit keywords
- Pro: $49/mo — 3 domains, 5 competitors, 60 prompts, daily refresh, 10 Reddit keywords, 7-day free trial
- Expert: $83/mo — Unlimited domains, 150 prompts, 30 Reddit keywords, AEO strategist
Pros & cons
Pros:
- $24/mo Lite undercuts PromptMonitor’s $29/mo Starter
- Reddit monitoring identifies future AI citation opportunities before they’re established
- Done-for-you tier (from $249/mo) converts monitoring insights into executed work — no PromptMonitor equivalent
- Transparent pricing with a 7-day free trial
- Backed by a team vs PromptMonitor’s single founder
Cons:
- No publisher contact extraction — PromptMonitor’s outreach workflow has no direct equivalent
- Fewer AI platforms by default (ChatGPT-first vs PromptMonitor’s 8 platforms)
- Smaller review base than Otterly AI
Customers
Airefs serves 100+ teams including startups, agencies, and B2B SaaS companies. 5.0/5 customer rating.
Thanks to Airefs, Techmap went from invisible in LLM answers to showing up every time as one of the best courses for tech recruiters—and it all happened in just a few weeks.
— Ruben K, Co-founder, Techmap
2. Otterly AI: The validated choice at the same price
PromptMonitor and Otterly AI both start at $29/mo. The difference is everything else: Otterly has 4.9/5 across 250 verified reviews, Gartner Cool Vendor 2025, G2 High Performer status, 20,000+ users, and customers including Opera, Auto1, and Avis Budget Group.
PromptMonitor has no G2 presence and its primary community is a newsletter. For teams that need to justify their AEO tool internally, this validation gap is decisive.
Otterly’s GEO Audit analyzes 25+ on-page factors and gives you a prioritized list of technical and content improvements for better AI citation. PromptMonitor doesn’t offer an audit feature.
The 14-day free trial (vs PromptMonitor’s 7 days) also gives more evaluation runway at the same $0 upfront cost.
Key features
- 6-platform tracking: ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot
- GEO Audit: 25+ on-page factor analysis with optimization recommendations
- Brand mention and citation tracking: Sentiment, position, and share of voice monitoring
- 40+ country support: Multi-language, multi-region tracking
- Automated weekly reports: Regular team summaries
Pricing
- Starter: $29/mo — 14-day free trial, no credit card
- Growth: $189/mo
- Business: $489/mo
- Enterprise: Custom
- Add-ons: AI Mode & Gemini $9-149/mo
Pros & cons
Pros:
- Same $29/mo as PromptMonitor with dramatically stronger third-party validation
- Gartner Cool Vendor 2025 and G2 High Performer provide procurement-friendly credentials
- 14-day free trial — twice as long as PromptMonitor’s 7-day trial
- GEO Audit surfaces optimization opportunities PromptMonitor doesn’t identify
- 20,000+ users vs PromptMonitor’s 1,300 newsletter subscribers
Cons:
- Only 6 platforms — misses Claude, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI, Mistral that PromptMonitor covers
- No publisher contact extraction
- Add-ons for Gemini and AI Mode increase real cost above $29/mo
- Austria-based; 2-10 person team
Customers
Otterly AI serves Opera, Bacula Systems, XXXLutz, Avis Budget Group, Roadsurfer, Auto1, Storyblocks, A1 Telekom, SmartRecruiters, and Campaign Monitor.
2x increase in both our visibility in AI search engines and incoming traffic.
— Rebecca Anderson, Instant Commerce
3. RankScale: The most affordable and most flexible option
RankScale starts at EUR 20/mo (~$21/mo)—cheaper than PromptMonitor—with a credit-based system that gives data-savvy teams granular control over exactly which platforms and queries they track. At EUR 20/mo, you get 120 credits (480 AI responses) across 7 AI platforms including Mistral and Grok that many tools skip.
The credit model means you pay only for what you use: each credit covers one prompt tracked on one AI model in one run. For teams with a focused set of queries across a specific set of AI platforms, this is more efficient than flat monthly plans that charge for 500 prompts when you only need 50.
PromptMonitor doesn’t offer this kind of granular billing control.
RankScale also includes AI readiness website audits (single-page or multi-page crawl) that evaluate your content’s crawlability and citation potential—a technical layer PromptMonitor doesn’t provide. Its 4.8/5 on SourceForge gives it more independent validation than PromptMonitor’s zero reviews.
Key features
- Credit-based tracking: Charged per prompt/model/run — pay precisely for what you track
- 7-platform coverage: ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Mistral, Grok, AI Overviews
- Website AI readiness audits: Single-page and multi-page crawl with AI optimization scores
- Competitor benchmarking: Visibility, sentiment, and citation frequency comparisons
- Brand dashboard: Centralized tracking across all monitored platforms
Pricing
- Essentials: EUR 20/mo — 120 credits (480 AI responses)
- Pro: EUR 99/mo — 1,200 credits (4,800 AI responses)
- Enterprise: EUR 780/mo — 12,000 credits (48,000 AI responses)
- Additional credits available in 100-unit blocks
Pros & cons
Pros:
- EUR 20/mo is the cheapest ongoing AEO tracking plan available — cheaper than PromptMonitor
- Credit-based model lets data-savvy teams optimize spend precisely
- 7 platforms including Mistral and Grok from the base plan
- Website AI readiness audits add a technical layer PromptMonitor doesn’t offer
- SourceForge 4.8/5 provides more independent validation than PromptMonitor’s zero reviews
Cons:
- Credit math is non-trivial (120 credits = 480 AI responses = careful planning required)
- Described as “pretty technical” with a learning curve — not beginner-friendly
- EUR-based pricing adds currency uncertainty for US teams
- No publisher contact extraction
- Solo founder (Mathias Ptacek) — similar solo-team risk as PromptMonitor
Customers
RankScale claims 1,000+ brands and agencies. Independent reviewers on SourceForge highlight its AI readiness audit as a differentiator.
RankScale makes it easy to identify actionable improvements to my website for AI optimization. I love the UX more than other tools.
— Andrew C., SXO & Content Strategist
Frequently asked questions
Why look for PromptMonitor alternatives under $50?
PromptMonitor is a well-designed solo product. But it has no G2 reviews, no named customer case studies, and its feature roadmap depends on a single developer.
At $29/mo, the price is right, but the validation and team depth aren’t. Otterly AI offers identical pricing with Gartner and G2 validation. Airefs offers better pricing with a stronger action orientation. RankScale offers lower pricing with more platform breadth.
Does any under-$50 alternative have PromptMonitor’s publisher contact extraction?
No. The publisher contact extraction feature—pulling author emails and social profiles from AI-cited sources—is unique to PromptMonitor among sub-$50 tools. If outreach to AI-cited publications is central to your workflow, PromptMonitor is worth keeping. The tools in this guide focus on tracking and optimization rather than outreach infrastructure.
Which platform covers the most AI engines under $50?
RankScale covers 7 platforms (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Mistral, Grok, AI Overviews) from EUR 20/mo. Otterly AI covers 6 platforms from $29/mo. Airefs covers ChatGPT by default with other LLMs on request from $24/mo. PromptMonitor covers 8 platforms for $29/mo — the broadest coverage of any solo-built tool at this price.
Which has the strongest third-party validation under $50?
Otterly AI is the clear winner: Gartner Cool Vendor 2025, G2 High Performer, 4.9/5 across 250 verified reviews. RankScale has a 4.8/5 on SourceForge. Airefs has a 5.0/5 customer rating. PromptMonitor has no G2 or Capterra presence — making Otterly AI the strongest under-$50 choice for teams that need procurement-friendly credentials.
Is there a free tier or trial for these alternatives?
Airefs offers a 7-day free trial on Pro ($49/mo). Otterly AI offers a 14-day free trial on Starter ($29/mo). RankScale doesn’t list a free trial. PromptMonitor offers a 7-day free trial. Otterly AI has the most generous trial window of any platform in this comparison.
Conclusion: Choosing your under-$50 PromptMonitor alternative
For teams that want proactive opportunity discovery at the lowest price, Airefs at $24/mo undercuts PromptMonitor while adding Reddit monitoring and a content opportunity engine that tracks future AI sources, not just current ones.
For teams that need validated credentials at the same $29/mo price point, Otterly AI is the direct replacement. Same cost, dramatically stronger third-party validation, a GEO Audit that goes beyond monitoring, and 14 days to evaluate for free.
For data-savvy teams that want granular billing control, RankScale at EUR 20/mo is the most affordable AEO tracking option available with a credit-based system that lets you pay precisely for what you track across 7 platforms including Mistral and Grok.
Want to start tracking AI visibility for less than PromptMonitor? Try Airefs free for 7 days — $24/mo with Reddit monitoring and a team behind the product.