VisiScan vs Rankscale 2026
We might buy Rankscale for cheap engine coverage on a side account. We use VisiScan as a local flashlight. We still run Promptwatch.
Clients mix VisiScan and Rankscale because both look cheap. One is a $49 PDF. The other is $20/mo for 17+ engines. We run Promptwatch either way.
VisiScan: local named-rate, four engines, 1 free scan per URL, schema to paste. Rankscale: Vienna, credits, 17+ on Essentials, no PDF, API at $385, 4.6/5 OMR. Credit burn ~8x. Audits need 30-day averages. Their docs put business impact 4-8 weeks behind visibility.
Proposal table
| VisiScan | Rankscale | Promptwatch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Role for us | Local appendix | Coverage sidecar if the client insists | KPI |
| Floor | $0 / $49 | $20/mo | Explore $0; Essential $95 |
| Engines | 4 | 17+ | Sheet list |
| Logs | No | No | Professional $245 |
We would not replace Promptwatch with Rankscale because 17 is a big number. We would not replace it with VisiScan Monitor at $29. We might run VisiScan free on a trades inbound. We might let a tinkerer client keep Rankscale Essentials next to our login, one number in the QBR.
No PDF on Rankscale is a real agency gap. VisiScan's shareable page is the opposite product. Neither is crawler logs.
If they can only fund one paid seat after the free VisiScan pass, it is Promptwatch Essential, not Rankscale $20, unless the RFP was literally engine count and they already have us on logs.