The best ad spy tools, compared fact by fact

How we compared these ad spy tools

We read each tool's own public pages on October 19, 2026: its homepage, its pricing page and, where it has one, its API or MCP page. Every entry below links to the pages we read. We did not use review sites, and we did not test paid accounts.

For each tool we noted the same facts:

• the ad networks it lists, and the plan each one needs;
• whether it also researches stores or products;
• the filters it names;
• a free plan or a trial;
• a public API, an MCP server for AI agents and a browser extension.

"Not stated" means we did not find the fact on the tool's own pages. It does not mean the tool lacks it. We do not copy other tools' prices here, because they change often and depend on the billing period. Most of these tools bill monthly or yearly, and the yearly price is lower per month. Each entry links to the pricing page instead. Our own price, in our entry, is the one on our pricing page today.

The best ad spy tools side by side

The first table shows the ad networks each tool lists. The second shows what else it researches and how you can reach the data.

The ad spy tools, one by one

In alphabetical order. Each entry says what the tool lists, where it stops, and which pages we read.

AdSpy

AdSpy covers Facebook and Instagram ads. Its homepage names a long list of search fields: ad text, URL, page name, advertiser name, like count, media type, last seen date, longest running, reactions, comment keywords, landing page technologies, and demographics by location, gender and age range. Three more are for affiliate offers: affiliate network, affiliate ID and offer ID.

It sells one plan, which it calls an introductory offer with "virtually unlimited usage". Its pricing address returned a 404 on the day we checked, so the plan is described on the homepage. We found no free plan, trial, API, MCP server or browser extension, and no store or product research.

Read: adspy.com, checked on October 19, 2026. In detail: SellWinners vs AdSpy.

BigSpy

BigSpy lists eleven ad platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads, YouTube, TikTok, X, Pinterest, Yahoo, Unity, Pangle and AppLovin. The plan decides which ones you get. Free covers Facebook. Starter adds Instagram and AppLovin. Growth and Scale add Google Ads, YouTube, X, TikTok and Pangle. Ultimate adds Pinterest, Yahoo and Unity.

The Free plan needs no paid subscription and includes Facebook creatives, 10 searches a day and 20 tracked creatives. Beyond ads, BigSpy lists product data from about 40 e-commerce sites, among them Shopify, Etsy, Amazon, Shopee and AliExpress, and a domain analysis on the Scale and Ultimate plans. The filters it names are country, language, e-commerce industry, sorting, deduplication, and an audience breakdown by country, time and gender. We found no API, MCP server or browser extension; its API address returned a 404.

Read: bigspy.com and its pricing page, checked on October 19, 2026.

Foreplay

Foreplay is about ad creatives and swipe files. Its pricing page lists the Meta Ad Library, Instagram organic posts, the TikTok Ad Library and Top Ads, TikTok organic posts, the LinkedIn Ad Library and YouTube Shorts. Google's Transparency Center is marked "coming soon". Its discovery filters cover trends, content styles, emotional drivers, industries, product niche, brands and styles, and you can sort by time running and by impressions.

It has a public API with three parts (Spyder, Discovery and Swipe File) that costs 1 credit per ad, with 10,000 free credits a month on trials and base plans. Its MCP server names Claude and ChatGPT. The pricing page puts the MCP and API automation on the Workflow and Agency plans, not on Basic. There is no free plan. The trial lasts 7 days: the pricing FAQ says a card is required, while the API page says no card is needed. A free Chrome extension saves ads from the Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn ad libraries, and there is a mobile app. We found no store or product research.

Read: foreplay.co, its pricing page, its API page and its MCP page, checked on October 19, 2026.

Minea

Minea pairs an ad spy tool with product and shop research. Its ad spy pages list Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest ads, plus influencer product placements, with filters for spend, engagement, platform and demographics. Its pricing page still marks Snapchat, Pinterest and TikTok ads as "coming soon", so check the plan before you count on TikTok.

Minea's product side (shop tracking, a supplier finder, daily winning products) is covered in our list of dropshipping product research tools. It lists no free plan, but you can register at no cost. It has a Chrome extension, and its AI ad analysis and transcripts run inside the app; we found no API or MCP server.

Read: minea.com, its pricing page and its ad spy page, checked on October 19, 2026.

PiPiAds

The PiPiAds page title calls it a TikTok ads spy tool, and its ad spy covers TikTok and Facebook. Its ad library lists Facebook, Instagram, Audience Network, Messenger and Threads. It adds product and store research: product search, top and new products, store search, top stores, TikTok Shop products and stores, and "Store Intelligence" for Shopify, WooCommerce and other stores. Its public page lists no filters.

Plans are based on credits. A free "Trial" tier gives 500 credits, and a banner offers 50% off annual plans. Its footer links to an API page at pipispy.com that shows a single line and no docs or prices. A "Connect to OpenClaw" button opens a skills page with no explanation, and we found no MCP server. For a browser extension it links to PPSPY, its sister product.

Read: pipiads.com and pipispy.com, checked on October 19, 2026.

PowerAdSpy

PowerAdSpy lists eleven networks: Facebook, Instagram, Google Search, YouTube, native, the Google Display Network, Reddit, Quora, Pinterest, LinkedIn and TikTok. Most depend on the plan. Basic covers Facebook and Instagram. Standard adds Pinterest and the Display Network. Platinum adds YouTube, native and Google Search. Palladium, the top plan, adds the rest, and the pricing page calls LinkedIn, TikTok, Quora and Reddit "niche coverage".

It advertises "40+ filters" (region, platform, age, format, engagement, funnel stage and language) and AI metadata filters such as intent, hook and colors. It has no dedicated store or product research tool; the homepage names an e-commerce trend radar. No free plan is listed. The pricing page offers a 3-day paid trial on every plan, while the homepage also mentions seven free days. The homepage says reports can go into your BI stack through an API. We found no public API docs and no MCP server.

Read: poweradspy.com and its pricing page, checked on October 19, 2026. In detail: SellWinners vs PowerAdSpy.

SellWinners

SellWinners is our product. It searches Meta ads (Facebook and Instagram), Google ads (YouTube included), and TikTok ads together with organic TikTok posts. Meta ads take 111 filters, among them status, days running, countries, language, media type, call to action, duplicates and ad rank. Google ads take 41, including the network (Search, YouTube, Shopping or Maps) and the format. TikTok takes 58, including views, followers, hashtags and duration.

It does not cover Amazon, Bing, X, native, push, Pinterest, Snapchat or LinkedIn ads. Its YouTube ads are Google ads on the YouTube network: a video ad shows its thumbnail and a link to watch it on Google, with no video file and no views. Meta reach is EU and UK reach and Meta spend is an estimate, both on every plan. Google ads, on paid plans, have no spend, and a reach only for some of the ads shown in the EU. TikTok results carry views and likes, with no reach and no spend. There is no browser extension.

You reach the same data three ways: Explore in the browser, a REST API, and an MCP server for clients such as Claude, Cursor and VS Code, with one API key for the API and the MCP server. It also covers Shopify stores (52 filters) and the emails brands send, in an email marketing library, and it can track a brand's ads over time. The Free plan needs no card and covers each shop's Meta ad library and a shop search in the web app; the Free plan includes the web app and the MCP server (150 credits a month), without the API. Paid plans start at €39 a month.

In Explore, open Ads, stay on the Meta tab, type a product in the search box and sort by Longest running. Over the API, the same search looks like this:

# Search Meta ads
curl "https://api.sellwinners.com/v1/ads?search=skincare&status=active&minDaysRunning=30&limit=10" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

GET /v1/ads Parameters and fields in the docs

See what the SellWinners ad spy tool covers, or go straight to Meta ads library search, the TikTok ads library, the Google ads library or the YouTube ad spy tool. SellWinners is not affiliated with Meta, Google or TikTok.

Winning Hunter

Winning Hunter calls itself an e-commerce research platform for brands, stores, ads and products. It lists Facebook ads from the Meta Ad Library, TikTok ads and TikTok Shop, and Pinterest ads; TikTok and Pinterest start on the Standard plan. Its ad filters include ad spend, ad set amount, media type, ad creation date, product creation date, performance and scaling. On the store side it has a Store Tracker (revenue, traffic, similar stores), a Store Explorer, Shopify store discovery and product importing.

Its REST API and its MCP server (20 tools) work on one key, and its docs name Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Gemini and n8n as clients without saying which plans include them. It has a free trial with no card; we found no free plan. Of the tools here, its mix of ad data, store data, API and MCP is the closest to ours, so compare the two on the networks and filters you need.

Read: winninghunter.com and the Winning Hunter docs, checked on October 19, 2026.

Which ad spy tool fits which job

Start from the networks you buy ads on. Then think about how you want to work with the results.

• Facebook and Instagram only. Every tool here covers Meta ads, so any of them works as a Facebook ads spy tool. AdSpy covers only those two, and it adds fields for affiliate offers.
• TikTok as well. BigSpy (from Growth), Foreplay, PiPiAds, PowerAdSpy (Palladium), SellWinners and Winning Hunter (from Standard) list TikTok ads. Minea's pages disagree with each other on it. Foreplay and SellWinners also include organic TikTok posts.
• Google and YouTube. BigSpy and PowerAdSpy list Google and YouTube ads. SellWinners has Google ads with a network filter, YouTube video ads among them, each shown as a thumbnail with a link to watch it on Google: that is how you spy on YouTube ads in SellWinners. Foreplay lists YouTube Shorts and marks Google as coming soon.
• Networks beyond Meta, Google and TikTok. BigSpy and PowerAdSpy list eleven networks each, from Pinterest to native and app networks. SellWinners covers none of those.
• Stores and products too. BigSpy, Minea, PiPiAds, SellWinners and Winning Hunter pair ads with store or product research. Our list of the best dropshipping product research tools covers that side.
• Data in your own code or AI agent. Foreplay, SellWinners and Winning Hunter document both an API and an MCP server. PowerAdSpy and PiPiAds mention an API with no public docs.

Five of the eight tools let you start without paying: BigSpy, Foreplay, PiPiAds, SellWinners and Winning Hunter. Run the same search on your own niche in two or three of them before you pay. Compare what comes back: how many ads you can open, how far back they go and whether the filters you need are on your plan. For SellWinners, the plans and their prices are on one page, Free included.