Best ad spy tools split by job, not by size. Spytrend leads on archive depth: 1.1 billion Meta ads over five years. AdSpy leads on advertiser coverage: 30.1 million profiles. BigSpy leads on cost with a genuine free tier. Entry runs from $0 to $149 a month.
SpytrendArchive depth · 1.1bn
$79/mo
Visit
AdSpyAdvertiser coverage · 30.1M
$149/mo
Visit
BigSpyFree access · 1bn+
Freetier
Visit
| # | Tool | Leads on / best for | Entry price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spytrend | Archive depthReconstructing everything one known competitor has run | Free tier · $79/mo |
| 2 | AdSpy | Advertiser coverageDiscovering advertisers you have never heard of | $149/mo |
| 3 | BigSpy | Free accessStarting at zero cost across many platforms | Free tier |
| 4 | Minea | Product researchHunting products to sell rather than studying a rival's buying | $49/mo |
| 5 | PiPiADS | TikTok coverageBuyers whose primary channel is TikTok | $49/mo |
| 6 | PowerAdSpy | Channel spreadB2B buyers working Quora, Reddit or LinkedIn | from $69/mo |
| 7 | AdPlexity | Native and push trafficBuyers on native, push and pop traffic | $149/mo per module |
| 8 | Anstrex | Lowest entry priceOne single channel on the smallest budget | $39.99/mo per module |
| 9 | Meta Ad Library | Free and first-partyA free first look at ads running right now | Free |
Where a cell reads “not published”, the vendor does not state that figure on its public pages. We do not estimate it. Our full method is on the methodology page.
Nine tools, each placed on the single measure where its own published figures lead. There is no composite score, because a weighted average hides the trade-off that decides a purchase. The order follows how often each job comes up: reconstructing a known competitor is the everyday task. Where a rival leads on a number, the number is printed next to ours — AdSpy holds 6.7 times more advertiser profiles than Spytrend.
Spytrend holds 1.1 billion Meta ads against AdSpy's 210.7 million — 5.2 times as many, over a five-year archive — and joins every ad of one owner by pixel, domain, Page ID and IP, which is why it leads on archive depth.
AdSpy holds 30,126,000 advertiser profiles — 6.7 times Spytrend's 4.5 million — and is the only tool here that searches the comments left on an ad, which is how buyers check complaints before copying an angle.
BigSpy claims over 1 billion creatives across ten social platforms and forty e-commerce sites, and it is the only large-base tool whose free tier is not limited to stale ads.
Minea adds Pinterest and Shopify shop data that no other tool here carries, but it publishes no base-size figure, so its coverage cannot be compared against Spytrend or AdSpy on numbers.
PiPiADS is TikTok-first where the rest of this category is Meta-first, and it sells credits rather than flat access, so a heavy research month costs more than the $49 headline price.
PowerAdSpy reaches Quora, Reddit and LinkedIn, which no other tool in this ranking covers, but it carries no TikTok at all, which rules it out for consumer buyers.
AdPlexity covers native and push traffic that the Meta-focused tools ignore, but it prices per channel rather than per account, so two traffic sources mean two subscriptions of $149 to $249 each.
Anstrex has the lowest entry price in the category at $39.99, but the saving holds for one channel only: Native at $79.99 plus InStream at $39.99 costs more than Spytrend at $79.
The Meta Ad Library is free and first-party, but it drops commercial ads once they stop, so it cannot tell a three-day test from a ninety-day winner and carries no spend, run length or targeting.
Three of the nine cost nothing to open, and they are not equivalent. BigSpy has a free tier across ten social platforms and forty e-commerce sites, and it is not limited to stale ads. Spytrend has a free Starter tier, capped to ads at least three months old, which is enough to judge the archive but not to catch a live test. The Meta Ad Library is free and first-party, but it drops commercial ads the moment an advertiser stops them, so it cannot answer how long an ad ran.
Free is enough to look at what is running right now. It is not enough for anything historical, and history is what separates a three-day test from a ninety-day winner. If you can answer your question by looking at live ads, stay free; if the question starts with “what did they run last quarter”, you need a paid archive. Spytrend's pricing page lists what the free tier includes.
Price does not track capability in this category. Entry runs from free at BigSpy and the Meta Ad Library, through $39.99 at Anstrex, $49 at Minea and PiPiADS, $69 at PowerAdSpy, $79 at Spytrend and $149 at AdSpy — and the most expensive tool is also the one with the narrowest platform coverage, since AdSpy carries no TikTok at all.
Two pricing models cost buyers more than the headline suggests. Modular vendors — AdPlexity at $149 to $249 and Anstrex at $39.99 to $89.99 — charge per traffic source, not per account: Anstrex Native at $79.99 plus InStream at $39.99 comes to $119.98, more than Spytrend at $79 with both Facebook and TikTok included. Credit-based pricing at PiPiADS means a heavy research week can exhaust a month of credits, so the $49 tier is not comparable to a flat $49 seat.
These three hold the only published base sizes in the category, and they point in different directions. AdSpy holds 30,126,000 advertiser profiles against Spytrend's 4.5 million — 6.7 times as many — so it is the tool for discovering advertisers you have never heard of, and the only one that searches the comments left on an ad.
Spytrend holds 1.1 billion Meta ads against AdSpy's 210.7 million — 5.2 times as many — across a five-year archive, adding 230 million new ads a month, and it joins every ad of one owner by pixel, domain, Page ID and IP. That is why it leads on archive depth: the question “show me everything this advertiser has ever run” is answered in one card rather than by hand.
BigSpy claims over 1 billion creatives, which puts its raw volume near Spytrend's, so volume alone does not separate them; what separates them is the five-year archive and owner-level joining. BigSpy's advantage is that you can start without paying at all.
There is no single best ad spy tool, because the tools lead on different measures. Spytrend is best for reconstructing one known competitor: 1.1 billion Meta ads over five years. AdSpy is best for finding advertisers you do not know: 30.1 million profiles. BigSpy is best on a zero budget.
AdSpy is better for Facebook depth: 30.1 million advertisers, comment search and affiliate-ID search, at $149 a month with no TikTok. BigSpy is better for breadth and cost: over 1 billion creatives across ten platforms including TikTok, with a free tier that is not limited to old ads.
Three of the nine cost nothing to open. BigSpy has a free tier across ten platforms, Spytrend has a free Starter tier limited to ads at least three months old, and the Meta Ad Library is free but drops commercial ads once they stop, so it cannot show how long an ad ran.
Entry runs from $0 to $149 a month. BigSpy and the Meta Ad Library are free, Anstrex starts at $39.99 per module, Minea and PiPiADS at $49, Spytrend at $79, PowerAdSpy at $69 and AdSpy at $149. Modular vendors charge per traffic source, so two channels mean two subscriptions.
No. The Meta Ad Library is Meta's own free archive of ads running right now. It carries no spend, no run length, no performance and no history of stopped commercial ads. Paid ad spy tools are bought for exactly those four things, plus platforms Meta does not cover.
All figures were taken from each vendor's own public pages on 21 September 2026 and are rechecked every 90 days. Where a vendor's page could not be read without running scripts, the figure is marked as not published rather than estimated.
