7 Best Facebook Ads Spy Tools to Outsmart Your Competitors [2025]
Are you struggling to crack the Facebook ads code? These 7 powerful Meta spy tools show you exactly what your competitors are running, how they're targeting, and which ads are winning.
Ask any paid media specialist, and they'll tell you that running Facebook ads today is a cutthroat game. Yes, you need your internal product research, but if you don't have the competitor insights, you'll most likely be flailing in the dark.
Fortunately, you don't have to dig into competitor ads manually. There are a ton of Facebook ads spy tools you can use to gather their ad performance information.
This article rounds up the best Facebook ads spy tools available right now.
We'll cover free tools and give you options for more comprehensive platforms that track engagement metrics and campaign budgets.
But before that, let’s define what these spy tools can and can’t do.
Key takeaways
- Facebook ads spy tools let you see exactly which type of ads are working for your niche and competitors.
- The free Facebook Ads Library is perfect for beginners, while paid tools like AdSpy and PowerAdSpy offer more granular performance metrics and targeting insights.
- Most spy tools show you creatives, copy, and launch dates, but targeting data remains limited across all platforms.
- Tools like MagicBrief and Minea offer AI-powered search capabilities that help you quickly find relevant ads by searching text within images or transcripts.
What are Facebook ads spy tools?
Facebook ads spy tools are exactly what they sound like: competitor intelligence tools that let you analyze ad performance across Meta platforms.
They make a great addition to your tech stack if you want to take the guesswork out of your ad strategy.
Why? Because Facebook ads spy tools show you what's already working in your niche.
These tools give you a glimpse of the ad creatives, copy, formats, and targeting details performing best for businesses like yours.
They're especially useful for:
- Market research
- Inspiration for your creatives
- Benchmarking your offers
- Avoiding ad fatigue by identifying saturated angles
How much spying can you do with these platforms?
Is it full-on spy gear or just binoculars from the backyard?
It’s a mix of both, depending on which tool you choose. However, most tools will allow you to access:
- Live ads from specific pages
- Engagement metrics (likes, comments, shares)
- Launch dates
- Ad copy, creatives, placements, and sometimes funnel links
- Targeting insights like demographics, interests, etc, but this information is usually limited
Top 7 best Facebook ads spy tools in 2025
Now, let’s look at the top Facebook ads spy tools worth a look.
| Tool | Pricing | Best Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Facebook Ads Library | Free | Beginners or marketers needing quick, no-cost competitor creative insights |
| AdSpy | $149/month | Deep analysis for eCommerce and affiliate marketers needing advanced filters and engagement data |
| BigSpy | Starts at $9/month | Budget-friendly option for multi-platform ad inspiration across industries |
| PowerAdSpy | Starts at $69/month ($1 trial) | Full-funnel research with advanced targeting insights and AI-based visual search |
| Minea | $49/month | Product-based research for Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest; great for eCommerce |
| AdFlex | Free plan available, paid starts at $99/month | International market research with strong filtering and cross-platform visibility |
| MagicBrief | Starts at $249/month (7-day trial) | DTC brands that want creative benchmarking, team collaboration, and AI summaries |
1. Facebook Ads Library
Facebook Ads Library is Meta's own free tool for ad transparency. It's the simplest entry point if you're just starting with competitor research.
You can search any brand or page name and instantly see all their active ads across Facebook, Instagram, and other Meta platforms.
The interface is straightforward because you just type in a competitor's name and see their current ad campaigns.
While it doesn't reveal targeting or performance data, you can still gather valuable insights about creative approaches, messaging, and how long ads have been running.
If you're looking for a no-cost way to keep tabs on competitor creative strategies, the Ads Library is an excellent fit. Just don't expect deep performance insights or targeting data.
For each ad, you see the creatives, copy, category, and sometimes where the ad is running. For example, the ad below is running only on Facebook and is housed under the financial products and services category.
You can also see when it started and how long it’s been running, but you can’t see detailed targeting information aside from age and gender.
Facebook Ads Library key features
- See all active ads from any advertiser
- Filter by country, platform, and media type
- View when campaigns started running
- Access ad copy, creatives, and CTAs
- Check landing pages linked to ads
- Search by keyword or advertiser name
- Completely free to use
- Official Meta tool, so always up-to-date
- Covers all geographic regions where Meta runs ads
- Shows the exact ad creative and copy being used
- Limited targeting information (except for some EU ads)
- No performance metrics or engagement data
- Basic filtering options compared to paid tools
- Can't save or organize the ads you find
- No competitive analysis features
2. AdSpy
AdSpy bills itself as the world's largest searchable database of Facebook and Instagram ads.
This tool offers comprehensive ad intelligence with an extensive filtering system that rivals most other platforms.
You can filter by advertiser, site type, media type, offer ID, gender, technologies used, age ranges, countries, likes, networks, and affiliate IDs.
Unlike the free Meta Ads Library, AdSpy shows you actual performance metrics for each ad.
It also reveals targeting information based on location, gender, and age range.
We also love that you can search through comments to monitor competitors' brands and your own brand mentions, or see what's getting positive or negative feedback.
AdSpy is particularly valuable for eCommerce or dropshipping niches and offers virtually unlimited usage at $149 per month.
AdSpy key features
- A massive searchable database of Facebook and Instagram ads
- Advanced filtering system with multiple parameters
- Comment search functionality
- Performance metrics for competitive analysis
- Targeting insights by demographics
- Ecommerce and dropshipping focus
- Comprehensive ad database with extensive search capabilities
- Shows actual ad performance metrics, unlike free tools
- Reveals demographic targeting information
- Comment search provides sentiment analysis opportunities
- Unlimited usage for a flat monthly fee
- Higher price point than some basic tools
- No free tier or trial is mentioned
3. BigSpy
BigSpy goes beyond just Facebook to give you insights across 9 social platforms and 40+ eCommerce sites. Their database holds 177.4 million+ ads in 88 languages from 223 countries.
You can filter your searches by industry, creator activity, country/region, engagement, and timeframe to find relevant ad examples in your niche quickly.
BigSpy also provides a creative library that sorts top ads and trending content. You can see engagement metrics, ad copy, and visual elements that work.
This spy tool is ideal if you want a broader view beyond Facebook ads.
Their paid plans start at just $9 per month for the basic plan, which gives you Facebook and Instagram access, 20 daily queries, and the ability to track and download up to 25 ads daily.
BigSpy key features
- Free tier available for testing
- Industry and engagement-based filtering
- Creative library of top-performing ads
- Multi-platform intelligence in one tool
- Broader platform coverage beyond just Facebook
- Global ad intelligence across 223 countries
- Organized creative library for quick inspiration
- Low-cost paid plan at just $9/month
- Less comprehensive Facebook-specific data than specialist tools
- Some features require higher-tier plans
- Playable ads are excluded from the $9 per month plan
4. PowerAdSpy
PowerAdSpy brings AI-powered ad intelligence to your competitive advertiser tracking. The platform houses a 500+ million ad database spanning 10+ social media platforms.
You can access ads from more than 15 countries and filter them by niche, keywords, categories, domains, advertiser names, or even specific CTAs.
The tool goes beyond basic filtering. You can search for text, brands, celebrities, or objects within ad images.
PowerAdSpy reveals detailed targeting information, including demographics, location, age, and interest data.
This spy tool has a convenient Chrome extension that lets you research while browsing.
The platform also shows you the entire marketing funnel. You can analyze landing pages, funnel structures, affiliate networks, and even competitors' eCommerce platforms.
It starts at $69/Month, but this basic plan has pretty limited features. To try out the paid plans, you must pay $1 for 3 days of use.
Key features
- Visual search within ad images
- Detailed targeting information
- Chrome extension for convenient research
- Full funnel visibility, including landing pages
- Ad popularity and impressions index
- Estimated ad budget, but only with their Platinum plan
- Massive database with multi-platform coverage
- Advanced AI search capabilities
- Detailed targeting insights often missing in other tools
- Full funnel analysis beyond just the ads
- No free plan
- Advanced analytics require a paid subscription
- Some eCommerce and affiliate features are excluded from the basic tier
5. Minea
Minea focuses on three key social networks: Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest. This makes it perfect if you're hunting for trending products in the eCommerce space.
The platform houses a library of over 200 million ads with global coverage.
What we really love is their Magic Search tool. Simply enter a product name, and you'll instantly see all related ads across Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest.
Minea also features a handy reverse image search function to help you discover all ads featuring similar items.
When digging through results, you can filter by engagement metrics, CTAs, media types, ecommerce platform, language, and even audience targeting parameters like age and gender.
It’s the only Facebook ads spy tool that helps you identify suppliers based on an existing product ad.
At $49 per month, you get 10,000 credits, Meta ads with advanced filters (including ad spend data), unlimited saved tracking lists, and AI-powered search tools. The package even includes weekly live coaching sessions and 24/7 customer support.
Minea key features
- Magic Search tool for cross-platform product research
- Reverse image search functionality
- Library of 200+ million ads
- Filter options for engagement, CTAs, and targeting
- Similar product and supplier recommendations
- Weekly coaching sessions included
- Cross-platform coverage (Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest)
- AI-powered search capabilities
- Unlimited tracking lists
- Live coaching and 24/7 customer support
- Competitive mid-tier pricing
- Limited to three main platforms
- Credit-based system may restrict heavy users
- More focused on products than service-based businesses
6. AdFlex
AdFlex gives you access to ads from 80+ countries across 9 platforms, including Facebook. This global reach helps you spot international trends before they hit your market.
The search functionality is impressive. You can filter ads based on location, audience interests, advertiser business category, age and gender demographics, CMS platforms, and funnel types.
What caught our attention was their free plan. It's quite generous compared to most tools, though it's limited to Meta platforms only.
If you need more, paid plans start at $99.
AdFlex key features
- Coverage across 80+ countries and 9 platforms
- Detailed filtering by demographics and business categories
- CMS and funnel filtering options
- Generous free plan for Meta ads
- Multi-device access on paid plans
- Substantial free tier to test the platform
- Global coverage across numerous countries
- Multiple platform insights beyond Facebook
- Detailed filtering system, even on the free plan
- Good value for international marketers
- Free plan limited to one device
- Limited targeting information on the free tier
7. MagicBrief
MagicBrief has one of the slickest interfaces we've seen in the ad spy tool market. The experience feels modern and intuitive from the moment you log in.
Their discovery feed gives you a social media-like experience, but it's filled only with ads. It's a perfect starting point if you're not yet sure what you're looking for, since it provides a ‘For You’ style inspiration feed.
The search capabilities are incredibly versatile. You can find ads by brand, industry, keywords, or ad theme. Their AI search even lets you search for ads by the text in images, transcripts, or ad copy.
One feature we love is the ability to save ads by boards and organize them in ways that make sense for your workflow. You can even share these collections via a link with people who don't have MagicBrief accounts.
For your own accounts, MagicBrief provides insights to inform your next creative moves, comparison reports, and AI-generated competitor summaries.
This tool works best for DTC brands and syncs with Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
MagicBrief’s pricing is ad spend-based and starts at $249 per month. However, you can test out the platform first using their 7-day free trial.
MagicBrief key features
- Social media-style discovery feed
- AI-powered search for text in images and transcripts
- Organization boards for saved ads
- Brand tracking and creative testing insights
- Cross-platform sync capabilities
- AI competitor summaries
- One of the most intuitive, modern interfaces available
- Powerful AI search capabilities
- Excellent organization and sharing features
- Cross-platform insights in one place
- Advanced creative analysis tools
- 7-day free trial available
- The highest price point compared to other Facebook ads spy tools
- Pricing tied to ad spend may be limiting for some
- Primary focus on DTC brands may not suit all businesses
FAQs
Yes, several tools let you spy on Facebook ads. Options range from Meta's free Ads Library to paid platforms like AdSpy, BigSpy, and PowerAdSpy. Each offers different features depending on your budget and research needs.
The best Facebook ad spy tool depends on your specific needs. Meta Ads Library is perfect for beginners with no budget. AdSpy offers the most comprehensive data for ecommerce brands. MagicBrief provides the best interface and creative insights for DTC companies.
Yes, as long as they operate within Meta’s public data policies. Tools like Meta Ads Library are official and fully compliant. Third-party tools that extract publicly available data (like active ads) are legal for research.
Not exactly, as Facebook doesn't reveal precise ad spend figures. However, AdSpy and PowerAdSpy can provide estimated spend ranges based on ad duration, engagement metrics, and visibility factors. These are estimates and not official figures.
Final thoughts
Using these best Facebook ads spy tools to discover which ads work for your competitors is helpful. But making it work for your brand is a whole different game.
Your research is only the first step. Next comes creating, launching, and managing the ads that will actually beat your competition.
At Cropink, we've built a solution that picks up where spy tools leave off. Here’s how we help you go from 'idea' to 'live ad'
- Plug-and-play dynamic ad templates that you only need to customize
- Automatic integration with your product feed to display the most relevant and up-to-date catalog ads
- Campaign management to make sure your ads reach the right audience at the right time
- Integration with platforms like Meta, so once you're ready to run ads, you're just a few clicks away
The best part is that all these features are housed in one complete platform.
Get a free Cropink demo to see how much easier your Facebook ad workflow can be.
Damaris is a Digital Marketing Specialist who writes about digital marketing and performance marketing. At Cropink, she creates data-driven content to help businesses run better ad campaigns for better performance and ROI.
Leszek is the Digital Growth Manager at Feedink & Cropink, specializing in organic growth for eCommerce and SaaS companies. His background includes roles at Poland's largest accommodation portal and FT1000 companies, with his work featured in Forbes, Inc., Business Insider, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, BBC, and TechRepublic.
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