Published by NextAngle, which archives Meta ads and the funnels behind them. Every tool here, NextAngle included, is described from what it publishes about itself, and each claim links to the page that makes it. Information as of 15 November 2026.
The best Facebook ad spy tool is the one built for your job. To find ads that keep running and see the offer behind them, NextAngle is the fit for Meta: it keeps ads after they stop, scores them by run time and records landing pages, quiz steps and paywall prices. To collect creatives and turn them into briefs, Foreplay is the stronger choice. For e-commerce product research, Minea and PiPiADS focus on stores and products. For many networks at once, BigSpy and PowerAdSpy cover up to 11.
Which tool fits which job?
| Your job | Look at | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Find Meta ads that keep running in a niche, with history | NextAngle | Keeps stopped ads with launch and stop days; winner score from run time and survival (how). |
| See the funnel, plans and prices behind an ad | NextAngle | Quiz steps, paywall plans, intro and full prices (paywall tracker). |
| Collect creatives, build boards and briefs | Foreplay, Atria | Swipe files, boards, AI briefs (Foreplay, Atria). |
| Find winning e-commerce products | Minea, PiPiADS | Shop and product insights for dropshipping (Minea, PiPiADS). |
| Cover TikTok, Google, YouTube and more | BigSpy, PowerAdSpy | Up to 11 networks depending on plan (BigSpy, PowerAdSpy). |
| Search affiliate offers on Facebook | AdSpy | Search by affiliate network and offer ID (AdSpy). |
How do spy tools measure a "winning" ad without spend data?
They use public signals that correlate with spend. Meta shows when a commercial ad launched and whether it still runs, but not what it cost (Meta Help Center). Advertisers stop losing ads quickly, so an ad that survives for weeks has usually paid for itself. In NextAngle's US archive of 691,257 stopped ads, 33% ran a week or less and only 3.3% ran longer than 90 days (full breakdown).
- Days on airFrom Meta's launch date to the stop, or to today.
- SurvivalHow many of the advertiser's ads launched around the same day were already stopped.
- Versions and reuseScaled ads get copies, variants and the same creative on more pages.
- Engagement or estimatesSome tools add reactions, comments or modelled spend; treat estimates as estimates.
How do the tools compare on price and coverage?
| Tool | Networks | Keeps stopped ads | After the click | MCP / API | From, per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NextAngle | Meta | ✓ | Landing, quiz steps, paywall prices | ✓ MCP | $99 (pricing) |
| Foreplay | Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn | ✓ saved ads | Landing pages | ✓ API, MCP | $59 (pricing) |
| BigSpy | 11 networks | — | E-commerce product data | — | Free, then $69 (pricing) |
| PowerAdSpy | Up to 11 | — | Landing page search, funnel-stage tags | Report export | $69 (pricing) |
| PiPiADS | TikTok, Facebook | — | Store and product data | — | $49 (home) |
| Minea | Meta (others listed as coming soon) | — | Shop traffic and revenue | — | $49 (pricing) |
| AdSpy | Facebook, Instagram | — | Landing pages | — | $149 (home) |
| Atria | Meta, TikTok | — | — | ✓ API, MCP | Free, then $129 billed annually (pricing) |
✓ Confirmed by the tool's own pages · — Not stated on the pages we read
1. NextAngle — for performance and funnel research on Meta
NextAngle archives commercial Meta ads every day, keeps them after they stop and classifies each one by vertical, subcategory and product type (search). Its collector walks the funnels behind the ads and records quiz steps and paywall plans with intro and full prices; NextAngle publishes niche teardowns from that data, such as 22 fitness app funnels with a median of 43 screens and a first payment of about $7 (fitness teardown).
Not a fit: teams that need TikTok or Google ads, or a creative production workflow. Pro is $99 a month with a 7-day trial without a card; access is by invite during the beta (pricing).
2. Foreplay — for creative teams
Foreplay is an ad inspiration and creative workflow platform for Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn: swipe files, boards, AI briefs and AI creative analysis, with search sorted by longest running and the landing pages ads pointed to (Discovery). It offers an API and an MCP for Claude and ChatGPT (MCP). Plans start at $59 a month; the 7-day trial requires a card (pricing).
3. BigSpy — for many networks on a budget
BigSpy covers 11 platforms, from Facebook and TikTok to Google Ads, YouTube, Pinterest and app networks, in 80+ countries, and shows popularity, impressions, duration and last-seen date on ad cards (BigSpy). A free plan allows 10 Facebook searches a day; Starter is $69 a month (pricing).
4. PowerAdSpy — for agencies that report on competitors
PowerAdSpy offers 40+ filters, including funnel stage, engagement curves, ad-life timelines, watchlists with alerts and PDF or CSV reports (PowerAdSpy). Coverage goes from Facebook and Instagram on Basic ($69) to 11 networks on Palladium ($399) (pricing).
5. PiPiADS and Minea — for e-commerce products
PiPiADS focuses on TikTok and Facebook ads with Shopify and WooCommerce store intelligence and ad rankings; Basic is $49 a month with a credit-based free trial (PiPiADS). Minea is a product search tool for dropshippers with ad activity, spend filters and shop insights; plans start at $49 a month (pricing).
6. AdSpy — for affiliate marketers
AdSpy is a database of Facebook and Instagram ads searchable by text, URL, page name, comments and affiliate network or offer ID, with landing page data; it is $149 a month (AdSpy).
7. Atria — for creative strategists working on their own account
Atria combines a Meta and TikTok ad library with boards, AI briefs, AI ad generation and an agent that grades ads using the customer's own account data; it has MCP and REST access and a free plan, then $129 a month billed annually (pricing).
Frequently asked questions
What is a Facebook ad spy tool?
A service that collects ads from Facebook and Instagram, mostly from the public Meta Ad Library, and lets you search them with more filters, history or performance signals than the library itself offers.
Can any spy tool show a competitor's real ad spend on Facebook?
No tool can show real spend for commercial ads, because Meta does not publish it. Tools use proxies instead: days running, engagement, number of versions or estimates.
Which ad spy tool is best for subscription apps and quiz funnels?
NextAngle is built for that job: it records the quiz steps, the paywall plans and the intro and full prices behind Meta ads, alongside the ads themselves.
Which ad spy tool is cheapest?
BigSpy and Atria have free plans with limits. Among paid entry plans, PiPiADS and Minea start at $49 a month, Foreplay at $59, BigSpy and PowerAdSpy at $69, NextAngle at $99 and AdSpy at $149.
Is using an ad spy tool legal?
The tools in this list work from publicly available ad data. Check each tool's terms and your own use of the creatives you find; copying another brand's creative is a separate question from studying it.
How we compared
This guide is published by NextAngle, so the criteria start with what we think matters most for research on Meta: history after an ad stops, a performance signal you can explain, and the offer behind the ad. We then compared networks, AI access and the entry price on each tool's own pages, read on 15 November 2026. "—" means a tool's pages do not say, not that it lacks the feature. MagicBrief is left out: its site says the service shut down on 31 July 2026 (MagicBrief).
Sources
- NextAngle — search, winner score, paywall tracker, fitness teardown, pricing
- Foreplay — Discovery, MCP, pricing
- BigSpy — home, pricing
- PowerAdSpy — home, pricing
- PiPiADS — home; Minea — home, pricing
- AdSpy — home; Atria — pricing
- Meta Help Center — what the Ad Library shows. facebook.com/help/259468828226154
- NextAngle archive: 691,257 US commercial ads stopped by 15 November 2026, by run time.