--- title: "Ad spy tools vs swipe files" description: "Ad spy tools find ads for you for $26 to $459 a month. A swipe file keeps the ones you liked. How to tell which you need, and the free stack that covers most." source: https://savepad.app/blog/ad-spy-tools --- [Blog](https://savepad.app/blog) · 5 December 2025 # Do you need an ad spy tool or just a swipe file? Ad spy tools find ads for you for $26 to $459 a month. A swipe file keeps the ones you liked. How to tell which you need, and the free stack that covers most. *A search across saved ads in Savepad, with matches highlighted* **TLDR** - Ad spy tools go looking for ads for you: millions of them, searchable, with competitor alerts. A swipe file keeps the ones you found and why you liked them. - You need a spy tool if finding new ads is a daily part of your job, for several brands. Most marketers don’t. - The free ad libraries cover discovery for most people. Pair them with a swipe file and you’ve got 90% of what the paid tools do. ## What an ad spy tool does The name is dramatic. What they actually do: collect ads in bulk (from the ad libraries, and sometimes by scraping), let you search them by brand, keyword, format, or how long they’ve been running, and alert you when a competitor launches something new. The better ones add analytics on your own ads and briefs for your editors. The well-known ones: - **[Foreplay](https://savepad.app/compare/foreplay)** and **[Swipekit](https://swipekit.app)** for paid social teams. Swipe file plus discovery plus tracking. - **Minea**, **PiPiADS**, and **BigSpy** for ecommerce and dropshipping, scraping across networks. - **AdSpy** for Facebook and Instagram, old-school and pricey. - **[Eden](https://savepad.app/compare/eden)**, which pairs a library of ads with AI writing tools. Prices run from $26 to $459 a month. ## What a swipe file does It remembers. You see an ad that stops you, you save it, you write a line about why. Six months later you’re writing a brief and you search “free trial” or “UGC hook” and it’s there, with the landing page it pointed to. The [what is a swipe file](https://savepad.app/blog/what-is-a-swipe-file) post goes into the history (copywriters have done this with scissors and a folder for a century). ## Which one do you need? You need a spy tool if most of these are true: - You run paid social for a brand or several, every day. - You need to know when competitors launch, not just eventually. - “How long has this ad been running?” is a question you ask weekly, because long-running usually means profitable. - Your company pays for it. You need a swipe file if most of these are true: - Ads are one part of what you look at, along with landing pages, emails, and onboarding. - You come across good stuff naturally, scrolling, and just need to keep it. - You’d rather think about why an ad works than read a dashboard about it. - You’re paying for it yourself. ## The free stack For most people this is plenty: 1. **Find** in the free libraries: the [Meta Ad Library](https://savepad.app/blog/meta-ad-library), the [TikTok Creative Center](https://savepad.app/blog/tiktok-creative-center), the [LinkedIn Ad Library](https://savepad.app/blog/linkedin-ad-library), and the [Google Ads Transparency Center](https://savepad.app/blog/google-ads-transparency-center). They show every active ad, and Meta shows when each one started running. 2. **Keep** in a swipe file. Savepad is free for 150 saves: paste the ad link or a screenshot, and the text inside gets read so you can search it. Add the landing page, and it keeps a full-page snapshot. 3. **Revisit** monthly. Ten minutes on a Friday looking at your last 20 saves is worth more than 2,000 you never open. *A mock running shoe ad for the fictional brand Northwind* 0899 · running since March · Meta *A mock frame from a UGC video ad* 0996 · TikTok · top ads *A mock LinkedIn ad for the fictional dev tool Tidepool* 0193 · LinkedIn · Tidepool Ads found in the free libraries and kept in a swipe file, each with a note on why it works. ## A word on copying Spy tools make it very easy to find a winning ad and remake it shot for shot. Don’t. Brands notice, platforms flag it, and it rarely works as well the second time because the original worked for reasons you can’t see. Steal the structure, the hook, the angle. Write your own words. The [best ad swipe file tools](https://savepad.app/blog/best-ad-swipe-file-tools) post has the full list if you’ve decided you need one after all. ## FAQ ### What is an ad spy tool? Software that collects ads from the ad libraries and the open web so you can search ads you've never seen, see how long they've run, and track what competitors launch. Foreplay, Swipekit, Minea, and BigSpy are examples. ### Are ad spy tools legal? Looking at ads is fine, that's what the public ad libraries are for. Scraping is a grey area each tool handles differently, and copying someone's creative is a different problem altogether. ### Can I spy on competitors' ads for free? Yes. The Meta Ad Library, TikTok Creative Center, LinkedIn Ad Library, and Google Ads Transparency Center are all free and show what any advertiser is running. [Join the waitlist](https://savepad.app/#waitlist) ## Read these next - [The best ad swipe file tools: Most ad swipe file lists are written by ad spy tools ranking themselves first. Here's the field with real prices, which ones use AI, and which save more than ads.](https://savepad.app/blog/best-ad-swipe-file-tools) - [How to use the Meta Ad Library to see every ad your competitors run: Search any brand's live Facebook and Instagram ads, spot the ones that are working, and save them before they get switched off.](https://savepad.app/blog/meta-ad-library) - [MagicBrief alternatives: MagicBrief shut down on 31 July 2026 after Canva bought it. What happened to your saved ads, and the swipe file and creative analytics tools worth moving to.](https://savepad.app/blog/magicbrief-alternatives)