Running ads without knowing what's already working in your market is expensive guesswork. You can spend weeks testing hooks, formats, and angles, only to find out a competitor cracked the formula months ago.
Ad spy tools change that. They let you see what competitors are running right now, how long those ads have been active, and which creatives are getting the most push.
Free versions of these tools won't give you everything. But they provide enough to validate ideas and identify creative angles. Keep reading to find the best free ads spy tools in 2026.
65M+ Ads Analyzed | 4.8★ G2 Rating | 4.4★ Trustpilot Rating
GetHookd reveals which ads your competitors are actively scaling—not just running. Spy on their best-performing creatives, landing pages, and traffic strategies, then turn proven concepts into testable campaigns in seconds with AI-powered script generation and creative cloning.
What You Get:
We built GetHookd for dropshippers, ecommerce brands, agencies, and media buyers who need to move fast.
Unlike traditional ad spy tools that stop at research, GetHookd combines ad intelligence with AI-powered creative tools, so you're not just finding ads or spying on competitors. We provide tools to help you create your own and double down on what’s working. You can filter our database of 65M+ ads by niche, format, engagement, demographics, and run time to find exactly what's working in your market.
Instead of saving screenshots and manually rewriting scripts, you get a complete workflow: research, transcription, script generation, and creative cloning all in one place. Our 7-day free trial gives you full access to every feature in your plan.
Our searchable database includes over 65 million ads across Meta platforms, updated regularly to surface what's working now. You can filter by niche, format, engagement, demographics, run time, and more, making it easy to find relevant ads without scrolling through irrelevant results.
Every ad you find can be saved permanently to your personal swipe file. Organize saved ads by brand, niche, client, or campaign type to keep your research structured and accessible. Unlike platforms where bookmarks disappear or clutter up, GetHookd keeps your library intact and easy to navigate.
Track competitor ad activity in real time. See which creatives a brand is running, how long they've been active, and which ads are receiving the most spend. Brand Spy shows you what's scaling, not just what's live.
We provide full visibility into competitor landing pages so you can understand the complete customer journey from ad to conversion. View page structure, copy, design elements, and conversion strategies. We also offer winning funnel templates ready to use as a foundation for your own campaigns.
Our AI transcription tool converts video ads into text and then suggests fresh hooks, angles, and scripts based on proven 8-figure frameworks. This helps advertisers quickly extract what's working from top-performing ads and turn it into new creative concepts without starting from scratch.
Clone Ads uses AI to generate visual variations of successful creatives in seconds. Select an ad, tweak the size, background, and tone, and the AI generates multiple versions ready for testing. It's built for marketing teams, dropshippers, and ecommerce brands who want to scale campaigns or refresh fatigued creatives without spending hours in design tools.
Connect your Meta ad account to see which of your own creatives are performing best. Creative Analyzer breaks down formats, styles, and elements so you can identify what's driving results, then generate new test variations powered by AI.
Skip the blank canvas. Our template library offers static ad designs tested and proven by top-performing brands across hundreds of niches. Pick a template, customize it to your offer, and launch with no design skills required.
Meta Ad Library is a free, public database showing active ads across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and the Audience Network. Originally launched in 2019 for political ad transparency, it's now used as a starting point for competitive research.
You can search by advertiser name, keyword, or topic, and view ad creatives, copy, CTAs, and how long each ad has been running.
The platform is completely free with no account required. But it was never built for marketing optimization. While you can browse ads, there's no way to see performance data, organize your research, or turn what you find into actionable creatives. For marketers who need to move fast, those gaps add up quickly.
Type in a brand name, product category, or keyword to see all active ads matching your search. You can filter by country, platform, and ad category.
View the full ad creative, including images, videos, carousels, the headline, body copy, and CTA button. You can also see the landing page URL for most ads.
Each ad shows when it started running and whether it's still active. Ads running for weeks or months are often a sign they're performing well, but without engagement or spend data, you're left guessing.
Meta Ad Library shows you what's running, but not what's working. There are no engagement metrics, spend data, or conversion insights, so you're left guessing which ads are actually performing.
You also can't save, tag, or organize ads for later reference, and once a campaign goes inactive, it disappears from the library entirely. The filter options are basic and inflexible, often requiring multiple searches to piece together a competitor's strategy. The lack of organizational tools means marketers waste hours recreating spreadsheets and losing track of saved ads.
The bigger gap is what happens after you find an ad. Meta Ad Library is a research tool, not a creative workflow. There's no script generation, creative cloning, or performance analysis. You're on your own to interpret what's working and recreate it from scratch.
GetHookd closes that gap by letting you filter ads by performance status, save research permanently, and use AI tools to transcribe winning ads, generate new hooks, and clone static creatives without leaving the platform.
BigSpy is a multi-platform ad spy tool that covers Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and more. It offers a free plan with limited search results, making it accessible to marketers who want to explore before committing.
The platform has a large ad database with filtering options for keywords, engagement, ad type, CTA, country, and more. It's useful for spotting trends and finding creative inspiration across multiple networks.
However, the free plan is heavily restricted. Most users find it only useful as a brief trial. Like other ad spy tools, BigSpy focuses solely on research.
Search by keyword, advertiser, domain, engagement, ad format, CTA type, and country. You can combine filters to narrow results to exactly what you're looking for.
Track specific ads or advertisers over time to see how campaigns evolve. You can also set up alerts for new ads matching your criteria.
BigSpy highlights trending ads and top-performing creatives picked by their algorithm. Useful for spotting what's gaining traction, but you'll still need to manually analyze why they work.
BigSpy's database updates lag behind real-time activity, meaning you may be analyzing ads that stopped performing days ago. For marketers in fast-moving industries, stale data can mean chasing trends that have already peaked.
The free tier allows only 5 queries per day and provides restricted access. To get real value, you'll need to upgrade to a Pro plan.
BigSpy is also a research-only tool. There's no script generation, creative cloning, or automated analysis. Once you find a winning ad, you're on your own to figure out why it works and how to recreate it. GetHookd's AI tools automate this process by allowing you to transcribe any video ad, generate new hooks and angles, and clone static creatives in minutes.
Free ad spy tools like BigSpy and Meta Ad Library are a good starting point, but they only take you so far. Meta Ad Library lets you browse what's running, and BigSpy gives you cross-platform coverage on a budget, but neither helps you act on what you find. You're left with screenshots, spreadsheets, and the manual work of turning research into something you can actually test.
That's the gap we built GetHookd to close. Our platform combines a 65M+ high-performing ad database with AI-powered creative tools, so you can go from spotting a winning ad to launching your own variation in minutes. Transcribe competitor scripts, generate new hooks and angles, clone static creatives, and analyze what's working, all without switching tools or waiting on a creative team.
For dropshippers, ecommerce brands, agencies, and media buyers who need to test fast and scale what works, GetHookd delivers the full workflow in one place. Start your 7-day free trial and see how much faster you can move when ad research and AI creation live on the same platform.
Ad spy tools are platforms that collect and organize ads running across networks like Facebook, Instagram, and Google into searchable databases. They let you filter by keyword, niche, engagement, ad format, and country to find competitor creatives, study what's working, and gather inspiration for your own campaigns. Some tools stop at research, while platforms like GetHookd also include AI creative tools to help you act on what you find.
Ad spy tools let you search for ads by advertiser name, keyword, niche, or product category to find relevant creatives. Look for ads that have been running for weeks or months; longevity is often a sign of performance. GetHookd's Brand Spy feature lets you track competitor ad activity over time. You can see which creatives a brand is running, how long they've been active, and which ads are receiving the most spend.
Yes. Ad spy tools collect data from publicly available sources, such as Meta's Ad Library and Google's Ads Transparency Center. They don't access private user data or violate platform policies. You're simply viewing ads that are already public.
Free tools like Meta Ad Library provide basic access to active ads but lack performance data, organizational features, and AI tools. Platforms like GetHookd offer larger databases, advanced filtering, permanent ad storage, and creative tools, including script generation and ad cloning. You also get a 7-day free trial with full access to features.
GetHookd's Brand Spy feature tracks competitor ad activity in real time across Meta platforms. Enter any brand name to see which ads they're currently running, how long each creative has been active, and which ones are receiving the most spend. Unlike basic ad libraries, GetHookd shows you which ads competitors are actively scaling (not just what's live) so you can identify proven winners worth testing in your own campaigns.
*Note: Pricing and/or product availability mentioned in this post are subject to change. Please check our website for current pricing and stock information before making a purchase.
