AdSwipeFile vs AdLibrary

AdLibrary costs €29 a month (euros, before VAT) for one search across Meta, Google, TikTok, YouTube, X and more, and €329 for the API and MCP server. AdSwipeFile is free to start and $39 a month for every Meta ad and 10 followed brands, with the MCP server on every plan. AdLibrary is a wide, credit-metered search engine for ads on many networks. AdSwipeFile is a smaller library of Facebook and Instagram ads, filed by brand, niche and format.

A multi-network search or a curated Meta library

AdLibrary is a cross-platform ad search engine: one search across Meta, Google, TikTok, YouTube, X and other networks, with AI breakdowns of each ad, brand tracking, a Chrome extension, and an API and MCP server on its Business plan.

That is the case for AdLibrary: if you buy on Meta, Google and TikTok and want one place to check what a competitor runs on all three, it is built for that. It filters by platform, country, format, date and freshness, searches by exact phrase or advertiser, and breaks an ad into its hook, angle, audience and triggers with AI.

AdSwipeFile is built for a narrower job: finding the Meta ads worth studying before you brief. It holds 63,244+ real Facebook and Instagram ads, filed by brand, niche and format, ranked by how long each brand kept running its ad. You do not build a search; you open a category and read.

Choose on where your ads run. A team that spends across networks gets more from AdLibrary. A team that works on Meta gets more depth, at a lower price, from a library organized for that.

How AdLibrary charges: plans and credits

AdLibrary lists its prices in euros, excluding VAT, on a monthly credit allowance. From its pricing page on 6 November 2026:

• Starter, €29 a month (€19 billed yearly): 50 credits, about €0.58 each. All platforms, AI enrichment, a personal library, saved searches and the Chrome extension. No full ad insights, no team seats.
• Pro, €179 a month (€159 billed yearly): 300 credits. Adds full ad insights (spend, reach, audience), search by meaning inside a brand's ads and sharing a collection with non-users.
• Business, €329 a month (€299 billed yearly): 1,000 credits, the API, MCP access, unlimited seats and search workers. The first month is €49.35, once per customer.
• Enterprise, from €2,000 a month, booked by call.

A search costs 1 credit (the same search repeated within an hour is free), and an AI breakdown of an ad costs 1 credit, with repeat views free. Saving ads, folders and saved searches cost nothing. Its pricing page says prices rise on January 1, and its home page quotes a different price ($179 a month with a $29 first month), so check the page before you buy.

AdSwipeFile's plans

From the pricing page:

• Free, no card: the first 50 ads of every list with their copy (signed out you see 20), saves and 50 MCP/API calls for the life of the account from your AI agent.
• Pro, $39 a month: every ad, unlimited boards, 10 followed brands.
• Agency, $99 a month: 50 followed brands and a bigger allowance.

Paid plans open with a 7-day trial that needs a card. Team members are unlimited on every plan, where AdLibrary gives no seats before Business. AdSwipeFile does not meter your searching; the only meter is your agent's calls.

Brand tracking and keeping ads

AdLibrary offers brand tracking on every plan with no limit on brands, and a daily email when a tracked brand launches or stops ads. That is stronger than AdSwipeFile's: we follow 10 brands on Pro and 50 on Agency, with a feed, and check the newest Meta ads of brands with a Facebook page weekly.

What AdLibrary does not state on its site is whether ads stay after they stop running. It shows a 30-day history on its brand insights. If you need an ad after its brand removes it, test that with a brand you know. In AdSwipeFile, saved library ads keep their creative after Meta removes them, because the media is copied when the ad enters the library or is saved from tracking. See Meta Ad Library alternatives that keep ads and the Meta Ad Library's limits.

API, MCP and agent skills

AdLibrary's API and MCP server are on Business only. Business only: 1 credit per search, 100 requests a minute and 10,000 a day per key. A search returns the advertiser, ad text, button, platform, impressions, a heat score from 0 to 1,000, likes, shares, first seen, days running, countries, the preview and the landing page URL; it needs an app type (gaming, apps or e-commerce).

Its pricing page lists MCP access for Claude and Cursor and "Claude skills set up for you" on Business. Separately it offers one agent skill, adlibrary-research, that teaches an agent to call the REST API with curl and jq; it works from Claude Code and other agentic tools, and its skill page says it is limited to e-commerce ads. Its site does not describe the MCP server's setup or tools.

AdSwipeFile's MCP server is hosted and on every plan, Free included (50 MCP/API calls for the life of the account). Sign in with OAuth from Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor and ask for ten testimonial ads in a niche; the agent reads the ads and their notes, then writes. The same allowance serves a JSON API. See the agents page and the MCP servers compared.

Where AdLibrary goes further

Be plain about what you give up. AdLibrary has networks AdSwipeFile never will: Google, YouTube, TikTok, X, Pinterest and mobile ad networks. It claims over a billion ads, against our curated 63,244+. It has a Chrome extension that saves ads as you browse Facebook and Instagram, an enrichment layer that tears an ad into its hook, angle and audience, and, from Pro, spend, reach and audience figures per ad.

AdSwipeFile has no extension, no network beyond Meta and no spend or performance data. The library holds none, so nothing here says an ad worked, only that its brand kept running it.

Run both for a week

1. List the three competitors you check most.
2. In AdLibrary, run a brand view for each and note which networks they use.
3. In AdSwipeFile, open the same brands' pages and read their longest-running ads.
4. Ask your AI agent in AdSwipeFile for the hooks those brands use, and see whether AdLibrary's equivalent needs Business.
5. Pay for the one that answers your weekly question.

Other options: AdLibrary in BigSpy alternatives, best ad spy tools and ad spy tool pricing.

At a glance

Scroll sideways to see every column.

AdLibrary's column is from its own site, checked on 6 November 2026 (sources below).

Where AdLibrary is stronger

AdLibrary is a cross-platform ad search engine: one search across Meta, Google, TikTok, YouTube, X and other networks, with AI breakdowns of each ad, brand tracking, a Chrome extension, and an API and MCP server on its Business plan.

• One search across many networks: Meta, Google, TikTok, YouTube, X, Pinterest and mobile ad networks, with a library they put at over 1B ads.
• Brand tracking with no brand limit on its first plan, and a daily email when a tracked brand launches or stops ads.
• A Chrome extension, and AI breakdowns of any ad (hook, angle, audience, triggers) for one credit.
• Smart filters by platform, country, format, date and freshness, and search by exact phrase or advertiser.
• Spend estimates, a heat score and AI replication briefs through its API, on Business.

Where AdSwipeFile is stronger

• The MCP server is on every plan, Free included (50 MCP/API calls for the life of the account, no card). AdLibrary's API and MCP access need Business at €329 a month.
• No credit meter on browsing: every ad opens from Pro at $39 a month. AdLibrary charges a credit for a search and an AI breakdown.
• Filed by brand, niche, visual format and hook, and ranked by how long brands kept each ad running, so you open a category instead of writing a search.
• Unlimited team members on every plan. AdLibrary offers no seats on Starter or Pro.
• Saved ads keep their creative after Meta removes them, on boards your team edits and shares by link.

Who should pick which

• Pick AdLibrary: Teams that research ads on many networks in one search, from €29 a month; the API and MCP server need Business at €329.
• Pick AdSwipeFile: Meta advertisers and creative teams who want winning ads by niche and format, searched by their AI agent, without a credit meter.

Guides

• BigSpy alternatives compared
• Meta Ad Library alternatives
• Ad spy tool pricing, every plan