AdSwipeFile vs BigSpy

BigSpy costs $69 a month for Instagram and ad copy and $159 for TikTok, Google and YouTube, with a free plan that shows Facebook ads only. AdSwipeFile is free to start and $39 a month for every Meta ad and 10 followed brands. BigSpy is a wide archive for ecommerce, game and app advertisers who buy on several networks, with a library it puts over a billion creatives. AdSwipeFile is a smaller library of Facebook and Instagram ads, filed by brand, niche and format, that Claude or ChatGPT can search for you.

Two different jobs: network breadth or Meta depth

The two tools answer different questions, and the cheaper one is not the better fit for both.

BigSpy is for breadth. BigSpy is an ad library across 11 ad networks, from Facebook and TikTok to Google, YouTube and AppLovin, for ecommerce, game and app advertisers, with a free plan. It suits an advertiser who buys on TikTok, Google and YouTube as well as Meta and wants one place to look. Its industry filters are e-commerce, and game and tool apps.

AdSwipeFile is for Meta creative research. It holds 63,244+ real Facebook and Instagram ads, each kept with its creative and copy, filed by brand, niche and format and ranked by how long its brand kept running it. That is the job of a media buyer or creative strategist who needs references before a brief: which hooks, which formats, which brands in a niche keep their ads running.

If most of your spend is on Meta, BigSpy's other networks cost you money you do not use. If you buy on TikTok or Google, AdSwipeFile cannot replace it: it covers Meta only.

How each works day to day

In BigSpy you search. You pick a network, filter by country and language, and run the search, then open an ad for its popularity, impressions, duration and last seen. Its pricing page also lists visual search, video analysis, a Creative to AI Prompt tool, chart views of popular and rising ads, and domain analysis from Growth. Its FAQ says the library updates daily.

In AdSwipeFile you browse or ask. Brand pages open on the longest-running ads, niche, format and hook pages offer a "Longest running" sort, and every ad carries a short note on how it is built (its hook, format and offer). You save ads to boards, add notes your team sees, share a board by link, and follow brands to get their new ads in one feed. Or you ask Claude or ChatGPT, which searches the same library over MCP and reads the ads before it writes.

What you do not get in AdSwipeFile: a Chrome extension, downloads of other networks' ads, or any spend or performance figures. The library holds none, so nothing here says an ad worked, only that its brand kept running it.

BigSpy's plans in detail

From its pricing page on 6 November 2026. Yearly prices are the monthly equivalent, billed in full upfront.

• Free: Facebook ads only, 10 searches a day, 20 tracked creatives, 5 video analyses a month, no downloads and no ad copy.
• Starter, $69 a month ($49 billed as $588 a year): Instagram, ad copy, 50 downloads a day, 100 tracked creatives.
• Growth, $159 a month ($119 billed as $1,428 a year): TikTok, Google Ads, YouTube, X and Pangle, TikTok Shop ads, domain analysis, 100 followed pages and domains, 500 tracked creatives.
• Scale, $399 a month ($3,588 a year): Growth limits for each of 5 seats.
• Ultimate, $499 a month ($4,788 a year): every network it lists and 1,000 followed pages and domains.

No free trial is listed. Its pricing page says refunds follow its refund policy, and does not give the terms.

AdSwipeFile's plans in detail

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 and 10,000 MCP/API calls a month.
• Agency, $99 a month: 50 followed brands and a larger monthly allowance.

Paid plans start with a 7-day trial that needs a card. Team members are unlimited on every plan and share its calls, saves and follows. BigSpy's Scale plan gives 5 seats for $399 a month.

What the money buys: the same price compared two ways

Compare at the same job, not the same sticker.

• To see Instagram and Facebook ads with copy: BigSpy Starter at $69 a month, against AdSwipeFile's free account for the first 50 ads of every list with their copy, or Pro at $39 for every ad.
• To follow brands: BigSpy needs Growth at $159 a month for 100 pages and domains. AdSwipeFile Pro follows 10 brands at $39.
• To add TikTok: BigSpy Growth. AdSwipeFile has no TikTok ads at all.
• To let an AI agent search: AdSwipeFile, on every plan including Free. BigSpy lists no API or MCP server on its site.

The honest summary: BigSpy costs more per Meta ad, and gives you networks AdSwipeFile does not. If Meta is your only network, you pay for those and use none.

Following competitors and keeping ads

Both let you track ads. BigSpy's tracked creatives work on every plan (20 free, 100 on Starter, 500 on Growth), and following pages and domains starts on Growth.

AdSwipeFile follows brands: their new library ads arrive in one feed, and brands with a Facebook page also get their newest Meta ads, checked weekly. Saved ads keep their creative after Meta removes them, because the media is copied when the ad is pulled into the library or saved from tracking. That answers the main limit of the Meta Ad Library and its alternatives. We do not send instant alerts on a new ad yet.

BigSpy does not say on its site how far back its history goes. If you need to look back, test it with a brand you know.

Using an AI agent with either tool

This is the clearest gap. AdSwipeFile's MCP server is on every plan, Free included, with 50 MCP/API calls for the life of the account on Free. Connect it to Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor and ask for ten testimonial ads in a niche, or what hooks a brand has used lately; the agent reads the ads, then writes from them. The setup is on the agents page.

BigSpy's site lists no API or MCP server. You can still paste screenshots of its results into an AI tool, but it cannot search for you. If agent access matters, read the Meta Ad Library MCP servers compared.

Switching, or running both

You can run both: a wide archive for product and network research, and a curated library for creative. If you are deciding whether to leave BigSpy, a week is enough.

1. Write down the five searches you run most on BigSpy's Meta results.
2. Run the same five in AdSwipeFile, signed in on the free plan.
3. Count how many ads you would use in a brief from each.
4. Ask your AI agent for ten ads in your niche from AdSwipeFile.
5. Keep BigSpy only for the networks AdSwipeFile does not cover.

If you stay on BigSpy, BigSpy alternatives lists other tools with their prices. Ad spy tool pricing puts every plan in one table.

At a glance

Scroll sideways to see every column.

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

Where BigSpy is stronger

BigSpy is an ad library across 11 ad networks, from Facebook and TikTok to Google, YouTube and AppLovin, for ecommerce, game and app advertisers, with a free plan.

• Many more ad networks: TikTok, Google Ads, YouTube, X and Pinterest as well as Meta, by plan.
• A much larger library, by its own count (over 1B creatives).
• Game and app ad research: playable ads, pre-registration pages, TikTok Shop ads.
• A free plan with daily searches, and 5 seats on Scale.
• Downloads of the creative itself (50 a day on Starter, 300 on Growth, 3,000 on Ultimate), video analysis and a Creative to AI Prompt tool.
• Industry filters for e-commerce and for game and tool apps, plus 40 e-commerce sites, including Shopify, Amazon and Etsy, by its home page.

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), so Claude or ChatGPT searches the library for you. BigSpy lists no API or MCP server.
• AdSwipeFile Pro is $39 a month for every ad and 10 followed brands. BigSpy follows pages and domains only from Growth at $159 a month.
• Filed by brand, niche, visual format and hook, and ranked by how long brands kept each ad running, so you browse a category instead of building a search.
• A note on every tagged ad says how it is built: its hook, format and offer. BigSpy shows popularity, impressions, duration and last seen.
• Saved ads keep their creative after Meta removes them, on boards your whole team can edit, with unlimited team members on every plan.

Who should pick which

• Pick BigSpy: Advertisers who research beyond Meta, especially game, app and ecommerce teams buying on TikTok, Google and YouTube.
• Pick AdSwipeFile: Meta advertisers and creative teams who want winning ads by niche and format, searched by their AI agent, rather than a wide multi-network archive.

Guides

• BigSpy alternatives compared
• Cheap and free ad libraries
• Ad spy tool pricing, every plan