12 Best Facebook Ad Spy Tools for SaaS Founders in 2025

In the crowded SaaS market, success often comes down to smarter, faster execution. While your competitors are spending thousands to test ad creatives, funnels, and messaging, what if you could ethically peek at their playbook? That's the power of Facebook ad spy tools. These platforms go beyond the basic Meta Ad Library, offering deep insights into what's already working for businesses in your niche.

For SaaS founders, this isn't just about creative inspiration. It's a direct line to market validation, customer acquisition strategies, and proven revenue models. Using the right tool means you can stop guessing and start making data-backed decisions. You can uncover how similar products are positioning themselves, what features they highlight, and which call-to-actions are converting users. This intelligence is crucial for de-risking your product development and go-to-market strategy.

This guide breaks down the 12 best Facebook ad spy tools available today. We'll move past generic feature lists and provide an honest assessment of each platform, tailored for SaaS builders, marketers, and investors. You will find:

• Honest analysis of strengths and weaknesses.
• Practical use cases for SaaS founders and growth teams.
• Simple visuals and screenshots to show you what to expect.
• Direct links to get started immediately.

We will cover everything from massive databases for performance marketers to AI-driven platforms that uncover validated SaaS ideas. Our goal is to give you a clear, comprehensive resource to help you find the perfect tool for your specific needs and invest your resources wisely.

1. Proven SaaS

Best For: Rapidly validating profitable SaaS ideas.

Proven SaaS isn't just a spy tool; it's a complete advertising intelligence platform built for SaaS founders. Its main purpose is to find profitable SaaS ideas by reverse-engineering the ad strategies of successful companies. The platform doesn't just show you competitor ads—it links those ads to revenue estimates, growth trends, and their entire marketing funnel.

What makes Proven SaaS unique is its focus on high-quality signals. It only highlights advertisers spending over $10,000 per month, which is a strong sign of real market traction. This saves you from digging through thousands of unproven campaigns. Instead, you get a curated list of over 14,500 SaaS companies that are already successfully acquiring customers through paid ads.

Key Features and Analysis

The platform's AI-powered mapping is its biggest advantage. It automatically finds the website URL from an ad, links it to the right company, and categorizes the business. This gives you rich, actionable data that would be almost impossible to gather manually.

• Revenue & Growth Estimates: See estimated monthly revenue and growth trends to quickly see if a niche has potential.
• Reverse-Engineered Funnels: The tool maps out the entire customer journey, from ad copy and creative to the landing pages.
• Top Ads & Targeting: It shows you the best-performing ads and reveals the audiences they target, giving you a clear playbook.
• High-Frequency Updates: The database is updated daily (or every 12 hours for web SaaS), so the opportunities you find are always current.

Practical Use Case

An indie hacker wants to find a profitable niche. Using Proven SaaS, they can filter for SaaS companies with over $20k in monthly revenue in the "productivity" category. They instantly find several potential competitors and can analyze their best ads, funnels, and landing pages to build an MVP for a proven market.

Pros & Cons

Final Verdict

Proven SaaS is an exceptional tool for anyone looking to build or invest in software. It fundamentally accelerates the validation process by turning the Facebook Ad Library into a strategic database of profitable business ideas. While its revenue figures are estimates, they provide powerful directional insights that drastically reduce the guesswork involved in finding a viable market.

Website: proven-saas.com

2. Meta Ad Library

Best For: Quick, free checks on competitor ads.

The Meta Ad Library is Facebook's official, searchable database of all active ads on its platforms. As the direct source, it’s the most basic and essential tool for any ad research. It's the first place to go for a free look at what competitors are currently running.

You can search for ads by an advertiser's name or a keyword. For example, if you're a SaaS founder, you can type in a competitor’s name like "Asana" to see all their active ad creatives, text, and where they are running them. This gives you a direct look at their messaging.

Key Features & User Experience

The interface is simple but lacks the advanced features of paid tools. Its main job is to help you find and verify ads.

• Free and Official: The data comes straight from Meta, so it's 100% authentic. There are no fees.
• Broad Search Filters: You can filter results by country, platform (Facebook, Instagram), media type (image, video), and active status.
• Page Transparency: Every Facebook Page has a "Page Transparency" section with a direct link to all the ads that page is running.

Limitations and Best Use

While essential, the Meta Ad Library has drawbacks. If you use it too much, you might get temporarily blocked. It also doesn't show you historical data or how well an ad is performing (like spend or engagement). It shows you what's running, but not how well it's running. To dig deeper into these metrics, you can learn more about calculating your ad performance here.

Example: You see a competitor running five different video ads. The Meta Ad Library won't tell you which one gets the most clicks, only that they are all active.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/ads/library

3. AdSpy

Best For: Deep, detailed research with advanced filters.

AdSpy has one of the largest searchable databases of Facebook and Instagram ads. It’s a favorite for performance marketers because of its huge amount of data and powerful filtering options. This tool lets you slice and dice ad campaigns in almost any way imaginable.

For a SaaS founder, this is powerful. You can search for ads not just by your competitor's name, but by the specific tools they use on their website, like HubSpot or Stripe. This helps you find other companies with a similar tech stack and see how they attract customers.

Key Features & User Experience

AdSpy’s interface is built for power users who need to run complex searches. Its main strength is its advanced filtering, which unlocks strategic insights you can't get from basic tools.

• Massive Ad Database: It has a database of over 190 million ads from 225 countries, giving you tons of creative inspiration.
• Advanced Filtering: You can search by ad text, comments, landing page URL, technologies used (e.g., Shopify), and even user reactions. This is its key feature.
• Affiliate Insights: It has unique features for affiliate marketers, like searching by affiliate ID to see the true landing page.

Limitations and Best Use

The main downside is the price. AdSpy has a single, expensive subscription plan. There are no cheaper tiers, making it an all-or-nothing choice. Its focus is more on ad discovery and less on detailed performance analytics.

AdSpy is a key part of a comprehensive strategy, often used alongside other research methods. For more ways to analyze your market, you can find a list of the best free competitor analysis tools here.

Example: A project management SaaS can use AdSpy to find all ads that mention "Trello alternative" and lead to a landing page built with Webflow.

Website: https://www.adspy.com

4. PowerAdSpy

Best For: Analyzing ad funnels across multiple platforms.

PowerAdSpy is a social ad intelligence tool that covers more than just Meta platforms. It’s popular in e-commerce for its deep filtering, which lets you break down entire ad funnels from the creative to the landing page.

A great feature for SaaS founders is the ability to filter ads by call-to-action (CTA) like "Sign Up" or "Download." This helps you quickly find competitors who are running campaigns to get new leads, giving you a more focused view of their strategy.

Key Features & User Experience

PowerAdSpy’s dashboard is packed with filters. It can feel a bit much at first, but it’s very powerful once you learn it.

• Multi-Platform Coverage: It provides insights into ads on YouTube, Google, and Pinterest in addition to Facebook and Instagram.
• Advanced Funnel Filters: You can search based on CTA, ad objective, landing page technologies, and engagement metrics.
• Engagement-Based Sorting: You can sort ads by newest, longest-running, or social engagement (likes, shares) to quickly find winning ad concepts.

Limitations and Best Use

PowerAdSpy’s pricing has several tiers, and the features can differ a lot between them. It's a good idea to check exactly what's included in your plan before signing up. The user interface also looks a bit dated compared to newer tools.

Example: You can use PowerAdSpy to find all video ads on Facebook with a "Learn More" button that targets users in the United States and has more than 1,000 likes.

Website: https://poweradspy.com

5. BigSpy

Best For: Getting broad creative inspiration on a budget.

BigSpy is a versatile ad spy tool that covers many platforms, not just Facebook. It's great for marketers who need inspiration from a wide range of sources, including TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. This helps you see how competitors change their message for different platforms.

For instance, you can track a competitor's Facebook video ad and then see the shorter, punchier version they created for TikTok. This cross-platform view helps you build a more effective ad strategy without checking each network one by one. The free plan is a great way to try it out.

Key Features & User Experience

BigSpy’s interface is designed to help you discover new ideas quickly, with powerful filters to narrow down its massive database.

• Multi-Platform Database: Access a library with over one billion ad creatives from major social and video networks.
• Advanced Search Filters: Filter ads by industry, country, language, CTA, device type, and more.
• Accessible Pricing: It offers a useful free plan and a cheap $1 trial for its Pro plan, making it easy to test.

Limitations and Best Use

The main limitation is the free plan, which has strict search limits that you'll hit very quickly. While the database is huge, it might not offer the same depth of performance analytics as more expensive tools. Some advanced features are also only available with custom pricing.

Example: A SaaS for video editors can use BigSpy to find the top-performing ads in the "video software" category across both Facebook and TikTok to see what creative styles are trending.

Website: https://bigspy.com

6. Minea

Best For: Connecting ads to product and store performance.

Minea is a mix of an ad spy and product research tool. It’s popular with e-commerce brands but is also valuable for SaaS marketers. It goes beyond just showing ads by linking them to trending products and store analytics, giving you a full view of a competitor's strategy.

For a SaaS founder, this means you can see a competitor’s ads and also analyze their landing page performance. You can search for ads in specific software categories to understand which creative ideas are resonating with customers right now.

Key Features & User Experience

Minea combines ad data with store and product insights. It uses a unique credit system for its subscriptions, allowing for flexible use.

• Integrated Intelligence: It links ad creatives directly to the products they promote, offering a complete picture of a competitor’s funnel.
• Multi-Platform Coverage: Higher-tier plans include ad intelligence for TikTok and Pinterest, which is great for SaaS companies targeting consumers.
• Advanced Search & Filters: Use powerful filters and AI search to quickly find relevant ads, influencers, and marketing strategies.

Limitations and Best Use

The main drawback is its credit-based system. You need to budget your searches carefully so you don't run out of credits. Many of the best features, like TikTok ad spying, are locked behind the more expensive plans, making the basic plan feel limited.

Example: A SaaS that sells a Shopify app can use Minea to find top-performing Shopify stores, see the ads they are running, and understand their overall marketing approach.

Website: https://www.minea.com

7. Dropispy

Best For: Affordable research on direct-to-consumer ad strategies.

Dropispy is a low-cost ad spy tool designed for the e-commerce community. While its main focus is physical products, its large database of Meta ads and Shopify store intelligence makes it a useful, budget-friendly option for SaaS founders who want to understand direct-to-consumer marketing.

It connects successful ads directly to the online stores that are running them. This lets you see the whole funnel, from the ad that gets attention to the landing page that converts. For a SaaS company targeting e-commerce stores, Dropispy provides a unique look into your potential customers' marketing strategies.

Key Features & User Experience

Dropispy combines ad spying with shop and product analysis. Its interface is simple, focused on getting you to winning ads and products quickly.

• Shopify Store Spy: Beyond ads, it lets you analyze Shopify stores to see their apps, themes, and top products. This is perfect for SaaS businesses selling Shopify apps.
• Advanced Ad Filters: Search ads by keyword, engagement (likes, shares), media type, language, and even the e-commerce platform used.
• Affordable Tiers: It offers a free plan and a very cheap paid plan, making it one of the most accessible facebook ad spy tools.

Limitations and Best Use

The main downside is its e-commerce focus; you won't find many B2B SaaS ads here. The free plan is very limited and hides newer ads, pushing you to subscribe for any real research.

Example: A SaaS that offers an email marketing tool for Shopify can use Dropispy to find fast-growing stores and see what kind of ads they run, revealing their marketing pain points.

Website: https://dropispy.com

8. SocialPeta

Best For: Enterprise teams needing deep, cross-platform data.

SocialPeta is an enterprise-level advertising intelligence platform. It goes beyond typical Facebook ad spy tools by mixing huge datasets for creatives, products, and apps. It's built for big teams that need a complete view of the market, combining ad analytics with e-commerce data from platforms like Amazon and Shopify.

Its massive scale is what sets it apart, with a database of over 100 million creatives. This allows marketers to analyze ad strategies across many different platforms, not just Meta, to get a full picture of a competitor's marketing funnel and audience strategy.

Key Features & User Experience

The platform is loaded with data and aimed at teams who can handle deep analytics. The user experience is more complex than simpler tools.

• Massive Creative Database: Access a huge library of ad creatives to analyze what’s working in different industries.
• E-commerce Analytics: It uniquely combines ad spying with product data from major e-commerce platforms.
• Cost Benchmarks: Provides insights into advertising costs, helping you budget more effectively.

Limitations and Best Use

SocialPeta is not for casual users. Its pricing is not public and requires a sales demo, which means it’s an expensive solution. The huge amount of data can also be overwhelming. For SaaS founders, its real power is in using the data for a comprehensive audience analysis that connects ads to product strategies.

Example: A large SaaS company in the e-commerce space could use SocialPeta to benchmark its ad spend against its top three competitors and identify new advertising channels they are using.

Website: https://www.socialpeta.com

9. PiPiADS

Best For: Marketers who advertise on both TikTok and Facebook.

PiPiADS is best known for its huge TikTok ad library, but it also offers good insights into Facebook and Instagram ads. This dual-platform feature makes it a great choice for SaaS founders whose audience is active on both TikTok and Meta, letting you track cross-channel ad strategies in one place.

For instance, a SaaS company targeting Gen Z could use PiPiADS to see a competitor testing new video concepts on TikTok before they launch a bigger campaign on Facebook. This visibility gives you a big strategic advantage.

Key Features & User Experience

The platform is designed to be efficient, offering powerful filters to quickly find winning ads. Its interface is clean, but the main focus is on TikTok data.

• Dual-Platform Spy: Access a massive database of both TikTok and Facebook ad creatives.
• Advertiser and Store Analytics: Investigate top-performing advertisers and Shopify stores to understand their marketing angles.
• Real-Time Alerts: Set up alerts to monitor competitors and get notified when they launch new ads.

Limitations and Best Use

While its cross-platform coverage is great, the tool is heavily focused on TikTok. If you're looking for a pure, in-depth Facebook spy tool, you might find its Meta analytics are not as detailed as other tools. PiPiADS also uses a credit system for some features, so you need to manage your usage.

Example: An app developer can use PiPiADS to see how a rival app advertises on TikTok with influencer-style videos versus how it uses polished, professional ads on Facebook.

Website: https://www.pipiads.com

10. Social Ad Scout

Best For: Analyzing historical ad data to spot long-term trends.

Social Ad Scout is a dedicated ad spy tool focused only on social media. It offers a huge historical database of Facebook and Instagram ads, letting you track campaigns and creative trends over time. This is a big advantage over Meta's own library, which only shows active ads.

Its search features are designed for detailed analysis. For example, a marketer could filter ads not just by country but also by device (mobile vs. desktop) to see how competitors are tailoring their creatives for different users. This level of detail helps you find smarter strategies.

Key Features & User Experience

The platform is built for researchers who need deep, specific insights. Its interface is functional and packed with filters to help you find what you need.

• Historical Ad Data: Access past campaigns to study long-term trends and successful ad formulas.
• Detailed Filtering: Users can filter by location, device, gender, age range, ad type, and even specific landing page URLs.
• Transparent Pricing: Pricing plans are clearly stated, with annual options that reduce the monthly cost.

Limitations and Best Use

The biggest issue is the lack of a free plan or trial; you must have a paid subscription to use it. Also, new accounts need manual approval, which can cause a delay. This makes it less suited for quick checks and better for teams doing ongoing competitive analysis.

Example: You can use Social Ad Scout to see all the ads a competitor ran during last year's Black Friday to prepare your own campaign for this year.

Website: https://www.socialadscout.com

11. Foreplay

Best For: Creative teams who need to save, organize, and share ad examples.

Foreplay is less of a spy tool and more of a creative workflow platform that works with the Meta Ad Library. It lets you save, organize, and analyze ads you find, turning the raw data from the Ad Library into a structured workspace. This makes it a great choice for creative teams building "swipe files" of ad inspiration.

For example, a marketing team can use the Chrome extension to save cool ads directly from the Ad Library into shared boards. From there, they can add notes, automatically track competitors with the "Spyder" feature, and analyze creative ideas together.

Key Features & User Experience

The platform is built for collaboration and feels more like a project management tool for ads than a simple database. Its interface is clean and focused on organizing your findings.

• Ad Saver Chrome Extension: Easily save ads from the Meta Ad Library or your own social feeds into organized boards.
• Spyder Competitor Tracking: Automatically monitors your competitors' new ads and landing pages 24/7.
• Team Collaboration: Share boards, leave comments, and build a central creative library for your whole team.

Limitations and Best Use

Foreplay's main limitation is that it relies on the Meta Ad Library as its source. Its strength is in organizing and automating research, not necessarily in finding ads you can't see elsewhere. The value is in making your workflow more efficient.

Example: A design team can create a Foreplay board called "Best SaaS Video Ads" and save examples from different competitors. They can then leave comments on each ad to discuss what makes it effective.

Website: https://www.foreplay.co

12. MagicBrief

Best For: Teams that want to analyze and share a permanent library of ads.

MagicBrief is a creative research platform that enhances the Meta Ad Library. It works through a Chrome extension that lets you save ads from the library, creating a permanent swipe file that stays even after the original ads are no longer running. This is a huge help for marketers who want a long-term reference library of winning creatives.

The platform also provides AI-assisted breakdowns of saved ads. For example, a SaaS marketer can use MagicBrief to get an AI-generated analysis and transcript of a competitor's video ad, which speeds up the process of understanding why it works.

Key Features & User Experience

MagicBrief's strength is in adding analytics and organizational tools to the native Ad Library experience. The interface is clean and focuses on collaborative "Boards" to build and share swipe files.

• Durable Ad Archiving: Its Chrome extension saves a permanent copy of ads, along with their text, CTA, and landing page data.
• AI Creative Analysis: Automatically generates scene breakdowns, transcriptions, and creative analytics to help you deconstruct successful ads faster.
• Collaboration and Reporting: "Boards" allow teams to build and share swipe files, making it easy to present creative research.

Limitations and Best Use

While the Chrome extension is free for saving ads, many of the advanced AI and analytics features are part of a paid plan. The pricing is mainly sales-assisted, which can be a hurdle for smaller teams, though a Pro plan starts around $249/month. This makes it better for serious agencies and growth teams.

Example: A marketing agency can save a client's top three competitor ads into a MagicBrief board and use the AI analysis to create a report on their video ad strategies.

Website: https://magicbrief.com

Top 12 Facebook Ad Spy Tools — Feature Comparison

Choosing Your Unfair Advantage: From Raw Data to Actionable Strategy

We've journeyed through a comprehensive landscape of the best Facebook ad spy tools available today. From the foundational, no-cost insights of the Meta Ad Library to the specialized, deep-dive analytics of platforms like AdSpy and Foreplay, one thing is clear: the ability to see what works for others is no longer a luxury, it's a strategic necessity. Merely scrolling through ads is not the goal. The real power lies in transforming raw competitive data into a clear, actionable strategy for your own SaaS business.

Your choice of tool shouldn't be based on which one has the longest feature list. Instead, it must be a direct reflection of your primary objective. Are you a growth marketer looking to optimize your creative pipeline? A tool like MagicBrief or Foreplay, with its focus on saving, organizing, and collaborating on ad creative, will be your best friend. Are you aiming to dominate a specific niche with a high ad volume? A powerhouse like PowerAdSpy, with its massive database and intricate filtering, might be the right fit.

The key is to move beyond simple imitation. Copying a competitor’s ad creative is a short-term tactic that rarely yields long-term results. The real value is in understanding the why behind their success. Why are they targeting that specific audience? What pain point does their landing page address? Which value proposition are they spending the most to promote? The best Facebook ad spy tools help you answer these deeper, more strategic questions.

How to Choose the Right Tool for Your SaaS

Selecting your ideal tool requires a clear understanding of your immediate needs and budget. Let’s break down the decision-making process into simple, actionable steps based on common SaaS goals.

• For Validating a New SaaS Idea: Your focus isn't on ad creative; it's on market validation. You need to know if people are already paying for a solution to the problem you want to solve. A specialized tool like Proven SaaS is built for this. It cuts through the noise of e-commerce and focuses specifically on software, linking ad spend to revenue signals and product-market fit. This is about de-risking your venture before you invest significant time and money.
• For Creative Inspiration and Funnel Analysis: If your primary goal is to see top-performing ads, understand messaging angles, and reverse-engineer successful funnels, a broad-spectrum tool is your best bet. AdSpy offers unparalleled data depth, while Foreplay provides a superior user experience for saving and organizing creatives. These tools are perfect for marketing teams looking to spark new ideas and understand what resonates with their target audience.
• For Budget-Conscious Beginners: If you're just starting and have a limited budget, don't underestimate the power of the free Meta Ad Library. While it lacks advanced filtering and analytics, it's an essential starting point for basic competitive research. You can manually track competitors, see their active ads, and get a feel for their messaging without spending a dime.

Final Thoughts: From Spying to Strategizing

Ultimately, a Facebook ad spy tool is an investment in clarity. It peels back the curtain on your competitors' playbooks, revealing the strategies they are betting on with real money. But the tool itself is only half the equation. Your success will be determined by how you interpret the data and translate it into intelligent action.

Don't fall into the trap of analysis paralysis. Pick the tool that most closely aligns with your immediate goal, whether it's validating an idea, refining your ad campaigns, or understanding the competitive landscape. Start small, focus on a few key competitors, and look for patterns, not just individual ads. Use this newfound intelligence not to copy, but to innovate. Find the gaps in their strategies, identify the underserved segments of their audience, and build a marketing engine that is uniquely yours. With the right approach, competitive intelligence becomes your unfair advantage, turning market data into your roadmap for growth.

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If your main goal is to find and validate profitable SaaS ideas before you build, traditional ad spy tools only show you a piece of the puzzle. Proven SaaS is specifically designed for SaaS founders and investors, connecting ad data with crucial business metrics to uncover validated market opportunities. Stop guessing and start building with confidence by exploring the curated database at Proven SaaS.