Best competitor ad tracking tools (2026): what each costs and which job it does

Pick by job. Foreplay or BigSpy suit a swipe file and a large searchable ad database. Atria suits ad research with AI strategy features. Panoramata suits tracking a named list of competitors across ads, emails and landing pages. Hopkin, which we build, suits asking Claude or ChatGPT about competitors' Meta and LinkedIn ads alongside your account. The free Meta and LinkedIn ad libraries are enough for a few competitors if you check them by hand. Prices below were read from each vendor's page on 2026-11-09.

By Nima Gardideh, CEO of Hopkin

Topic Competitor ad research

Published

Updated

Drafted by AI, reviewed by Nima Gardideh. How we write and review guides

We build Hopkin, so it is listed first and marked as ours. We ran Hopkin on a public advertiser and show the result in our worked example. We did not run the other tools, so what this page says about them is what their pages say. An AI model drafted the page from those pages, and Nima Gardideh reviewed it before launch. Vendors change prices often: check the linked page before you buy. Corrections: hello@hopkin.ai.

How do the tools compare?

Competitor ad tracking tools, from each vendor's pages, read 2026-11-09
Tool Best for Cheapest paid plan What it tracks Use in Claude or ChatGPT
Hopkin (ours)1 Asking an AI assistant about competitors' ads next to your account Starter, $100 a month, 1,500 credits; a tracked competitor costs 200 credits a month Meta and LinkedIn ads, refreshed daily MCP server
Foreplay23 Swipe file, ad database, briefs Basic, $59 a month ($49 billed annually) Spyder tracks competitors' Meta ads and is in Workflow, $175 a month (10+ brands; $149 billed annually with unlimited brands) MCP server
Atria4 AI research and creative strategy Core, $129 a month billed annually during a Black Friday offer (the page struck through $219) Follow 50 brands on Core MCP server, 600 calls a month on Core
Panoramata5 Tracking competitors across ads, emails, SMS and landing pages Startup, $99 a month, 20 competitors Ads on Meta, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google Display, plus emails and websites MCP with 300 Pano AI credits on Startup
BigSpy6 A large multi-platform ad database Starter, $69 a month ($49 billed annually), Facebook and Instagram; Growth is $159 ($119 billed annually) Follow pages and domains No MCP listed on its pricing page
Minea7 Ad and product research for e-commerce Starter, $49 a month ($39 if paid quarterly) Brand tracker No MCP listed on its pricing page
Motion8 Analytics on your ads Starter, $999 a month A Motion agent tracks ads launched by competitors MCP on Starter
Meta Ad Library and LinkedIn Ad Library910 Checking a few competitors by hand Free Ads currently running on the platform None

Which tool fits which job?

Asking questions about competitors' ads in the assistant you already use. Hopkin, Foreplay, Atria, Panoramata and Motion all offer an MCP server.12458 Hopkin also reads your Meta, Google and LinkedIn ad accounts through the same connection, so one question can compare a competitor's ads with your results. It has no swipe file or boards, it sends no alerts, and it tracks Meta and LinkedIn only.

Saving ads and building briefs. Foreplay's Basic plan is a swipe file with an ad database and briefs; Spyder competitor tracking starts in the $175 Workflow plan.23 Atria also has boards and an AI strategist.4

Tracking a named list of competitors beyond ads. Panoramata follows a competitor's emails, SMS, landing pages and ads together. Its Startup plan tracks 20 competitors with six months of history; its Professional plan, $179 a month, lists unlimited competitors and alerts.5

Searching a very large ad database. BigSpy lists Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads, YouTube, TikTok, X, Pinterest and others on its site, with daily limits on features such as visual search and downloads.6 Minea is aimed at e-commerce product and shop research.7

Seeing how your ads perform against what competitors run. Motion is built around analytics on your ads and has a competitor agent, from $999 a month.8 Our Hopkin vs Motion comparison goes through the differences.

Checking a few competitors for free. Search each competitor's Page in the Meta Ad Library and the LinkedIn Ad Library. Our two guides cover what each one shows and hides: the Meta Ad Library guide and the LinkedIn Ad Library guide. Visualping, a general web page monitor with a free plan of 150 checks a month, can watch a competitor's Ad Library page for changes; it knows nothing about ads, so it only tells you that the page changed.11

What does tracking competitors cost with Hopkin?

Hopkin charges credits for the work done. A tracked competitor is 200 credits a month, an ad library search 5, a report 5, and a synced ad account 100 a month. Reading a tracked competitor's ads is free.1

Our arithmetic from those prices, as an example: five tracked competitors (1,000 credits), one synced ad account (100) and 80 reports (400) come to 1,500 credits, exactly Starter's allowance. Extra credits cost $0.015 each, and paid plans are never blocked. Every plan has every feature and unlimited seats, and a 30-day trial starts with 1,000 credits and no card.1

Where does Hopkin do less?

  • No swipe file, boards or ad database to browse. It reads the libraries and the competitors you track.
  • No alerts or scheduled reports. You ask your assistant when you want an answer.
  • Competitor tracking covers Meta and LinkedIn ads.
  • Read-only: it never changes your ads.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best competitor ad tracking tool for a startup?

It depends on the job. For asking an AI assistant about a few competitors' Meta and LinkedIn ads, Hopkin starts at $100 a month. For a swipe file and briefs, Foreplay starts at $59. For tracking 20 competitors across ads, emails and landing pages, Panoramata starts at $99. Prices as of 2026-11-09.

Can I track competitor ads for free?

Yes, by hand. The Meta Ad Library and the LinkedIn Ad Library are free and show a competitor's current ads. You have to visit them each time you want to check. Visualping's free plan can watch a page for changes, though it does not understand ads.

How do I get alerts when a competitor launches new ads?

Check what each tool sends. Foreplay's Spyder page describes an automated competitor summary delivered by email. Panoramata lists summaries, alerts and reports on its Professional plan. Visualping alerts you when a page changes. Hopkin sends no alerts: it refreshes tracked competitors daily and answers when you ask.

How do I track competitor ads automatically across Meta and LinkedIn?

Hopkin tracks competitors' Meta and LinkedIn ads and refreshes them daily; your assistant reads the result when you ask. Panoramata lists Meta and LinkedIn among the ad platforms it tracks. Foreplay's Spyder covers Meta.

Can Claude or ChatGPT use these tools?

Five of them offer MCP access: Hopkin, Foreplay, Atria, Panoramata and Motion. Our worked example shows what an assistant gets from Hopkin for one public video ad.

Sources

  1. Pricing, Hopkin; also the Hopkin homepage (daily tracking of Meta and LinkedIn competitors) and Getting started. Read .
  2. Pricing, Foreplay; also Foreplay MCP. Read .
  3. Spyder, Foreplay. Read .
  4. Pricing, Atria; also the Atria homepage. Read .
  5. Pricing, Panoramata. Read .
  6. Pricing, BigSpy. Read .
  7. Pricing, Minea. Read .
  8. Pricing, Motion. Read . Also the Motion homepage (competitor agent). Read .
  9. Meta Ad Library, Meta. Read .
  10. LinkedIn Ad Library, LinkedIn. Read .
  11. Pricing, Visualping; also How to monitor competitors' Meta Ad Libraries. Read .