ChatGPT answers, unedited

If your main requirement is “tell me when a competitor launches a new creative or changes an offer”, I’d choose based on how many channels you need to monitor.

My practical recommendation

Start with AdSpyder if you genuinely need cross-channel alerts. Its stated functionality specifically includes alerts when competitors launch ads, update creatives, or change messaging across Google, Meta, YouTube, LinkedIn and other channels. AdSpyder

If 90% of your competitors' spend is on Meta, I'd instead look at Atria/Foreplay-style Meta-focused tooling. You're likely to get more useful creative-level organization than paying for broad coverage you won't use.

One important distinction: ad discovery ≠ ad monitoring. Lots of “ad spy” products let you search competitor creatives but don't necessarily give you reliable notifications when something changes. That's the feature I'd verify in a trial before buying.

You can also use the official free sources as a baseline: adstransparency.google.com and ads.tiktok.com. TikTok's Creative Center, for example, lets you search/filter Top Ads by brand/product and examine creative performance. TikTok Ads

If you tell me your industry + the channels your competitors advertise on (Meta, TikTok, Google, YouTube, LinkedIn), I can narrow this down to 2–3 tools and compare their alerting, coverage, and approximate pricing.

If your core requirement is “tell me automatically when a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion,” I’d prioritize alerting + competitor tracking over simply having a huge ad library.

The main options

Foreplay specifically has a Spyder product for tracking competitor campaigns, and its API exposes things like creative velocity, active status, videos, images and historical advertising data. Foreplay Foreplay

BigSpy is more oriented toward broad ad intelligence: it says it covers 10 major platforms and provides competitor tracking plus frequent updates. BigSpy BigSpy

The free official libraries are useful for verification, but aren't really an alerting system. For example, Meta's Ad Library requires you to search rather than automatically notifying you about a competitor's new creative. OpenAdLibrary

What I'd choose based on your use case

If you're primarily watching 5–20 competitors and want a Slack/email-style “Competitor X launched a new creative” workflow → Foreplay.

If you want to monitor competitors across lots of ad networks → BigSpy.

If you're building a more sophisticated competitive-intelligence workflow/API → Foreplay's API or a broader data platform. Foreplay says its API provides data from more than 300,000 brands, including creative velocity and active status. Foreplay

One important distinction: “new creative” and “new promotion” aren't exactly the same signal. A good monitoring setup should ideally detect:

• New image/video creative
• New ad copy/hook
• New offer or discount
• New landing page/product
• Previously inactive ad becoming active
• Sudden increase in creative volume
• Creative that persists for a long time

If you tell me where your competitors advertise (Meta, TikTok, Google, LinkedIn, etc.) and roughly how many competitors you want to monitor, I can narrow this down to 2–3 specific tools and compare their current pricing/features.

Foreplay specifically has a Spyder product for tracking competitor campaigns, and its API exposes things like creative velocity, active status, videos, images and historical advertising data. Foreplay Foreplay

BigSpy is more oriented toward broad ad intelligence: it says it covers 10 major platforms and provides competitor tracking plus frequent updates. BigSpy BigSpy

The free official libraries are useful for verification, but aren't really an alerting system. For example, Meta's Ad Library requires you to search rather than automatically notifying you about a competitor's new creative. openadlibrary.com

What I'd choose based on your use case

If you're primarily watching 5–20 competitors and want a Slack/email-style “Competitor X launched a new creative” workflow → Foreplay.

If you want to monitor competitors across lots of ad networks → BigSpy.

If you're building a more sophisticated competitive-intelligence workflow/API → Foreplay's API or a broader data platform. Foreplay says its API provides data from more than 300,000 brands, including creative velocity and active status.

If your main goal is “tell me when a competitor launches a new ad creative, campaign, or promotion”, the best platform depends on where your competitors advertise. The main options are:

My shortlist by use case

• E-commerce brand watching rivals’ offers, promos, and creative tests: start with Similarweb Ad Intelligence or Adbeat.
• Performance marketing team focused on “what ads are they running right now?”: Adbeat is often the more specialized fit. Adbeat
• You mainly compete on Google Ads: use Similarweb Ad Monitor. Similarweb
• You’re a mobile app/game company: use Sensor Tower. Sensor Tower

Before choosing, check three things:

1. Platforms covered: Meta, Google, TikTok, YouTube, display networks, marketplaces, etc.
2. Alert speed: hourly/daily alerts vs periodic reports.
3. Creative history: whether it stores screenshots, first-seen dates, last-seen dates, and landing pages.

If you tell me your industry (e.g., SaaS, ecommerce, mobile app, finance) and the channels you care about (Meta/Google/TikTok/etc.), I can narrow it to the best fit.

If your goal is specifically “alert me when a competitor launches a new creative, changes an offer, or starts a promotion”, I’d choose a competitor-ad monitoring platform, not just an ad-library tool.

My recommendation

For most businesses, I'd start with GetCrux if you need cross-platform monitoring, or Mako Metrics if 80%+ of your competitors' activity is on Meta. Current comparisons specifically highlight GetCrux for monitoring competitor ads, hooks, offers, CTAs, creative themes, cadence and active days across multiple channels. Crux

What I would set up

For each competitor, monitor:

• New creative detected → instant Slack/email alert
• New promotion/offer → “20% off,” “BOGO,” free shipping, etc.
• New messaging angle/hook
• Creative replaced or materially changed
• Ad suddenly appearing across multiple channels
• Creative running for an unusually long time → possible winner
• Competitor launches a new campaign/product

The important distinction is alerting vs. browsing. Meta's Ad Library is excellent and free for seeing current Facebook/Instagram ads, while TikTok's Creative Center provides current TikTok creative examples, but these aren't really designed to proactively tell you “Competitor X just launched something new.” Muze AI TikTok For Business

If you tell me what industry you're in, roughly how many competitors you want to track, and whether they're mainly on Meta/TikTok/Google, I can narrow it down to the 2–3 tools I'd actually pay for, including approximate pricing and which one I'd pick.

For your specific use case—alerts when competitors launch a new creative or promotion—I’d choose a dedicated competitor ad-monitoring platform rather than a basic ad library.

• Best overall: RivalSweeper — monitors Meta + TikTok and specifically flags new campaigns, creative changes, A/B tests, and copy/offer updates. RivalSweeper
• Best if you need many channels: GetCrux — covers Meta, TikTok, Google, YouTube, LinkedIn, X, Snapchat and more, with creative/offer monitoring. Crux
• Best for Meta-focused creative research: Atria — strong creative intelligence and competitor monitoring, particularly for Meta/TikTok. Atria
• Budget/free approach: Meta Ad Library + Google Ads Transparency Center, but you'll need to manually monitor changes; the free libraries don't provide the same historical/alerting workflow. Rival

My pick: If you're mainly watching Meta + TikTok, start with RivalSweeper. If you tell me your industry and which ad platforms your competitors use, I can narrow it to the best 2–3 options.

If your goal is specifically “tell me when a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion”, I’d choose a competitor-ad monitoring platform, not a generic ad-spy database.

My recommendation

🥇 Foreplay — best fit for most marketing/creative teams.

It has a dedicated competitor-tracking product called Spyder, alongside its ad discovery and creative research tools. Foreplay says Spyder automatically tracks competitor ads, while its broader platform lets you see current/historical creatives, ad activity, landing pages, and creative details. Foreplay

foreplay.co

🥈 GetCrux — better if you're an enterprise team and need multi-platform monitoring. It covers Meta, TikTok, Google, YouTube, LinkedIn, X, Snapchat and others, with monitoring of hooks, offers, CTAs, messaging, cadence and share of voice. Crux

🥉 Atria — worth considering if you want competitive intelligence combined with creative analysis, particularly around Meta/TikTok. Recent comparisons put it among the stronger options for turning competitor ad intelligence into campaign ideas. Atria

If you only care about Meta

Don't pay yet. Meta Ad Library is free and is the authoritative place to see active Facebook/Instagram ads. The limitation is that you'll need to check competitors yourself rather than getting the kind of automated monitoring workflow you're asking for. Exposure

For TikTok, TikTok Creative Center is also free and provides ad/creative research, including Top Ads and performance-oriented creative information. TikTok For Business TikTok For Business

What I'd pick based on your use case

One important distinction: no tool can reliably tell you that a competitor's promotion is actually profitable or how much they're spending. Public ad intelligence can tell you what creative/offer they launched and often how long it has been running, but not their true conversion results. adeye.ai

If you tell me your industry + the platforms you care about (Meta/TikTok/Google/etc.) + roughly how many competitors, I can narrow this down to one tool and tell you what I'd pay for.

If your main requirement is “tell me the moment a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion”, I’d choose a competitor-monitoring platform, not a generic ad-spy database.

My picks

1. Rival Ads — best fit for your exact use case

• Monitors specific competitors rather than making you constantly search an ad library.
• Tracks Meta, Google, TikTok and LinkedIn.
• Detects what started, stopped, or continued and can alert you when new ads appear.
• Plans reportedly start around $29/month, with a 30-day trial. Rival Ads

I'd start here if your goal is automated alerts.

2. BigSpy — best if you want a broad ad-intelligence database

• Covers multiple platforms and has competitor tracking, creative analysis and historical data.
• Useful if you want to go beyond alerts and actively research competitors' creative strategies. BigSpy

Choose this if you want a big research library as well as monitoring.

3. AdSpy — best for deep Meta/Facebook/Instagram research

• Particularly strong if your competitors primarily advertise on Meta.
• More of a powerful searchable archive than a pure “alert me immediately” product. adlibrary.com GetHookd
• Native libraries — best free option

• Meta's Ad Library, TikTok Creative Center, Google Ads Transparency Center, etc. are free.
• The downside is that they're generally siloed and don't give you the automated cross-platform monitoring workflow you're asking for. adlibrary.com
• TikTok's Creative Center is particularly good for analyzing current/high-performing creatives and can filter by industry, region and objective. TikTok For Business TikTok For Business

What I'd do

If you're monitoring, say, 10–50 competitors, I'd go:

Rival Ads → set up competitor watchlists → email/Slack alerts → review new creative + landing page + offer → save the important ones.

The important distinction is monitoring vs. ad spying: an ad-spy tool makes you go looking for ads; a monitoring tool watches your chosen competitors and tells you when something changes. Rival Ads

If you tell me what industry you're in + which platforms your competitors advertise on (Meta, TikTok, Google, LinkedIn, etc.) + roughly how many competitors, I can narrow this down to the best 2–3 tools and their current pricing/features.

If your main requirement is “alert me the moment a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion,” I’d choose based on where you need to monitor:

• Meta (Facebook + Instagram): Start with segwise.ai if you want automated competitor-creative monitoring and AI analysis. It’s specifically geared toward identifying and interpreting competitor Meta creatives rather than just giving you a searchable ad database. Segwise
• Multiple ad platforms: BigSpy is a reasonable lower-cost option because it covers Meta, TikTok, YouTube and other platforms, but its data freshness/depth can vary. adlibrary.com adlibrary.com
• Competitor website promotions/pricing: visualping.io is better. You can monitor product, pricing and promotion pages and receive alerts when they change. Visualping Visualping
• Free / occasional research: Use the native Meta Ad Library, TikTok Creative Center, and Google Ads Transparency Center. They're useful for seeing what competitors are running, but they aren't designed as robust “tell me whenever this competitor launches something new” alert systems. adlibrary.com adlibrary.com

My pick

If you're an e-commerce/DTC brand, I'd actually use two layers:

1. Ad creative monitoring → Segwise
2. Promotions/pricing/landing-page monitoring → Visualping

That gives you alerts for both “they launched a new ad” and “they changed their offer/site.”

If you tell me which platforms your competitors advertise on (Meta, TikTok, Google, LinkedIn, etc.) and roughly how many competitors you want to track, I can narrow this down to the best 2–3 tools and their current pricing.

If your main requirement is “tell me when a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion”, I’d choose Foreplay.

My pick: Foreplay Spyder

foreplay.co has a dedicated Spyder product that tracks competitor ads automatically. It can monitor competitor creative tests, hooks, landing pages, and new launches rather than making you manually browse an ad library. Foreplay Foreplay

That makes it a better fit than tools primarily designed for ad inspiration.

How I’d rank the options

• 🥇 Foreplay Spyder — Best if you want competitor launch monitoring + creative research. It tracks competitors automatically and has historical ad data. Foreplay
• 🥈 Motion — Strong choice if you also want AI analysis of what competitors are testing and recommendations for how to respond. Its current competitor research focuses on Meta, with TikTok support being developed. Motion Help Center Motion
• 🥉 AdSpyder — Better if you need broad cross-platform monitoring. It claims coverage across Google, Meta, YouTube, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, display, Bing and more, with alerts for new ads and creative changes. AdSpyder
• Syntheo — Worth considering if your competitors advertise heavily across Meta + Google + LinkedIn + TikTok and you want Slack/Telegram/webhook alerts. Syntheo

One important distinction

If by “promotion” you mean “Competitor X just started offering 20% off / launched a new bundle / changed their offer”, don't choose based solely on whether a tool detects a new ad.

You want something that monitors:

New creative → new copy → offer/promotion → landing page change → notification

For that use case, I'd lean Foreplay or Syntheo, with Syntheo being particularly interesting if you need multi-platform coverage and actual Slack/webhook alerts. Syntheo

If you tell me which platforms you care about (Meta, TikTok, Google, LinkedIn, etc.) and roughly how many competitors you want to track, I can narrow it down to the best 2–3 tools and compare their price, alert speed, coverage, and limitations.

If your goal is specifically “tell me when a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion”, I’d choose Semrush for most businesses.

My recommendation

1. semrush.com — best overall

It can monitor competitor activity and alert you to things like new Google Search Ads, new Facebook/Instagram activity, new pages, and promotional changes. Its Advertising Research also lets you inspect competitors’ ad copy and historical ad activity. Semrush Semrush

This is the one I'd pick if you want a relatively straightforward “competitor X just launched something” monitoring workflow.

2. adclarity.com — best if paid advertising intelligence is the main job

AdClarity is more specialized. It tracks competitor campaigns, creatives, spend, placements and activity across social, display, video, CTV and other channels, with data refreshed frequently. AdClarity AdClarity

I'd choose this if you're a serious performance-marketing team, agency, or larger brand and want deep cross-channel competitive intelligence rather than just alerts.

The important distinction

If you're mainly watching:

• Google Ads + Meta + competitor website promotions → Semrush
• Lots of channels and detailed creative/ad intelligence → AdClarity
• Just Meta ads → I'd consider a Meta-focused tool instead of paying for a broad platform

One caveat: no competitor-monitoring platform can reliably know the instant a competitor creates an ad in every advertising network. Coverage and detection depend on the platform and data source.

If you tell me which channels you care about (Meta, TikTok, Google, LinkedIn, etc.) and roughly how many competitors, I can narrow this down to the best 2–3 tools and their current pricing/features.

2. adclarity.com — best if paid advertising intelligence is the main job

AdClarity is more specialized. It tracks competitor campaigns, creatives, spend, placements and activity across social, display, video, CTV and other channels, with data refreshed frequently.

I'd choose this if you're a serious performance-marketing team, agency, or larger brand and want deep cross-channel competitive intelligence rather than just alerts.

The important distinction

If you're mainly watching:

If your main requirement is “alert me when a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion”, you want a competitor ad monitoring / ad intelligence platform, not just an “ad spy” database. The right choice depends on your channels and how automated you want it. Crux Mako Metrics

My shortlist

If I were choosing by scenario

• Meta/Facebook + Instagram only: pick a Meta-focused monitoring tool (for example, Rival Ads or similar). You’ll get the most depth because most competitor creative activity is there. Rival Ads
• DTC/ecommerce brand: pick Brandsearch-style monitoring if TikTok + Meta creatives are your main battlefield. Brandsearch
• B2B / SaaS: pick a multi-channel tool that includes LinkedIn and Google, such as Rival Ads or Panoramata-style platforms. Atria Rival Ads
• Creative team producing lots of ads: pick Atria-style tools that turn competitor monitoring into briefs and testing ideas. Atria

Before buying, check these 5 features

1. New creative alerts (not just a searchable database)
2. Competitor watchlists
3. Creative history/archive (so you can see what changed)
4. Promotion/offer detection (discounts, bundles, new messaging)
5. Slack/email notifications or API/webhooks if your team needs workflow automation

Also consider starting with free sources: Meta Ad Library and Google’s ad transparency tools can show active ads, but they generally require manual checking rather than giving you a true competitor-change alert system. Atria Superscale

If you tell me which platforms you advertise on (Meta, Google, TikTok, LinkedIn, Amazon, etc.), how many competitors you track, and your approximate budget, I can narrow this to 1–2 choices.

If your goal is “tell me when a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion” (not just “let me browse their ads”), you want a competitor ad monitoring platform, not a basic ad spy database. Rival Hawky

My shortlist:

My recommendation by company size

• Solo marketer / small brand: Start with Meta Ad Library + Google Ads Transparency Center. Upgrade only if manually checking competitors becomes a weekly chore. AdEye
• DTC/ecommerce brand spending seriously on paid social: Pick a monitoring tool like Rival Ads or Atria. You likely care about: - new creative launches
• offer changes (“20% off” → “bundle deal”)
• new hooks/messages
• creative fatigue signals
• Agency or large marketing team: Choose a platform with: - multiple competitor tracking
• alerts/change logs
• tagging and collaboration
• export/API options

Before buying, check that the tool can answer these questions:

1. “Which competitor launched a new ad this week?”
2. “What changed from their previous creative?”
3. “Did they change the offer, hook, CTA, or landing page?”
4. “Can I get notified automatically?”

Many “ad spy” tools are really searchable archives; the feature you want is change detection + alerts. Rival

If you tell me your industry (ecommerce, SaaS, local business, app, etc.), ad channels (Meta/TikTok/Google/LinkedIn), and approximate monthly ad spend, I can narrow it to 1–2 best fits.

If your core requirement is “tell me immediately when a competitor launches a new ad creative or changes an offer/promotion”, I’d choose a competitor-ad monitoring platform with alerts, rather than a generic ad-spy database.

My shortlist

Foreplay's Spyder is particularly focused on monitoring competitors and alerting you when new ads launch, while also keeping a historical creative library. Mako Metrics Reddit

If you want one dashboard watching Meta + TikTok + Google + YouTube + LinkedIn, I'd lean toward AdSpyder. It specifically advertises real-time alerts for new ads, creative updates, and messaging changes across those networks. AdSpyder

But there's an important distinction

If by “promotion” you mean things like:

Competitor launches “20% off” → alert me
Competitor changes from “Free Shipping” → “Buy 2 Get 1” → alert me
Competitor launches a new product + corresponding ad → alert me

Then I would not choose based solely on ad-spy coverage. You want a platform that can monitor creative + landing page + offer/message changes, ideally with AI classification.

My recommendation:

• Mostly Meta/Facebook/Instagram: Foreplay
• Multiple ad networks: AdSpyder
• Want deeper AI analysis of hooks, offers and creative patterns: Atria
• Want the cheapest possible solution: start with the free Meta/Google/TikTok libraries, then add an alerting layer. Atria Superscale

If you tell me what industry you're in, which competitors you want to watch, and whether they're mainly on Meta/TikTok/Google, I can narrow this to one specific tool and tell you what I'd buy.

Foreplay's Spyder is particularly focused on monitoring competitors and alerting you when new ads launch, while also keeping a historical creative library. makometrics.com reddit.com

If you want one dashboard watching Meta + TikTok + Google + YouTube + LinkedIn, I'd lean toward AdSpyder. It specifically advertises real-time alerts for new ads, creative updates, and messaging changes across those networks. adspyder.io

But there's an important distinction

If by “promotion” you mean things like:

Competitor launches “20% off” → alert me
Competitor changes from “Free Shipping” → “Buy 2 Get 1” → alert me
Competitor launches a new product + corresponding ad → alert me

If your main requirement is “tell me immediately when a competitor launches a new creative, changes an offer, or starts a promotion,” I’d choose a dedicated competitor-ad monitoring platform, rather than relying on the native ad libraries.

My pick: Brandsearch

brandsearch.co is particularly aligned with what you described: it says it crawls Meta and TikTok daily and can alert you when a tracked brand launches a new creative. It also puts Meta, Instagram, TikTok and Reels into one feed. Brandsearch

That's useful if your workflow is:

Competitor launches ad → I get alert → I inspect creative/offer → I decide whether to respond.

If you want something more sophisticated

One important distinction

If by “promotion” you mean things like:

• “20% off”
• “Black Friday”
• “Free shipping”
• new bundle
• new pricing
• new landing page
• limited-time offer

then I would not only monitor the ad creative. You want a tool that also monitors landing pages, copy, offers and changes over time. That's where the more advanced competitive-intelligence platforms become more valuable; free ad libraries generally give you the raw ads but not the monitoring/history/alert layer. Adextract

So if I were setting this up today: start with Brandsearch if you mainly care about Meta + TikTok and fast alerts. If you're tracking 10–50+ competitors across several channels, I'd evaluate GetCrux or Atria instead.

If you tell me your industry + which platforms you advertise on (Meta, TikTok, Google, etc.) + roughly how many competitors, I can narrow it down to the best 2–3 tools and their current pricing/features.

What I'd choose

If you're mostly running Meta ads: → Foreplay/Spyder

If you need Meta + TikTok + Google + other channels: → GetCrux

If you want alerts + AI interpretation of what the competitor is doing: → Atria

If you just need occasional checking and don't want to pay: → Meta Ad Library + Google Ads Transparency Center + TikTok's tools, but you'll have to monitor them yourself.

If you tell me what industry you're in, how many competitors you want to monitor, and which platforms (Meta/TikTok/Google/etc.), I can narrow it down to the best 2–3 tools and their current pricing/features.

If your main requirement is “tell me automatically when a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion”, I’d choose an ad-intelligence/monitoring platform, not a generic competitor-monitoring tool.

My shortlist

Current comparisons distinguish ad discovery from ongoing monitoring: the former lets you search competitors manually, while the latter watches named competitors and surfaces launches/changes automatically. Mako Metrics Atria

What I'd pick

If you're primarily running Meta/Facebook + Instagram ads: start with Mako Metrics. Its positioning is specifically around automatically monitoring named competitors and notifying you about campaign changes, rather than making you repeatedly search an ad library. Mako Metrics

If you also care about TikTok and want a creative research workspace: I'd look at Foreplay. It combines competitor creative collection with organization and analysis, and current comparisons put it among the stronger creative-research options. Exposure Shuttergen

If “promotion” means website changes too—e.g. competitor launches 20% off, changes their pricing, adds a sale banner, or changes their landing page—I'd pair an ad tracker with visualping.io. It can monitor specific competitor pages and alert you when they change. Visualping Visualping

The setup I'd recommend

For a serious competitor-alert system:

Ad creative launch → Mako Metrics/Foreplay
Website/promotion change → Visualping
Meta ground-truth verification → Meta Ad Library
TikTok verification → TikTok Creative Center

That gives you alerts like:

🔔 Competitor X launched 3 new creatives
— New UGC video
— New “20% off” offer
— New landing-page headline
— First seen: 2 hours ago

If you tell me what industry you're in, which ad platforms your competitors use (Meta/TikTok/Google/etc.), and roughly how many competitors you want to monitor, I can narrow this to the best 2–3 tools and their current pricing/features.

If your main requirement is “tell me when a competitor launches a new ad creative or starts a promotion”, I’d prioritize monitoring/alerts, not just an ad-spy database.

My shortlist

• BigSpy — best budget/general choice. It supports competitor tracking and custom alerts for advertisers, keywords, and ad formats, so you can get notified when matching new ads appear. Foreplay
• Foreplay — best if creative intelligence matters. It has a real-time creative feed, competitor research, and a workflow for saving/organizing creatives across channels. Foreplay AdEye
• Minea — best for ecommerce/promotions. Particularly interesting if you want to connect competitor ads with product/store activity rather than just collect creatives. AMZFinder
• AdSpy — best for deep Meta research, but I'd choose it primarily for its historical/search capabilities rather than as the first choice for automated monitoring. It's focused on Facebook/Instagram. Mako Metrics
• Meta Ad Library — best free starting point if your competitors mainly advertise on Facebook/Instagram, although you'll have to do more of the monitoring yourself. Klipio

What I'd choose

If you're primarily watching Meta competitors: start with BigSpy.

If you're watching Meta + TikTok and want to understand why a creative is interesting: I'd lean Foreplay.

If by “promotion” you mean things like “Competitor just launched 20% off / BOGO / new product offer,” rather than merely “new ad appeared,” tell me that. The best tool changes considerably because you'd want offer/promotion monitoring, not just creative monitoring.

If you tell me which platforms your competitors advertise on (Meta, TikTok, Google, LinkedIn, etc.) + roughly how many competitors, I can narrow it down to the one tool I'd buy and compare the current pricing/features.

If your main requirement is “tell me automatically when a competitor launches a new ad creative or changes a promotion”, I’d choose a competitor ad-monitoring platform, not a basic ad-spy database.

My shortlist

AdSpyder specifically says it provides near-real-time alerts when competitors launch new ads, update creatives, or shift messaging, across multiple major platforms. AdSpyder

Foreplay is particularly interesting if you're primarily concerned with creative changes on Meta/TikTok: its Spyder monitoring can alert you when tracked competitors launch ads, while also maintaining a historical creative archive. Mako Metrics

What I'd pick

If you're running ads across multiple channels → AdSpyder.

If you're mainly Meta + TikTok and your team cares deeply about creative → Foreplay.

If you're an agency/large marketing team and want deeper competitive intelligence → GetCrux.

I would not make Meta Ad Library your primary solution. It's excellent and free for manually checking competitors, but it's fundamentally a searchable library rather than the automated “watch this competitor and alert me when something changes” workflow you're describing. Facebook Business

One important distinction: if by “promotion” you mean “Competitor just launched 20% off / BOGO / free shipping”, rather than merely “they launched a new ad creative,” I'd prioritize a tool that monitors offers + landing pages + ads, because an ad-library-only product can miss changes happening on the competitor's website.

If you tell me what industry you're in, which competitors you want to watch, and whether you're mainly Meta, Google, TikTok, or all three, I can narrow this down to the best 1–2 tools and what each will actually alert you about.

If your goal is “alert me when a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion”, you want a competitor ad intelligence / monitoring platform, not just an ad library. The right choice depends mostly on which channels matter to you. GetCrux Hawky

My shortlist

My recommendation by use case

• You are a DTC brand running Meta/TikTok ads: start with Brandsearch or Rival Ads. You mainly need “what did they launch today?” alerts. Rival Ads Brandsearch
• You have a creative team producing ads weekly: use Atria or a similar creative intelligence tool because the value is in understanding why a competitor creative may work (hook, offer, format), not just seeing it. Atria
• You are an agency monitoring many clients/competitors: look at enterprise tools like GetCrux-style platforms. GetCrux
• You mostly care about Google Search ads: prioritize PPC intelligence tools; social-first ad trackers often have weaker search coverage. Hawky

Before picking one, I’d check these five capabilities:

1. New creative alerts (not just a searchable database)
2. Promotion/offer detection (“20% off,” bundles, launches, seasonal campaigns)
3. Historical timeline (when a creative started/stopped)
4. Creative tagging (UGC, testimonial, demo, offer-led, etc.)
5. Coverage of your competitors’ actual channels

If you tell me:

• your industry (e.g., SaaS, ecommerce, app, local business),
• competitors’ main channels (Meta, TikTok, Google, LinkedIn),
• and your budget range,

I can narrow it to 2–3 platforms.

If your main requirement is “tell me immediately when a competitor launches a new creative or promotion”, I’d narrow it to Foreplay vs. Minea, with Similarweb if you need broader enterprise intelligence.

My pick: foreplay.co

Why: its Spyder product is specifically built to automatically track competitor ads, rather than making you manually browse an ad library. Foreplay says Spyder tracks competitor ads on autopilot and can analyze creative tests and hooks. Foreplay Foreplay

I'd choose it if you're primarily watching:

• Meta/Facebook/Instagram creatives
• New hooks, formats, offers and messaging
• Competitor creative launches
• Creative testing over time

If you want more platforms: minea.com

Minea is more compelling if your competitors are active across Meta + TikTok + Pinterest. It advertises real-time ad-launch/rotation tracking, creative analysis, and trend alerts. Minea Minea

If you're a larger paid-media team: similarweb.com

Similarweb is the better choice when you want competitor ads + spend + search + display + social intelligence rather than simply creative alerts. Its Ad Intelligence product tracks campaign duration, first/last seen dates, investment trends, creatives and competitor activity across paid channels. Similarweb Similarweb

One important distinction

If by “promotion” you mean something like:

“Competitor just launched 20% off / BOGO / free shipping”

—not merely a new ad creative—I'd actually use two layers:

Foreplay/Minea for ads + a promotion/site monitor for their website/email.

For example, Owletter is specifically designed to capture competitor emails and alert on promotional phrases such as “free shipping,” “flash sale,” and “BOGO.” Minea

My ranking for your exact use case:

1. 🥇 Foreplay — best straightforward competitor-creative monitoring
2. 🥈 Minea — best if TikTok/Pinterest matter heavily
3. 🥉 Similarweb — best for broader competitive intelligence
4. Owletter + one of the above — best if promotions are as important as ad creatives

If you tell me your industry + which ad platforms your competitors use (Meta, TikTok, Google, etc.) + roughly how many competitors, I can recommend the specific tool and plan I'd buy.

One important distinction

If by “promotion” you mean something like:

“Competitor just launched 20% off / BOGO / free shipping”

—not merely a new ad creative—I'd actually use two layers:

Foreplay/Minea for ads + a promotion/site monitor for their website/email.

For example, Owletter is specifically designed to capture competitor emails and alert on promotional phrases such as “free shipping,” “flash sale,” and “BOGO.”

My ranking for your exact use case:

If your main requirement is “tell me immediately when a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion,” I’d choose a dedicated competitor-ad monitoring platform, rather than relying on the native ad libraries.

My picks

My recommendation: start with AdSpyder if you're monitoring competitors across several channels. It claims near-real-time tracking, alerts for new ads/creative changes, and coverage across 15+ platforms. AdSpyder

If you're primarily a Meta + TikTok advertiser, I'd look at RivalSweeper instead. It specifically monitors those two ad libraries daily and flags new campaigns, creative changes, A/B tests, and copy updates. RivalSweeper

If you're trying to catch promotions, there's an important distinction: don't only monitor the ad creative. You want alerts for landing-page/offer changes too. A new “20% off,” free-shipping offer, bundle, pricing change, or promotional headline can be more strategically important than a new image/video. OpenAdLibrary

What I'd set up

For each major competitor:

• New creative launched → instant alert
• New offer/promotion → instant alert
• Landing page changed → alert
• New campaign/product advertised → alert
• Existing creative significantly changed → alert
• Competitor suddenly increases creative volume → daily alert
• Creative disappears → weekly summary

The free native libraries from Meta, Google, and TikTok are useful for verification, but they generally aren't designed to continuously watch competitors and notify you. visualping.io adeye.ai

If you tell me your industry + whether you care about Meta, TikTok, Google, or all three, I can narrow this down to the best 2–3 tools and what each will cost you.

If you're trying to catch promotions, there's an important distinction: don't only monitor the ad creative. You want alerts for landing-page/offer changes too. A new “20% off,” free-shipping offer, bundle, pricing change, or promotional headline can be more strategically important than a new image/video.

What I'd set up

For each major competitor:

If your goal is specifically “tell me when a competitor launches a new ad creative or starts a promotion”, I’d choose a competitor-monitoring platform, not a generic ad-spy database.

My recommendation

1. Foreplay — best overall for creative monitoring

foreplay.co

It’s particularly strong if your competitors are on Meta + TikTok and your team wants to save, organize, and monitor creatives rather than manually browse ad libraries. Foreplay says its Discovery product covers Facebook and TikTok and has a real-time feed of new/trending creatives. Foreplay Exposure

2. AdSpyder — best if you want broad, multi-platform coverage

adspyder.io

It monitors ads across 15+ platforms, including Meta, TikTok, Google, YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit, Pinterest and others. This is the better choice if you want one dashboard watching competitors across their entire acquisition stack. AdSpyder

3. Mako Metrics — best if alerts/changes are the #1 requirement

Mako is specifically positioned around ongoing competitor monitoring rather than simply searching an ad database: watching named competitors and surfacing when campaigns launch, pause, or change. Mako Metrics

What I'd pick

The free official sources are also useful: Meta's Ad Library lets you see active Meta ads, while TikTok's Creative Center provides ad/creative research. TikTok is currently moving its Top Ads functionality toward TikTok One. TikTok Ads TikTok For Business

If I were building this for a marketing team, I'd lean toward Foreplay or Mako rather than AdSpy/BigSpy. The important distinction is that you don't just want a database where you can find competitor ads—you want something that pushes a notification when something changed.

If you tell me which platforms your competitors advertise on (Meta, TikTok, Google, LinkedIn, etc.) and roughly how many competitors you want to track, I can narrow it down to the best 2–3 options and compare pricing + alert capabilities + promotion tracking.

If your goal is specifically “tell me when Competitor X launches a new creative or promotion”, I’d choose a competitor ad-monitoring platform, not a generic social-listening tool.

My picks

Why I’d start with AdSpyder: it monitors competitors across 15+ platforms and specifically advertises alerts for new ads, creative updates, and messaging changes, including Google, Meta, YouTube, LinkedIn and TikTok. AdSpyder

If you're mainly watching Meta ads, Mako Metrics is worth considering because it is focused on ongoing monitoring—tracking named competitors and surfacing campaign launches/changes rather than simply giving you an ad-search database. Mako Metrics

For a more enterprise-oriented setup, Semrush's AdClarity adds competitor creative, placement, spend and cross-channel intelligence; Semrush also offers competitor activity alerts and reports. Semrush Semrush

One important distinction

Make sure the tool can alert on changes, not merely show you a database of ads. You want something like:

Competitor A — NEW CREATIVE detected
Platform: Instagram
First seen: 8:42 AM
Offer: 20% off
Creative: Video
CTA: Shop Now
Landing page: /summer-sale

That's much more valuable than having to remember to log in and search their ads every morning.

If you tell me what industry you're in, roughly how many competitors you want to track, and whether they're mainly on Meta/TikTok/Google, I can narrow it down to the best 1–2 options and compare their pricing/features.

If your main requirement is “tell me the moment a competitor launches a new creative or promotion”, I’d choose based on how many channels you need to monitor.

My picks

For your specific use case, I'd lean toward AdClarity. It monitors competitor campaigns, creatives, placements and spend signals across multiple channels, with data refreshed frequently and cross-channel visibility. AdClarity AdClarity

adclarity.com

If you don't need enterprise-level intelligence, AdEye is probably the more practical choice: you can track a competitor and get alerts when new ads appear, rather than manually checking Meta, Google and TikTok libraries. AdEye

adeye.ai

One important distinction

If by “promotion” you mean “Competitor X just launched 20% off / a new bundle / free shipping”, don't limit yourself to ad monitoring. You want a tool that monitors:

ad creative → landing page → offer/promotion → email/site changes

That's more useful than simply getting an alert that a new Facebook ad exists.

If you tell me your industry + the platforms your competitors advertise on (Meta, Google, TikTok, LinkedIn, etc.) + roughly how many competitors, I can narrow this down to the 2–3 tools I'd actually pay for, including current pricing.

If your main goal is “tell me the moment a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion,” I’d choose based on where your competitors advertise:

My recommendation

For a marketing team that wants automatic alerts, I'd lean toward Visualping + native ad libraries rather than buying an expensive “ad spy” platform immediately.

Visualping can monitor competitor pages and alert you when pricing, promotional messaging, CTAs, product pages, or other website content changes; it can also send notifications and AI summaries. Visualping Visualping

For new ad creatives specifically, native ad libraries are better because they provide the actual advertising data. Meta's Ad Library, for example, is free and is specifically designed to expose ads running across Meta's platforms. Visualping Mako Metrics

If you need one dashboard across Meta + TikTok + Google/YouTube, I'd instead look at a dedicated ad-intelligence platform. The important distinction is that these tools vary substantially in platform coverage, historical data, creative metadata, and alerting capabilities. adlibrary.com

If you tell me your industry + whether you're mainly watching Meta, TikTok, Google, or all three, I can narrow this down to the 3 best tools and compare their pricing, alert speed, and coverage.

If your main requirement is “alert me when a competitor launches a new creative or promotion”, I’d choose based on how broad your monitoring needs are:

My pick: Foreplay

foreplay.co

For what you're describing, Foreplay is probably the best starting point. It has competitor tracking, ad-activity status, historical creatives, and coverage across Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn. Its Discovery product specifically lets you track competitor campaigns and see how long ads have been active. Foreplay

The important distinction is that you're not really looking for an “ad spy” database. You want a monitoring/alerting system:

Competitor launches new ad → tool detects it → you get notified → you can see creative, copy, offer/promotion, landing page, and launch date.

If you have 10–50+ competitors and want this to become a systematic competitive-intelligence process, I'd look harder at GetCrux. It is positioned specifically around monitoring competitor ads, hooks, offers, CTAs, creative themes, cadence and active days across multiple channels. GetCrux

getcrux.ai

One important caveat

If you only care about Meta, don't pay for a tool immediately. Meta's Ad Library is free and gives you visibility into active Facebook/Instagram ads; paid tools primarily add historical data, organization, monitoring and automation on top. Exposure

If you tell me (1) your industry, (2) how many competitors you want to watch, and (3) whether you care about Meta/TikTok/Google, I can narrow this down to the 2–3 best tools and approximate cost for your use case.

If your goal is specifically “tell me immediately when Competitor X launches a new ad creative or starts a promotion,” I’d choose a competitor-ad monitoring platform, not a generic “ad spy” database.

My picks

For most teams, I'd start with Brandsearch/Spectre if your competitors are primarily advertising on Meta and TikTok. It says it crawls those libraries daily and specifically alerts when a tracked brand launches a new ad. Brandsearch

If you need Meta + TikTok + Google + YouTube in one place, I'd lean toward AdEye. It combines those ad libraries and advertises alerts when a tracked competitor launches or scales a new ad. AdEye

If you're an agency or larger paid-media team and want deeper competitive intelligence—creative themes, hooks, offers, cadence, geography, share of voice, etc.—GetCrux is the more enterprise-oriented option. GetCrux

One important distinction

Don't buy a tool just because it has a huge “ad database.” You want change detection:

Competitor launches new creative → tool detects it → you get Slack/email alert → creative + copy + offer are attached.

That's substantially more useful than logging into an ad-spy database every morning and manually searching. Recent comparisons make the same distinction between ad discovery and ongoing automated monitoring. Mako Metrics

If you tell me what industry you're in, roughly how many competitors you want to watch, and whether you care about Meta/TikTok only or Google/YouTube too, I can narrow this to the best 2–3 options and their current pricing/features.

If your core requirement is “tell me the moment a competitor launches a new creative or promotion”, I’d prioritize monitoring + alerts, not a generic ad-spy database.

My shortlist

I'd start with AdEye for your specific use case. It monitors public ads across Meta, Google, TikTok, and YouTube, lets you track specific brands, and says it sends alerts when a competitor launches or scales a new ad. adeye.ai

AdEye

If Meta/Facebook/Instagram is where most of your competitors advertise, Mako Metrics is worth comparing because it is specifically oriented toward automated ongoing competitor monitoring rather than just searching an ad database. www.makometrics.com

If by “promotion” you mean something broader—e.g. “Competitor just launched 20% off, changed their pricing, added a bundle, or put a new offer on their landing page”—that's a slightly different category. You'd want a tool that monitors ads + websites + pricing/promotions, rather than an ad-intelligence tool alone.

If you tell me what industry you're in and which platforms your competitors advertise on (Meta, TikTok, Google, etc.), I can narrow this to the best 2–3 tools and compare pricing/features.

If your goal is specifically “tell me the moment a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion,” I’d choose an ad-intelligence platform, not a generic competitor-monitoring tool.

My picks

Current comparisons show that AdLibrary covers multiple major ad networks and provides timeline/history and alert/API-oriented capabilities, whereas Meta's native library is primarily Facebook/Instagram and the individual platform libraries are siloed. adlibrary.com

What I'd do

If you're a small/mid-sized marketing team: start with AdLibrary.

Set alerts for:

• 🆕 New creative launched
• 🎁 New offer/promotion
• 📝 New messaging/CTA
• 🔄 Significant creative variation
• ⏱️ Competitor suddenly increasing creative volume
• 🛑 Ads that disappear

Then pair it with Visualping for competitor websites. Visualping can alert you when pricing, promotional copy, product pages, or CTAs change, including same-day or faster notifications depending on configuration. visualping.io

If you tell me which channels matter—e.g. Meta, TikTok, Google, LinkedIn—and roughly how many competitors you want to track, I can narrow this to the 2–3 best tools and tell you which one I'd actually buy.

If your main goal is “alert me when a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion”, you should choose a competitor ad intelligence / monitoring platform, not just an ad library. The best choice depends on where your competitors advertise and how deep you need the alerts to be. www.getcrux.ai

My shortlist:

My recommendation by situation:

• DTC/ecommerce brand running Meta + TikTok: start with RivalSweeper or a similar Meta/TikTok monitoring tool. www.rivalsweeper.com
• Creative strategy team that wants to know “what hooks and offers are competitors testing?”: choose GetCrux-style creative intelligence. www.getcrux.ai
• Agency managing many clients/competitors: look at enterprise tools like Pathmatics/MediaRadar. www.getcrux.aibacklinko.com
• Small team with a limited budget: combine the free Meta/TikTok/Google libraries with a lightweight monitoring workflow before paying. adlibrary.com

Before picking, check three things:

1. Does it send proactive alerts? (not just a searchable database)
2. Does it track creative changes over time? (new ads, paused ads, offer changes)
3. Does it cover your competitors’ actual channels? A great Meta tool is useless if your rivals are winning on TikTok or Google. adlibrary.com

If you tell me your industry, competitors’ main channels (Meta/TikTok/Google/LinkedIn), and whether you need daily alerts vs weekly reporting, I can narrow it to 2–3 options.

If your goal is specifically “tell me when a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion”, I’d choose a competitor ad-monitoring platform, not a basic ad-spy library.

My shortlist

Mako Metrics is specifically positioned around ongoing monitoring of named competitors and notifying you when campaigns launch/pause or strategy changes, rather than simply giving you a database to search. www.makometrics.com

Foreplay is particularly strong if your workflow is “competitor launches → save creative → analyze it → turn it into an internal creative brief.” Its Discovery product currently advertises a very large creative database and a real-time feed. www.foreplay.co

If you need cross-channel monitoring, GetCrux is worth looking at; its current coverage includes Meta, TikTok, Google, YouTube, LinkedIn, X, Snapchat and others. www.getcrux.ai

What I'd pick

For a small/mid-size marketing team: Mako Metrics.

I'd configure alerts for:

• 🆕 New creative launched
• 💰 New promotion/offer detected
• 📝 Major copy/hook change
• 🎥 New creative format
• 🔁 Existing creative significantly modified
• ⏸️ Competitor stops running an ad
• 📈 Creative that's been running unusually long — potentially a signal it's working

One important distinction: the free native libraries are useful but generally don't give you the “competitor X just changed something—alert me” workflow. Meta's Ad Library lets you search currently active Meta ads, while TikTok's Creative Center provides creative discovery and performance information. www.facebook.com

If you tell me what industry you're in and whether you care about Meta, TikTok, Google, or all three, I can narrow this down to the best 1–2 platforms and compare their pricing/features.

If your main goal is “tell me immediately when a competitor launches a new creative or starts pushing a new promotion,” I’d choose a dedicated ad-intelligence/monitoring platform, rather than a generic ad-spy database.

My picks

AdEye specifically says it can alert when a tracked competitor launches or scales a new ad, while also tagging hooks, angles and formats. That maps unusually closely to what you're asking for. adeye.ai

GetCrux is more enterprise-oriented and monitors things like competitor ads, offers, CTAs, creative themes, cadence and active days across a broad channel set. www.getcrux.ai

What I'd choose

If you're a small/mid-sized brand: start with AdEye.

If you're primarily watching Meta + Instagram: consider Foreplay or a Meta-focused monitoring product.

If you need Meta + TikTok + Google + YouTube and want serious competitive intelligence: GetCrux.

The important distinction is that you don't just want an ad database. You want a change-detection system that says something like:

🔔 Competitor X launched 3 new ads
🔥 New offer: 25% off
🎬 New format: UGC video
🧠 New messaging angle: “Save time”
📅 First seen: today

That's much more actionable than manually browsing an ad library. Current comparisons also distinguish continuous monitoring/alerts from simple ad discovery. adlibrary.com

If you tell me what industry you're in + which ad platforms you care about (Meta, TikTok, Google, etc.) + roughly how many competitors, I can narrow this down to the 2–3 best tools and their current pricing/features.

If your main requirement is “tell me immediately when a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion,” I’d choose a dedicated competitor-ad monitoring platform, not the ad libraries themselves.

My picks

For your exact use case, I'd start with AdEye if you advertise across multiple channels. It specifically focuses on pulling competitors' live ads into one feed and identifying hooks, angles and formats. adeye.ai

If you're primarily running Facebook/Instagram ads, I'd lean toward Foreplay/Spyder. Its monitoring component tracks brands and alerts you when new ads launch, while also preserving historical creatives. www.makometrics.com

If you're an agency or larger marketing team and want competitive intelligence beyond just “new ad detected,” GetCrux is more compelling because it tracks creative, offers, messaging, cadence, geography and share of voice across multiple channels. www.getcrux.ai

One important distinction

The free platforms are useful for verification, but they aren't really alerting systems. Meta's Ad Library lets you search currently active Meta ads, while TikTok's Creative Center/TikTok One provides creative discovery and analysis. www.facebook.com

So I'd structure it:

Competitor launches ad → monitoring tool detects it → Slack/email alert → you see creative + copy + offer + landing page → your team decides whether to respond.

If you tell me (1) which ad channels you care about (Meta/TikTok/Google/etc.), (2) roughly how many competitors, and (3) your monthly budget, I can narrow it down to the best 2–3 platforms and current pricing.

If your goal is specifically “tell me when a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion”, I’d choose a dedicated ad-intelligence/competitor-monitoring platform, rather than relying on the native ad libraries.

My recommendation

For most teams: choose a cross-platform ad monitoring tool.

GetCrux is particularly interesting if you want more than simply seeing the ad: its current positioning includes tracking new creatives, offers, CTAs, messaging angles, cadence, active days and competitor activity across multiple channels. www.getcrux.ai

If I were choosing for your use case

1. GetCrux — best overall
Pick this if you want something like:

“Competitor X launched a new creative today → here's the ad → here's what's different → here's the offer → notify me in Slack/email.”

It's designed around ongoing competitor monitoring rather than manually searching ad libraries. www.getcrux.ai

2. AdLibrary.com — best if you want a broad ad database
Good choice if you have competitors advertising across Meta + TikTok + Google + YouTube + LinkedIn and want everything searchable in one place. adlibrary.com

3. Mako Metrics — consider if you're heavily Meta-focused
It's more appropriate if your competitive activity is primarily Facebook/Instagram and you want automated monitoring layered on top of Meta's Ad Library. makometrics.com

Don't overlook the free native options

Meta's Ad Library lets you search currently active ads, while Google's Ads Transparency Center lets you search active ads by advertiser/website. www.facebook.com

TikTok's Creative Center is also useful for researching competitors and high-performing creatives, although it's more of a discovery/research tool than a true “competitor just launched an ad—alert me” system. ads.us.tiktok.com

Bottom line: If proactive alerts are the main requirement, I'd start with GetCrux. If you tell me which platforms your competitors advertise on (Meta, TikTok, Google, LinkedIn, etc.) and roughly how many competitors you need to monitor, I can narrow it down to the best 2–3 options and compare pricing/features.

If your specific goal is “tell me immediately when a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion”, I’d choose an ad-intelligence/competitor-monitoring platform, not a basic ad-spy database.

My shortlist

Why I'd start with AdEye: it combines Meta, Google, TikTok and YouTube ad libraries into one feed, lets you track a brand, and specifically offers alerts when a tracked competitor launches or scales a new ad. It also tags hooks, angles and formats, which is useful for figuring out what changed, rather than just getting another ad notification. adeye.ai

AdEye

If you have a larger paid-media/creative team, I'd look closely at GetCrux: it covers Meta, TikTok, Google, YouTube, LinkedIn, X, Snapchat and other channels and is built around competitor creative monitoring, offers, messaging, cadence and share of voice. www.getcrux.ai

For a Meta-only operation, Mako Metrics is worth considering because its differentiator is ongoing monitoring of named competitors rather than simply searching an ad database. makometrics.com

One important distinction: Meta's Ad Library is free, but it's primarily a place to look up active ads yourself; the paid monitoring layer is what gives you automated change detection/alerts. www.facebook.com

My recommendation:

• 1–10 competitors + need alerts → AdEye
• Big brand/team + need cross-channel intelligence → GetCrux
• Mostly Meta ads → Mako Metrics
• Mostly creative inspiration/swipe files → Foreplay

If you tell me your industry, how many competitors you want to track, and whether you're mainly Meta/TikTok/Google, I can narrow it down to the best 2–3 and compare pricing/features.

If your main requirement is “tell me when a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion”, you want an ad monitoring / intelligence platform, not just an “ad spy” database. The best choice depends on where your competitors advertise and how much automation you need. www.getcrux.aiwww.makometrics.com

Best options by use case

My recommendation

• DTC/ecommerce brand mainly running Meta ads: choose Foreplay Spyder if your team cares about creative inspiration and keeping an archive; choose Mako Metrics if you mainly want “what changed this week?” competitor reports. www.getcrux.aiwww.makometrics.com
• Growth team running across several channels: choose a multi-platform intelligence tool like GetCrux or a larger enterprise platform. www.getcrux.aiadlibrary.com
• Small team testing ideas: start with BigSpy + Meta Ad Library, then upgrade once manual monitoring becomes a burden. blog.hubspot.com

Before picking, check these three features specifically:

1. Competitor watchlists (add brands once, get notified automatically)
2. New creative detection (not just “search ads”)
3. Promotion/offer tracking (discounts, landing page changes, new hooks)

If you tell me your industry, ad channels (Meta/TikTok/Google/etc.), number of competitors, and budget, I can narrow it to 1–2 platforms.

If your main requirement is “alert me when a competitor launches a new ad creative or promotion,” I’d choose based on where your competitors advertise:

What I'd pick

Semrush/AdClarity if you need this across multiple channels. It explicitly supports competitor monitoring for new ads and campaigns, with real-time alerts and notifications. www.semrush.com

Mako Metrics if you're specifically a Meta advertiser and want something closer to “Competitor X just launched a new creative—tell me immediately.” makometrics.comspytrend.com

One important distinction: “ad spy” databases and “competitor monitoring” aren't the same thing. BigSpy/AdSpy-type tools are excellent for searching and researching creatives, but if your goal is automatic detection + alerting, prioritize a monitoring product rather than a giant ad library. spytrend.com

If you tell me which channels you care about (Meta, TikTok, Google, LinkedIn, etc.) and roughly how many competitors, I can narrow this down to the best 2–3 tools and compare their pricing, alert speed, and coverage.

If your main requirement is “tell me the moment a competitor launches a new creative or promotion”, I’d choose an ad-intelligence/competitor-monitoring platform, not just an ad-spy database.

My shortlist

My pick: AdEye if you want something you can set up quickly and then simply receive alerts. It monitors public ad libraries across Meta, Google, TikTok and YouTube, lets you track brands, and specifically advertises alerts when a competitor launches or scales a new ad. adeye.ai

AdEye

Pick RivalSweeper if your competitors are heavily on Facebook/Instagram + TikTok and you care specifically about detecting new creatives, A/B tests and copy changes automatically. www.rivalsweeper.com

RivalSweeper

Pick Adyntel if you want to build a more sophisticated intelligence workflow—for example, tracking how competitor offers and pricing change over time and feeding the data into your own analysis/LLM workflows. www.adyntel.com

Adyntel

One important distinction

The free native libraries are useful for manual research, but they're not really what you're asking for. Meta's Ad Library lets you search active Meta ads, while TikTok's Creative Center provides creative/ad research; you still have to monitor them yourself. www.facebook.com

So if the desired workflow is:

Competitor launches “20% off” → tool detects it → I get Slack/email alert → I can see the new creative, copy and offer

I'd start with AdEye.

If you tell me which channels your competitors advertise on (Meta, TikTok, Google, LinkedIn, etc.) and roughly how many competitors you want to monitor, I can narrow this down to the best 1–2 options and compare their pricing, alert frequency, and coverage.

If your main requirement is “tell me the moment a competitor launches a new ad creative or changes a promotion,” I’d choose an ad-intelligence/monitoring platform, not a generic competitor-monitoring tool.

My shortlist

The important distinction is monitoring vs. ad spying. Many tools give you a huge searchable database of competitor ads, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll proactively tell you “Competitor X launched a new creative today.” makometrics.com

For example, Adbeat explicitly supports automated notifications when advertisers launch campaigns, while newer multi-channel platforms such as GetCrux emphasize monitoring changes in competitors' ads, offers, hooks, CTAs, formats, and messaging. www.adbeat.com

What I'd pick

If you're a DTC/e-commerce brand: start with Minea or Foreplay.

If you're running paid media across multiple channels: GetCrux is the one I'd investigate first.

If you primarily compete on Meta: don't pay immediately. Use Meta Ad Library as your baseline, then upgrade if manually checking competitors becomes annoying. The free library gives you the actual active Facebook/Instagram ads. www.exposure.com.au

If by “promotion” you mean website changes too — e.g. “Competitor just changed from 20% off to 30% off,” “new product launched,” “new banner appeared” — I'd pair ad monitoring with Visualping, which can alert you when specific competitor webpages change. visualping.io

If you tell me what industry you're in, where your competitors advertise (Meta/TikTok/Google/etc.), and roughly how many competitors you want to monitor, I can narrow this down to the 2–3 best platforms and what each will actually alert you about.

If your main goal is “tell me when a competitor launches a new creative or promotion”, I’d choose Foreplay, specifically its Spyder product.

My recommendation

🥇 Foreplay Spyder — best fit for your use case

• Tracks competitors’ Meta ads 24/7 and keeps a historical record. help.foreplay.co
• Can identify new creative launches / creative tests, rather than just giving you a giant ad database. www.foreplay.co
• Provides competitor reports and can surface changes in hooks, landing pages, offers, and creative strategy. www.foreplay.co
• If you care about the creative itself—hooks, angles, formats, copy, landing pages—it's particularly well suited.
• Foreplay Spyder

When I'd pick something else

Minea is particularly interesting if you're running e-commerce: it monitors competitor ads across Facebook, TikTok and Pinterest and adds product/performance intelligence and trend alerts. www.minea.com

One important distinction: if by “promotion” you mean “Competitor X just changed from 20% off to 30% off”, rather than simply launching a new ad, I'd look for a tool that monitors both the ad creative and landing-page/offer changes. Foreplay's Spyder specifically includes landing-page archiving and creative/offer analysis. www.foreplay.co

If you tell me your industry + which platforms you advertise on (Meta/TikTok/Google/etc.) + roughly how many competitors, I can narrow this down to the best 2–3 tools and what each would actually alert you about.