Best Ad Spy Tools Under $50/month (2026)

Most ad spy tools are overpriced for what beginners actually need. AdSpy charges $149/mo. AdPlexity wants $99-249/mo per product. That's $1,200-3,000/year before you've tested a single ad.

We spent 6 months testing every tool under $50/mo — evaluating real features, actual data quality, and whether each tool genuinely helps you find profitable opportunities.

All 5 Tools at a Glance

What Under $50 Actually Gets You

Before we break down each tool, let's be honest about trade-offs compared to $149+ tools.

The honest truth: for 90% of beginners, a sub-$50 tool provides everything you need. Most people paying $149/mo for AdSpy use maybe 10% of its capabilities.

1. ArbHunter — Best Overall Under $50

Price: $39/mo (Starter). Free tools: Margin Calculator, CPC Checker, Ad Copy Generator, ROI Calculator — all free, no account needed.

ArbHunter is the only tool in this price range that doesn't just show you ads — it tells you which opportunities are worth pursuing. The Niche Finder scores every opportunity 0-100 based on Google Trends momentum, active competition, estimated CPC, and margin potential.

Honest limitations: Smaller ad database than AdSpy or BigSpy. If you need native ad data, you'll need Anstrex. 2 verticals on Starter might feel limiting after a few months.

Verdict: Best starting point for ad arbitrage or lead gen under $50/mo. The scoring alone saves hours of manual research.

2. BigSpy — Best Free Option

Price: Free (extremely limited) | $9/mo Basic | $29/mo Pro. Free tier: 5 searches/day, limited filters, no advanced features.

BigSpy is the only tool where you get meaningful ad intelligence for $0. The free tier is limited but enough to validate whether ad spying is useful before committing money. At $29/mo, the Pro plan unlocks 100+ searches/day and advanced filtering.

Honest limitations: Free tier is basically a demo. Data freshness lags 24-72 hours. No trend analysis. Landing page data is minimal.

Verdict: Right choice with zero budget. Graduate to ArbHunter when ready to run campaigns.

3. SpyFu — Best for Google Ads

Price: $39/mo (Basic). Platforms: Google Ads, Bing Ads, organic search.

SpyFu is the gold standard for Google Ads keyword intelligence. See every keyword a competitor bids on, estimated spend, and ad copy history going back 16+ years. For Google Ads arbitrage, SpyFu helps you find competitors' highest-ROI keywords, estimate real CPCs, and discover keyword gaps.

Honest limitations: Google Ads only — no social or display ads. Text ads only, no creatives. Not useful for Facebook campaigns.

Verdict: Must-have for Google Ads campaigns. Pair with ArbHunter for the complete picture (Trends + Google Ads + Meta Ads).

4. Dropispy — Best Budget Dropshipping Spy

Price: $29.90/mo (Premium). Platforms: Facebook only.

Built specifically for dropshippers. Instead of general ad intelligence, Dropispy finds winning products by analyzing Facebook ads. Filter by ad running duration (30+ days = likely profitable), check engagement ratios, and analyze the Shopify stores selling each product.

Honest limitations: Facebook only. Useless for non-dropshipping. Smaller database. Shopify analyzer requires Business tier ($99.90/mo).

Verdict: Does one thing well: find winning dropshipping products. Skip if you're doing lead gen or arbitrage.

5. Minea — Best for TikTok & Pinterest

Price: $49/mo (Starter). Platforms: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest.

Minea fills a gap most tools ignore: TikTok and Pinterest ad intelligence. If visual discovery matters for your products (fashion, home, beauty), Minea covers those platforms. The unique feature is influencer campaign tracking — see which products get organic buzz before they go viral in paid ads.

Honest limitations: At our $50 ceiling. Smaller Facebook database than AdSpy or BigSpy. Pinterest/TikTok data less comprehensive than platform-native tools.

Verdict: Right pick for e-commerce brands tracking TikTok and Pinterest trends.

The Hidden Cost Nobody Talks About

The real cost of an ad spy tool isn't the subscription — it's the time you spend searching for profitable opportunities.

A $29/mo tool where you spend 10 hours/week browsing ads costs more than a $39/mo tool that surfaces the best opportunities automatically. ArbHunter's scoring system eliminates 15-30 hours/month of manual research. At $15/hour, that's $225-450 in time savings for a $39/mo tool.

Our Recommendation: The $39/mo Stack

Total: $39/mo for a complete ad intelligence workflow. Upgrade to ArbHunter Pro ($79/mo) when hitting $1,000+/mo profit.