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What Is the Best TikTok Ad Spy Tool?

Cody Schneider•

Trying to understand which ads are performing well on TikTok can feel like a guessing game. By using a TikTok ad spy tool, you can see exactly what your competitors are doing, find winning products, and get inspiration for your own campaigns. This guide breaks down the best TikTok ad spy tools on the market to help you find the right one for your needs.

What Is a TikTok Ad Spy Tool?

A TikTok ad spy tool is a software platform that scrapes and collects advertisements running on TikTok, organizing them into a searchable database. Instead of endlessly scrolling through your "For You" page hoping to find relevant ads, these tools give you a library of creatives, ad copy, and performance indicators.

Marketers, e-commerce store owners, and agencies use these tools for a few key reasons:

  • Competitive Analysis: See the exact ads your competitors are running, what messaging they’re using, and which ones are getting the most engagement.

  • Creative Inspiration: Get out of a creative rut by seeing thousands of real-world ad examples. Identify popular formats, trends, and hooks that capture attention.

  • Product Research: Discover trending products that are being successfully advertised on the platform, which is especially useful for dropshippers and e-commerce brands.

  • Reduce Ad Spend Waste: By seeing what already works, you can develop more effective campaigns from the start, saving you time and money on testing.

Key Features to Look for in a TikTok Ad Spy Tool

Not all spy tools are created equal. When evaluating your options, look for a platform that offers robust features that match your specific goals. Here’s what matters most.

1. Large and Up-to-Date Ad Database

The core of any spy tool is its ad library. A great tool should have millions of ads and be updated daily. Stale data won't help you spot current trends. Look for a tool that actively finds and adds new ads as they go live on TikTok.

2. Advanced Search and Filtering

A giant ad library is useless if you can't find what you're looking for. Powerful filtering is non-negotiable. Essential filters include:

  • By Country/Region: See what ads are running in specific geographic markets.

  • By Performance Metrics: Filter ads by likes, comments, shares, and view duration to find proven winners.

  • By Timeframe: Search for ads that were published last week, last month, or within a custom date range.

  • By Call-to-Action (CTA): Filter by buttons like "Shop Now," "Learn More," or "Sign Up" to understand campaign objectives.

  • By Advertiser/Brand: Search for a specific competitor to analyze their entire TikTok ad strategy.

  • By Keywords: Search for keywords in the ad copy, on the landing page, or within the advertiser's name.

3. Detailed Ad Analytics

Once you find an interesting ad, the tool should provide deep insights beyond just the video creative. Look for details like:

  • The original ad copy and headline.

  • Engagement metrics (likes, shares, comments).

  • Estimated ad impressions and ad spend over time.

  • A direct link to the ad's landing page.

  • Information about the advertiser, including other ads they are running.

The Top 3 TikTok Ad Spy Tools Reviewed

After reviewing the options, a few platforms consistently stand out for their features, database size, and reliability. Here’s a breakdown of the best TikTok ad spy tools available today.

1. PiPiADS

PiPiADS is widely regarded as the leader specifically for TikTok ad intelligence. It boasts one of the largest and most comprehensive databases of TikTok ads, making it a go-to tool for serious marketers and e-commerce entrepreneurs focused squarely on the platform.

Key Features:

  • Massive Ad Library: Claims to have the largest commercially available database of TikTok ads.

  • Powerful Filtering: Excellent search capabilities let you slice and dice the data by country, dates, engagement, CTA, and even e-commerce platform (e.g., Shopify).

  • Advertiser Analysis: The "Advertiser" feature allows you to look up a competitor and see all their running ads, top-performing creatives, and recent activity.

  • In-Depth Ad Details: For each ad, you get a ton of info, including the targeting strategy, ad run-time, impressions, and even the ad cost breakdown in some cases.

  • Winning Product Finder: The "Top Products" section highlights products that are currently popular and selling well through TikTok ads.

Pricing:

PiPiADS offers a few different pricing tiers. It's not the cheapest tool, but its depth is unmatched for TikTok.

  • Free: Limited access to basic features.

  • VIP: Typically around $155/month, offering most core features for individual users.

  • PRO: Roughly $263/month, adding more historical data and advanced e-commerce features.

  • Enterprise: Custom pricing for larger teams and agencies.

Who It's For:

PiPiADS is ideal for dropshippers, e-commerce store owners, and performance marketers who dedicate a significant portion of their budget and focus to TikTok. If TikTok is your primary acquisition channel, the investment in PiPiADS is often worthwhile.

2. Minea

Minea positions itself as an all-in-one product sourcing and ad intelligence tool. While it's not exclusively focused on TikTok, its TikTok ad spy capabilities are strong, and it provides ad spying across other major platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. This makes it a great choice for brands with a multi-channel strategy.

Key Features:

  • Multi-Platform Spying: Provides ad libraries for TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest all in one subscription.

  • Product & Shop Analysis: Minea excels at helping you find winning products. You can analyze top-performing Shopify stores, see their best-selling products, and view the ads they're running across platforms.

  • Influencer Marketing Tools: It includes a database of influencers, allowing you to find potential partners for your campaigns based on their niche and engagement.

  • Excellent Filters: Minea offers detailed filtering options, including a very useful search for ads linking to Shopify, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce stores.

Pricing:

Minea's pricing is very competitive, especially considering its multi-platform support.

  • Free Lite plan: A limited-credit free version to test the platform.

  • Starter Plan: Around $49/month for a generous amount of search credits.

  • Premium Plan: Approximately $99/month for extensive credits and access to all advanced features.

Who It's For:

Minea is perfect for e-commerce marketers and dropshippers who want a single tool for product research and ad spying across multiple social platforms. If you're running ads on TikTok and Meta platforms, Minea provides outstanding value.

3. BigSpy

BigSpy is a massive ad intelligence database that covers a wide array of networks, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Google, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, and Yahoo. Its strength lies in its sheer breadth, making it a powerful tool for agencies and marketers who need a bird's-eye view of the digital advertising landscape.

Key Features:

  • Huge Multi-Network Database: With over a billion ads scraped from nine different platforms, BigSpy offers one of the most extensive libraries available.

  • Featured Ads & Leaderboards: Its dashboard helps you quickly find top-performing and trending ads each day, which is great for quick inspiration.

  • Advanced Search & Tracking: You can set up alerts to track specific competitors' advertising campaigns and get notified when they launch new creatives.

  • Good Affiliate Marketing Insights: Strong support for finding successful affiliate offers and ads, which sets it apart from more e-commerce-focused tools.

Pricing:

BigSpy offers plans that scale with your usage needs.

  • Free Plan: A very limited free plan with a few searches per day.

  • Basic Plan: $9/month for individual hobbyists, but very constrained.

  • Pro Plan: $99/month for serious marketers, unlocking most features and platforms.

  • Enterprise Plan: Typically $399+/month for agencies needing team access and unlimited credits.

Who It's For:

BigSpy is an excellent choice for advertising agencies, affiliate marketers, and companies that run campaigns across many different networks. If your TikTok ad strategy is just one piece of a much larger puzzle, BigSpy's comprehensive coverage is a major advantage.

How to Use a TikTok Ad Spy Tool Effectively

Simply having the tool isn't enough, you need a process for turning its data into actionable insights. Here’s a quick strategy to get started:

  1. Don't Just Copy, Look for Patterns: Resist the urge to rip off a winning ad directly. Instead, look for repeating themes. Are UGC-style videos outperforming polished studio ads in your niche? Is a specific type of audio trending? Use the tool to find strategic patterns, not just creatives to steal.

  2. Analyze the Entire Funnel: A great ad is only part of the equation. Use the spy tool to click through to the landing page. Analyze the offer, the page design, and the checkout process. A winning campaign has a cohesive journey from ad to conversion.

  3. Filter for Your Niche and Region: Start by filtering for ads in your industry that are targeted to your key geographic markets. What works for a fashion brand in the US may not work for a SaaS tool in Germany. Get specific with your searches.

  4. Track Your Direct Competitors: Create a list of your top 3-5 competitors and use the tool's tracking features to monitor their activity. This private intelligence feed can give you an early warning when they launch a new product or an aggressive promotion.

Final Thoughts

Using a TikTok ad spy tool like PiPiADS, Minea, or BigSpy can give you a significant strategic advantage. These platforms remove the guesswork from creating high-performing campaigns by providing a treasure trove of data on what’s already working. By analyzing competitive strategies and spotting emerging trends, you can build smarter campaigns, find new product opportunities, and achieve a better return on your ad spend.

Of course, understanding competitor ad strategy is just one part of the puzzle. The other, more critical part is understanding your own performance across all your channels. It's a true headache to manually pull reports from TikTok Ads, combine them with data from Facebook Ads, Google Ads, and your Shopify or Salesforce account just to see what’s really moving the needle. It's why we've poured our energy into making Graphed the easiest way to solve this. You can connect your data sources in a few clicks, and then build real-time dashboards and get answers just by asking questions in plain English - no spreadsheets or BI tool know-how required.