Our BigSpy review in short: the free plan is a plan, not a trial, and on it only Facebook opens out of 11 networks. The daily search quota ran out after 10 searches, downloads stood at 0, and TikTok ads start on the $159 Growth plan.
| What we tested | |
|---|---|
| Account | our own, Free plan |
| App | the new BigSpy app at app.bigspy.com |
| Searches | 10 keywords on 13 October 2026, plus “gymshark” and “manscaped” on 12 October |
| Networks that opened | 1 of 11 (Facebook) |
| Sign-in | BigSpy login is email and password or Google; there is also “Browse as guest” |
Every figure in this BigSpy review comes from those sessions or from bigspy.com on 13 October 2026, and each screenshot carries its date.
What BigSpy free opens
BigSpy free opens one network: Facebook. The network bar lists 11, and clicking Instagram on our free account returned “This channel isn’t included in your current plan. Please upgrade.” AdMob, YouTube, TikTok, X, Pinterest, Yahoo, Unity Ads, Pangle and AppLovin were greyed out the same way, so on the free plan BigSpy Facebook ads are all you get.
On the free plan BigSpy also hides part of each advertiser name and landing domain behind asterisks, so a Gymshark ad shows as “Gyrk” on “gymcom”. Searches default to the last 90 days and the eCom industry, with Exact Search switched on.
Verdict: BigSpy free is a Facebook-only preview; judge every other network by the plan you would pay for.
BigSpy free trial and the daily quota
BigSpy has no free trial of its paid plans; the free plan is what it offers instead. The plan table on bigspy.com promises the free plan 5 searches a day and 20 creative downloads a day.
Our account behaved differently. On 13 October 2026 the account menu read “Searches Remaining 1, Downloads Remaining 0” after nine searches. The tenth went through, and the eleventh opened “Today’s search quota has been used up”.
Verdict: Plan on about 10 BigSpy searches a day on the free plan and no downloads, whatever the plan table says.
BigSpy ads on paid plans: which networks each plan opens
BigSpy ads on TikTok start on the Growth plan at $159 a month. Inside the app, Starter at $69 lists Facebook, Instagram and AppLovin, marked “limited-time access”. Growth at $159 adds X, TikTok, Pangle, Google Ads and YouTube. Scale at $399 has the same networks for 5 seats, and Ultimate at $499 is the only plan with all 11, including Pinterest, Yahoo and Unity Ads.
The plan table on the bigspy.com home page lists four plans, Free, Starter, Growth and Ultimate; Scale appears only inside the app. Yearly billing is marked 20–30% off, and the pricing page notes that every plan renews automatically.
Verdict: For Facebook and Instagram, Starter at $69 is enough; anyone who needs TikTok in BigSpy pays $159.
How big the BigSpy database looks
BigSpy says it holds over 1 billion ad creatives from nearly 10 million advertisers across 11 ad channels, 80+ countries and 26 languages, and that it is updated daily. That is BigSpy’s own figure from its home page.
What one search shows is narrower, and BigSpy counts the same creative more than once. With the default filters, the last 90 days and eCom, a search for “gymshark” on 12 October 2026 reported 22 thousand ads, 11 thousand after BigSpy’s default deduplication and 4.7 thousand after strict deduplication. “manscaped” returned 1.5 thousand, 813 and 339.
Verdict: Read BigSpy result counts after strict deduplication; the headline number counts the same creative many times.
How fresh BigSpy’s ads are
BigSpy does not show when an ad launched on the free plan. Each ad card shows only the period BigSpy saw it, first to last day, and clicking an ad card on our free account froze the page instead of opening details, so we could not measure the delay from launch to database the way we did for Spytrend, Dropispy and PowerAdSpy.
What the cards do show is recent. Manscaped’s newest ads in BigSpy were first seen on 6 October 2026, the same day Spytrend recorded those campaigns launching.
Verdict: BigSpy’s Facebook feed looked current for Manscaped, but the free plan gives you no launch date to prove it.
BigSpy tool: the old app and the new one
BigSpy now runs as a new app at app.bigspy.com. The old BigSpy tool at bigspy.com/adspy still loads, with a window saying “The old version is no longer maintained. New capabilities are now live, please switch soon.” Everything in this review was tested in the new app.
BigSpy extension
A Chrome extension called “Bigspy: Save FB and TikTok Ads” is listed in the Chrome Web Store, offered by “Bigspy”. On 13 October 2026 it had 261 users, no ratings, and version 1.0.4 updated on 28 July 2026. It saves creatives from Meta Ad Library and TikTok into a BigSpy cloud library; the bigspy.com home page does not link to it.
BigSpy alternatives we tested
Every tool on this site is tested on an account we use ourselves. These are the ones that overlap with BigSpy, in alphabetical order.
| Tool | Cheapest way in | Paid from | Use it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| BigSpy | Free plan: Facebook only, about 10 searches a day | $69/mo | you want Facebook ads at zero cost, or all 11 networks on Ultimate |
| Dropispy | Free plan, last 2 months of ads hidden | €29.90/mo | you want the cheapest paid plan for Facebook ads and shop data |
| Minea ↗ | Free account: ad search, shop data locked | $49/mo | product hunting from ads and products; shops and brand tracking from $99 |
| PowerAdSpy | 3-day trial for $7, Facebook only | $69/mo (pricing page), $99 inside the account | you need LinkedIn, Quora or Reddit ads, on Palladium at $399 |
| Spytrend | Free plan: ads older than 3 months | $79/mo | you need fresh Facebook, Instagram and TikTok ads with advertiser totals |
TikTok is where the prices split. BigSpy opens it on Growth at $159; Spytrend includes TikTok next to Facebook and Instagram on its $79 plan.
Who BigSpy is for
The bottom line of this BigSpy review: BigSpy fits buyers who want Facebook ads at no cost and can live with about 10 searches a day and masked advertiser names, or teams that need all 11 networks and pay $499 for Ultimate. It is a poor fit for TikTok on a budget and for checking when an ad launched.
FAQ
Is BigSpy free?
BigSpy has a free plan, not a trial. On our free account only Facebook opened, advertiser names were partly hidden, the search quota ran out after 10 searches in a day and downloads stood at 0. Paid plans start at $69. Spytrend’s free plan shows ads older than three months.
What is BigSpy?
BigSpy is an ad spy tool launched in 2018 that says it holds over 1 billion ad creatives across 11 ad channels, 80+ countries and 26 languages. Its plans run from Free to $499 a month. Spytrend covers Facebook, Instagram and TikTok on one $79 plan.
How to use BigSpy?
Open Ad Library, type a keyword, advertiser or domain into Ad Info search and press Search; the default filters are the last 90 days and the eCom industry. On the free plan pick Facebook, since the other networks ask for an upgrade. To see when an ad launched, Spytrend shows the launch date on every ad card.
Is Big Spy the same as BigSpy?
Yes. “Big spy” is how many people search for BigSpy, the ad spy tool at bigspy.com; there is no separate product under that name. It is unrelated to Spytrend, a different ad intelligence service with its own database and a $79 plan.