I have used some of these ad spy tools myself, and some more. I only included those that I know will provide dropshippers the leverage they need to succeed and boost their conversions.

We will discuss: 

• The best paid and free AdPlexity alternatives
• Reasons not to use AdPlexity
• Benefits of using an ad spy tool

For starters, here is our list of the best paid alternatives to AdPlexity:

1. Dropship.IO – best overall alternative to AdPlexity

2. BigSpy – best for tracking and downloading ads

3. PiPiAds – best for TikTok dropshipping

4. SpyFu – best for pay-per-click ads

Now, here are the best free ones:

1. Anstrex Instream – best for in-stream ad spying

2. PowerAdSpy – best for quick ad research  

3. TikTok Ads – best for TikTok ads

4. Facebook Library – best for Facebook ads

In the end, I am confident you can make an informed decision as to what ad spy tool best fits your business needs. Let us start!

Best Paid Alternatives to AdPlexity

1. Dropship.IO – best overall alternative to AdPlexity 

Dropship.IO does not only allow you to spy on ads. It also makes it possible for you to find winning products for dropshipping. In addition, you can spy on what your competitors are doing beyond what ads they publish.

Dropship.IO Features

• Product Research – this tool provides you with sales data of a product based on a keyword you searched for. If a product you are looking at has no sales, you will not waste your time, effort, and money selling the same thing. 
• Competitor Research – use this tool to track how much your competitor is making, what products they are selling, and what applications they use to run their business. 
• Ad Spot – narrow your search for winning ads with the tool. You can search based on keywords and other filters like likes, reactions, comments, etc.

Dropship.IO Pros

• You can use the tool for free for 7 days
• There is a dropship university where will learn dropshipping strategies
• You can track what your competitors make daily, weekly, monthly

Dropship.IO Cons 

• Drophip.IO only tracks Shopify stores for now  

Dropship.IO also has calculators that you will find useful for dropshipping. For example, they have a return on ad spend calculator, and this solid tells you whether or not your marketing efforts are paying off. You can also use tools like the Facebook interest explorer BEROAS, calculator, and so much more.

Summary: Dropship.IO is an all-in-one dropship tool where you can spy on Facebook ads, particularly those from your competition. You can also use it to find winning products based on units sold or revenue. Click here to try it for free today.

2. BigSpy – best for tracking and downloading ads

Although BigSpy says it is the Number 1 FREE ad spy tool, it is not free at all. It costs at least $9 monthly. BigSpy covers several of the biggest platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, and even Yahoo! and YouTube. 

BigSpy Features

• Daily Queries – you can have up to 20 daily queries on the basic plan; your query count will become unlimited if you upgrade to the PRO plan.
• Downloads – you can download the videos of the ads you spy on for review later. You no longer need a recording tool to do it. 
• Lots of Platforms – you can spy on ads on Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, Yahoo, and Unity.   

BigSpy Pros

• You can spy on ads on 9 platforms
• Enjoy unlimited queries
• It is possible to track ad performance over time

BigSpy Cons

• You need to upgrade to access more advertising networks 

BigSpy is what you need if you want to access multiple platforms to spy on ads. However, you will only get access to Instagram and Facebook if you subscribe to the basic plan. You must get the VIP Plan at $3,600 yearly to be able to access all platforms. 

Summary: BigSpy is a good option if you want to track ads and how they perform. This way, you will have a view of whether the ad is experiencing a spike in performance. 

3. PiPiAds – best for TikTok dropshipping

TikTok dropshipping has become a big business recently. If you are a dropshipper with a specific focus on the TikTok platform, PiPiAds is an excellent choice. Although TikTok offers a free ad library, PiPiAds offers more data and resources. 

PiPiAds Features

Winning Products – like our tool, you can find winning products on PiPiAds. However, the winning products are not based on revenue but only on ad performance. 

• Ad Query – you can do at least 200 searches for ads in a month. This may sound stifling, but it is not. 200 queries should be enough for a dropshipper for a month. Usually, you only need to do ten queries and you should be able to find ads that will inspire you. 
• Shop and Advertiser – you can filter your search per shop or advertiser. What it does is it makes your research more targeted than just searching for random ads.  

PiPiAds Pros

• The platform has multiple calculators for dropshipping businesses
• There is a Chrome extension you can install
• The system provides insights into TikTok audiences

PiPiAds Cons

• It only works with TikTok 

PiPiAds is what you need if TikTok is the only social media platform you want to target. It is possible to leave this platform once you are ready to branch out. However, you must know that PiPiAds is not cost-friendly as it costs $77 monthly. 

Summary: PiPiAds is a TikTok ad spy tool that provides you with better insights than the free TikTok ads library.

4. SpyFu – best for pay-per-click ads

SpyFu is an excellent tool for dropshippers who do not want to market their goods on social media but on Google or YouTube. You can use SpyFu to compete against companies whose ads run on a pay-per-click basis. 

SpyFu Features

• SEO – SpyFu can give you details about the performance of keywords related to your dropshipping business. From this tool, you will know what keywords your competitors are using, what keywords rank, etc.  You can use the result of this research not only for your ads but also for your blog. 
• PPC – this part of the tool makes it possible to view what keywords your competitors are paying for. You can either bid higher than them or decide not to target these keywords if your budget will not allow you to compete. 
• Rank Tracker – you can track the performance of the keywords you selected and how your PPC ads are performing in Google.    

SpyFu Pros

• You have visibility on SERP results
• It is possible to build traffic using the analytics from this tool 
• You can view what keywords competitors use in their ads

SpyFu Cons

• Historical data has a limit based on your 

SpyFu costs at least $39 monthly. At this rate, you will have access to the pay-per-click analyzer, the SEO marketing site, backlink outreach, and keyword tracking.

Summary: SpyFu is an ad spy tool that focuses on keywords, SEO, and pay-per-click advertising. It is best for dropshippers who want to advertise on blog pages and in the Google eco system.

Best Free Alternatives to AdPlexity

1. Anstrex Instream – best for in-stream ad spying

Anstrex offers several types of ad spy tools and services. If you want to spy on ads, the one you need to get Anstrex Instream, not Anstrex Dropshipping. The latter is a product importation tool like Spocket.  

Anstrex Features

• Millions of Ads – there are over 5 million ads in the Anstrex database. This should be more than enough for any dropshipper to get ideas about advertising, marketing, and trends. 
• No Data Cap – unlike other advertising spy tools, there is no limit to the kind of data you can access. Every account type has access to all the features that Anstrex has to offer.  
• Analytics – you can analyze ads and even stores to see what they are doing to succeed. You will also get monthly traffic reports for your competitors, giving you a clue as to how they are growing.    

Anstrex Pros

• You can spy on ads based on keywords
• You can create and set alerts about your competitors
• There is an area where you can find the top stores and their analytical data 

Anstrex Cons

• The spy tool only works on TikTok

In-stream ads are those that cut off a user’s experience, like the ads you see on YouTube that cut the video you are watching. Another example is the ad that cuts while you are playing a game on mobile. These ads work, provided that you mastered how to target the right audience. 

Summary: Anstrex is great for drop shippers who always want to track the landing pages of competitors. the system can track more than 30 platforms like Shopify, Wix, PrestaShop, and more. 

2. PowerAdSpy – best for quick ad research  

PowerAdSpy is one of the best free ad spy tools because you can access several advertising networks even if you do not pay. This spy tool allows you to search for ads even on unusual sites like Quora and Reddit (unusual for dropshipping).

PowerAdSpy Features

• Keyword Search – you can search for ads in various networks by using keywords; this helps reduce the time you need to spend to view ads relevant to your niche. 
• Filters – the tool offers several ways to filter the ads you want to see. For example, you can filter by ad position, data interval, category, popularity, and impressions index. 
• Ad Tracker – one thing you will love about this free tool is you can track the performance of ads. the system allows you to bookmark ads so you can go back to them later. 

PowerAdSpy Pros

• The ad spy tool has coverage for Google, LinkedIn, and Pinterest
• You can use all the features for free, albeit there is a limit
• You can search ads by domain, by number of likes, shares, etc.  

PowerAdSpy Cons 

• It has no access to TikTok ads

If you want a powerful free tool, PowerAdSpy is what I recommend. The only caveat is that it has no access to TikTok right now. However, this should not be a big issue considering that you can access the TikTok Ad Library for free, anyway. 

Summary: PowerAdSpy is an ad spy tool best used for quick searches for ads. Your ad views have a limit with a free account, but I can assure you that you do not need to spy on a lot of ads to get ideas for your store. 

3. TikTok Ads – best for TikTok ads

TikTok has an ad library that is accessible to everyone. What I like about it is that it provides more data and search filters than Facebook. In addition, it has an analytics component to it, making it easy to spot ads that have excellent performance. 

TikTok Ad Library Features

• Filters – you can narrow down your search by using filters such as target country, industry, ad objective, and language. 
• Ad Performance – there is an analytics area for each ad where you can see the numbers of likes, comments, shares, and CTR position.
• Conversion – you can view the conversion rate and CTR of the ad on a chart.  

TikTok Ad Library Pros

• You have access to thousands of TikTok ads
• You can search ads with keywords
• Each ad thumbnail has basic stats like likes, CTR position, and ad budget category 

TikTok Ad Library Cons

• You cannot download the ads

Use TikTok ads if your goal is to create video ads. TikTok is a video-oriented platform, so it is a good idea to see marketing strategies here for video ads.   

Summary: The TikTok Ad Library is a free resource from TikTok where you can browse ads. It provides basic ad analytics and stats, but you cannot download the video for review later. 

4. Facebook Library – best for Facebook ads

The last on our list is the Facebook Ad Library. Like TikTok, you can search the ads you want to see based on keywords. The thing is that on Facebook, you will not have access to a lot of stats. 

The only things you can view are:

• Advertiser details like FB page, number of followers, Instagram page, and Instagram followers
• Target countries of the ad
• Reach or number of people that the ad reached
• Target demographics of the ad like gender and age 

The Facebook ad library will not show you the conversion rate of an ad. In addition, you cannot download the ad to your phone or desktop, but you can play it if it is a video ad.   

Do you need a tool like AdPlexity?

Yes, a dropshipper needs a tool like AdPlexity to spy on ads and what competitors are doing. You must treat business like a war—if you know what is going on in the other camp, you can prepare better products, better services, and better offers to your target market. 

Here are the reasons you need an ad spy tool:

• Get ideas from competitor’s ads
• Know what is trending and what audiences respond to 
• Validate if the ads on specific platforms are worth pursuing 
• Know what keywords customers search for

Let us cover each one of these. 

1. Get ideas from competitor’s ads

As a dropshipper, likely, marketing is not your expertise. After all, even the biggest companies like McDonald’s or Starbucks hire marketing agencies to create ads for them. 

The lack of marketing expertise is what makes it too difficult to succeed in dropshipping because you are competing with companies that have the resources to pay marketing agencies. 

An ad spy tool like AdPlexity eliminates this problem because you will get ideas from the ads of your direct competitors. 

For example, if you are dropshipping drones, you would typically advertise an image of it with some text about its features. This, of course, is the classic way of doing things in newspapers and magazines.

With an ad spy tool, you will see that your competitors are using videos to get the attention of consumers, not images. From this tool, you will realize that a video of a father using the drone with his son yields better results—something that you did not think of earlier. 

The result is a better ad that you could never have done without an ad spy tool. 

2. Know what is trending and what audiences respond to 

Companies today rely on keeping up with trends to make their way into the social media feeds of their target consumers. 

For example, here are some of the most popular trends that happened on Instagram in the past:

• IGTV – long-form videos
• Use of story links 
• Campaigns for social causes

Corporations capitalized on these trends. The thing with being a dropshipper is that you can't catch up with all of the trends. With an ad spy tool, you can filter which ads have the highest shares, comments, likes, etc. These ads are highly likely to be a “trendy” type of ad, which you can also do for your store.  

3. Validate if the ads on specific platforms are worth pursuing 

Whenever we have an advertising idea, we cannot tell if the ads are going to work. it is always a cycle of experiments. With an ad spy tool, you will find ads that work, and all you need to do is create something of a similar nature. 

If you experiment, you will waste money selecting the wrong audience, the wrong ad format, the wrong keywords, and so much more. However, with an ad spy tool, you will see something like this:

As you can see, this video ad has 342,000 likes, 484 comments, etc. We know from this screenshot that the ad is targeting 41 regions and has five objectives.

What we do now is play the video, and then consider having the same number of objectives and regions—something that we may not have thought of if we did the ad without the aid of an ad spy tool. 

4. Know what keywords customers search for

Finally, you can benefit from ad spy tools if you want to target consumers based on user intent. This approach is particularly useful if you want to advertise on Google

While you can use free tools like Google Trends and Google Ads to find keywords, these tools will not show you real ad performance. With ad spy tools, you will know how ads performed and what keywords the successful advertisers used.  

Overall, ad spy tools allow you to compete even against the most seasoned and biggest online sellers. As a dropshipper, you probably work alone. You do not have a marketing department, and you have no way to brainstorm for ideas. The ad spy tool solves all these problems.  

Summary: Ad spy tools only have one ultimate purpose: to increase your conversion rate. A dropshipper, or any online entrepreneur, needs an ad spy tool to know what is happening in the market and respond accordingly. 

Reasons Not to Use AdPlexity

Is there something wrong with AdPlexity? No, not really. It’s just that there are better options, and there are a few things that make the system unfit for dropshippers. 

Here are some reasons not to use AdPlexity:

• Cost
• Complexity
• Limited Ad Network

Let me go through each one.

1. Cost

AdPlexity costs $199 monthly. At this rate, you are paying for only one AdPlexity tool. Here are some more details: 

• AdPlexity Mobile – costs $199 monthly
• AdPlexity Desktop – costs $199 monthly
• AdPlexity Native – costs $249 monthly
• AdPlexity Push – costs $149 monthly

So, if you want to target ads on different platforms, you need to subscribe separately. It does not make financial sense. I can say that AdPlexity is an excellent tool for marketing agencies, not dropshippers.

2. Complexity

I find it hard to use AdPlexity. As a dropshipper, I do not think I need to know: 

• Mobile popup traffic
• In-app ads on Android
• Mobile carrier traffic ads

Surely, these things can help. But do I need them now? Well, the only thing I want to see as a dropshipper is the ad of someone who sells something that I also sell.  

In addition, I do not need to download the landing page of the ads of competitors, which AdPlexity can do. Finally, I also do not need access to affiliate networks, which AdPlexity offers.    

3. Limited Ad Networks

Each type of AdPlexity account covers a few areas only. For example, if you subscribed to AdPlexity Mobile, you could only have access to ads in the following:

• In-app ads on Android 
• Pop-up ads on mobile devices 
• Mobile web exchanges

The thing is that our market as dropshippers is not likely to be in these exchanges. It makes much more sense to access and spy ads on social media networks where we intend to advertise. 

Summary: AdPlexity is not a bad program; it offers so many tools you can use for marketing and spying on ads. However, it is best used by marketing agencies and professionals, not dropshippers.    

FAQ: AdPlexity Alternatives

Which platform offers the broadest potential reach for ads?

Right now, it is still Facebook because it has over 2 billion active monthly users. 

What ad spy tool is the best? 

The best ad spy tool is the one that gives you access to the ads in the social media platform you want to penetrate. For example, if your target is Facebook, then the Dropship.IO Ad Spot is the premier choice.  

Is AdPlexity a good tool for dropshipping?

It could be, but I do not highly recommend it because it is expensive and complex to use.

What makes Dropship.IO a good alternative to AdPlexity?

Dropship.IO is an all-in-one dropshipping tool. On top of spying on ads, you can find winning products, spy on competitors, and track the sales performance of a product or a website.  

Summary

The next step from here is to take advantage of our 7-day free trial. With this account, you will have access to our product research tool, competitor analysis tool, Ad Spot ad spy, and many more. 

From here, you can also try the other alternatives I recommended and then decide which one can add more value to your business.