A product research tool is the easiest and most accurate way to find winning dropshipping products. So, you’ve likely considered Minea as it is one of the most popular choices.

However, there are lots of other options that might suit your business better.

We’ll analyze and compare seven alternatives. 

Keep reading to find your perfect product research tool.

7 Best Minea Alternatives for Dropshipping

These seven alternatives will work for different sellers. 

To help you choose which one is best for you, we’ve included the following information for each one:

• Whether there is a free trial or free access
• The starting price
• Who it’s best for
• Why choose it over Minea, and why choose Minea over the alternative
• The top features

We’ll also tell you the type of product research tool it is. As Minea is an ad spy tool, we’ve added alternative ad spy tools to the list. 

But we’ve also added tools that analyze Shopify stores, trends, etc, as these might work better for you.

Haven’t got time to read our in-depth review? Here is a quick overview:

• Dropship.io - Best Advanced Minea Alternative 
• Niche Scraper - Great Range of Product Research Tools
• Foreplay - Best Option for Finding and Sharing Ads
• AdPlexity - Best Option for Media Buyers
• Big Spy - Best Free Ad Spy Tool
• Exploding Topics - Great for Finding New Trends
• Dropship Spy - Easiest to Use Alternative

1. Dropship.io - Best Expert Product Research Tool

Dropship is an expert product research tool. 

Dropship’s Facebook ad tools make it a great alternative to Minea. You can use Dropship to search for and find ads and their engagement. This is a great way to identify in-demand products. 

Dropship also allows you to spy on Shopify stores. You can find the sales, revenue, and much more information on any Shopify store. 

It also means you can check whether an ad is really converting - as engagement doesn’t always equal sales.

Once you’ve found stores and products you’re interested in, you can add them to your personal tracker to monitor them over time and make informed decisions before launching products. 

Dropship is one of the most affordable product research tools, and it has some of the most advanced features.

• Free Trial - Yes, 7 days
• Free Access - No free plan, only a free trial
• Starting Price - $29 per month or $19 per month when paid annually
• Best For - Those serious about dropshipping. Dropship has an ad spy tool like Minea does. However, it has more advanced filters for finding ads. And it has Shopify tools that allow you to find winning products by searching, tracking, and analyzing Shopify stores.
• Why Choose Dropship.io Over Minea? Dropship has both Facebook ad tools and Shopify spy tools. Whereas, Minea primarily focuses on ad research.
• Why Choose Minea Over Dropship.io? While Dropship has fantastic Facebook ad tools, it doesn’t include Pinterest or TikTok ad spy tools like Minea does.
• Type of Research Tool - Shopify and Facebook Ads

Dropship.io’s Top Features

• Ad Spot - Search for ads using advanced filters, including keywords, engagement, launch date, call-to-action, and more. Dropship also collects ads as you browse Facebook. You can then save and analyze these ads using the Chrome extension.
• Product Database - Use the advanced filters to search for winning products. You can see products sold by real Shopify sellers. Dropship tells you the number of sales and revenue the store makes. 
• Sales Tracker - Save stores and products and monitor their performance. You can use the data to make informed decisions before launching products.
• Competitor Research - Search for and find your competitors easily. 
• Top Stores and Products - Browse a list of the top-performing Shopify stores and products.
• Portfolio - Let Dropship.io do the research for you. Every week, Dropship releases a list of products it thinks are winners, along with lots of information to help you decide if it's right for you.
• Chrome Extension - Use Dropship’s tools as you visit Shopify stores. You can see live sales, store information, revenue, best-sellers, theme, and much more.

Stuck on whether to choose Minea or Dropship? We’ve got an entire article that compares them in depth. 

2. Niche Scraper - Great Range of Product Research Tools

Niche Scraper is a popular dropshipping product research tool.

It has ad tools, including its TikTok and Facebook ad spy. However, unlike Minea, ads are not Niche Scrapers' main focus. 

Instead, Niche Scraper scrapes the web to find winning stores and products. You can track products and analyze real-time sales data to identify the ones that are right for your store.

• Free Trial - No, but there is a free plan.
• Free Access - Yes, there is a free plan with limited features.
• Starting Price - $49.95 per month or $16.58 per month when paid annually.
• Best For - Those who want to analyze dropshipping stores and receive hand-selected products rather than search for products themselves.
• Why Choose Niche Scraper Over Minea? Niche Scraper is more of a store research tool, but also offers TikTok and Facebook ad databases. Minea is only an ad research tool.
• Why Choose Minea Over Niche Scraper? If it’s ads you want to analyze, Minea is the best option as it has far more advanced ad features. Niche Scraper does have some ad tools, but it’s not the platform’s main focus, and the features are lacking in comparison.
• Type of Research Tool - Shopify, AliExpress TikTok, and Facebook.

Niche Scraper’s Top Features

• Product Scraper - Search for products on AliExpress, Shopify, and Amazon. Niche Scraper has several filters, including orders, growth rate, price, and more.
• Hand Picked - Experts hand-select products that they think will be winners
• Store Analysis - Browse Shopify stores and see their best-sellers and more.
• Ad Spy - Find TikTok and Facebook ads and how they’re performing to help you create winning campaigns and find new launches and high-demand products.
• Video Ad Maker - Enter your product information and images, and Niche Scraper will create a Facebook video ad. 

3. Foreplay - Best Option for Finding and Sharing Ads

Foreplay is intended for creatives and marketers who want to build effective ads. 

However, as a dropshipper, you can use the tools to find and save ads for product inspiration.

As well as finding products, you can also use Foreplay to help you build ads for your dropshipping store. 

Foreplay and Minea are both ad tools, but they have a different intended purpose. Foreplay is better for saving and sharing ads, and Minea is better for searching for dropshipping ads.

• Free Trial - Yes, 7-day free trial.
• Free Access - No.
• Starting Price - $49 per month or $44 per month when paid annually.
• Best For - Sellers who want to build a strong advertising campaign. 
• Why Choose Foreplay Over Minea? Foreplay includes LinkedIn ads, but these aren’t available on Minea. Foreplay makes it easy to share and build ads. It also has a Chrome extension that you can use to save ads as you browse.
• Why Choose Minea Over Foreplay? Minea is designed for dropshippers to do product research. This can make it an easier-to-use option for product research, and has several other dropshipping features which aren’t available on Foreplay. It also analyzes Pinterest ads, which Foreplay doesn’t.
• Type of Research Tool - Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn ads.

Foreplay’s Top Features

• Swipe File - Save Facebook and TikTok ads and organize them in the swipe file. You can then monitor and share the ads easily. 
• Discovery - Search for Facebook ads by name or using the filters. 
• AI Briefs - Turn your inspiration ads into ad briefs for your own campaigns. 
• Chrome Extension - Save ads from TikTok and Facebook using the Chrome extension.

4. AdPlexity - Best Option for Media Buyers

AdPlexity is an advanced ad spy tool. 

It’s more focused on marketers than product research.

However, its in-depth ad information can help you identify up-and-coming and trending products.

Compared to Minea, AdPlexity is far more expensive and analyzes ads created on different ad platforms. Its plans are also structured by the type of ads you want to see, such as Mobile, Push, Desktop, etc. 

• Free Trial - No, but a demo is available.
• Free Access - No.
• Starting Price - $149 per month or $124.16 per month when paid annually.
• Best For - Finding various ad formats run across different platforms. These include banner ads, video ads, and more.
• Why Choose AdPlexity Over Minea? If you want to run ads outside of social media, AdPlexity will be a better option. It allows you to search for a wider range of ads run across the web. In contrast, Minea is focused on social media advertising.
• Why Choose Minea Over AdPlexity? Minea analyzes Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest ads. As a dropshipper, these are likely to be the top platforms on which you advertise. So it makes sense to analyze them. 
• Type of Research Tool - Ads

AdPlexity’s Top Features

• Advanced Ad Search - Search for ads by keyword, advertiser, network, and more. There are also advanced filters you can use to search by date, language, and more.
• Detailed Campaign Insights - AdPlexity has detailed ad insights. You can see the days the ad performs best, which device it performs better on, traffic sources, and much more.
• Download Landing Page - If you find a landing page you like, you can download and customize it.
• Save and Organize - If you find ads you want to keep track of, you can save them and organize them into folders.

5. Big Spy - Best Free Ad Spy Tool

Big Spy is an ad spy tool that helps you find winning products by analyzing a store's ads.

It’s probably the most similar platform to Minea, as they’re both product research tools that focus on analyzing ads. 

However, Big Spy offers a free option, and the paid plans are cheaper than those at Minea. 

• Free Trial - No, but there is a free plan.
• Free Access - Yes, there is a free plan that gives you five queries and 20 ad saves on Facebook per day.
• Starting Price - $9 per month.
• Best For - Those looking for a free or low-cost platform to search for winning ads.
• Why Choose Big Spy Over Minea? Big Spy’s ad database includes ads from Facebook, Instagram, AdMob, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest, Yahoo, and Unity. Minea only has Facebook, Pinterest, and TikTok.
• Why Choose Minea Over Big Spy? Minea has a more user-friendly interface and more ad spy tools, including influencer tools, products, and shops.
• Type of Research Tool - Ads

Big Spy’s Top Features

• Ad Spy - Search for ads using the advanced filters.
• Featured Ads - Monitor the engagement and audience data of the featured ads.
• Ad Pages - Find a brand’s ad page, the products it is promoting, and more.
• Charts - Find ads in Big Spy’s top charts and new and trending lists.
• Tracked Ads - Save ads and track them over time

6. Exploding Topics - Great for Finding New Trends

Exploding Topics is a tool that highlights fast-growing topics. 

This can help you find trending products and niches before they become oversaturated. 

Exploding Topics isn’t designed just for dropshipping product research. It can analyze consumer behavior for a variety of business needs. Minea is designed as a product research tool for dropshippers and e-commerce store owners. 

Exploding Topics doesn’t analyze Facebook ads like Minea does. However, you can see Meta Trends.

• Free Trial - No, but a 14-day trial for $1.
• Free Access - Yes, you can access some topics without a plan.
• Starting Price - $79 per month when paid annually.
• Best For - Those who want to discover up-and-coming trends before they go viral. It’s a great way to find in-demand products and niches. 
• Why Choose Exploding Topics Over Minea? Exploding Topics provides topics rather than ads. Analyzing trends can help you find products before other sellers. Minea is an ad spy platform, so the products you’ll find are already sold by other sellers. 
• Why Choose Minea Over Exploding Topics? Product ads with high engagement indicate that the ad is targeting the right audience and converting. This suggests it’s generating sales. Exploding Topics can make it harder to identify specific products that could be winners. You know the topic is increasing in popularity, but this doesn’t always convert to sales or customers.
• Type of Research Tool - Trends and topics

Exploding Topics Top Features

• Tracked Trends - Add trends to a tracker and receive updates when changes happen.
• Trend Analysis - Get in-depth data on the trend, including growth and more.
• Trend Database - Access a database of over 1 million trends.
• Trending Products - Find products that are about to trend.

7. Dropship Spy - Easiest to Use Alternative

Dropship Spy is a product recommendation tool.

It provides lists of social-proof products that are best-sellers on social media. And AliExpress products, which are fast-growing products on the platform.

For every product recommendation, you’ll get an in-depth analysis as to why Dropship Spy thinks they’re winners.

It’s a very different product research to Minea. Instead of searching or viewing ads to find products, you use the recommendations from the Dropship Spy team. 

You can see ads from the product sellers, but the recommendations are not based on the ads. 

• Free Trial - No.
• Free Access - Yes, to two products.
• Starting Price - $39 per month or $9.91 per month if paid monthly.
• Best For - Users who want an easy way to find products.
• Why Choose Dropship Spy Over Minea? Dropship Spy gives you a list of products with insights and data. In contrast, Minea requires you to either search for the products or find the products based on ad information.
• Why Choose Minea Over Dropship Spy? Minea has several tools that recommend ads and allow you to search for ads using advanced filters. Dropship Spy is one tool that allows all users to access the same product recommendations.
• Type of Research Tool - Product Recommendations (Dropship Spy isn’t a spy tool that uncovers store or ad information)

Dropship Spy’s Top Features

• Product Recommendations - Access thousands of recommended products based on social proof and AliExpress products. Dropship Spy also releases 1500 products each year.
• Detailed Product Insights - For every recommended product, Dropship Spy gives you social proof ads, Amazon analysis, key indicators, trending data, video ads, audio insights, profit calculator, suppliers, and more.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is The Best Free Minea Alternative? 

BigSpy is the best free ad spy tool.

However, BigSpy’s features are more limited than those of other dropshipping product research tools. 

Dropship has the most superior product research tools. You can search for and track Facebook ads, as well as use Shopify spy tools to find the revenue and sales of the store. Dropship gives you free access for the first 7 days.

Is Minea Free?

No, Minea is a paid platform. 

However, you can try it for free. Minea will give all new users 100 credits to start out. Using each feature costs a certain number of credits. For example, making a search costs ten credits. 

How Much Does Minea Cost?

Minea has three paid plans.

These start at $49 per month or $34.50 per month when paid annually.

Next, the Premium plan costs $99 per month or $69.33 per month when paid annually.

And the top plan is the Business plan. This costs $399 per month or $299 per month when paid annually.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, this article has helped you decide which dropshipping product research tool is right for you.

Choose Minea if you want a product research tool that focuses solely on ads. But, if you want a more flexible tool that includes Facebook ads and a Shopify spy tool, choose Dropship.

We always recommend trying several tools using the free trial before choosing one.

Dropship currently has a 7-day free trial that allows you to access every tool without committing to a paid plan.