Foreplay made ad swipe files popular, but the market it created now has plenty of options. Some are cheaper, some go deeper on data, and a few are built for a different job entirely. Here is how the main alternatives stack up if you are shopping around.
The free option is the Meta Ad Library. It shows every ad a brand is running right now, it costs nothing, and it is the source most paid tools build on. The catch is no history and no sorting. You cannot tell a two-day test from a six-month winner, which is exactly the information you want most.
AdSpy and BigSpy are the old guard. They hold enormous databases and let you filter by engagement, geography and format. They are powerful for finding inspiration at scale, though the interfaces feel dated and pricing climbs quickly once you want serious access.
Dibbin takes a narrower angle on purpose. Instead of the biggest possible bank of ads, it tracks the specific competitors you care about and shows which of their ads survive and scale over time. Pro is $39 a month with a free tier for five brands. If your real question is what is working for my actual rivals, rather than show me a million random ads, that focus is the whole point.
ChatGPT belongs on the list with an asterisk. It cannot pull live ads, but it is the cheapest way to analyze and rewrite creative you already have. Pair it with any of the trackers above and you cover both halves of the job.
The short version: use the free Ad Library to start, reach for AdSpy or BigSpy when you want a giant inspiration bank, and use Dibbin when you want to track named competitors and catch their winners early. Most teams end up running two of these, not one.