Foreplay Alternatives for Competitor Ad Research (2026)

The best Foreplay alternative depends on which job you hired Foreplay for: saving ads, researching competitors, or briefing creative. Here are the alternatives sorted by that job, with prices and trade-offs.

(Proxy publishes this blog and is one of the alternatives. Competitor prices come from the linked sources, checked October 2026.)

Why do teams look for Foreplay alternatives?

Foreplay is built for creative teams who save and organise ads into boards and turn them into briefs, and it does that well. Teams usually look elsewhere for one of four reasons:

• Price. Paid plans start around $59/mo and rise with seats and credits (breakdown).
• Coverage. Search marketers need Google ads, and B2B teams need LinkedIn and Google together. Across the roughly 179,000 ads Proxy users pulled between February and October 2026, about 1 in 5 came from Google or LinkedIn rather than Meta.
• Workflow. Some teams would rather ask ChatGPT or Claude than learn another dashboard.
• Analysis. A swipe file shows ads. It doesn't tell you which angle a competitor is scaling.

Which Foreplay alternatives are worth trying?

Alternative	Best for	Platforms	Free option	Cheapest plan
Free ad libraries	One-off checks	One per library	Yes	Free
Proxy	Research inside ChatGPT or Claude	Meta, Google, LinkedIn, TikTok (EU)	20 credits/day	$50/mo
Atria	Creative teams wanting AI analysis	Meta and TikTok	Free plan (per Atria)	about $159/mo, $129 billed annually (source)
GetHookd	Creative production plus library	Meta-first	7-day trial	about $29/mo
TrendTrack	Ecommerce and dropshipping	Meta, TikTok	Limited free account	about $49 to $59/mo (source)

The free ad libraries

The Meta Ad Library, Google Ads Transparency Center, and LinkedIn Ad Library show any brand's live ads for free, with no account. The cost is time: three tabs, no saved boards, and no video transcripts. Our guide on how to spy on competitors' ads walks through each one.

Proxy

Proxy is a free MCP server that gives ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, and Codex live access to the Meta, Google, LinkedIn, and TikTok (EU) ad libraries. You ask "Compare the hooks in Huel's and Ka'Chava's Meta ads" and get the ads, transcripts, and a summary in the chat.

• Better than Foreplay for: cross-platform research, Google and LinkedIn coverage, a free tier, and no new dashboard.
• Worse than Foreplay for: saved boards, team swipe files, and a stored historical archive. Proxy reads the libraries live.

Atria

Atria targets creative strategists with AI ad analysis, briefs, and benchmarking. It's priced higher than Foreplay and suits in-house creative teams more than solo marketers.

GetHookd

GetHookd combines an ad library with production tools like script writing and ad cloning, and has a low-priced starter plan.

TrendTrack

TrendTrack focuses on ecommerce: winning products, Shopify stores, and their Meta and TikTok ads. It's a better fit for DTC and dropshipping than for B2B.

How do you choose?

• You save ads for briefs every day: stay on Foreplay or try Atria.
• You research competitors weekly and work in ChatGPT or Claude: use Proxy, and keep the free libraries for spot checks.
• You sell physical products online: try TrendTrack.
• You need ads made, not just found: look at GetHookd.

To try the AI-assistant route, connect Proxy in about two minutes using this setup guide. For more MCP options, see the best ad library MCP servers.