How to Check Competitor Ads on Facebook (Free Method)
The free way to check competitor ads on Facebook is the Meta Ad Library at facebook.com/ads/library. Search a brand name and you see every ad it's currently running, free and requires no login. It's the exact same public database every paid spy tool pulls from — you're just skipping the middleman.
Here's how to use it properly, what it hides, and how to turn a few minutes of searching into an organized file you can actually reuse.
What Is the Meta Ad Library, and Why Is It the Free Method?
The Meta Ad Library is Meta's own public archive of every ad running across Facebook and Instagram. Meta built it for transparency, not for marketers, but it's become the standard starting point for anyone who wants to check competitor Meta ads without paying for a tool.
Type in any advertiser's name and the library returns every ad tied to that Facebook Page. You can watch the ad, read the copy, and see which countries and placements it's running in.
How to Check Competitor Ads on Facebook, Step by Step
This is the core workflow, and it takes under two minutes once you've done it a few times.
- 1Open the Meta Ad LibraryGo to facebook.com/ads/library, no login needed
- 2Search the brand nameSet filter to "All ads", pick a country
- 3Filter by formatNarrow to image, video, or carousel ads
- 4Check the start date"Started running on" shows the ad's age
A few things trip people up on that first search. The library defaults to "Issues, Elections or Politics" as the ad category — you have to switch it to "All ads" or a brand's regular product ads won't show up at all. Search is also exact-match and a little clunky, so try the brand name a few different ways (with and without spaces, with the legal entity name) if nothing appears.
What You Can (and Can't) See in the Ad Library
This is the part most guides skip, and it's the reason people think the library is "broken" when it just has real limits.
| What you can see | What you can't see |
|---|---|
| Every currently active ad | Spend or daily budget |
| The exact creative (image, video, carousel) | Clicks, CTR, or ROAS |
| "Started running on" date | Ended ads (outside the EU) |
| Countries and platforms it's running in | Precise audience targeting |
| Ad copy and call-to-action | Which ad is winning vs. losing |
If the advertiser is based in the EU, or the ad ran there, you also get a longer history: ended ads and some reach/targeting detail, thanks to the EU's Digital Services Act. Outside the EU, once a competitor pauses an ad, it's gone from the library — ads vanish the moment a competitor pauses them, with no archive to fall back on.
How to Check Competitor Facebook Ads in Bulk, Not One at a Time
Checking one ad at a time works fine if a competitor is running two or three. It falls apart the moment they're running thirty, which is normal for any brand spending real money.
This is where a free extension helps instead of a paid tool. Our free extension, Klipio's Meta Ad Library Downloader, adds a Download button directly onto every ad inside the Ad Library page. One click saves that ad in original HD, no watermark, and — unlike a screen recording — it pulls every card, not just the first when the ad is a carousel.
For a full competitor sweep, its "Find all ads" mode scrolls an entire search, collects every running ad from that brand, and packs videos, images, or everything into one ZIP, with duplicates collapsed automatically. Every export comes with a searchable swipe board (an index.html you can open locally — search by hook, CTA, or advertiser, play the ads, copy the ad text) plus a CSV listing every ad. It's 100% free, doesn't require an account, and nothing routes through Klipio's servers — it runs on your own browser and connection.
If you want the full walkthrough on turning that folder into a research habit, see how to see competitors' Facebook ads and the complete guide to the Meta Ad Library. The extension itself lives at the Meta Ad Library Downloader page.
How Long an Ad Runs Tells You If It's Working
The Ad Library won't show you spend or ROAS, so the "Started running on" date is the closest thing you get to a performance signal.
Advertisers don't keep paying for ads that lose money. If a competitor's ad has been live for six weeks, that's the closest signal to spend that Meta gives you — it's very likely profitable, or at least breaking even well enough to keep running. A brand-new ad from three days ago tells you nothing yet; it could be a dud that gets killed tomorrow.
We go deeper on reading this signal correctly, including how long is "long enough" to trust an ad, in our guide to Facebook ad longevity.
Free Method vs. Paid Ad-Spy Tools
Once you've outgrown manual checking, a handful of paid tools organize this for you, track history over time, and add filters the Ad Library doesn't have. See our full breakdown of the best ad spy tools if you're ready to compare them side by side.
| Tool | Price | Real strength |
|---|---|---|
| Meta Ad Library | Free | The source of truth; nothing beats it for a quick check |
| AdSpy | $149/mo, no trial | One of the largest searchable ad archives, built for agencies |
| Foreplay | from $59/mo ($49 annual) | Strong swipe-file and team collaboration features |
| Minea | from $49/mo | Popular for dropshipping and e-commerce product research |
| BigSpy | from $9/mo (free tier) | Cheapest paid entry point, decent for solo testing |
| Dropispy | free + $29.90 | Free tier plus a low-cost upgrade for more filters |
None of these tools show spend either, for the same reason the free library doesn't: Meta simply doesn't expose it for standard ads. What you're paying for is organization, history, and search filters — not data Meta hides from the free version and reveals to paying customers.
FAQ
Can I see how much a competitor is spending on Facebook ads?
No. Neither the free Meta Ad Library nor paid tools like AdSpy or Minea show ad spend for regular commercial ads. The only exception is US political and social-issue ads, which display an approximate spend range by law.
How do I check a competitor's Instagram ads?
The same way — Instagram is part of Meta, so Instagram ads show up in the same Meta Ad Library search as Facebook ads. You don't need a separate tool or a separate search for Instagram.
Can I download competitor Facebook ads for free?
The Ad Library itself has no download button, so you're limited to screen recording. A free browser extension like Klipio's Meta Ad Library Downloader adds that missing button, including full carousel downloads and bulk export.
How do I check Facebook ads of competitors outside my country?
Change the country filter at the top of the Ad Library search — it defaults to your own location. Note that EU-based searches also show ended ads and extra targeting detail that other countries don't get, due to EU transparency law.
Is it legal to check competitor ads on Facebook?
The Ad Library is public by design, so viewing and studying competitor ads is standard, widely used practice. The line is in what you do next — copy the angle and strategy, don't reuse someone else's exact creative commercially. This isn't legal advice; check with a lawyer if you're unsure about a specific use case.
How often should I check competitor ads?
Weekly is a reasonable rhythm for most brands — enough to catch new creative before it's old news, without turning it into a daily chore. If a competitor is scaling fast or you're prepping a launch, check every few days instead.
The Klipio extension adds a download button to every ad in the Meta Ad Library: one click per ad, or bulk-save a whole search as a ZIP with a searchable swipe file inside. Free, no sign-up.
Get the free extension
