The ecommerce industry has gotten more competitive in recent years.
And with more players in the game, finding winning products can be harder than ever before.
That's why TikTok spy tools can be amazing for your product research!
In this guide, we cover eight of the best TikTok spy tools. These can help you find new products and discover which strategies your competitors use to generate sales.
At A Glance: Our Top 5 Picks for TikTok Spy Tools
- Our Top Pick: Sell The Trend
- TikTok Ads Library
- Minea
- BigSpy
- Anstrex
Ready? Let's dive in.
The best TikTok spy tools: An overview
Here's an overview of all TikTok spy tools from this article:
| Tool | Pricing | Review |
| Sell The Trend | Essential: $49.97/month Pro: $99.97/month | Sell The Trend Review |
| TikTok Ads Library | Free | TikTok Ads Library Review |
| Minea | Starter: $49/month Premium: $99/month Business: $399/month | Minea Review |
| BigSpy | Basic: $9/month Pro: $99/month Group: $249/month VIP Enterprise: $2,000+/year | BigSpy Review |
| Anstrex | Premium: $69/month/user | Anstrex Review |
| AutoDS | Import 200: $19.90/month Starter 400: $34.90/month Advanced 800: $54.90/month | AutoDS Review |
| Foreplay | Inspiration: $49/month Full Workflow: $99/month | Foreplay Review |
| WinningHunter | Basic: €49/month Standard: €79/month Enterprise: €249/month | WinningHunter Review |
How do you pick the right TikTok spy tool?
There are plenty of options, so the best TikTok spy tool is the one that matches your needs.
Here are some important things to consider:
- Free trial. Do you need a free trial to evaluate a tool?
- Budget. Remember that you need enough to cover your subscription and still cater to other parts of your ecommerce business, like advertising campaigns.
- Features (Bookmarks, competitor tracking). Some features, like bookmarking and competitor tracking, are invaluable. But not every tool has them. So, defining your objectives is a great way to choose a tool.
- Filter and sort options. Each TikTok spy tool has different parameters for filtering ads. Some, like ad name and date published, are common across the board, but you may need specific parameters.
- Database update frequency. Not all TikTok spy tools update their databases multiple times a day. For some, it takes longer than 24 hours.
- Database size. TikTok spy tools with the most ads provide a bigger pool for you to choose from.
The 8 best TikTok spy tools of 2024
Use these TikTok spy tools to find your next winning product or get inspired for a new ad creative!
1. Sell The Trend Review
Wouldn't it be nice if you could search TikTok ads and filter them based on likes, number of plays, shares, and comments?
That's what you can do with Sell The Trend!
Its extensive ads library lets you see what your competitors are advertising.
When you find a product with potential, Sell The Trend's A.I. Supplier Finder helps you find a reliable supplier to fulfill your orders.
The product finder lets you filter suppliers by attributes like price, shipping speed, and product quality.
Pros
- TikTok Explore. Millions of publishers upload products on TikTok daily. And keeping track of the ones that take off is easy with Sell The Trend's TikTok Explore tool.
- Nexus. Nexus is Sell The Trend's AI-powered tool for finding trending products across different platforms like Shopify, Amazon, and AliExpress.
- Robust filtering feature. Sell The Trend has strong filtering options. For instance, you can filter products based on whether they're 'dropshippable' or not. This is one of my favorite Sell The Trend features.
- Product explorer. This is a core feature of Sell The Trend. It has an extensive product database since it pools data from directories like AliExpress and CJdropshipping. The product explorer lets you search and filter to find what you need.
Cons
- Pricing. You might not like Sell The Trend if you're just starting on a limited budget. At the time of writing, the essential (lowest tier) costs $39.97 a month!
- Overwhelming information. Information is good, but too much of it can be counterproductive, especially if you're new to dropshipping. This gets better with time, though.
- Upsells. Even though you spend a small fortune on your monthly subscription, you'll need to spend more on some pay-walled features should you need them.
Pricing
Sell The Trend's monthly pricing plans range from $39.97 to $99.97 per month:
Full review: Sell The Trend Review: Best Dropshipping Tool in 2024?
2. TikTok Ads Library Review
An article on the best TikTok spy tools is incomplete without the TikTok Ads Library.
Although it was built to improve transparency in TikTok advertising, you can use it to see what your competitors are advertising.
Many of its features are similar to Meta's Ad Library.
It has a basic filtering system and shows critical ad attributes like the date when an ad started running.
Why is this important?
Because people only let ads run if they're working.
It's a strong measure of ad success.
If an ad works for your competition, it'll probably work for you.
Your version can even perform better if you improve your ad creative, refine your target audience, and optimize your budget.
Pros
- Search by business name. The filtering system provides four parameters for filtering: ad target country, ad type, date the ad was published, and the advertiser's name. Searching by name helps you find and spy on specific competitors.
- Great user experience. Most ads on TikTok are in video format. After filtering your results, you won't need to open a new page to watch the video on each ad—simply hovering on a video does the trick. Only click on an ad if you need more information.
- Unique users seen. You can see an ad's reach (the number of unique users who saw it) for the duration it has been running. This lets you estimate its success and niche audience size.
Cons
- Limited global coverage. At the time of writing, the TikTok Ad Library supports a handful of European countries. Therefore, you can't spy on competitors outside Europe.
- Delayed update. Some users reported that the Ad Library takes 24 hours to update ad data. This can be misleading if the data you're seeking is time-sensitive.
Pricing
Part of what makes the TikTok Ads Library one of the Best TikTok spy tools is that it's free to use. And if advertising transparency truly is its driver, it'll likely be free forever.
3. Minea Review
Minea is an ad spy tool that focuses on Facebook, Pinterest, and TikTok.
It's a major player in the ad spying industry, with close to a billion ads in its database.
Pros
- Bookmark lists. It's normal to come across products that catch your eye when scrolling Minea's feed. Minea lets you create lists to add these items for later reference.
- Advanced filters. Minea's filtering system provides an elaborate method of finding exactly what you need. You have options like date, media type, call to action type, and ecommerce platform. Plus, it lets you filter by engagement (likes, comments, shares), audience, region, and language.
- 1-Click Shopify import. This is a must-have feature for dropshippers to import the products they choose to their Shopify store.
Cons
- Expensive pricing. Minea's pricing model is complex. First, you have to subscribe to one of their three plans. Then, you have to keep track of your credits. Depending on your plan and auto-deduct, these are assigned when you research products, view ads, or track influencers.
- TikTok spying is a premium feature. TikTok spying is available in two (Premium and Business) of the three pricing plans. You can't use it as a Starter Plan user.
Pricing
Minea has three plans: Starter ($49/month), Premium ($99/month), and Business ($399/month).
You don't need a credit card to sign up for any of these plans. There's also a free trial plan that comes with 100 free credits.
4. BigSpy Review
With over a billion ads in its database, BigSpy is one of the best TikTok spy tools available.
It features an intuitive filtering system to help you find what you need in its huge database.
BigSpy supports nine ad platforms but provides a limited free glimpse into Facebook Ads.
You must sign up for a premium plan to see results from the other eight platforms, including TikTok.
Pros
- Tracking competitor ads. With BigSpy, you track competitor ads on TikTok and across multiple platforms in real time. My favorite thing about tracking on BigSpy is that it shows you all the ads a publisher you've selected is running on other platforms, too.
- User-friendly interface. BigSpy's user interface is simplistic. It maintains functional elements in an organized way, making it easy to spot what you need quickly.
Cons
- Steep price plans. BigSpy's pricing plans are not budget-friendly. They don't provide a free trial, and the Basic plan, which basically offers free trial features because of its restrictions, costs $9 monthly.
Pricing
Besides the Basic plan, BigSpy offers Pro ($99), Group ($249), and VIP Enterprise ($2,000) plans. Several features, including playable ads, are only available on the VIP Enterprise plan:
5. Anstrex Review
Anstrex is an ad spying tool that offers competitive intelligence on TikTok In-Stream, native, push, pop, and dropshipping ads.
Unlike the TikTok ad library, it stores and shows ads from years ago.
Pros
- Anstrex Chrome extension. The browser extension allows you to import products and find suppliers.
- Advanced boolean search. Using parameters like AND, OR, and NOT, you can create precise queries that show you exactly what you want.
- Multi-platform compatibility. Anstrex integrates with ecommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and AliExpress.
- No data caps. Anstrex has one premium plan that gives you unrestricted access to all its features.
Cons
- Steep learning curve. Anstrex has a robust filtering system with a steep learning curve.
Pricing
For $69.99 monthly, you'll get access to over 9,000 new ads daily from over 30 platforms and 54 countries. Plus, you'll have unrestricted access to every feature on the platform:
6. AutoDS Review
AutoDS is a product research tool with a TikTok ad spying feature.
It integrates with platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, AliExpress, eBay, and Amazon.
Pros
- Daily updates. The TikTok Spy Tool of AutoDS is updated daily with the latest top-performing ads.
- Trending products. The spy tool lets you discover trending products on TikTok and provides a filter to help you narrow down your search to specific products in your niche.
Cons
- Customer support. AutoDS' customer support is slow. Help is accessible through the chat widget on the website, but the process can be lengthy and frustrating, even for small issues. Plus, sometimes, customer support is completely unreachable.
Pricing
AutoDS pricing structure is reasonable but a bit complex. It changes depending on the platform you sell on and the number of products you import to your store.
For TikTok, the monthly plans are Import 200 ($19.90), Starter 400 ($34.90), and Advanced 800 ($54.90):
7. Foreplay Review
Foreplay is slightly different from the other TikTok spy tools.
It's built as a workflow management tool for ecommerce businesses. It helps users save, download, organize, and share ads with team members.
However, it also has the "Discovery" feature, which is a database of millions of winning ads on various platforms, including TikTok:
Pros
- Save ads from Facebook and TikTok. Foreplay enables you to create organized swipe files—a collection of ads you save from Facebook and TikTok. These help you come up with great ideas for new ads or ad copy.
- Community-curated product library. Foreplay probably has one of the largest user-curated ad libraries. When users update their libraries with new ads, they become instantly searchable by other users on the platform.
- Content briefs. The Content Briefs feature simplifies ad creation. It allows you to templatize your process, eliminating writer's block and letting you scale much faster.
Cons
- Limited platform support. At the time of writing, Foreplay only supports Facebook and TikTok Ads. Though this may change in the future, it's limiting for entrepreneurs interested in other ad platforms.
Pricing
Foreplay has two plans: Inspiration ($49/month) and Full Workflow ($99/month):
8. WinningHunter Review
WinningHunter is what you want the Meta and TikTok Ad Libraries to be—the same thing but with more filtering options.
Both libraries are good individually, but their filtering capabilities are limited.
If your competitor runs ads on either platform, you'll likely find them and see what they're up to with WinningHunter.
Pros
- Ad spend and revenue. Unlike the original libraries from Meta and TikTok, WinningHunter lets you identify top performers, estimate how much they spend on their ads, and the revenue they generate from those ads.
- Market saturation analysis. It can be hard to determine whether or not a product has saturated the market. But WinningHunter saves you money by letting you find competitors selling your product and the markets where they're selling.
Cons
- 3-day trial period. A 3-day trial period is a great starting point. However, it's not enough to fully explore WinningHunter's potential. You need more time to test it fully, although you'll have to pay.
- Facebook and TikTok ads only. Despite having robust features, WinningHunter only currently supports Facebook and TikTok ads. If you're keen on advertising on a different platform, you'll need a different tool to cover it.
Pricing
WinningHunter offers three plans payable monthly: Basic Plan (€49), Standard Plan (€79), and Enterprise Plan (€249):
FAQs about TikTok spy tools
In case you have any questions, here are some FAQs answered:
Are TikTok spy tools legal?
TikTok spy tools are completely legal. They work by collecting publicly available ads on TikTok.
Are TikTok spy tools worth the investment?
TikTok spy tools are generally worth the investment, but only if you know how to use them to achieve your goals. Before committing, define your business goals so you always know what you're working towards.
Do I need technical skills to use TikTok spy tools?
No, you don't need technical skills to use a TikTok spy tool. Generally, the tools have user-friendly interfaces, and learning how to use one should be pretty easy.
Final verdict
There are many TikTokspy tools to choose from.
Each has its strengths and weaknesses. That's why it's essential for you to be clear on your goals before starting the selection process.
We hope this guide provides enough information to help you make the right choice.
If you're interested in seeing more research tools, check out our list of the best product research tools!
Feel free to ask your questions by commenting down below. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Good luck!
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