Compare · checked 27 Oct 2026
AdLib vs Foreplay: ad library API compared
Foreplay is a creative research tool with an API over its own ad database. AdLib is an API over six live ad libraries with webhooks and domain resolution. Where each fits.
Foreplay and AdLib both sell ad data through an API, but they start from different places. Foreplay is a creative research product that built a large database of saved ads and opened it through an API. AdLib is an API first: it reads six public ad libraries live, keeps every ad it sees, and notifies your systems when something changes.
At a glance
| AdLib | Foreplay | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Developers and companies building on ad data | Marketers and creative teams, plus an API |
| Live ad libraries | Meta, Google, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, X | Own database from Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google |
| History | Archive since Oct 2026, versions and active periods | Up to 3 years of competitor history |
| Change events | Watchlists with signed webhooks | Brand tracking in the app (Meta) |
| Domain to advertisers | Yes, with scores and evidence | Brand search |
| AI enrichment | No | Transcripts, emotion and persona tags |
| MCP server | Hosted, OAuth | Hosted |
| Billing | Credits per delivered ad, empty results free | 1 credit per ad |
| Entry price | 1,000 free credits, then $29 for 25k | 10k free credits per month, $99 for 100k |
Where AdLib is different
- Live data from six libraries in one schema, including Pinterest and X, with the platforms' own dates and EU transparency fields such as reach per country and payer.
- Events instead of polling. Put competitors on a watchlist and your backend receives signed
advertiser.changeswebhooks when ads start, stop or change. - Domain resolution. One call maps a company's domain to its accounts on every platform, with a confidence score and the reason for each match.
When Foreplay is the better pick
If your team wants a deep back catalogue of ads today, or AI analysis of creatives such as transcripts and hooks, Foreplay has more of both. If you want a research app for marketers rather than an API, Foreplay is built for that.
Sources
Foreplay's API page, pricing and MCP page, checked 27 October 2026. Prices and features change; check their site before deciding.
Questions
- Is Foreplay an API or a tool?
- Both. Foreplay sells a creative research app for marketers and a credit-based API over its own database of saved ads.
- Which has more history?
- Foreplay. It advertises competitor ad history of up to three years, while AdLib's own archive started in October 2026 and grows with every ad we see.
- Which covers more ad libraries live?
- AdLib reads Meta, Google, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest and X live and adds the ads to its archive. Foreplay's database draws on Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google; its brand tracking covers Meta.