AdProtektor vs Foreplay in 2026: traffic protection vs paid-social creative workflow
AdProtektor assesses suspicious Google Ads and Meta sessions after the click, with eligible exclusion workflows and conversion filtering. Foreplay helps paid-social teams discover, save, monitor, analyse, and turn creative references into briefs before an ad goes live.
AdProtektor
Foreplay- AdProtektor classifies paid traffic after it lands and supports eligible Google Ads IP exclusions plus Meta Custom Audience maintenance.
- Foreplay joins a searchable ad database, Swipe File, competitor monitoring, connected-account creative analysis, and briefs.
- AdProtektor Standard starts at $84 monthly; Foreplay Basic is $49 monthly billed annually and Workflow is $149 monthly billed annually.
- Foreplay Workflow adds Spyder for competitor monitoring and Lens for one connected Meta or TikTok brand; Basic is research and saving only.
- AdProtektor classifications are evidence, not proof of intent, and Google or Meta control their own exclusion matching and processing.
- Neither product is a full bid, audience, and budget management console, although AdProtektor can send eligible events through ConversionOS.
AdProtektor and Foreplay meet in a paid-media budget only because both touch Meta advertising. Their actual jobs are miles apart. AdProtektor works after a person reaches an advertiser’s site: it classifies traffic, supplies evidence, and can sync eligible Google Ads exclusions or maintain a Meta Custom Audience. Foreplay works before a creative test ships: Discovery finds examples, Swipe File preserves the useful ones, Spyder watches competitors, Lens analyses the team’s own Meta and TikTok creative, and Briefs packages a decision for production. Choose AdProtektor when unreliable traffic is spoiling measurement or wasting attention. Choose Foreplay when research keeps disappearing into tabs and screenshots before it reaches a creative brief. Foreplay cannot block suspicious visitors, and AdProtektor cannot reveal a competitor’s creative strategy or produce a storyboard.
The tools at a glance
AdProtektor
Click-fraud protection and fraud-aware conversion tracking for Google Ads and Meta advertisers
AdProtektor examines traffic that has already arrived on a paid landing page. It gives a browser and device a persistent identity, then combines device, behavioural, and network signals to classify a visit as Real, Crawler, Bot, Competitor, or Click Farm. Those labels are assessments rather than proof of the visitor’s employer or motive. The worthwhile use case is a team that has enough suspicious-session evidence to investigate, tune rules, and whitelist legitimate traffic when a classification is wrong.
Google Ads and Meta get separate protection paths. Eligible blocked IPs can be submitted to a connected Google Ads account or selected campaigns, with an exclusion log. For Meta, eligible blocked visitors can be maintained in a Custom Audience that the advertiser applies as an exclusion. Those actions do not override platform decisions: Google and Meta determine matching and processing. A team should verify the outcome and avoid representing a local block as a guaranteed prevented click or recovered spend.
Standard costs $84 monthly for one domain and 5,000 clicks. Pro ranges from $120 to $267 by capacity and adds AI Person Analysis, more domains, seats, and longer replay and evidence retention. ConversionOS is an add-on or standalone True Tracking product for eligible, deduplicated delivery to Meta, Google Ads, and GA4. It does not search an ad database, preserve creative references, track competitor launches, or turn inspiration into a production brief.
| Feature | Standard $84/month | Pro $120-$267/month | Enterprise $316-$463/month | True Tracking Core $39/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Included volume | 5,000 clicks | 10,000-40,000 clicks | 50,000-150,000 clicks | 10,000 tracked sessions |
| Domains | 1 | Up to 10 | 20 | 1 |
| Session replay / evidence | 7 / 30 days | 30 / 60 days | 60 / 90 days | Not applicable |
| AI Person Analysis | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Protection | Google Ads and Meta | Google Ads and Meta | Google Ads and Meta | Conversion delivery only |
| Conversion delivery | Paid add-on | Paid add-on | Paid add-on | Meta, Google Ads, GA4 |
Foreplay
Paid-social creative workflow for finding, saving, analysing, and briefing ads
Foreplay is a creative-workflow product for paid social. Discovery searches a published database of more than 200 million ads, while Swipe File lets a team organise references into shareable boards. Its Chrome extension can save ads from Meta Ad Library, TikTok Creative Center, Instagram organic posts, and other supported pages; the mobile app supports saving and sharing on a phone. This handles the practical gap between seeing a good ad and being able to explain why it belongs in the next brief.
Workflow and Agency bring monitoring and owned-account evidence into that research layer. Spyder watches named competitors and offers activity such as ad history, creative tests, media mix, timelines, landing pages, and recurring hooks. Lens connects a brand’s Meta and TikTok accounts for creative analysis and reports. Briefs turns selected references into scripts, storyboards, modular documents, and shareable direction. The output is a stronger production process, not a finding about whether a visitor or conversion should be trusted.
Basic is listed at $49 monthly billed annually for one user, Discovery, and Swipe File. Workflow is $149 monthly billed annually for five users, 10 or more Spyder brands, one Lens brand, and MCP or API connections; Agency is $389 monthly billed annually for 10 users and higher allowances. A 7-day trial applies to paid plans. Foreplay is the better purchase when creative research becomes briefs each week, not when the account’s main problem is invalid clicks.
| Feature | Basic $49/mo billed annually | Workflow $149/mo billed annually | Agency $389/mo billed annually | Enterprise Custom pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Included users | 1 | 5 | 10 | Unlimited |
| Additional users | $20/mo each | $20/mo each | $20/mo each | Custom |
| Discovery and Swipe File | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Spyder competitor brands | Not included | 10+ annually unlimited | 50+ annually unlimited | Unlimited |
| Lens connected brands | Not included | 1 | 10+ | Unlimited |
| MCP, API, and AI-tool connections | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Head-to-head feature comparison
| Feature | AdProtektor | Foreplay |
|---|---|---|
| Primary job | Invalid-traffic investigation and protection | Creative research, analysis, and briefing |
| Suspicious paid-session assessment | Yes | No |
| Google Ads exclusion workflow | Eligible blocked IPs can be submitted | No |
| Meta exclusion audience | Eligible visitors maintained hourly | No |
| Searchable creative database | No | Yes, 200M+ ads published |
| Competitor creative monitoring | No | Spyder on eligible plans |
| Owned Meta and TikTok creative analysis | No | Lens on eligible plans |
| Published entry price | $84/month | $49/month billed annually |
Which should you choose?
AdProtektorForeplayAdProtektorForeplayAdProtektorForeplayThe practical dividing line is timing. Foreplay improves the research and briefing work that happens before a new creative test launches. AdProtektor investigates whether traffic reaching that test is likely to be useful and can support exclusions after the click. A high-volume Meta advertiser might need both, but they should be budgeted as distinct workflows with distinct owners and success measures.
Bottom line
Choose AdProtektor for documented click-quality concerns in Google Ads or Meta, with time set aside to inspect evidence and confirm platform action. Choose Foreplay for a performance-creative team whose research needs to become an organised, reusable brief. Do not buy Foreplay to filter traffic, and do not buy AdProtektor expecting a swipe file, competitor creative timeline, or connected creative analytics.
Frequently asked questions
Should I choose AdProtektor or Foreplay for a Meta advertising team in 2026?
Choose AdProtektor when the Meta team needs to assess suspicious visitors and maintain an eligible exclusion audience, and choose Foreplay when it needs a repeatable creative research and briefing workflow. The tools can coexist because one evaluates post-click traffic while the other improves pre-launch creative decisions.
Can Foreplay block fraudulent clicks or exclude suspicious visitors from Meta campaigns?
Foreplay cannot block fraudulent clicks or maintain an exclusion audience because its published product is creative discovery, saving, competitor monitoring, connected-account analysis, and briefing. AdProtektor maintains eligible blocked visitors in a Meta Custom Audience, subject to Meta matching and the advertiser’s campaign configuration.
Can AdProtektor show the creative tests and landing pages a competitor is running?
AdProtektor cannot show a competitor’s creative tests and landing pages because it classifies traffic on an advertiser’s own site after a click. Foreplay Spyder is the relevant workflow for tracking named competitor brands, their creative history, timelines, media mix, hooks, and landing-page insights on eligible plans.
What is the lower-cost starting point, AdProtektor or Foreplay?
Foreplay Basic has the lower published entry point at $49 per month billed annually, compared with AdProtektor Standard at $84 per month for one domain and 5,000 clicks. That price comparison is not a feature substitute: Basic provides creative research and saving, while Standard provides traffic assessment and protection workflows.
Can an ecommerce brand use Foreplay and AdProtektor in the same paid-social process?
An ecommerce brand can use Foreplay and AdProtektor in the same process by using Foreplay to form a creative test and AdProtektor to investigate suspicious paid traffic after launch. Keep their limits clear: Foreplay observations do not prove profitability, while AdProtektor labels do not prove a visitor’s identity or guarantee a Meta exclusion.
Reviewed by Filipe Lins DuarteCo-Founder & CEOVast experience talking to customers and users to understand what good software looks like. Background spans commercial and product roles.
Checked by John RiceCo-Founder & CTO15+ years building tech products and web applications. Conducted hundreds of user interviews to know what a good product looks like.
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