Ads Lighthouse vs Foreplay in 2026: brand-search evidence vs paid-social creative workflow

Ads Lighthouse takes a precise approach to outside-ad activity. It watches searches you define and preserves the search term, engine, location, device, time, advertiser domain, ad copy, and destination URL. That gives a brand-protection or affiliate team material they can inspect and act upon, rather than a vague assertion that somebody appeared in search. The product is explicit that observed visibility is a share of configured searches, not Google impression share or proof a competitor bought a particular keyword.

Google and Bing search-ad monitoring is included throughout the published plans; Google Shopping product ads begin on Growth. Beyond monitoring, the reviewed profile documents affiliate ID matching, policy cases, redirect traces, evidence packs, and complaint records. Alerts can arrive by email, Slack, or webhook, while CSV and Excel exports and team roles are included. An MCP server is available across plans. This is a monitoring and evidence product, not a creative library for browsing social campaigns or writing production briefs.

Starter costs $49/month and includes one project, 20 keywords, two locations per project, daily checks, 7,500 scheduled checks, and 100 on-demand checks. Growth costs $99/month, while Scale costs $299/month and adds REST API access and white-label reports. Saved observations and related history last three UTC calendar months, a real limitation for teams that require long historical analysis inside the product.

Foreplay connects the stages of paid-social creative work that often end up scattered across browser tabs, screenshots, and documents. Discovery searches a published database of more than 200 million ads with filters, transcription, and AI-assisted creative analysis. Swipe File then keeps selected references in shareable boards. The Chrome extension can save from Meta Ad Library, TikTok Creative Center, Instagram organic content, and other supported pages, while the mobile app supports saving and sharing from a phone.

Workflow and Agency turn that reference layer into a deeper operating routine. Spyder watches named competitor brands and exposes activity including creative history, tests, media mix, timelines, landing pages, and recurring hooks. Lens connects a team’s Meta and TikTok accounts to analyse its own creative and produce reports. Briefs turns selected material into scripts, storyboards, modular documents, and sharable direction. Foreplay also lists API, MCP, and AI-tool connections on eligible tiers, but it is not a console for changing bids, targeting, or budgets.

Basic costs $49/month billed annually for one user and includes Discovery and Swipe File. Workflow costs $149/month billed annually for five users, adds Spyder for 10 or more brands annually, one Lens brand, and the listed API and MCP connections. Agency is $389/month billed annually for 10 users, 50 or more Spyder brands, and 10 or more Lens brands. Each paid plan lists a seven-day trial; extra users cost $20/month, and cancelled annual commitments are not prorated.