BigSpy vs Birch (formerly Revealbot) in 2026: ad discovery vs connected-account operations
BigSpy is a multi-platform public ad library for finding creative, advertiser, product, and trend signals. Birch connects to a team’s live ad accounts for rules, analysis, bulk creative launch, reporting, and Meta server-side tracking.
BigSpy
Birch (formerly Revealbot)- BigSpy searches public creative across up to 11 listed platforms, with platform coverage determined by plan.
- Birch connects to Meta, Google, TikTok, and Snapchat for account workflows and can check Rules every 15 minutes or on a custom schedule.
- BigSpy Growth costs $119/month billed annually and adds Google Ads, YouTube, TikTok, X, Pangle, domain analysis, and trend tools.
- Birch Pro starts at $99/month at up to $10K connected monthly ad spend and includes Rules, Explorer, Launcher, Stage, custom metrics, and broader integrations.
- BigSpy says observed popularity, impression, duration, and last-seen fields are research signals, not proof of campaign results.
- Birch Stage can create Meta, TikTok, or Snapchat ads from Google Drive media and Google Sheets rows, up to 1,000 rows per run.
- Neither product removes the need to validate measurement and approve consequential campaign changes.
These tools belong on opposite sides of the campaign workflow. Buy BigSpy when the missing input is outside-in research: what competitors are showing, which offer or creative pattern deserves a test, and where activity is appearing across a plan’s listed platforms. Buy Birch when the team already controls active accounts and needs rules, analysis, reporting, or a safer way to launch and govern work at scale. BigSpy Growth is $119 per month billed annually. Birch Pro starts at $99 per month for up to $10K connected monthly ad spend, with pricing rising as the portfolio grows. The low entry prices can look similar, but the cost and risk are not. BigSpy informs hypotheses without touching an account. Birch can affect live operations, so it requires clear thresholds, access control, and human review.
The tools at a glance
BigSpy
Multi-platform ad library for creative discovery, competitor research, and ecommerce product signals
BigSpy is a research database for the work that happens before an ad is made or a test is approved. Its public library covers Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads, YouTube, TikTok, X, Yahoo, Pinterest, Unity, Pangle, and AppLovin, with access varying by tier. A user can begin with a product, brand, or creative idea, then use keyword, feature, or visual search with filters, sorting, and deduplication. The result is a source of creative and advertiser evidence, not a connection to another company’s account.
Growth is the practical research tier for a marketer who needs more than Meta. It adds Google Ads, YouTube, TikTok, X, Pangle, AppLovin ecommerce coverage, chart discovery, ad pages, domain analysis, followed pages and domains, TikTok Picks, and TikTok Shop ads. BigSpy also publishes product-research reports that combine listing context, performance history where available, keyword signals, and related ads. Those reports can produce a sharper test hypothesis, but they cannot prove margin, targeting quality, attribution, or the profitability of a competitor’s campaign.
Free is a Facebook preview. Starter is $49 per month billed annually, Growth is $119, Scale is $299 for five seats, and Ultimate is $399 for all 11 listed platforms. Search, download, prompt, and tracked-creative allowances differ by plan. BigSpy cannot publish ads, change bids, automate a budget, or report on a team’s private account. That is a feature, not a missing checkbox, when the buyer needs research rather than another operating layer.
| Feature | Free $0 | Starter $49/mo billed annually | Growth $119/mo billed annually | Scale $299/mo billed annually | Ultimate $399/mo billed annually |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform access | Facebook, Instagram | Adds Google Ads, YouTube, X, TikTok, Pangle, AppLovin ecommerce | Same as Growth | All 11 listed platforms | |
| Seats | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Creative downloads | No | 50/day | 300/day | 300/day per seat | 3,000/day |
| Domain analysis | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Birch (formerly Revealbot)
Paid-media automation, creative launch, performance analysis, and server-side Meta tracking for active ad accounts
Birch is an operating layer for people responsible for live advertising accounts. The renamed Revealbot product connects Meta, Google, TikTok, and Snapchat, then supplies rule-based automation, analysis, reporting, creative launch, and selected attribution inputs. Rules can use nested AND and OR conditions, metric comparisons, ranking conditions, custom timeframes, and more than 20 actions. Birch says checks can run every 15 minutes or on a custom schedule. This is valuable only when a team has already agreed what signals merit action and who owns approval.
Pro is the meaningful operating plan. It includes Rules, Explorer, Launcher, Stage, custom metrics, and integrations including Google Sheets, Google Analytics, AppsFlyer, Adjust, Hyros, and Wicked Reports. Explorer supports trends, comparisons, creative groupings, fatigued-ad views, and best-performer analysis. Stage turns view-only Google Drive folders and Google Sheets rows into Meta, TikTok, or Snapchat ads, previews the output before launch, and supports up to 1,000 rows in a run. Reports, automation logs, email alerts, Slack alerts, and white-label reports make it suited to governed client or in-house work.
Birch pricing is based on connected monthly ad spend. Pro starts at $99 per month at up to $10K connected spend, while the portfolio can cost more as it grows. Essential excludes Rules, Explorer, Launcher, custom metrics, and broader integrations. The company also publishes a Hub gateway that is free for 10,000 events per month and then ranges from $10 to $499 by event volume. Buy Birch when repeated account work is the constraint. Do not connect it simply because a team wants competitor creative inspiration, and do not let a rule replace accountable human review.
| Feature | Essential $99/mo monthly or $49/mo annually at up to $10K connected monthly ad spend | Pro $99/mo monthly at up to $10K connected monthly ad spend | Enterprise Custom plan | Hub gateway Free for 10,000 events/mo, then $10 to $499/mo by event volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rules and strategies | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Explorer, Launcher, and custom metrics | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Stage | Free version | Free version | Custom limit | ✗ |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card required | 14 days, no card required | Contact sales | ✗ |
Head-to-head feature comparison
| Feature | BigSpy | Birch (formerly Revealbot) |
|---|---|---|
| Primary job | Creative and competitor research | Connected paid-media operations |
| Starting published price | $0 Free, $49/mo Starter annually | $99/mo Pro at up to $10K connected spend |
| Public competitor creative | Yes, plan-specific | No public ad archive documented |
| Connected-account access | No | Yes |
| Google Ads coverage | Research on Growth and above | Yes |
| Meta Ads coverage | Research on Free and above | Yes |
| TikTok and Snapchat workflows | TikTok research on Growth and above; no Snapchat listed | Yes |
| Automated actions | No | Yes, governed rules and launches |
| What the data can prove | Observed activity, not private performance | Connected-account data and configured workflows |
Which should you choose?
BigSpyBigSpy wins if the team needs evidence from outside its accounts. Birch wins if work inside its accounts is repetitive, poorly governed, or difficult to report. It is tempting to treat both as “ad intelligence” subscriptions because they sit near the same practitioners, but BigSpy observes public activity while Birch works against authorised account data and actions. A strong paid-media team may use BigSpy to formulate a creative test and Birch to manage the approved campaign, but neither product supplies the strategy or measurement discipline the other lacks.
Bottom line
Choose BigSpy Growth for multi-platform competitor creative research and product signals without account access. Choose Birch Pro when the operational bottleneck is live multi-platform account analysis, automation, launch, reporting, and governance, and price it against connected spend rather than BigSpy’s fixed research tiers. Verify the business case for any observed ad in first-party data, and review Birch rules before they can affect production campaigns.
Frequently asked questions
Should an ecommerce team buy BigSpy or Birch first for paid social in 2026?
An ecommerce team should buy BigSpy first when it needs fresh competitor creative, offers, and product angles to test. It should choose Birch first only when it already has active connected campaigns and repeated operating work around rules, analysis, launch, reporting, or account governance.
Can Birch search competitor Facebook and TikTok ads like BigSpy?
Birch is not documented as a public competitor-ad search database, so BigSpy is the relevant choice for that job. Birch connects to a team’s own Meta, Google, TikTok, and Snapchat accounts for operations, while BigSpy searches public creative across the platforms included in a plan.
Does BigSpy automatically create or optimise advertising campaigns?
BigSpy does not automatically create or optimise advertising campaigns because it is an ad-research product rather than a connected-account management platform. Its creative, advertiser, popularity, impression, duration, and last-seen signals should inform a test hypothesis, then be validated in the team’s own account.
What does Birch Pro include at its published starting price?
Birch Pro starts at $99 per month at up to $10K connected monthly ad spend and includes Rules, Explorer, Launcher, Stage, custom metrics, and broader integrations. Pricing is tied to connected spend, so a buyer should model the actual account portfolio before treating $99 as the long-term cost.
Can an agency use BigSpy research together with Birch automation?
An agency can use BigSpy and Birch together because BigSpy can inform a creative or competitor hypothesis and Birch can support governed work in connected accounts. The observed public-ad data does not prove performance, and Birch automation still needs thresholds, permissions, and human review.
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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