Birch (formerly Revealbot) vs Meta Ad Library in 2026: ad operations vs first-party ad research
Birch is the better choice for a team changing budgets, launching creative, and reviewing live account performance. Meta Ad Library is the better first stop for checking what an advertiser is running on Meta, at no charge, before deciding what deserves closer study.
Birch (formerly Revealbot)
Meta Ad Library- Birch is an operating layer for connected Meta, Google, TikTok, and Snapchat accounts; Meta Ad Library is a public search surface for ads currently running across Meta technologies.
- Birch Pro includes automated Rules, Explorer, custom metrics, and wider integrations; Meta Ad Library does not manage campaigns or automate account actions.
- Meta Ad Library can be searched by advertiser or keyword without a paid plan, making it the more direct option for a quick competitor creative check.
- Birch lists a 14-day no-card trial for Essential and Pro, with pricing based on connected monthly ad spend; Meta Ad Library publishes no paid subscription tiers.
- Meta keeps seven years of political and issue ads, plus stated EU and UK history, but that is not a global historical archive for ordinary commercial ads.
- Birch can use custom metrics and data from sources such as Google Sheets, Google Analytics, AppsFlyer, Adjust, Hyros, and Wicked Reports in its operational workflow.
Choose Birch if the work starts inside an active paid-media account and needs rules, reporting, creative launch, or performance analysis. Choose Meta Ad Library if the immediate question is simply what a brand is running on Meta right now. These products are not close substitutes: Birch connects to accounts across Meta, Google, TikTok, and Snapchat and can act on defined conditions, while Meta provides a public, first-party search surface for currently running Meta ads. Birch becomes worthwhile when a team has repeatable operational work and governance around automated changes. Meta Ad Library remains indispensable for a quick creative check because it is public and does not require a subscription. A useful workflow can use both: find a live Meta ad in the library, then use Birch to manage the tests, budget guardrails, and reporting in your own accounts. Do not expect Meta Ad Library to reveal commercial conversions or make account changes, and do not buy Birch expecting a public competitor archive.
The tools at a glance
Birch (formerly Revealbot)
Paid-media automation, creative launch, performance analysis, and server-side Meta tracking for active ad accounts
Birch is for the work that begins after a team has access to an ad account. Its Rules product can apply nested conditions, compare metrics across timeframes, use relative ranking, and trigger more than 20 actions across Meta, Google, TikTok, and Snapchat. That makes it an operations product, not a place to browse a competitor’s public creative. A team still chooses the thresholds and approves the operating model, which matters because an automated rule can affect live spend.
Pro is the practical Birch plan for a team that wants its distinctive products. It adds Rules, Explorer, Launcher, custom metrics, Top Audiences, and the broader integration set. Explorer is intended for trends, comparisons, filters, creative groupings, fatigued ads, and best performers. Stage can turn approved Google Drive assets and Google Sheets rows into Meta, TikTok, or Snapchat ads, including up to 1,000 rows in a run, while still requiring a preview before launch.
Birch also links operating work to review and client communication. Scheduled reports can combine platforms, automation logs show what was evaluated or affected, and Slack or email alerts keep a team informed. The important commercial caveat is pricing: the published plans are tied to connected monthly ad spend. A small workflow can justify Birch quickly, but an agency should model the full portfolio before connecting every client account.
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing basis | Connected monthly ad spend | Connected monthly ad spend | Custom | Tracked events per gateway |
| Automated Rules and strategies | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Explorer, Launcher, custom metrics, and Top Audiences | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Stage | Free version | Free version | Custom limit | ✗ |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card required | 14 days, no card required | Contact sales | ✗ |
Meta Ad Library
Meta’s public search library for active ads, political and issue-ad history, EU and UK transparency records, and paid-partnership content
Meta Ad Library answers a narrower but frequently urgent question: what is this advertiser running on Meta at the moment? The public search can be filtered by location and searched by advertiser or keyword for ads currently running across Meta technologies. It is a primary source for visible creative, not a campaign console. Results do not reveal a commercial advertiser’s conversions, revenue, bid strategy, targeting strategy, or account-level performance.
Its historical record varies by ad type and place. Meta says it retains seven years of social-issue, election, and political ads, one year of ads delivered in the European Union, and one year of qualifying UK ads. The separate Ad Library Report supports exploration and downloads of political and issue-ad data, including spend by advertiser and location. That transparency is useful for research and compliance, but it should not be recast as a general commercial spend database.
Meta also publishes an API with a deliberately scoped remit. It supports political, election, and issue ads worldwide over seven years, plus ads of any type delivered to the UK or EU over the stated period. Its API onboarding requires a Facebook account, identity and location confirmation, and a Meta for Developers account. For ordinary creative research, the public interface is the simpler starting point. Teams needing a shared swipe file, alerts, annotations, or campaign action will need a separate workflow product.
| Feature |
|---|
Head-to-head feature comparison
| Feature | Birch (formerly Revealbot) | Meta Ad Library |
|---|---|---|
| Primary job | Operate connected paid-media accounts | Search public Meta ad transparency records |
| Connected account management | Yes | No |
| Competitor creative discovery | Not a public competitor archive | Yes, active Meta ads by advertiser or keyword |
| Supported ad platforms | Meta, Google, TikTok, Snapchat | Meta technologies |
| Automation rules | Yes, Pro and Enterprise | No |
| Creative launch workflow | Yes, Stage for Meta, TikTok, and Snapchat | No |
| Historical transparency | Automation logs for connected work | Seven years for political and issue ads, plus stated EU and UK history |
| Published paid plan | From $99/mo at up to $10K connected monthly ad spend | No published paid tier |
| Free access | 14-day trial on Essential and Pro | Yes, public search |
Which should you choose?
Birch (formerly Revealbot)Meta Ad LibraryBirch (formerly Revealbot)Meta Ad LibraryBirch (formerly Revealbot)Meta Ad LibraryBirch and Meta Ad Library meet at Meta advertising but work on opposite sides of the account boundary. Birch is for an operator who can connect an account and wants rules, analysis, reporting, or creative production controls. Meta Ad Library is for anyone who needs a public record of visible ads without account access. The stronger choice is therefore determined by the task, not by a feature-count contest. In many paid-social teams, Meta Ad Library is the discovery step and Birch is the execution layer.
Bottom line
Start with Meta Ad Library when a client asks what a competitor is running on Facebook or Instagram. It is free, first-party, and fast for an active-ad check, but it cannot tell you whether the campaign is profitable or change your own account. Buy Birch when recurring campaign operations are the actual bottleneck: Pro brings rules, Explorer, custom metrics, and the broader integrations that make it useful. Do not replace Birch with an ad search page, and do not pay for Birch just to view a competitor’s public creative.
Frequently asked questions
Should an agency use Birch or Meta Ad Library to find a competitor’s current Facebook ads?
Meta Ad Library is the right first tool for finding a competitor’s current Meta ads because it publicly searches active ads by advertiser or keyword. Birch is not a public ad database, so it is better used after research when the agency needs to operate connected client accounts.
Can Birch automate changes to a Meta campaign that Meta Ad Library finds?
Birch can automate actions in connected Meta accounts, but Meta Ad Library cannot pass a competitor ad into Birch as a managed campaign. A team can study an example in the public library, then build and govern its own rules, budgets, creative, and reporting in Birch.
Does Meta Ad Library show how much a commercial Facebook ad is spending?
Meta Ad Library does not provide a general commercial-ad spend record. Spend and impression data belong to Meta’s political and issue-ad transparency scope, while ordinary commercial results should not be inferred from a creative’s presence in the library.
Is Birch priced per user or by connected advertising spend for a small agency?
Birch’s published Essential and Pro pricing is based on connected monthly ad spend rather than a simple per-user price. At up to $10,000 in connected monthly ad spend, Essential is listed at $99 monthly or $49 annually, while Pro is listed at $99 monthly.
Can I use Meta Ad Library as a historical archive for every Facebook and Instagram ad?
Meta Ad Library is not a permanent global archive for every commercial Meta ad. Meta publishes seven years for political and issue ads and stated EU and UK transparency history, while normal commercial ads are primarily available while they are running.
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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