Facebook Ad Library tools compared: what they read, and what they risk
Meta's Ad Library is public — anyone can browse it. The extensions built on top of it differ in one thing that matters more than features: whether they read the page Meta rendered for you, or quietly replay Meta's private internal API using your logged-in session.
The short answer
Ad Library tools fall into two groups. Page readers parse the results Meta already rendered in your browser — limited to what is on screen, but no different from you reading it. API replayers reverse-engineer Meta's internal GraphQL endpoint and call it with credentials scraped from your session, which returns richer data and carries real risk to your Facebook account.
How to check any of this yourself. Open an extension's
Chrome Web Store page and read the grey permission line under the install
button, or go to chrome://extensions → Details → Site access.
Every permission figure below comes from the extension's own published
manifest. We are building a tool in this category, so verify rather than
take our word for it.
What these tools ask for
The Ad Library lives at one path: facebook.com/ads/library. A
tool that only reads it does not need access to the rest of Facebook, let
alone the rest of the web.
| Extension | Runs on | Notable permissions | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adlibo AdSpy | Ad Library path only | storage | 0.3 MB |
| MurmAds (unreleased) | Ad Library path only | storage, activeTab, scripting | 0.3 MB |
| iLoopsee | Ad Library path only | scripting, tabs, activeTab | 0.1 MB |
| AdLiSpy Pro | Ad Library path | cookies, activeTab | 32.7 MB |
| AdSparo | All of facebook.com | cookies, activeTab | 0.3 MB |
| Copycat Ads | All websites | declarativeNetRequest, tabs | 1.8 MB |
| AdspyHub | Facebook, X, Pinterest, Reddit, YouTube | scripting, unlimitedStorage | 5.1 MB |
| Ads Library Downloader | Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn | cookies, identity, windows | 2.1 MB |
Read from each extension's published manifest, July 2026. Versions change — re-check before relying on it.
The risk nobody mentions: private-API replay
Meta's Ad Library front end talks to an internal GraphQL endpoint using per-session tokens. Several extensions in this category lift those tokens out of the page and call that endpoint themselves. It returns more than the page shows, which is why they do it.
Two problems. First, it is fragile: the endpoint is identified by a rotating id, and when Meta changes it the tool breaks with no warning. Second, and more importantly, that traffic comes from your account, not the vendor's — so any anti-automation response lands on you. At least one tool in this category ships a built-in message telling users what to do if Facebook has banned them, which tells you how routine that outcome is.
How to tell. A page reader works when you are logged out of Facebook, because the public Ad Library works when logged out. A tool that needs you signed in — or that shows data the page itself does not display — is reaching past what was rendered.
What any of these can actually give you
| Data | Available? | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Ad creative, copy, CTA | Yes | Rendered on the page |
| How long an ad has run | Yes | Meta prints the start date |
| Number of variants | Yes | Meta's own collation count |
| EU spend & reach ranges | Sometimes | EU transparency rules — only for ads that qualify |
| Exact ad spend | No | Meta does not publish it |
| ROAS, conversions, revenue | No | Advertiser-private; not in any public source |
| Audience targeting | No | Not published outside limited political categories |
Any tool presenting a precise spend figure for a commercial ad is estimating. The EU transparency block, where Meta publishes it, gives a range — and a range is the honest thing to show.
Choosing
If you want the cleanest footprint
Adlibo AdSpy requests only storage and runs only on the Ad
Library path — the narrowest manifest we found in this category, narrower
than our own. If permission scope is your only criterion, start there.
If you want depth and accept the trade
The API-replay tools surface more per ad and often add a shared database of what other users have scraped. You are trading account risk and breakage for that, and the vendor sees what you research.
Related
- MurmAds vs AdLiSpy — page reading vs private-API replay
- Shopify research extensions compared — the same analysis for store tools
MurmAds
A Meta Ad Library reader that works on the page you are already looking at: reads the rendered results, surfaces the EU transparency figures Meta publishes, and exports what you can see.
Not yet released. It is built and in testing, not on the Chrome Web Store. Mail [email protected] to hear when it ships. In the meantime our published extension is MurmSpy, for Shopify store research.