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TLDR:
- Foreplay is a creative workflow suite for teams: swipe files, briefs, competitor tracking, creative analytics, from $59 a month for one user and $175 for five. Dovey is the research tool beside it, at a lower price.
- Dovey is a search over the Meta Ad Library by meaning, top performers first, with an agent that answers questions over the ads and a UGC creator search. Free to search; $49 or $99 a month.
- Pick Foreplay if your team needs a shared swipe file and briefing workflow across many people; Dovey has bookmarks and collections, not briefs.
- Pick Dovey if you want to ask "which angles perform best for fitness apps" and get an answer with the sample size, or find creators already in your category's ads.
- Both have MCP connectors and both link every ad back to Meta. Dovey's connector works in Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor.
What each tool is
Foreplay is a workflow product for creative teams. Its modules are a Swipe File (save ads from anywhere), Discovery (a searchable ad library), Spyder (track competitors' accounts), Lens (creative analytics on your own ads) and Briefs (turn references into direction). It has an API and an MCP integration. It is built around a team saving, sorting and briefing together.
Dovey is research first. It indexes the Meta Ad Library, has a model read every creative (hook, angle, offer, format, who appears) and watch the videos, and puts the top performers first, judged by how long an ad has run and how many versions the advertiser keeps making. You search in plain words, ask questions over the data and get charts with sample sizes, open any advertiser from a URL, find UGC creators already posting about your category, and remix an ad into your brand. Ask for an ad and it makes creatives in your brand, three sizes on request; the first 3 are free.
The table
| Foreplay | Dovey | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $59 a month, one user; $175 for up to five; $459 agency (about 15% off annually) | Free to search without an account; $49 Starter; $99 Pro |
| Trial | 7 days, card required; 14-day money-back | 3 days on both paid plans |
| Search | Keyword and filters over its library | By meaning: "skincare ads with a before and after" |
| Ranking | Newest and filters | Top performers first, by run time and versions |
| What is read from the creative | Tags and analytics on your own ads (Lens) | Hook, angle, offer, price, talent, format, proof, why it works, on every ad; video transcripts and scenes |
| Questions over the data | No | Yes: charts, tables, sample sizes |
| Competitor accounts | Spyder tracking (15 brands on Workflow) | Any brand, from its name or URL, unlimited |
| Creators | No | UGC creator search across TikTok and Instagram, with the ads they appear in |
| Making ads | Briefs | Remix into your brand, in three sizes on request |
| Team features | Shared swipe file, boards, briefs, seats | Bookmarks and collections; one workspace |
| Connectors | MCP, API | MCP (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor), REST |
| Checked | September 24, 2026 |
Where Foreplay is better
If five people need one swipe file, boards to sort it, and a briefing flow that ends in a creative brief for a designer, Foreplay is built for exactly that and Dovey is not. Its Lens module reads your own account's performance, which Dovey does not touch. Its Discovery library also reaches beyond Meta.
Where Dovey is better
Asking. "Which angles perform best for gyms" or "who ran the most GLP-1 ads this month" is a question, not a filter, and Dovey answers with a chart and says how many ads it rests on. The model's read of every creative means you can search for the thing you mean. The creator search is a different product entirely: creators already in your category's ads, with view-based engagement from their last 30 posts. And the free tier is a real search, not a demo.
Who should pick which
- A creative team of three or more with a designer on the receiving end: Foreplay.
- A founder, a marketer or a one-person agency who wants answers and briefs from the data, and creators to hire: Dovey.
- Both, if the budget allows: Foreplay for the swipe file, Dovey for the questions. They do not overlap much.
FAQ
Is Dovey a Foreplay alternative?
For research, yes: searching the Meta Ad Library, opening competitors and answering questions over the ads. For a shared team swipe file and briefing workflow, Foreplay does more.
Which is cheaper?
Dovey is $49 a month on Starter, with a 3-day free trial; Foreplay starts at $59 a month for one user, as of September 24, 2026.
Do both work inside Claude and ChatGPT?
Both offer an MCP connector. Dovey's covers search, questions, one-ad details, creators, bookmarks and remix.
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