For creative strategists and media buyers who save competitor ads and write briefs from them

Foreplay vs Playhead: which one to use

Foreplay and Playhead do two different jobs with competitor ads. Foreplay is a swipe file and ad library: it saves ads from the Meta Ad Library, TikTok and Instagram into boards, searches a community library its pricing page puts at over 200 million ads, and turns saved ads into briefs, from $59 a month. Playhead watches one ad and writes down how it is built: the hook, every beat with its start and length, every claim with the second it is legible, and the cuts. Playhead is free for 50,000 credits a month and the first paid plan is $19. Foreplay finds and keeps the ad. Playhead tells you what happens inside it.

By The Playhead team

We build the video layer these numbers are measured on. Every figure about Playhead comes from the source file it lives in.

Published 26 September 202611 min read

The short version

Foreplay costs $59, $175 or $459 a month, or $49, $149 and $389 on the annual rate, with $20 for each extra user on every plan.
Foreplay's plan cards list the MCP and API connection on Workflow and Agency, so an agent reaches Foreplay from $175 a month. Playhead's MCP endpoint is on every plan, the free one included.
The Foreplay API counts 1 credit per ad. A plan includes 10,000 credits a month and 100,000 more cost $99, which is $0.99 for each 1,000 ads.
Foreplay's own pages give 2 sizes for its ad library: over 200 million on the pricing and MCP pages, over 100 million on the API page.
Playhead has no ad library and no swipe file. It starts at $0 with 50,000 credits a month and reads any ad from its link.

What is on this page and on no other

Every page about these products carries the same prices and the same feature lists. These are the facts this one produced itself, and how each one was made.

Foreplay's own pages give 2 sizes for one ad library: over 200 million ads on the pricing page and the MCP page, and over 100 million ads on the API page.
Counted The Foreplay pricing, MCP and API pages, read on 26 September 2026, comparing the figure each page prints for Discovery.
Foreplay's Workflow plan tracks 10+ brands on its plan card and 15 brands in the comparison table on the same page, and unlimited brands on the annual rate.
Counted The Foreplay pricing page read on 26 September 2026: the Spyder line on the Workflow card against the Spyder row in Compare Plans.
The Foreplay API costs $0.99 for each 1,000 ads at the $99 tier and $0.70 at the $349 tier, with 10,000 ads a month included in every plan.
Counted The Foreplay API page read on 26 September 2026: 1 credit per ad, $99 for 100,000 credits and $349 for 500,000, divided out.
2 of Foreplay's 3 self-serve plan cards list the MCP and API connection, Workflow at $175 and Agency at $459. The $59 Basic card does not.
Counted The three plan cards on the Foreplay pricing page, read on 26 September 2026, taking only what each card prints.

What Foreplay is better at

First, because a comparison that opens with our own advantages is an advertisement rather than a comparison.

A swipe file with boards, tags, ratings, team comments and landing page screenshots, saved from the Meta Ad Library, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube Shorts with one click.
A community library that its pricing page puts at over 200 million ads, sortable by how long an ad has run.
Spyder tracks every ad a competitor launches, with up to 3 years of ad history, from the $175 Workflow plan.
Briefs, an AI script generator and a storyboard generator, so a saved ad becomes a brief for an editor in the same product.
Lens connects your own Meta and TikTok ad accounts, with no price step for ad spend on any plan.

How they compare

Playhead compared with Foreplay, capability by capability
What you want	Foreplay	Playhead
Save ads into a swipe file and boards	YesA Chrome extension and a mobile app save ads from the Meta Ad Library, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and YouTube Shorts into folders and boards. ^[1]	NoPlayhead keeps every ad you read, with its teardown, in your account. It is not a board tool and has no browser extension to save ads.
A library of ads to search	YesDiscovery searches ads the Foreplay community saved, over 200 million on the pricing page, sorted by time running or impressions. ^[1]	NoPlayhead has no ad database. You bring the link from the Meta Ad Library, TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, or you upload a file.
One ad taken apart, beat by beat	In partAutomated transcription, AI emotional analysis and persona detection on saved ads. A breakdown of one ad into beats with a start and a length is not described. ^[1]	YesThe teardown names the hook and every beat with its start and length, so a brief can say where the demonstration starts and how long the proof runs.
Every claim quoted, with the second it is legible	Not documentedA transcript of the spoken words is included. Text on screen with the second it appears is not described on the pricing page. ^[1]	YesEvery claim on screen or in the voice-over is quoted word for word, with the second it is legible.
Cuts, first face, first product, works muted	Not documentedNot described on the pricing page, the MCP page or the home page. ^[1]	YesThe cuts are counted off the file, and the teardown names the second of the first face and the first product, and says if the ad works with the sound off.
Track every ad a competitor launches	YesSpyder, from Workflow at $175 a month: 10+ brands on the plan card, 15 in the comparison table, unlimited on the annual rate. ^[1]	NoPlayhead does not watch a brand for new ads. It reads the ads you give it, up to 10 in one set.
Compare a set of ads	In partComparison reports and top performing reports in Lens, for the ads of your own connected accounts. ^[1]	YesUp to 10 ads in one set, each read on its own, then stacked field by field, so the rows where the winners agree are visible. Competitor ads work the same as your own.
Use it from Claude or ChatGPT	YesAn MCP server that searches the ad library, your swipe file and your boards. The plan cards list it on Workflow and Agency, from $175 a month. ^[3]	YesA hosted MCP server on every plan, the free one included, so an agent can read an ad and ask about it in the same conversation.
An API for your own code	Yes1 credit per ad. 10,000 credits a month with a plan, then $99 for 100,000, $189 for 250,000 or $349 for 500,000. ^[2]	YesAn API and an SDK. An API key spends credit bought for it, with no subscription. The plan's monthly credits pay for the dashboard and the connector.
The price of the first plan	Yes$59 a month for 1 user, or $49 on the annual rate, with a 7 day free trial. $20 a month for each extra user. ^[1]	YesFree with 50,000 credits a month and no card. Creator $19 with 3 seats, Pro $39, Studio $109 with 5 seats.

Two jobs: keep the ad, and read the ad

Foreplay is where the ad is kept. Playhead is where the ad is taken apart.

A creative strategist does two things with a competitor's ad. First they keep it: save it before it stops running, tag it, put it on a board, share it with the team. Then they read it: play it, pause at each cut, write down what the hook says, when the product appears, how long the proof runs and what the call to action promises.

Foreplay is built for the first job, and it does it well. The extension saves from the Meta Ad Library, TikTok and Instagram with one click, the boards are shared, and a saved ad becomes a brief in the same product.

Playhead is built for the second job. Paste the link of one ad, and the answer is a teardown: the hook, every beat with its start and length, every claim quoted with its second, and the cuts counted off the file. That is the hour a strategist spends with the scrubber, and it is the part a swipe file only stores.

A Playhead beat sheet. Seven rows, each with a frame, the beat name, its start and length, what is on screen and what is said. — A Playhead beat sheet. Each row is one beat of the ad, with a frame, the second it starts, its length, the picture and the words.

What each one costs a month

Foreplay is priced by plan and seat. Playhead is priced by credits.

Plans on 26 September 2026, from each vendor's own pricing page
Plan	A month	On the annual rate	Users	MCP for an agent
Foreplay Basic	$59	$49	1, then $20 each	Not on the card
Foreplay Workflow	$175	$149	5, then $20 each	Yes
Foreplay Agency	$459	$389	10, then $20 each	Yes
Playhead Free	$0	$0	1	Yes
Playhead Creator	$19	$19	3	Yes
Playhead Studio	$109	$109	5	Yes

A team of 5 on Foreplay Basic: $139/mo$59 and 4 extra users at $20
A team of 5 on Foreplay Workflow: $175/mo5 users included, and the MCP and API
A team of 5 on Playhead Studio: $109/mo5 seats and 5,000,000 credits included
Foreplay API, per 1,000 ads: $0.99 to $0.70From the $99 and the $349 credit tiers

Both from inside Claude or ChatGPT

Both publish an MCP server. They answer different questions.

Foreplay's MCP page says an agent can search the ad library, browse your swipe file and boards, and pull a brand's active ads, landing pages and hooks. Every ad comes with the creative, the copy, the call to action, the landing page URL, the live status and how long it has run.

Playhead's MCP server answers the next question: what happens inside that ad. So the two work in one conversation. Ask Foreplay for the longest running video ads of a brand, then give the links to Playhead and ask what the first 3 seconds say, when the offer appears and how long the price is on screen.

The difference in price is the plan it needs. Foreplay's plan cards put the connection on Workflow at $175. Playhead's is on every plan, the free one included.

When to choose Foreplay instead

Choose Foreplay when your team needs one place to save, tag and share competitor ads and turn them into briefs. A searchable library, competitor tracking and a brief builder are the job it is built for, and Playhead does none of the three.

The verdict

Choose Foreplay when the job is to save, organise and share competitor ads and turn them into briefs: the swipe file, the library and Spyder are what it is for, from $59 a month. Choose Playhead when the job is to know what one ad does, second by second: the hook, the beats, the claims and the cuts, from $0 with no card. A team that briefs from competitor ads usually needs both, and the pair costs $78 a month at the entry plans.

Common questions

Is Playhead a Foreplay alternative?

Playhead replaces Foreplay for one job and not for the others. For taking apart a single ad with the second of every beat and claim, Playhead does the job from $0. For saving ads into boards, searching a library of saved ads, tracking competitors and writing briefs, Foreplay does the job and Playhead does not.

How much does Foreplay cost?

Foreplay costs $59 a month for Basic, $175 for Workflow and $459 for Agency, or $49, $149 and $389 on the annual rate, read on 26 September 2026. Each extra user is $20 a month on every plan, and every plan starts with a 7 day free trial.

What does the Foreplay API cost?

The Foreplay API counts 1 credit per ad, and every plan includes 10,000 credits a month. More credits cost $99 for 100,000, $189 for 250,000 and $349 for 500,000 a month, read on the Foreplay API page on 26 September 2026.

Can I use Foreplay and Playhead together?

Yes. Foreplay keeps and finds the ads, and Playhead reads the ones you brief from. Both publish an MCP server, so an agent can pull the longest running ads of a brand from Foreplay and ask Playhead what happens in each one, in the same conversation.

Does Playhead have a swipe file?

No. Playhead keeps every ad you read in your account with its teardown, and you can ask new questions of it later. There are no boards, no browser extension and no library of other people's ads, which is what Foreplay is built for.