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SpyFu review (2026): is the free plan enough?

Competitor research for SEO and Google Ads keywords and ad history

Free plan · from $29/moSEOChecked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
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SpyFu, as pictured on spyfu.com
How SpyFu presents itself. Image from spyfu.com.

SpyFu report card

2.2GPA

Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Oct 23, 2026

Best for spying on rivals' Google Ads and SEO keywords

SpyFu shows the Google Ads keywords a rival buys, the ad tests they've run and the keywords they rank for, with years of history. Basic is $29 a month on yearly billing, but caps results at 10,000 rows and has one user and no API credit. There's no trial, rankings update weekly, Pro + AI's $59 first month becomes $119, and API use past the monthly credit goes on your card.

Who SpyFu is for

  • Fits if you buy Google Ads and want to see what competitors bid on
  • Works for agencies building branded competitor reports for clients

Who SpyFu is not for

  • Not for you if you want to try before you pay, as there's no trial, only a 30-day money-back guarantee
  • Skip it if you need daily rankings, since projects track weekly
  • Tight if you're on Basic, with 1 user, 1 project, 10,000 rows per search and export, and site audits that stop at 500 pages a crawl
  • Watch out: Pro + AI's $59 first month becomes $119 a month unless you pay $89 a month yearly, and extra users are $30
  • Watch out: API use past the monthly credit, $40 on Pro + AI and $100 on Team/Agency, is charged to your card
See the alternatives

Why SpyFu gets a 2.2

Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.

  • CValue for moneyBasic is $29 a month billed yearly ($39 monthly), between the cheaper quarter of SEO tools at $21.75 and the middle at $39. It has 1 user and no API credit, and Pro + AI is $89 a month yearly or $119 monthly after a $59 first month.
  • CFree plan and trialA free version with no time limit: search any domain or keyword and you see a limited set of results. Full results, exports and tracking are paid. There's no trial, just a 30-day money-back guarantee, which isn't the same thing.
  • CFeaturesCompetitor PPC and SEO research, keyword ideas and grouping, rank tracking, backlinks, an AI site audit that writes fixes, and an API. Rankings update weekly, and Basic caps results and exports at 10,000 rows and its audit at 500 pages a crawl.
  • CEase of useNo rating on record. You start by typing in a competitor's domain, but there are a lot of reports, and projects to set up before the tracking side tells you much.
  • BPlatforms and integrationsWeb only, with SpyFu GPT for ChatGPT, Google Sheets, Google Tag Manager and RivalFlow AI, plus an API from the Pro plans, billed by rows returned. No desktop or phone app.

What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from SpyFu's own pages on 23 October 2026, with its prices read from its pricing page in a browser on 24 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.

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SpyFu: 2.2 GPA on ToolGPA

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Where SpyFu stands among SEO tools

SpyFu's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 20 of the 64 other SEO tools we grade, and level with 21.

It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 15 of 64) and worst on features (C, above 0).

Its paid plans start at $29 a month, against a middle price of $39 for the category: 16 of the 56 others that charge start lower.

On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 6 tools score higher and cost less.

Each grade against the category

Every bar is all 65 SEO tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. SpyFu’s own letter is outlined.

  • CValue for moneyAbove 11 of 64, level with 32
  • CFree plan and trialAbove 14 of 64, level with 44
  • CFeaturesAbove 0 of 64, level with 42
  • CEase of useAbove 0 of 64, level with 60
  • BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 15 of 64, level with 49

Price against what you get

Each dot is one of 57 SEO tools. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.

Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged

C2.0B3.0A4.0$5$10$20$50$100$200$500$1k$2kMore for lessCosts more, scores moreCosts less, scores lessCosts more, scores lessSpyFu

What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →

  • The best score at each price
  • Has a free plan
  • No free plan
The full chart, and the best SEO tools at every price

Keep SpyFu, or make your own?

Keep it

To replace SpyFu you would be making search volumes for millions of keywords, gathered and kept up to date. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.

That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 23 of the 64 other SEO tools grade higher. It costs $348 a year.

What you could make

  • Reports: an app builder makes this well.

What you could not

  • Search volumes for millions of keywords, gathered and kept up to date.
  • An index of the links between billions of web pages.
  • Daily checks of where your pages rank in search results.
  • A crawler that checks every page of a site.
  • It plugs into other products, ChatGPT, Google Sheets and Google Tag Manager among them, and has an API.
  • AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.

What this rests on. SpyFu’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.

What is SpyFu?

SpyFu is a web-based research tool for seeing which keywords a competing site ranks for and buys on Google Ads, with ad copy and ranking history going back years. Paid plans add unlimited searches, weekly rank tracking, backlink research, branded reports and an AI site audit that writes fixes for on-page issues.

Worth knowing

  • Pro + AI is $59 for the first month only, then $119 a month on monthly billing; yearly billing is $89 a month.
  • There is no free trial; SpyFu offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, and refunds are requested through chat or email.
  • Basic caps search results and exports at 10,000 rows, and its site audit stops at 500 pages a crawl.
  • API use beyond the monthly credit ($40 on Pro + AI, $100 on Team/Agency) is charged to the card on file.

Key features

Competitor PPC research
See the Google Ads keywords a domain buys, estimated clicks and cost per keyword, and the ad tests it has run over time.
Competitor SEO research
List the keywords a site ranks for, its top pages and its ranking history, and compare several domains to find keywords you are missing.
Keyword research and grouping
Generate keyword ideas filtered by volume, CPC and difficulty, and paste in a list to have it grouped with volume and CPC added.
Rank tracking and projects
Save keywords to a project per site to track rankings weekly, with labels, keyword groups and a daily summary dashboard.
AI site audit
Crawls a site for technical, metadata, content and linking issues and writes fixes for titles, descriptions and headings; plans include monthly AI credits.
API and SpyFu GPT
Pro plans and up include API access billed per rows returned, with a monthly credit; SpyFu GPT brings its data into ChatGPT.

SpyFu pricing

As of Oct 23, 2026, SpyFu has a free plan, and paid plans start at $29 per month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly).

Starts at
$29 per month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly)
Free plan
Free version with no time limit: search any domain or keyword and see a limited set of results. Full results, exports and keyword tracking need a paid plan.
Free trial
None listed
Basic$29per month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly)10,000 rows per search and export, 1 tracking project, 5,000 weekly tracked rankings, 50,000 audit pages a month, 1 user. No API credit included.
Pro + AI$89per month, billed yearly ($119 monthly after a $59 first month)Unlimited results and exports, 10 projects, 15,000 tracked rankings, 500,000 audit pages, RivalFlow for 1 site, $40 of API credit. Extra users $30.
Team/Agency$187per month, billed yearly ($249 billed monthly)5 users, unlimited projects, 50,000 tracked rankings, 2 million audit pages, daily audits, RivalFlow for 5 sites and $100 of API credit.

Read from spyfu.com on Oct 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with SpyFu before you buy.

Pricing in detail

Works with

SpyFu alternatives

All SpyFu alternatives comparedAll SEO tools

Common questions

Does SpyFu have an Android app?

No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 23, 2026. SpyFu is listed for Web.

Does SpyFu have an iPhone app?

No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 23, 2026. SpyFu is listed for Web.

Is SpyFu open source?

SpyFu is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 23, 2026.

Does SpyFu have an API?

Yes. SpyFu offers a public API, according to its own site.

Sources for this page

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 23, 2026.