Joonas Rotko · Founder, That Marketing Buddy
I assess marketing software through 10+ years of agency work, current product research, buyer needs, competing tools and total cost.
How this review was prepared
This is a research-based review built from SpyFu's live pricing page and plan comparison table, its help-center plan article and its developer documentation, checked on 28 September 2026.
This page may include affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you sign up (at no extra cost to you).
The Verdict
Is SpyFu right for you?
SpyFu is a competitor-research tool for buyers who want to see what rivals buy and rank for on Google, and its pricing page splits the product sharply: the entry plan looks cheap because it leaves out most of what agencies use.
Basic costs $39/month ($29/month billed annually) and caps search results and exports at 10,000 rows, with no historical data, API, ChatGPT integration, Google Search Console integration or white-label reporting. Pro + AI, at $119/month after a $59 first month ($89/month billed annually), switches those on, which makes it the plan most buyers are really pricing.
SpyFu fits a PPC or SEO consultant who wants competitor ad and keyword history without a Semrush-sized bill. It fits poorly when the main job is link analysis or running one suite across many client sites.
Who It's For
Who SpyFu is for (and who it isn't)
✓ Best for
- +PPC managers studying a competitor's Google Ads history. Pro + AI and Team / Agency show 10+ years of paid and organic history, so a manager can see which keywords a rival kept bidding on across years and which it dropped, instead of judging from today's snapshot.
- +SEO consultants running keyword-gap checks before a pitch. The Kombat domain comparison lists keywords that two or three competitors rank or bid on and your prospect does not, and Basic already allows 10,000 result rows for it.
- +Small agencies sending branded competitor reports. Pro + AI includes white-label reporting with 100 automated reports, and Team / Agency lifts that to unlimited reports, 50,000 weekly tracked keywords and five seats.
× Consider something else if
- −Link analysis matters more than ad history. Ahrefs is organised around backlinks and organic keywords. SpyFu lists backlink searches as one result type among many, capped at 10,000 rows on Basic, and builds its pitch on competitor search and ad data.Try Ahrefs →
- −You want one suite for audits, content and reporting. Semrush bundles site audit, content and reporting tools in one subscription. SpyFu now has an AI-assisted site audit, but its plans are still organised around competitor research.Try Semrush →
- −Client rank tracking is the main workload. SE Ranking is built around day-to-day rank tracking and client reporting, with competitor research as a supporting feature rather than the headline.Try SE Ranking →
What You Can Do
What can SpyFu do?
Competitor PPC teardown
Search a rival's domain and read its paid keywords, ad copy and spend estimates over time. Ad groups that run for years are a better sign of what converts than ads that appeared last month. Historical views need Pro + AI or Team / Agency.
Kombat keyword gap
Compare your domain with two or three rivals in Kombat to list keywords they rank or bid on that you do not. Export the list and filter to commercial terms before briefing content or new ad groups. Basic allows this within its 10,000-row limit.
AI-assisted site fixes
Site Audit crawls 50,000 pages a month on Basic, 500,000 on Pro + AI and 2 million on Team / Agency, then drafts fixes for titles, links and content. SpyFu says you approve each change before it publishes, and Basic connects one site, Pro + AI three and Team / Agency five.
Client competitor reports
On Pro + AI, connect Google Search Console, track up to 15,000 keywords a week and schedule up to 100 white-labelled reports. Extra seats beyond the first cost $30 a month each.
AI, API & MCP
AI, API and assistant workflows
SpyFu's competitive keyword and PPC data reaches agents through a community-built MCP server and an official REST API bundled with paid plans.
AI agent workflow
Running a shared-keyword analysis between competitors
An agent runs a kombat shared-keyword comparison between the user's domain and two named competitors, then pulls the organic keyword gaps to seed a content brief. The same domain, keyword, and ad-history data is reachable directly through the REST API for a nightly script that watches for new competitor PPC campaigns.
Approval boundary: Both integrations are read-only competitive intelligence, so there's no write action needing approval. Because the MCP server is community-maintained rather than official, a human should spot-check its output against the SpyFu dashboard periodically before trusting it in an unattended pipeline.
MCP
communityCommunity server requiring a self-supplied API key
The SpyFu MCP server, maintained at github.com/AlexanderCord/spyfu-mcp-server, requires users to supply their own SpyFu API key and Python 3.11 or newer to self-host. It exposes 10 tools covering domain stats, ad history, top PPC competitors, paid SERPs, shared-keyword kombat analysis, related and paid keywords, and organic keyword history. It isn't officially supported by SpyFu, so reliability depends on the maintainer.
SpyFu MCP server (AlexanderCord/spyfu-mcp-server) →API
officialREST API bundled into Pro and Team plans
SpyFu's API, documented at developer.spyfu.com, accepts either an API key via bearer header or query parameter, or OAuth for delegated access, and comes bundled with every Pro or Team membership rather than being sold separately. Rate limits are enforced per endpoint on a rolling one-second window, with heavier endpoints allowing fewer requests per second and HTTP 429 plus a Retry-After header on overage.
SpyFu API Rate Limits docs →Pricing
How much does SpyFu cost?
The published entry plan starts at $39/mo. For this review's professional buyer, the practical starting point is $89/mo before users and add-ons.
| Plan | Monthly |
|---|---|
| Basic | $39/mo |
| Pro + AIPopular | $119/mo |
| Team / Agency | $249/mo |
Basic is $39/month, or $29/month billed annually ($348 a year). Pro + AI is $119/month after a $59 first month, or $89/month billed annually ($1,068 a year). Team / Agency is $249/month, or $187/month billed annually ($2,244 a year). SpyFu's plan comparison caps Basic at 10,000 rows for searches and exports, one live-site project, 5,000 weekly tracked keywords and 10 automated reports. Pro + AI raises that to unlimited results and exports, 10 live-site projects, 15,000 weekly tracked keywords and 100 reports. Team / Agency adds unlimited projects and reports, 50,000 weekly tracked keywords and five seats. SpyFu describes a 30-day money-back guarantee with no contracts and lists no free trial.
Price Basic against what it leaves out
Historical data, the API, ChatGPT integration, Google Search Console integration, white-label reporting and pre-built Google Ads campaigns are all crossed out on Basic. If two or more of those are why you are shopping, start the budget at Pro + AI.
The $59 first month is a promotion
Pro + AI shows $59 for the first month and $119 a month after that. Budget from $119 monthly or $89 billed annually, and check the renewal price at checkout.
Seats multiply the agency price
Pro + AI includes one user and Team / Agency five, with $30 a month for each extra user. At monthly prices, four people on Pro + AI cost $209 a month against $249 for Team / Agency, and the page does not say whether seat prices change with annual billing.
Alternatives
When I'd choose something else
Three different buying priorities, and what I'd pick instead for each one.
Link research first
Ahrefs
Ahrefs is the stronger fit when link prospecting and backlink audits are the weekly work, because its data is organised around links and organic keywords.
Trade-off: Its paid-search reports are secondary to its link and organic data, so PPC-first buyers should compare both products' ad views before switching.
Explore Ahrefs for this use case →One suite for audits, content and reporting
Semrush
Semrush covers keyword research, site audits and reporting inside one subscription, so a team that needs those jobs does not have to add tools around a research product.
Trade-off: It costs more than SpyFu, and TMB's price note lists Semrush from $139 a month.
Explore Semrush for this use case →Client rank tracking and reporting
SE Ranking
SE Ranking suits agencies whose main work is tracking client rankings and sending white-label reports, with competitor research in a supporting role.
Trade-off: It offers less of SpyFu's long ad-and-keyword history for studying how a competitor's paid strategy changed.
Explore SE Ranking for this use case →Simple keyword research on a small budget
Mangools
Mangools bundles keyword, SERP and rank-tracking tools with an easier interface than a full suite, for freelancers who mostly need SEO research.
Trade-off: It has no competitor PPC or ad-history data, so it replaces only the SEO half of SpyFu.
Explore Mangools for this use case →Downsides
Limitations to consider before subscribing
Basic leaves out most of the reasons to buy
The pricing page crosses out historical data, the API, ChatGPT integration, Google Search Console integration and white-label reporting on Basic, and caps searches and exports at 10,000 rows.
Historical depth is described inconsistently
The pricing page says 10+ years of historical data, while older SpyFu material cites longer windows. Ask support which years exist for your target domains before promising a client a specific number.
Spend and click figures are estimates
Traffic, click value and ad spend are modelled from SpyFu's own data, so use them to compare competitors, not to reconcile with a client's analytics.
Public pricing is not fully consistent
A banner on SpyFu's help site says membership starts at $33 a month, while the pricing page shows $29 a month billed annually. Use the pricing page and confirm the total at checkout.
My Recommendation
Price Pro + AI first, then decide whether Basic is enough
Shortlist SpyFu when competitor PPC and organic history is the job and Pro + AI, at $89 a month billed annually or $119 monthly, fits the budget.
Choose Ahrefs for link research, Semrush for a broader suite or SE Ranking when client rank reporting is the main workload.
What to check during the trial
- –Search a competitor you already know well and check that the paid keyword and ad history matches what you have seen in the market
- –Ask support which years of history exist for your target domains before building a report around them
- –Run a Kombat comparison against two rivals and check whether Basic's 10,000-row limit covers your list
- –Use the 30-day money-back window as the trial, and confirm the API and ChatGPT allowances in the account before building a workflow
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about SpyFu
Basic is $39/month or $29/month billed annually. Pro + AI is $119/month after a $59 first month, or $89/month billed annually. Team / Agency is $249/month or $187/month billed annually.
No. The pricing page crosses out 10+ years of historical data on Basic, and SpyFu's help center says Basic shows current snapshots. Pro + AI and Team / Agency include it.
Yes. SpyFu's developer docs say API access comes with Pro and Team memberships, and the pricing table marks it unavailable on Basic.
SpyFu does not list an official MCP server. A community-built server on GitHub wraps the API and needs your own API key.
No trial is listed. SpyFu describes a 30-day money-back guarantee with no contracts.
Sources & References (4)
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