Foreplay helps ad teams save great ads, study competitors and write sharper briefs, and it got there without a cent of venture money
Foreplay
The swipe file that grew into a whole home for your ad creative team
Every ad creative has a folder of screenshots somewhere, ads that stopped their thumb and taught them something. Foreplay turns that messy habit into a proper system. Click once in the Chrome extension or the mobile app and an ad from Meta, TikTok or LinkedIn lands in your swipe file, transcribed and tagged, ready to share with the team.
Zachary Murray started it in 2021 as exactly that small Chrome extension. Customers began referring other teams, and the product grew outward from the swipe file into research, analytics and briefing. Remarkably, it has done all of it bootstrapped, with no outside funding, and now serves thousands of social ad teams and agencies.
Where it shines
Discovery is a searchable library of more than 100 million ads with AI analysis, perfect for that blank-page moment when you need fresh angles. Spyder automatically follows competitor brands and shows what they launch, so you see a rival's new creative without checking their ad library every day. Lens adds creative performance analytics for your own ads.
Then Briefs closes the loop. You pull winning references straight from your swipe file into an AI-assisted brief with a storyboard, so the creator or editor gets clear direction instead of a vague Slack message. There is also an API for teams who want competitor ad data inside their own tools.
Who will love it
In-house paid social teams, performance agencies, UGC creators and DTC founders who make their own ads will get the most from it. Start the 7-day free trial, install the Chrome extension, and spend a week saving every ad that catches your eye. By Friday you will have a swipe file worth briefing from, and your next batch of creative will start from proven ideas.
Every great ad you scrolled past, saved, searchable and ready to inspire your next brief.
The verdict
The Rundown
The things Foreplay does brilliantly.
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Swipe File and Chrome extension
One click saves ads with transcripts, the habit that started it all.
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Spyder competitor tracking
Automatically follows rival brands so new creative never slips past you.
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Briefs
Turns saved inspiration into clear, storyboarded briefs your creators can run with.
Common questions about Foreplay
- What is Foreplay?
- Foreplay is an ad research and creative workflow platform founded by Zachary Murray in 2021. It includes a swipe file for saving ads, Discovery for searching a large ad library, Spyder for tracking competitors, Lens for creative analytics and Briefs for writing creative briefs.
- How is Foreplay priced?
- Foreplay is a paid subscription with several plans, each including a set number of users with extra seats available, and monthly or discounted annual billing. Every paid plan starts with a 7-day free trial.
- Who is Foreplay best for?
- Foreplay is best for paid social creative teams, performance marketing agencies, UGC creators and ecommerce founders who produce ads for Meta, TikTok and other social platforms.
- What makes Foreplay stand out?
- Foreplay connects the whole creative process in one place, from saving inspiration and tracking competitors to analysing performance and writing briefs, and it has grown to serve thousands of ad teams while staying bootstrapped.
Try it yourself
Give Foreplay a spin.
Free trial, paid per seat. Best for paid social creative teams and agencies.
Visit Foreplay ↗Not sponsored. No affiliate links. Prices and plans change, so check before you buy.
