SpyFu Pricing and Features: Is It the Best Choice for 2025?
SpyFu is a competitive intelligence tool that helps businesses analyze their competitors’ pay-per-click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) strategies. There are two plans, with the lower tier starting at $39. Here’s a deeper breakdown of SpyFu pricing, features, and how it compares to other tools.
In this article, we’ll cover:
- What SpyFu is
- Features and ideal users
- Pricing and hidden fees
- Limitations
- SpyFu vs. competitors in comparison
Let’s start by looking at what SpyFu is.
What is SpyFu?
SpyFu is a competitive analysis tool designed for marketers who need deeper insights into search and advertising data. It pulls information from multiple sources to track competitor PPC campaigns, SEO rankings, and keyword performance. With features like automated data transfers and API-based extraction, SpyFu helps businesses refine their competitive analysis and reporting.
Main features
SpyFu has many features around SEO, PPC, and competitive intel. Some of the best features include:
- Automated data transfers: SpyFu continuously pulls marketing data, eliminating the need for manual updates. However, you’ll need to manually export data or use the API for automation.
- Multi-platform marketing insights: SpyFu provides SEO and PPC data by scraping Google search results and tracking historical PPC campaigns. Unlike some competitors, it doesn’t offer deep integrations with multiple platforms like Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, or third-party reporting tools.
- API-based data extraction: Businesses can integrate SpyFu’s insights directly into their internal reporting systems using its API. This allows for custom dashboards, automation, and deeper analysis tailored to specific marketing needs.
- Historical competitor data: SpyFu doesn’t just provide current rankings, it tracks past keyword performance, ad spend trends, and PPC history. You can analyze long-term patterns to see what strategies have worked for competitors over time.
- Reporting: SpyFu offers downloadable PDF reports for your SEO and PPC analysis, but report customization options are limited compared to its competitors like Semrush or Ahrefs.
Who is SpyFu best for?
SpyFu is ideal for marketing teams that need automated reporting and competitive intelligence without manual data collection. Its integration with platforms like Google Sheets, Data Studio, and Looker makes it a strong choice for businesses that rely on data-driven decision-making.
SpyFu pricing plans
SpyFu has two plans, Basic and Professional. Let’s take a look at them below:
It’s worth mentioning that SpyFu also offers discounts for annual billing. There isn’t a SpyFu free trial, but they do have a 30-day money-back guarantee for the paid plans if you aren’t happy with their service. They also allow limited free searches per day (no account required), so you can try without paying — but with limitations.
Are there hidden fees?
SpyFu’s pricing is mostly flat-rate, but there may be extra rates for the API. When you pay for a Professional plan, you get API access with 10,000 data rows per month across all of their APIs. However, if you need more rows beyond that, SpyFu API pricing is $0.50 per 1000 rows.
What’s included in the Basic Plan?
The Basic Plan costs $39 per month and is designed for solo marketers and small businesses. It includes:
- 5,000 weekly tracked keyword rankings
- 10,000 rows of search results
- Unlimited domain searches
- SEO and PPC competitor research tools
- Limited data exports
- Access to historical data
How does the Professional Plan differ from the Basic Plan?
The Professional Plan costs $79 per month and offers expanded features compared to the Basic Plan. The key differences include:
- 15,000 weekly tracked keyword rankings (3x more than the Basic Plan)
- Unlimited search results (instead of 10,000 rows)
- More data exports for deeper analysis
- Custom branded reports for agencies and consultants
- API access to integrate SpyFu data into custom dashboards
SpyFu limitations
SpyFu is a great tool for keyword and competitor research, but it’s not exactly perfect. It certainly has some limitations — let’s take a look at some of them:
- US and UK focus: SpyFu primarily provides data for the US and UK markets, which limits its usefulness for businesses targeting other regions.
- Interface and usability: The platform can feel outdated compared to more modern SEO tools. Some users report that they find the user interface less intuitive.
- API restrictions: Although API access is included in the higher-tier plan, you only start with 10,000 data rows per month. You’ll need to pay extra ($0.50/1,000 rows) for anything else beyond that.
- Limited toolkit: Some users report that SpyFu’s toolkit isn’t as comprehensive as a tool like Semrush.
- Limited real-time data: SpyFu provides historical and estimated keyword data. And while it offers ongoing keyword tracking, it doesn’t provide real-time ranking updates. This can be a drawback for businesses who need up-to-the-minute insights.
SpyFu vs. competitors
SpyFu is a great tool for digging into competitor SEO and PPC data, but how does it compare to other options? Here’s a quick breakdown:
SpyFu is a solid pick for competitor research, especially for businesses focused on PPC and SEO in the US and UK. But if you need real-time data, deeper integrations, or AI-powered insights, Bestever and Semrush might be the better fit.
Frequently asked questions
Does SpyFu offer a free trial?
SpyFu doesn’t have a free trial, but it does offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it risk-free.
How much does SpyFu cost?
SpyFu offers two pricing plans: Basic ($39/month) and Professional ($79/month). Discounts are available for annual billing.
Does SpyFu have hidden fees?
SpyFu’s pricing is mostly flat-rate, but API limits, potential integration costs, and advanced automation needs could lead to extra charges.
Can I use SpyFu for real-time keyword tracking?
No, SpyFu focuses on historical and estimated keyword data rather than live rank tracking. If you need real-time insights, a tool like Ahrefs or Semrush might be a better fit.
Does SpyFu work outside the US and UK?
SpyFu primarily provides data for the US and UK, so if you're targeting other regions, you may need a different tool with global data coverage. Users have reported that if you try to get outside data from SpyFu, you may get data inaccuracies.
Does SpyFu have an API for custom reporting?
Yes, SpyFu’s API is available with the Professional plan, allowing you to integrate data into your own dashboards and reporting tools. Be aware that you get 10,000 data rows per month included with your plan, then the rate is $0.50 per 1000 rows thereafter.
How Bestever can help you get competitor data
We’ve now discussed SpyFu pricing and what you can do with this keyword and PPC tool. But if you’re looking for something that can not only help you with competitor research but also with ad optimization, Bestever can help.
We help you track your competitors to see information about their campaigns, creatives, target audiences, and more. We also use AI to analyze your creatives and tell you how you can improve them. Here’s how:
- Analyze your ads' effectiveness: Bestever’s Ad Analysis Dashboard gives you instant feedback on an ad's visual impact, audience relevance, call to action strength, and information density, breaking down each element in detail.
- Get suggestions to improve your creatives: If one of your ads isn’t hitting the mark, ask Bestever’s AI ad assistant to tell you what’s wrong and get instant actionable suggestions on what to do to fix it — no more trial-and-error.
- Understand your audience: You can share your website URL or integrate it with your ad manager, and Bestever will quickly let you know who wants to hear more from you by generating audience personas.
- Rapid asset generation: Bestever helps you fetch AI-generated images, stock photos, and video clips that all fit your brand voice so you can generate image, video, and audio ads. Then you can share the creatives with your team to make multiple ad variations faster.
- Instant feedback loop: Bestever tells you immediately why an ad creative underperforms, so you can make a pivot before wasting your budget.
Want to take your competitor research beyond keyword tracking? Let our team show you how our ad analysis platform works so you can start optimizing creatives today.