InteractiveDeep dive · Lapis·12 min read

Lapis: an honest deep dive

Lapis (trylapis.com) is the YC F25 entrant in the AI ad generation space. Brand intelligence ingest, natural-language editing, persona generation, and a Campaign Studio for multi-channel output. Already has Samsung and Domino's as named customers. Free 5 credits + Basic $99 + Pro $599 - a steep jump that signals the enterprise lean.

Founded

2024

HQ

United States

Stage

YC F25 batch

Category

AI creative

Buyer view

What Lapis actually is

YC-backed enterprise AI ad generator (F25) - Samsung + Domino's logos at infancy.

In simpler terms: Lapis sits in the ai creative slot of the ad tooling stack. The customer it's built for is the one in the "buyer profile" section below - if that doesn't describe you, almost everything else on this page will read as "close, but not quite."

Pricing

What you actually pay

$99 → $599 jump is unusually steep.

Free

Free

5 credits to try the platform.

Basic

$99/mo

Solo / SMB tier.

Pro

$599/mo

Mid-market tier - steep jump from Basic.

Enterprise

Custom

Custom.

Free tier available

Capability profile

How Lapis scores on the 7 dimensions that differentiate ad inspiration tools

Scores are evidence-weighted, not vendor-supplied. The note under each bar explains what we credited.

Library Depth

2/5

Generation-first, not inspiration.

Search Quality

3/5

Brand intelligence ingest drives retrieval.

Organization

4/5

Campaign Studio is solid.

Team Workflow

4/5

Built for mid-market team adoption.

Chrome Extension

1/5

None.

Pricing Value

3/5

Free credits good; pricing jump steep.

Ai Features

5/5

Brand intelligence + persona + natural-language editing.

Platform coverage

Where they have ads

Yes/no per platform - depth varies, but this is the breadth picture.

MetaTikTokYouTubeLinkedInGoogle Search/DisplayPinterestSnapReddit

Capabilities

What's actually in the product

Grouped by workflow, AI/search, and export/integrations.

Workflow

  • Chrome extension
  • Boards / collections
  • Brief builder
  • Team workspaces
  • Brand tracking
  • Notes / annotations

AI & search

  • AI / semantic search
  • AI auto-tagging
  • Video transcripts
  • AI ad generation

Export & integrations

  • CSV export
  • Download ads
  • API access
  • Figma integration
  • Slack integration
  • Creative analytics
Genuine strengths
  • YC F25 pedigree.
  • Enterprise logos at infancy (Samsung, Domino's).
  • Natural-language ad editing.
  • ChatGPT Ads support listed.
Honest weaknesses
  • Steep $99 → $599 pricing jump.
  • Smaller community / docs.
  • Not an inspiration tool.
  • Newer - less tested at scale.

Fit

Who Lapis is for - and who it isn't

Best for

  • Mid-market brands wanting enterprise-grade AI generation.
  • Teams who want YC-backed velocity.
  • Multi-channel campaign producers.

Bad for

  • SMB DTC under $50k/mo - the Pro tier blows the budget.
  • Solo strategists.
Buyer profile

Mid-market brand marketer or enterprise team running multi-channel campaigns at scale.

Common complaints

Themes that surface across customer reviews and community discussion.

  • Pricing jump from Basic to Pro.
  • Newer product - bugs.
  • Smaller community.

Alternatives

Lapis vs the obvious alternatives

Most buyers narrow it to two or three candidates. Tap any below.

Where Shuttergen fits with Lapis

Lapis generates assets. Shuttergen keeps your starting-image anchored across variants so brand stays intact.

Inspiration is the input. Production is the next problem. Most teams run a swipe-file or analytics tool alongside a production tool, not instead of one. Shuttergen is the production half.

Related Shuttergen reading

Where to go next

The connected pages that compound on this one.

Primer · Performance creative

What is performance creative? The discipline that runs modern DTC growth

Foundational primer on performance creative as a discipline - the 6-layer system from concept to iteration, the amateur-vs-elite gap, and the metrics that actually matter.

Read

Primer · Volume model

What is the 25-ads-per-concept playbook? The volume model performance teams use

Foundational primer on the 25-ads-per-concept volume model - the 6 structural axes you vary, the amateur-vs-elite gap, and why volume + measurement beats craft-only.

Read

Listicle · AI generators

The 8 best AI ad generators in 2026 (ranked)

Holo, AdCreative.ai, Pencil, Bestever, Lapis, Sovran, Hookd, Creative OS - SMB, mid-market, enterprise tiers.

Read

Teardown · Icon postmortem

Icon (icon.com): the $12M domain, the wind-down, and what went wrong

Honest teardown of the Founders Fund-backed AI Admaker that raised $9.2M, spent $12M on icon.com, pivoted to a human agency, and quietly wound down in March 2026 - without a Chapter 7 filing. Timeline, pitch-vs-reality, root causes, and lessons for the rest of the category.

Read

Sources

What we read to build this

Build the swipe file. Then ship 25 variants.

Shuttergen turns a single proven concept into a brand-safe library of cuts. Hours, not weeks.

Start free