Snapchat is making its new Imagine Lens, the company’s first open-prompt image-generating AI lens, available for free to all users. Lens originally launched in September, but was only available to paid subscribers. Lenses allow users to edit and generate their own snaps using custom prompts.
For example, you can tell the app to “turn me into an alien” after taking a selfie, or request an image of a “grumpy cat.” The company suggests you can use the lenses to try out Halloween costume ideas or reimagine new looks for your friends.
You can share your results with friends, post them to your Snapchat story, and share them beyond the app.
The expanded availability of AI lenses follows the launch of AI video generation apps by Meta (Meta AI) and OpenAI (Sora), which are capturing the attention of young people with AI tools and features that are more advanced than photo retouching.
For example, Sora allows users to provide the app with a one-time video and audio recording to capture their appearance and then generate a video of themselves. Friends can share these AI personas with each other, called “cameos,” and appear in videos together.
That puts pressure on other social apps like Snapchat to comply, so making AI Image Lens available for free seems like a worthwhile investment for app makers.
According to the company, Snapchat’s AI Lens was previously only available to Lens+ and Snapchat Platinum members. With the expanded rollout, Snap will make a limited number of image generation available to all free users as well. The company told TechCrunch that a small number of generations will be available to free users, which may vary by region, capacity, and other factors.
tech crunch event
san francisco
|
October 27-29, 2025
At launch, free users in the US will have access to the new lenses, with plans underway for other markets, starting with Canada, the UK, and Australia.
The lens is located near the front of the lens carousel in the app. Or you can search by name. To create, tap the caption and edit the prompt, or use one of the preloaded suggestions if you need some inspiration.
The company notes that Snapchat users access Lenses more than 8 billion times a day. The company says its AI lenses are powered by a combination of in-house models and models from other industry leaders.
Updated with additional information regarding the number of free Gens available in Imagine Lens.
