A free AI-powered tool that reviews your Y Combinator application before you submit it. Built by Lobster Capital, a VC fund 100% focused on YC companies with $40M+ deployed across 100+ YC startups.

Is YC Roaster really free?

Yes, completely free — no catch, no upsell. Lobster Capital built this to give back to the YC community and help more great companies get accepted.

How does YC Roaster work?

Upload your YC application (PDF or Word) and you'll receive AI-powered feedback shortly after submission, scored across 7 dimensions — including traction, team, market, and scalability. Applications that show strong potential get matched with a YC alumni reviewer for deeper, personalized feedback.

What kind of feedback will I get?

A scored evaluation across 7 dimensions with specific strengths, risks, and suggestions tailored to your application. It's not generic advice — the feedback is based on what's actually in your application.

Who built YC Roaster and why?

YC Roaster is built by Lobster Capital, a venture firm 100% focused on investing in YC companies. With 100+ YC companies in their portfolio, this is their way of helping more founders put their best application forward. Not affiliated with Y Combinator.

How is this different from asking ChatGPT to review my application?

YC Roaster is built by a team that invests exclusively in YC companies. The AI uses a purpose-built framework across 7 specific dimensions based on insights from reviewing hundreds of YC applications. Strong applications also get matched with real YC alumni reviewers — something no general-purpose AI can offer.

When should I submit my application?

As early as possible. The sooner you submit, the more time you have to get feedback, iterate, and strengthen your application before the YC deadline.

Will everyone get a Zoom call?

Everyone gets AI-powered written feedback. If you're matched with a YC alumni reviewer and they see strong potential, they may invite you for a 1-on-1 Zoom session.

All Posts

Paul Graham Just Published 'How to Earn a Billion Dollars.' Here's the One Number It Says Your YC F26 Application Must Show

An Open-Source AI Startup Just Archived Its Repo After Raising $7.3M. Is Open Source Still a Moat for Your YC F26 Application?

Should You Write Your YC Application With ChatGPT? What the 'Demonstrate Human Effort' Backlash Means for F26

What Is YC Funding in Summer 2026? The First S26 Companies Are Live, and They Tell You What to Pitch for F26

Intuned (YC S22) Got Into YC With a Completely Different Idea. How Much Does Your Idea Matter for F26?

Apple Just Gave Every Developer Free On-Device AI at WWDC 2026. Should YC F26 Founders Build on Apple's Foundation Models?

A Federal Judge Just Voided the $100K H-1B Fee. Can International Founders Still Apply to YC F26?

Anthropic Just Said AI Writes 80% of Its Code. What's Left for YC F26 Founders to Pitch?

Zettascale (YC S24) Is Hiring Chip Engineers. Does Y Combinator Actually Fund Hardware Startups in 2026?

VoidZero Just Joined Cloudflare. Should YC F26 Founders Still Build Open-Source Dev Tools?

Anthropic Just Open-Sourced AI Vulnerability Discovery. Is AI Security Still a Defensible YC F26 Wedge?

Stanford Just Found AI Beats Law Professors. Should You Apply to YC F26 With a Legal AI Startup?

Is It a Bad Time to Apply to YC With an AI Startup? What June 2026's 'AI Bubble' Headlines Mean for F26

Anthropic Just Filed to Go Public. Should YC F26 Founders Still Build on Claude?

How Much Do You Need to Build Before Applying to YC in 2026?

Anthropic Just Passed OpenAI as the Most Valuable AI Startup. Should YC F26 Founders Build on Claude or GPT?

Does YC Still Require a Technical Co-Founder Now That AI Writes the Code?

What Is the YC P26 Batch? YC Renamed X26, and Here's What It Means for Your Application

Local AI Plus Outsourcing Just Beat Frontier Lab Economics. Here's How YC F26 AI Founders Should Reposition.

Drew Houston Just Stepped Down at Dropbox. Here's What YC S26 Founders Should Take From the Original 'Founder Mode' Story

Rivian Just Let Drivers Kill All Connectivity. LinkedIn Got Caught Scanning 6,278 Browser Extensions. The Privacy Wedge for YC F26.

Mozilla Just Opposed Chrome's Prompt API. What YC F26 Applicants Building Browser-Native AI Need to Know

Shai-Hulud Just Hit PyTorch Lightning. Here's the Supply-Chain Answer Your YC F26 AI Application Needs.

The 'OpenClaw' Story Is the Platform Risk Question YC Will Ask You at Your S26 Interview

Should You Apply to YC With an AI Agent in 2026?

How to Show "Recursive Self-Improvement" in Your YC S26 Application (Without the Buzzword Trap)

Meet Harshita Arora, YC's Newest General Partner. What Her Background Means for Your S26 Interview.

Anthropic Just Bought Stainless. If You're Applying to YC S26 With AI Dev Tools, You Have 48 Hours to Reposition.

Anthropic Just Launched 'Claude for Small Business.' Here's What It Means for Your YC S26 SMB AI Application

You Got a YC S26 "No" After the Interview. Here's the 14-Day Comeback Plan for F26

YC Decides the Same Day: What the S26 Interview Call (or Rejection Email) Actually Looks Like

Inside the 10-Minute YC Interview: The Real Questions S26 Founders Will Hear This Week

How to Run a YC Mock Interview: The 4-Partner Drill for S26 Founders

Can I Send a YC Founder Update Before the Interview Decision? Here's What to Send

When Do YC S26 Interview Invites Go Out? Timeline, Email, and the 48-Hour Drill

Does Y Combinator Fund Defense Startups? What Spring 2026 Reveals for S26 Applicants

Will YC Penalize You for Using AI Coding Agents in Your S26 Application?

How to Stand Out in a YC S26 Application When 60% of Founders Are Building AI

Why YC Bet Big on AI Agent Infrastructure in Fall 2025 (And What S26 Applicants Should Learn)

YC's First New York Crypto Interviews: What S26 Crypto Founders Need to Know

Skio Sold for $105M After Raising $8M. What It Means for Your YC S26 Application

You Just Submitted Your YC Summer 2026 Application. What Should You Do Next?

Paul Graham's 'Brand Age' Essay Is a Warning for Your YC Application

YC Spring 2026 Decoded: 3 Patterns From 113 Companies That Should Change Your Summer 2026 Application