AI headshot generators in 2026 — what we picked and why
HeadshotPro is $39/pack. Aragon is $44. Photo AI is $39. We picked Replicate's GFPGAN for our preview tier and Flux LoRA for the full-train tier. Honest cost + quality breakdown.
AI headshot generators have quietly become a $200M+/year category since the first wave hit in 2023. HeadshotPro, Aragon, BetterPic, Photo AI, Wantitled — all selling roughly the same product at $30-50 per pack. We needed an AI headshot offering for the Apexkit bundle. This post is the cost-quality tradeoff math we did, and why we ended up on a two-tier approach.
What “AI headshot” actually means
There are two distinct techniques masquerading under the same product label:
- Single-image enhancement — take one selfie, run a super-resolution model (GFPGAN, CodeFormer, Real-ESRGAN), output a cleaner version with sharper eyes and skin. Fast (5-10s), cheap (~$0.001 per generation), but limited — you can only produce variations of the original pose / lighting / outfit.
- Multi-image LoRA training — take 10-20 selfies, train a small LoRA adapter on top of a base image model (Stable Diffusion, Flux), then generate dozens of synthetic headshots in any pose, outfit, lighting. Slow (5-20 minutes training + 10-30 seconds per generation), expensive (~$0.50-2 per training run), but unbeatable in flexibility.
What the commercial tools use
Roughly: HeadshotPro and Aragon both run LoRA training (the expensive path). Photo AI uses a custom Dreambooth pipeline. The $39 price tag is mostly the training cost (£20-30 actual) + their app + their margin.
What we picked
- Free + Basic tier:single-image GFPGAN preview via Replicate — fast, cheap, gives users a working result instantly. Costs us ~$0.001 per run. Same quality as Fotor “face restore” or other budget tools.
- Pro tier and above: multi-image Flux LoRA via Replicate (coming Wave 2, month 4-6). Same approach as HeadshotPro. Costs us ~$0.40 per training run + $0.02 per output. Bundled in the monthly expensive-packs budget (20 packs/mo on Pro).
What this means for you
If you need an “okay enough” headshot for a LinkedIn refresh and have one decent selfie, the Free tier of our AI Headshot toolcovers it today. If you need 50 variations for marketing collateral, the multi-image option ships month 4-6 — and you're already paying for it as part of your Pro subscription, no $39 surprise.
Honest comparisons
See our PhotoRoom comparison for the image editing side, and the upcoming Apexkit vs HeadshotPro page (Wave 2) for the head-to-head when our multi-image tier ships.