Lensa AI: a viral AI avatar boom that faded within weeks
Magic Avatars made a four-year-old photo app No. 1 in late 2022 and earned an estimated $37M net in 60 days. Then copycats and backlash ended the spike.
- Product
- Lensa AI
- Founder
- Prisma Labs
- Launched
- 2018
- Model
- Subscription plus paid avatar packs
Published · 2 min read · 4 sources
- #ai
- #consumer-apps
- #viral
- #stable-diffusion
- #mobile
- #paywall
- #fad
- #cautionary
Key takeaways
- Lensa existed since 2018; its Stable Diffusion 'magic avatars' feature launched in late November 2022 and took it to No. 1 in Photo & Video.
- Appfigures estimated more than $37M in net revenue in 60 days, about 91% from iPhone.
- By February 2023 Apptopia data showed AI photo app downloads and spending had fallen far from their mid-December peak.
What it is
Lensa AI is a photo editor from Prisma Labs. Its "magic avatars" feature took 10-20 selfies and used the open-source Stable Diffusion model to generate artistic portraits (TechCrunch).
Timeline
- 2018: Lensa AI launches (TechCrunch).
- Late Nov 2022: magic avatars launch; the app hits No. 1 in the iOS "Photo & Video" chart, ahead of YouTube and Instagram. Sensor Tower counts 1.6 million downloads in November, up 631% from October (TechCrunch).
- Late Nov 2022: Appfigures estimates a single Tuesday with 232K downloads and net revenue near $160K, against about $16K on a standard day (Appfigures).
- Early Jan 2023: Appfigures estimates more than $37M in net revenue over the previous 60 days and says the run "seems to be over" (Appfigures).
- Feb 2023: Apptopia data shows the AI photo app group peaked in mid-December at 4.3 million daily downloads and about $1.8 million a day in spending, and has dropped sharply since (TechCrunch).
Why it worked
- A shareable result. Every avatar pack produced images people wanted to post, which advertised the app (TechCrunch).
- An existing app ready to monetise. It had a paywall and in-app purchases in place: a $39.99 yearly plan after a trial, and avatar packs from $3.99 for 50 (TechCrunch).
- Timing. The viral run began around Thanksgiving 2022, before a wave of similar apps filled the charts in mid-December (TechCrunch).
What to learn
- Novelty can make money fast, but plan for the drop. Some users only wanted to see their own avatars once (TechCrunch).
- If a feature runs on an open model, assume copycats within weeks.
- Keep the app ready for the next spike. Appfigures noted Lensa "wasn't the first, last, or even best app for AI-generated avatars" but "it was there" (Appfigures).
Risks and what didn't work
- Backlash. Artists objected that their work trained the models without consent, and people found it easy to produce NSFW images (TechCrunch).
- Copycats. The store was "immediately overly saturated" with similar avatar apps (TechCrunch).
- Paywall concerns. Appfigures called its trial-at-onboarding paywall something "others consider a dark pattern" (Appfigures).
- All revenue and download figures are third-party estimates (Appfigures, Sensor Tower, Apptopia), not company-reported.
FAQ
Short answers drawn from the sections above.
What is Lensa AI?
Lensa AI is a photo editor from Prisma Labs. Its "magic avatars" feature took 10-20 selfies and used the open-source Stable Diffusion model to generate artistic portraits (TechCrunch).
Why did Lensa AI work?
- A shareable result. Every avatar pack produced images people wanted to post, which advertised the app (TechCrunch).
- An existing app ready to monetise. It had a paywall and in-app purchases in place: a $39.99 yearly plan after a trial, and avatar packs from $3.99 for 50 (TechCrunch).
- Timing. The viral run began around Thanksgiving 2022, before a wave of similar apps filled the charts in mid-December (TechCrunch).
What can indie builders learn from Lensa AI?
- Novelty can make money fast, but plan for the drop. Some users only wanted to see their own avatars once (TechCrunch).
- If a feature runs on an open model, assume copycats within weeks.
- Keep the app ready for the next spike. Appfigures noted Lensa "wasn't the first, last, or even best app for AI-generated avatars" but "it was there" (Appfigures).
What didn't work for Lensa AI, and what are the risks?
- Backlash. Artists objected that their work trained the models without consent, and people found it easy to produce NSFW images (TechCrunch).
- Copycats. The store was "immediately overly saturated" with similar avatar apps (TechCrunch).
- Paywall concerns. Appfigures called its trial-at-onboarding paywall something "others consider a dark pattern" (Appfigures).
- All revenue and download figures are third-party estimates (Appfigures, Sensor Tower, Apptopia), not company-reported.
Sources
Every link cited above, in order of first use.
- 1.TechCrunch (techcrunch.com)
- 2.Appfigures (appfigures.com)
- 3.Appfigures (appfigures.com)
- 4.TechCrunch (techcrunch.com)
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