Best AI Headshot Apps in 2026: What Actually Works on Your Phone

You need a professional headshot but you don't want to book a photographer, drive to a studio, and spend an afternoon posing under lights. You want to open an app, upload some photos, and get results. Fair.

The market is flooded with "AI headshot apps." Some are genuine mobile apps, most are web tools that work on your phone's browser. The distinction matters less than you'd think. What matters is whether the output looks like a real professional photo or an obvious AI generation.

We tested the major options. Here's what's worth your time.

The Short Version

If you want the best results for the money, Narkis.ai produces the most photorealistic headshots at $29 for 200 photos. It runs in your browser (no app download needed) and works perfectly on mobile. If you want a native app experience specifically, Aragon and Eltima are the strongest options in the App Store.

Best AI Headshot Apps and Tools

Narkis.ai: Best Overall Value

Narkis.ai trains a personal AI model on your photos and generates professional headshots in any style you want. It's web-based, not a native app, but the upload and generation flow works seamlessly on mobile Safari and Chrome.

Price: $29 one-time for 200 photos Platform: Web (works on mobile browsers) Training time: About 3 minutes What you get: 200 photos across unlimited styles: corporate, creative, LinkedIn, casual, any background or outfit

The key differentiator: one payment, all styles, no subscription. Most competitors charge per "pack" or require monthly subscriptions. Narkis lets you generate corporate headshots, creative portraits, LinkedIn photos and everything in between from a single purchase.

The output quality is consistently photorealistic. Skin texture, lighting, and backgrounds look natural rather than processed. This is where most competitors fall short. They produce images that look "AI-clean" in a way that trained eyes recognize immediately.

Best for: Anyone who wants variety, quality, and value without downloading anything.

Aragon AI: Best Native App

Aragon has been in the AI headshot space since early on and offers a polished native iOS app alongside their web platform.

Price: From $29 for a basic pack Platform: iOS app + web Training time: About 60 minutes What you get: Varies by plan, typically 40-100 headshots

Aragon's app experience is smooth. Upload photos, pick a style, wait for results. The quality is solid for standard corporate headshots. Where it falls short compared to Narkis: less style variety, fewer photos per dollar, and slower training time (60 minutes vs 3 minutes).

Best for: People who strongly prefer a native App Store experience.

HeadshotPro: Best for Teams

HeadshotPro focuses on corporate teams that need consistent headshots across an entire organization.

Price: From $29 per person Platform: Web only Training time: About 2 hours What you get: ~40 headshots per person

The team features are where HeadshotPro earns its place. Matching backgrounds, consistent lighting style, bulk pricing for organizations. For individual use, the price-per-photo ratio is worse than Narkis or Aragon.

The quality is good but not exceptional. Results lean corporate-conservative, which is exactly what most team leads want. Don't expect creative versatility.

Best for: Companies ordering headshots for 10+ employees at once.

Eltima AI: Best Free Option

Eltima is a newer entrant with a native iOS app that offers free daily AI headshots.

Price: Free tier available, premium options for more Platform: iOS app Training time: Quick What you get: Limited free generations daily, more with premium

The free tier is genuinely usable for getting a sense of what AI headshots look like. The quality on free generations is acceptable but not on par with paid tools. Fine for testing, not for your actual LinkedIn profile.

Best for: Trying AI headshots before committing any money.

Remini: Best for Photo Enhancement

Remini is technically a photo enhancement app, not a headshot generator. But it shows up in every "AI headshot app" search, so it's worth addressing.

Price: Free with limits, premium from $9.99/month Platform: iOS and Android apps Training time: Instant (enhancement, not generation) What you get: Enhanced versions of existing photos

Remini takes your existing photos and enhances them: sharpening, improving lighting, smoothing skin. It doesn't create new photos from scratch. This is useful if you have a decent photo that needs polish, but it's fundamentally different from tools like Narkis that generate entirely new professional compositions.

The subscription model also adds up. At $9.99/month, you're paying more over a year than a single Narkis purchase that gives you 200 new photos.

Best for: Enhancing existing photos, not generating new ones.

Canva: Most Familiar Interface

Canva added AI portrait generation to its massive design platform. If you already use Canva, this is convenient. If you don't, there are better dedicated options.

Price: Free tier available, Canva Pro from $12.99/month Platform: iOS, Android, web Training time: Quick What you get: AI-generated portraits alongside Canva's design tools

The quality of Canva's AI portraits is middling. Results look more "AI-generated" than "photographed." The advantage is integration with Canva's design ecosystem. You can generate a headshot and immediately use it in a resume template, LinkedIn banner, or business card.

Best for: Canva users who want headshots integrated into their existing workflow.

Native App vs. Web: Does It Matter?

Most AI headshot "apps" are actually web tools. Even Aragon and HeadshotPro, which have app store listings, do most of the processing server-side. Your phone uploads photos to their cloud, the AI runs remotely, and results come back to your device.

This means using a web-based tool like Narkis.ai on your phone is nearly identical to using a native app. You open your browser, go to the site, upload photos from your camera roll, and get results. No download, no storage space used, no app updates.

The only real advantage of a native app: push notifications when your photos are ready. That's it.

If you're choosing between tools, choose based on output quality and pricing, not whether there's an icon on your home screen.

What Makes a Good AI Headshot?

No matter which tool you use, the output should meet these standards:

Natural skin texture. AI headshots that smooth skin to plastic perfection look obviously fake. Good tools preserve pores, subtle lines, and natural variation.

Realistic lighting. Professional photos have directional light that creates subtle shadows under the jaw, beside the nose, and around the eyes. Flat, shadowless lighting screams "AI."

Accurate features. The headshot should look like you, not an idealized version. Watch for tools that thin your face, enlarge your eyes, or change your skin tone.

Professional composition. Proper headshot framing (shoulders up, centered or slightly off-center, clean background) matters more than resolution.

For more on what professional headshots should look like, see our guide to professional headshot examples.

How to Get the Best Results from Any AI Headshot Tool

Your input photos are the biggest factor in output quality. Every tool depends on good input.

1. Upload 10-20 photos with variety: different angles, expressions, lighting conditions
2. Use recent photos that show how you actually look today
3. Include good lighting. Natural daylight is best, avoid harsh overhead fluorescents
4. Skip heavy filters. The AI needs to see your real face, not an Instagram filter
5. Mix close-ups and wider shots. This gives the AI more data about your face shape and proportions

For industry-specific guidance on what your headshot should communicate, check our guides on what to wear and how to pose.

The Bottom Line

The best AI headshot app is the one that produces photos you'd actually use. For most people, that's Narkis.ai. Not because it's a native app (it's not), but because it delivers the highest quality at the best price.

$29 for 200 photorealistic headshots in any style, with a 3-minute training time and no subscription. Updating your LinkedIn profile, applying for jobs, or need photos for your company website? Hard to beat.

Check what professional headshots typically cost from a photographer and the value proposition becomes obvious.