I have thousands of pictures on my phone, but none of them are LinkedIn-worthy. Selfies and group pictures might be a good way to remember a moment, but when it comes time to depict my best professional self, they’re a little too casual.
Enter artificial intelligence. The newest AI headshot generators promise workplace-ready photography with minimal effort, cobbled together from selfies you probably already have at hand.
But the space can be confusing to navigate, and it’s hard to tell which services really work, especially with more and more asking for money upfront — before you even see the pictures. I went digging through these services so you don’t have to.
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I looked into three different AI headshot generators to see which one worked best, ranging from a free service to two paid ones at different price points. For reference, here are some clips of selfies I uploaded to all three platforms.
While none of the AI generators exactly matched my likeness to different contexts, one came pretty close.
FastShot AI
This headshot generator produced the least recognizable image, but at least I didn’t have to pay for it.
FastShot AI asks the user to upload just one image on its website and spits out a headshot in seconds. The first two headshots are free. The problem is that the headshot looked nothing like me.
The AI generator has had less than 500 users and generated less than 2,500 headshots to date. It’s a free introduction to AI headshots but by no means the best.
When I checked out the privacy policy, I noticed the following line: “Images of free users are public, while the renders of users who buy a subscription are private.” Free users concerned about data privacy, beware.
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Momo
Momo is the most experimental AI headshot generator I tried. After creating an AI profile on the iOS app, I saw that I could ask for images across varied themes, like LinkedIn, tattoos, decades-related transformations, fashion, dream jobs, and travel. Under LinkedIn, I could individually opt for pictures in a suit, at an office, on a black background, on a white background, and more. Momo’s website states that its service is “preferred by millions.”
I asked for pictures in a suit and business pictures. These are two of the outputs Momo gave me:
I also asked for a 1940s decades transformation and this was one of six pictures Momo generated:
Before generating anything, I had to select a weekly or yearly plan priced at $6.99 per week or $39.99 per year. The service was not worth the money in my opinion because the images didn’t look enough like me to be worth it. They depicted alternate-universe Sherins that were fun to glimpse but didn’t pass the LinkedIn test.
Aragon AI
Aragon AI asked the most in-depth questions about hair and eye color, ethnicity, and age range before generating headshots. The service required a minimum of six selfies taken on different days, with no mirror or group pictures included in the mix. When I uploaded my images, Aragon AI told me which ones passed the quality control check and which ones needed to be replaced.
The starter package included 20 headshots with 5 outfits and backgrounds within an hour for $35. The basic package included 40 headshots and 25 outfits in 30 minutes for $45 and the premium package delivered 100 headshots with 50 outfits in 30 minutes for $79.
For reference, professional headshots usually cost between $300 and $700 in New York City for 30 minutes with a photographer and one look. Granted, those in-person options offer more versatility and a human touch with editing.
I opted for the starter package, and Aragon AI upgraded me for free to the premium plan. So after 30 minutes, I had 100 high-definition headshots waiting for me. Here are two:
This service came out on top because it noticed the little details, down to the shape of the glasses I wear. It’s not perfect, but it’s getting there the most. Aragon AI seems to have extensive practice generating images, with more than 15 million created.
The Winner
At the end of the day, Aragon AI worked the most magic with AI headshots, but its output isn’t LinkedIn profile picture status — yet. The pay-upfront model that Momo and Aragon AI adopted was offputting to me because the end results of both of these generators were unusable. The images didn’t justify the cost.
For a professional headshot, I’ll stick to human photographers for now.