FaceApp is an AI-powered mobile app which allows users to apply a number of transformative filters to uploaded pictures. Want to know what you would look like as a member of the opposite sex? Aged 40 years? Or without spots or wrinkles?
Launched in early 2017 by ex-Microsoft and ex-Yandex programmer Yaroslav Goncharov, it was one of the first AI-powered photo editor apps on the market. It spent its first year fighting through various controversies, which included offering “ethnicity filters” which changed a person’s skin tone and a “hot” transformation, which was accused of being racist for lightening the skin tone of black users.
Goncharov apologized both times, claiming with the “hot” functionality that it was the fault of biases in the neural network training. While some moved away from the app, it was still a few years ahead of the launch of AI photo editing apps such as Lensa AI, Dawn, Wonder, Voi and Meitu, and was the only thing on the market that provided this functionality.
Skip to 2019 and FaceApp was in the news again, but this time it was for its new viral “old” filter, which essentially added grey to any facial hair and added wrinkles. That alone sent the app rocketing up both app store rankings, with downloads increasing by over 2000 percent in July 2019.
That tapered off quite quickly, with downloads declining by 75 percent the month after and sticking to that level until June 2020, when it received another meaningful boost. This time, there was no new viral filter, but millions of people stuck in their homes not able to see friends, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
During the few years its been in operation, FaceApp has tried to make its filters more realistic. This appears to have worked, a 50-year old male biker fooled thousands of Twitter followers into believing he was a young woman, and there have been many other instances of people using FaceApp to appear as a different age or gender.
FaceApp has also beefed up its revenue generation over the past three years, by locking certain filters and functionality behind paywalls. This is similar to the business model Lensa AI and other photo editing apps employ, offering basic tweaks for free while keeping their more advanced services behind a paywall.
We have collected data and statistics on FaceApp. Read on below to find out more.
Key FaceApp Statistics
- FaceApp generated $80 million revenue in 2022, $30 million more than in 2021
- FaceApp had an estimated 33 million users who access the app at least once in 2022
- Over 350 million people have downloaded FaceApp since launch
FaceApp Overview
| Title 1 | Title 2 |
|---|---|
| Launch date | December 2016 |
| HQ | Limassol, Cyprus |
| People | Yaroslav Goncharov (founder, CEO), Juggs Ravalia (VP, USA Operations) |
| Business type | Private |
| Industry | Photo editing |
FaceApp revenue
FaceApp has generated over $200 million revenue since launch, and has continued to increase its revenue each year despite lower usage figures.
FaceApp annual revenue 2018 to 2022 ($mm)
| Year | Revenue ($mm) |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 10 |
| 2019 | 25 |
| 2020 | 25 |
| 2021 | 50 |
| 2022 | 80 |
Sources: AppMagic, Sensor Tower
FaceApp users
As FaceApp is a victim of its own viral success, usage can fluctuate a lot month to month. These values take into consideration anyone who has opened the app once in a year, so are likely to be much higher than the monthly average.
FaceApp users 2018 to 2022 (mm)
| Year | Users (mm) |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 14 |
| 2019 | 66 |
| 2020 | 85 |
| 2021 | 44 |
| 2022 | 33 |
Sources: AppMagic, Sensor Tower
FaceApp downloads
FaceApp has been downloaded over 350 million times since launch, with 2019 and 2020 being its best years for downloads.
FaceApp annual downloads 2018 to 2022 (mm)
| Year | Downloads (mm) |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 20 |
| 2019 | 90 |
| 2020 | 120 |
| 2021 | 75 |
| 2022 | 60 |
Sources: AppMagic, Sensor Tower
FaceApp FAQ
How many filters are available on FaceApp?
There are 21 filters available in FaceApp Basic and a further 28 available in its Pro version
