For anyone weighing up a generated headshot
AI headshot generators, compared in plain terms
A headshot generator takes your own photos and returns a set of portraits in the styles you pick. Generators differ in what they ask for, how close the results stay to you, and the terms attached.
Circled on the sheet: usage rights. A subject worth reading up on before you pay. The mark says nothing about any one generator.
Before you start
What a generator asks you for
Each thing you hand over changes what comes back, and some of it is hard to take back afterwards.
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Source photos
A batch of recent photos of you, often with rules about lighting, angles and who else is in the frame. Some generators work from a single selfie.
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Style choices
Backdrop, clothing and mood, picked from presets or described in words. The options decide whether a result suits a law firm or a startup team page.
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An account and a payment
Usually a sign-up, then a one-off price or a subscription. Some charge before you see a single result, so the refund terms matter before you upload anything.
Once the images arrive
How the results differ
Two generators given the same photos can return very different sets. These are the places to look.
Likeness
Whether the portrait still looks like you in person, around the eyes, the jaw and the hairline, where generated images tend to drift.
Skin and hair
Retouching can smooth skin until it looks waxy. Stray hair, glasses and teeth are where errors tend to show.
Clothing and background
Collars, lapels and ties can come out slightly wrong, and a backdrop can look pasted in behind you.
Consistency
Whether a set reads as the same person in every frame, and whether a whole team can be matched to one look.
Before you pay
A frame index of what to check
None of this shows up in a sample gallery. All of it is written down somewhere in the terms or on the pricing page.
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Who owns the images
Whether you can use the results commercially, and whether the company keeps any rights to them.
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What happens to your uploads
How long your photos are stored, whether they can train a model, and how to have them deleted.
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Refund terms
Whether a refund is still possible once images have been generated, the point when you can first judge them.
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Size and format
Output resolution and file type, and whether the sizes suit print as well as a profile picture.
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Edits and retries
Whether you can regenerate, retouch or change an outfit afterwards, and whether that costs extra.
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Team orders
Shared backdrops, central billing, and how staff submit their photos when a company wants one look.
Write-ups of individual generators are on the way.
Asked out loud
The questions it is organised around
- What professional headshot AI tools handle glasses and facial hair well?
- What headshot generator tools work from a handful of casual selfies?
- Is an AI professional headshot acceptable for a corporate team page?
- Which AI headshot generator produces results that pass as a real studio photo?
- How much does an AI headshot cost compared to booking a photographer?
- Are AI generated headshots okay to use on a company website?
- Can you recommend a professional headshot generator for a whole remote team at once?
- Which AI professional headshot generator offers different backgrounds and attire?
- Which AI headshot generator free plans give usable resolution?
- Is there a free AI headshot generator good enough for a professional profile picture?