AI Haircuts

7 best AI hairstyle try-on apps in 2026

Comparison·6 min read·Updated September 2026
A phone, comb and scissors laid out on a white surface

Search for a hairstyle try-on app and you will find dozens, ranging from genuinely useful to barely functional. They are hard to compare because the App Store screenshots all look equally convincing, and you usually cannot tell which is which until you have paid. Here is what actually separates them.

The six criteria that matter

  1. Does it keep your face? The single biggest failure mode. Weaker apps regenerate the whole image, and you end up looking at a stranger with a nice haircut. The result is worthless for making a decision. Check the output against your original photo: if your nose, eyes and jaw changed, the app failed.
  2. Can you see before and after together? A result on its own is hard to judge. Side by side, or with a slider, you can see what actually changed.
  3. Does it cover your hair type? Many apps are built and tested on straight hair. If your hair is curly, coily or very fine, test that before paying — this is where the quality gap is widest.
  4. Can you describe a style that is not in the list? Preset catalogues run out fast. Free-text input is the difference between a toy and a tool.
  5. What is the pricing model? Credits, subscription, or one-off. Subscriptions are poor value for something you will use across two or three afternoons, then not again for months. Credits suit the actual usage pattern better.
  6. What happens after you decide? Most apps stop at the image. That leaves you with the original problem: getting a real person to reproduce it.

The test to run firstWhichever app you try, run one photo through it and compare the output to the original at full size. If the face changed, nothing else about the app matters.

The main apps, side by side

These are the apps you will actually meet when you search the App Store for a hairstyle try-on. All of them are free to download — the difference is entirely in what happens after, so that is what the table compares.

AppWhat it leads withBest for
AI Haircuts (ours)Your own face with the cut, then the barbers near youDeciding on a cut and actually getting it
GlowifyHairstyles, colours, makeup and outfits in one editorBroad appearance experiments
Perfect Hairstyle and Hair CutA large catalogue of preset stylesBrowsing many options quickly
HairAppFast transformations plus colour analysisColour-led decisions
MoggrHaircuts framed around overall appearanceWhole-look changes
ReStyleSubtle changes that still look like youSmall, low-risk adjustments
HairifyHair, colour and makeup as a beauty studioBeauty experimentation

What stands out is how interchangeable the listings are. Nearly all of them promise the same thing in the same words, which is exactly why the six criteria above matter more than the marketing — and why the pricing model is worth checking before you install anything.

On free trialsThe most common complaint reported about apps in this category is a trial that ends after one or two generations, followed by a subscription prompt. Before committing, check whether an app charges by subscription or by credits — a subscription you forget to cancel costs far more than a one-off pack for a decision you make twice a year.

The categories you will run into

Beyond the individual names, it helps to recognise the three kinds of app on offer, because they behave differently.

General photo editors with a hair filter

Broad beauty apps that added hairstyles among many other tools. Usually strong on face preservation, weaker on hair realism, and often bundled into a subscription covering features you do not want.

Brand tools from hair companies

Free, well made, and built to sell a specific product range. Excellent for colour, narrow on cut, and the recommendations point where you would expect them to point.

Dedicated try-on apps

Apps that do one thing. Quality varies the most here — the best are the most useful tools in the category, and the worst are the ones that replace your face. This is where our own app sits.

Where AI Haircuts wins, and where it doesn't

We built this app, so treat this section accordingly — but there is no point publishing a comparison that only flatters us.

What it does well

  • It keeps your features. The result is your face with different hair, which is the only version of this that helps you decide.
  • Free-text styles. If "short textured crop with a curtain fringe" is not in the list, you type it.
  • It goes past the image. It shows barbers near you and sends the generated photo over in one tap. As far as we know, no other app in this category closes that loop, and it is the part that actually prevents a bad haircut.
  • Multiple profiles, so one purchase covers a household.

Where it loses

  • There is no free trial generation. You buy credits before seeing a single result on your own face. That is a real disadvantage against free apps, and the most common reason people bounce.
  • Photo quality decides everything. A dim, angled selfie gives a poor result. Apps with heavier face-reconstruction tolerate bad input better — at the cost of no longer looking like you.
  • Colour is not its strongest area. For a serious colour decision, the brand tools from hair companies are more specialised.
  • iPhone only. There is no Android version.

Honest summaryIf you mainly want to compare cuts on your own face and then actually get one, this app is built for exactly that. If you want to explore colour, or you want to try before paying anything, start elsewhere.

The thing no app does

None of them guarantee a salon result. Hair has a growth pattern, a density and a will of its own, and a simulation cannot account for a cowlick. What these apps genuinely solve is narrower and still valuable: turning a conversation you were going to have badly, in words, into one you can have with a picture.