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Remini
Remini: If you want AI photo enhancement and restoration with a similar subscription structure but without the Stable Diffusion avatar controversy
Lensa
AI photo editing and avatar generation app from Prisma Labs, known for its viral Magic Avatars feature
As of 1 September 2026, Lensa is free to use. A photo editing and AI portrait generation app that saw a major spike in downloads for its Magic Avatars feature, which generates stylised AI portraits from a set of user selfies using the Stable Diffusion model. Softwr lists it under Photography. Lensa is made by Prisma Labs, Inc., available on iOS, Android.
Overview
What Lensa does
Lensa combines standard photo retouching and enhancement tools with Magic Avatars, a feature that generates stylised AI portraits, including fantasy, anime and glamour-style renderings, from a set of roughly 10 to 20 user-submitted selfies processed through a version of the Stable Diffusion image generation model. The Magic Avatars feature drove a large surge in downloads and mainstream attention when it launched widely in late 2022. The documented controversy concerns training data and consent. Stable Diffusion, the underlying model Lensa built its avatar generation on, was trained on a large dataset of images scraped from the internet, including copyrighted artwork and photographs, without the direct consent of the original artists or subjects, a practice that drew criticism and complaints from artists who found their distinctive styles being replicated by the tool, and from some users who found the generated avatars sexualised images of themselves, including reports involving avatars generated from photos of minors, without the user requesting that style. Prisma Labs has stated user-submitted selfies used to generate avatars are deleted after processing and are not used to further train the underlying model, though independent verification of internal data handling from outside the company is inherently limited. Buyers are people wanting stylised AI avatars or general photo enhancement, and the trade-off is the same subscription mechanics as comparable apps, a short free trial that converts to a recurring paid charge unless cancelled, combined with the specific, documented concerns above about the training data underlying the model and the nature of some AI-generated outputs.
What people use it for
- Someone wanting to generate stylised AI avatars from their own selfies, understanding those selfies are uploaded for AI processing
- A user comfortable with the documented training-data provenance concerns around the underlying Stable Diffusion model choosing to proceed anyway
- Someone wanting general photo retouching tools separate from the avatar feature
- A user comfortable cancelling a free trial through phone app store settings before it converts to a paid charge
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Lensa.
- The underlying Stable Diffusion model was trained on images scraped from the internet, including copyrighted artwork, without direct consent from the original artists, and Lensa avatar outputs have been criticised for replicating identifiable artist styles without attribution or compensation.
- Users and journalists reported the Magic Avatars feature generating sexualised images from ordinary selfies, including reported cases involving photos of minors, without the user requesting that style, raising documented concerns about model behaviour and safeguards.
- Magic Avatars typically requires a separate one-time purchase on top of any Pro subscription, so the total cost of trying the feature is not covered by a single subscription fee alone.
- The free trial converts automatically into a paid recurring subscription unless cancelled beforehand, following the same pattern of complaints about unexpected charges seen across comparable apps in this category.
- Generating avatars requires uploading a set of personal selfies for AI processing; Prisma Labs states these are deleted after processing and not used for further model training, but this relies on the company's own stated policy rather than independently verifiable proof.
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Lensa
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
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Pricing
What Lensa costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Free
Free
- Very limited basic editing tools
- Trial access to Pro features for a short period
- Magic Avatars sold separately per pack in most cases
Lensa Pro
$35.99 /yr
- Access to enhancement and retouching tools
- Auto-renews annually unless cancelled before the trial or renewal date
- Magic Avatars typically purchased as a separate one-time pack fee on top
Capabilities
Features
Magic Avatars
AI-generated stylised portraits produced from a set of user-submitted selfies
Photo retouching
Standard skin, blemish and enhancement tools separate from avatar generation
Sky and background replacement
AI-based background editing tools
Portrait enhancement
Detail and clarity improvement applied to standard photos
Multiple avatar style packs
Themed style sets, such as fantasy or anime, selected before avatar generation
Selfie upload and processing
A required set of roughly 10 to 20 selfies uploaded for each avatar generation batch
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Is Lensa Magic Avatars feature the same as photo editing?
No, Magic Avatars is a separate AI portrait generation feature using the Stable Diffusion model, distinct from the app's standard photo retouching tools.
Did Lensa face criticism over its AI avatars?
Yes, documented criticism covered the underlying model training data being scraped without artist consent, and reports of the feature generating sexualised images from ordinary selfies without the user requesting that style.
What happens to my selfies after generating an avatar?
Prisma Labs states uploaded selfies are deleted after processing and not used to further train the underlying model, though this relies on the company's own disclosed policy.
Keep looking
Where to go from Lensa
- Lensa alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Lensa pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Lensa badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Photography softwareThe full category
- Best Photography softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Photography software for
Compare Lensa with
- Remini
- Picsart
- Facetune
- Adobe Photoshop
- VSCO
- Snapseed
- ACDSee
- Narrative Select
- RawTherapee
- Topaz Photo AI
- Corel PaintShop Pro
- digiKam
- NightCap
- Nik Collection
- PhotoDirector
- Pic-Time
- ShootProof
- Adobe Lightroom Mobile
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Lensa, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
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