# HairStudio

Aiolum story: https://aiolum.com/story/hairstudio/ · added 2026-11-12 · updated 2026-11-12

**In short.** HairStudio (AI hairstyle try-on app for iPhone, Netherlands): US$1.8K in verified revenue since release, October 2026. Evidence grade A: disclosed by a company or a filing, or verified by a payment processor. Team: Headcount not published; the App Store seller is one named person, Sven van der Zee, and TrustMRR lists one founder, "Sven". Launched 25 September 2025; still running, revenue falling.

AI hairstyle try-on app for iPhone · Netherlands · AI-native · solo founder · still running, revenue falling · group: Health and appearance

- Outcome: US$1.8K in verified revenue since release, October 2026 (evidence grade of the headline number: A; headline in US dollars: 1781)
- Launch: 25 September 2025; months from launch to the outcome: 12
- Team: Headcount not published; the App Store seller is one named person, Sven van der Zee, and TrustMRR lists one founder, "Sven"
- Outside funding: None disclosed
- Main factor: Niche
- Meters, 1 to 4: evidence strength 3, copyable pattern 2, capital needed 1
- Tags: AI-native, Solo founder, Bootstrapped, Running, B2C, Beauty

Links:

- Visit hairstudio.playstudioapps.com: https://hairstudio.playstudioapps.com/
- App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6752422676
- Verified revenue on TrustMRR: https://trustmrr.com/startup/hairstudio
- Verified revenue on whatsthe.app: https://www.whatsthe.app/hairstudio

**The product.** An iPhone app. The user picks a photo of themselves. Then the user chooses one of more than 200 hairstyles and colours, or uploads a photo of a hairstyle seen online. The app shows the result and lets the user share it with friends or a hairdresser. Free use is limited; a Pro plan unlocks all hairstyles and custom uploads.

**Why it worked.** It does one narrow job: it shows a haircut on the user's own photo before the salon cuts it. The App Store text offers more than 200 hairstyles, an upload of a style seen online, and a free trial. The revenue is small. TrustMRR counts US$1,781 in total, and the monthly figure peaked in June 2026.

Evidence grades: A = disclosed by a public company, a filing or a payment processor, or verified by one; B = two or more independent reports agree, or a journalist confirmed it; C = a founder claim that no one else verified; D = reported, not verified: one founder claim or a third-party estimate with no second source; E = no revenue figure found, so the headline is a non-money fact and the other facts carry their own grades; calc = computed on this page from graded facts.

## Summary

HairStudio is an iPhone app for virtual try-on, which means showing a person a picture of a change before it is made. The user selects a photo of themselves and picks a hairstyle or a hair colour. The App Store lists more than 200 styles and a way to upload a style from a photo found online. The app calls itself "HairStudio AI", but no downloaded page names the model or the provider behind it.

The App Store names the seller as Sven van der Zee, and the first version was released on 25 September 2025. TrustMRR, a service that reads revenue from a seller's payment account, counted US$1,781 in verified revenue in total up to 12 October 2026. The best month was June 2026 with US$427. September 2026 brought US$99.14, so the monthly figure has fallen since the summer.

The revenue figures are grade A: TrustMRR reads them from RevenueCat, a service that records an app's App Store subscriptions, through an API key. The team size, the company's start and the model behind the app are not published. The prices, the release date and the seller name are grade C, from the App Store and the app's own website.

## Why did HairStudio work?

### It shows one change on the user's own photo

The App Store text lists three steps. Select a photo of yourself, choose a hairstyle from more than 200 or upload one seen online, and look at the result. The user can share the picture with friends or a hairdresser. The app does one narrow job, and the store page names no other feature.

### A free trial leads to a paid Pro plan

The app is free to try. The App Store says that unlocking all hairstyles and custom uploads needs Pro, and the website adds that Pro removes the watermark. TrustMRR counts 18 active subscriptions on 12 October 2026.

### Revenue stayed small and fell after the June 2026 peak

Monthly verified revenue was US$427 in June 2026, US$170 in July, US$261 in August and US$99.14 in September. The App Store lists no version after 7 July. The founder lists app store optimization and Google Ads as marketing channels in a TrustMRR profile text, and no page gives a download count.

## How it was built

These details come from the TrustMRR profile, which lists them as founder-written text (grade C), and from the App Store page. No page names the model that makes the pictures.

- SwiftUI, Apple's interface framework, for the app. Python for the backend, as the profile lists them.
- RevenueCat for subscriptions. TrustMRR names it as the verified payment source, which makes it grade A.
- The App Store requires iOS 18.1 or later and the app is 10.2 MB.
- The privacy policy says that uploaded images are kept only for the duration of the calculation. It adds that third-party providers may do cloud storage and processing. It names no provider.
- Marketing channels listed in the profile: app store optimization and Google Ads. No source says which of them brought customers.

Sources: [1, 2, 4]

## Who tried this before HairStudio, and why did they fail?

Three companies in our database of failed startups sold hair, beauty or visualization services before photo models could do the work. The values below are from that database and are not independently verified.

The failed startups come from our database of dead startups, retold here in our own words; Its entries are AI-assisted summaries of public sources, so they carry no evidence grade.

### Hot Barber (2015 to 2019; funding US$2.5M; cause: Business model)

- Promise: A marketplace that connected hair stylists with clients through personal profiles and work portfolios.
- Why it died: The record says the business model could not capture the value it provided. It also says the platform could not reach critical mass in a geographically constrained market.
- Record: 

### StyleBee (2015 to 2018; funding US$1.0M; cause: Scaling)

- Promise: At-home hair styling, makeup and nails booked on demand.
- Why it died: The record says that coordinating beauty professionals with varying schedules and places was hard. It names high customer acquisition costs and the logistics of a distributed workforce.
- Record: 

### Modsy (2015 to 2022; funding US$72.7M; cause: Unit economics)

- Promise: Photos of a room turned into 3D renderings with furniture, so the buyer could see the result before buying.
- Why it died: The record says that each design needed 2 to 4 hours of professional designer time. It describes unit economics that lost money on every customer.
- Record: 

## What changed

Seeing a result before paying for it used to need people. Hot Barber and StyleBee sold access to stylists, and Modsy's designers spent 2 to 4 hours on each room, according to the failed-startup database records. The records give different causes. They name a weak business model for Hot Barber, logistics and acquisition costs for StyleBee, and designer hours for Modsy.

HairStudio sells the preview alone, on the user's own photo, with no stylist or designer in the loop. The seller is one named person, and the monthly revenue is small. No downloaded page says how many users the app has.

## Can one person copy HairStudio now?

**Verdict: Easy to copy, with a small and crowded market.**

A single-purpose try-on app is simple to describe and to list. The App Store page shows ten similar hairstyle apps under "You Might Also Like". The verified revenue of this app is US$1,781 in about 12.5 months. It shows that people pay a little, not that the model works at scale.

1. Pick one narrow job that a photo can show, such as a haircut, and put it in the store title.
2. Offer a free trial and sell the rest through a store subscription tracked by a service such as RevenueCat.
3. Connect the revenue to a verification service early, so the figures can be checked by others.
4. Release updates often, because the listed versions of this app stop on 7 July.

**What is still open.** A version for one group is still open. One example is a try-on for a certain hair type. Another is a tool for hairdressers who show the result to a client.

## How much revenue does HairStudio make? The numbers, graded

US$1,781 in verified revenue in about 12.5 months, read by TrustMRR from the seller's RevenueCat account, from an app made by one named seller

| Fact | Value | Grade | Note | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verified revenue, all time, to 12 October 2026 | US$1,781 | A | TrustMRR profile, copied from its cache of 12 October 2026. The live profile answered with an HTTP 500 error on 12 November 2026. | [1] |
| Verified revenue, last 30 days to 12 October 2026 | US$136 | A | TrustMRR also shows US$433 for the last three months and US$1,145 for the last six months. | [1] |
| Best month, June 2026 | US$427 | A | TrustMRR monthly timeline. The other full months run from US$48.86 in November 2025 to US$261 in August 2026. | [1] |
| Revenue, September 2026 | US$99.14 | A | October 2026 shows US$53.24 up to 12 October, the day of the last sync. | [1] |
| Monthly recurring revenue and subscriptions, 12 October 2026 | US$173 with 18 active subscriptions | A | Monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is the subscription revenue of one month. whatsthe.app shows US$184 and 19 subscriptions on 1 October 2026. It uses the same RevenueCat connection, so it is not an independent source. | [1, 3] |
| Gap between the all-time figure and the monthly rows | US$32.79 | calc | Calculated: 1,781 minus the sum of the twelve monthly rows (1,748.21). TrustMRR does not say where the difference comes from. | [1] |
| Release of version 1.0 | 25 September 2025 | C | App Store version history, written 09/25/2025. whatsthe.app gives the same worldwide release date. | [2, 3] |
| First month with revenue in the TrustMRR timeline | November 2025, US$48.86 | A | The timeline has no row for October 2025. | [1] |
| Seller | Sven van der Zee, an individual, Netherlands | C | The App Store lists him as developer and seller. The terms and the privacy policy give a Dutch contact address in the city of Leeuwarden. The App Store page names PlayStudio Apps as copyright holder. | [2, 4] |
| Older studio that holds the copyright | PlayStudio Apps, website online by 16 December 2019 | C | A Wayback Machine copy of playstudioapps.com of that date lists three Android apps, among them a sticker maker. The seller's earliest dated iPhone app found is GoBlue, version 1.0 of 27 November 2024. No page states when the studio started. HairStudio itself was released on 25 September 2025. | [5, 7] |
| App Store rating, US storefront | 3.6 from 9 ratings | C | whatsthe.app counts 11 ratings over three storefronts. The one visible review, from 22 July, says "Doesn't work". | [2, 3] |
| Outside funding | none disclosed | C | No downloaded page mentions funding. | [1, 2, 4] |

How to read this table: a grade A value was read by TrustMRR, or by whatsthe.app through the same connection, from the app's RevenueCat account. A grade C value is what the seller, its website or the App Store pages state. A "calc" value was computed on this page from the rows above it.

## Pricing

HairStudio in-app purchases on the US App Store and the app's website, October 2026 (grade C)

| Plan | Per month, billed yearly (US$) | Per month, billed monthly (US$) | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 | 0 | Free to try; some hairstyles locked; results carry a watermark |
| HairStudio Pro, first price |  |  | US$5.99; billing period not stated |
| HairStudio Pro, second price |  |  | US$34.99; billing period not stated |
| Pro Lifetime | 52.99 one-time |  | One purchase; Pro features |

The App Store lists three in-app purchases: HairStudio Pro at US$5.99, HairStudio Pro at US$34.99, and Pro Lifetime at US$52.99. No downloaded page states the billing period of the two Pro prices. The app's website says the app is free to get started with, and that Pro unlocks all hairstyles and removes the watermark. The App Store adds that Pro lets users upload custom hairstyles.

## When did HairStudio launch, and how did it grow? Timeline

From a studio website in 2019 and a release in September 2025, to a best month in June 2026 and a lower September. Each entry carries its grade.

- **16 December 2019** (grade C [7]): Earliest Wayback Machine copy of playstudioapps.com. It shows a site named PlayStudio Apps with three Android apps.
- **11 November 2024** (grade C [4]): Date printed on the terms and the privacy policy of the HairStudio website. The app itself was released ten months later.
- **27 November 2024** (grade C [5]): Version 1.0 of GoBlue, a Bluesky analytics app by the same seller, the earliest dated app found.
- **25 September 2025** (grade C [2, 3]): Version 1.0 of HairStudio appears on the App Store. Version 1.1 follows on 25 December 2025.
- **November 2025** (grade A [1]): First month in the TrustMRR timeline: US$48.86 in verified revenue.
- **June 2026** (grade A [1, 2]): Best month with US$427 in verified revenue. The App Store lists version 1.2 on 12 June without a year.
- **12 October 2026** (grade A [1]): TrustMRR shows US$1,781 in total, US$136 in 30 days, US$173 in monthly recurring revenue and 18 active subscriptions.

## What could go wrong for HairStudio?

- **A photo of someone else is allowed by the website.** The app's website FAQ says: "Select a photo of yourself or someone else and select the hairstyle or color you want to try." The App Store text says "select a photo of yourself", and offers sharing with friends or a hairdresser. The downloaded pages show hair and colour changes only, and no change of face, expression or pose. The terms ask users not to upload content that infringes rights, and they do not mention consent of other people.
- **The legal texts do not match the App Store or the product.** The terms say that photos are processed "to generate videos", name "MEMORIES" in the liability clause and keep the placeholder "[Jurisdiction]" for the governing law. The privacy policy says that "No personal data is collected or stored". The App Store privacy labels list the name, the email address, photos and videos and a user ID as data linked to the user. They also list usage data used for tracking. Both texts are dated 11 November 2024, before the app was released. On the website, the logo image carries the alternative text "DateGPT Logo". The download button there opens the App Store page of GoBlue, not of HairStudio. No downloaded page shows a product named Memories or DateGPT by this seller.
- **Small revenue and a quiet app.** The all-time figure of US$1,781 and the monthly peak of US$427 are small. The App Store lists version 1.5 as the last update on 7 July, and the one visible review says "Doesn't work". The 30-day MRR growth of +149.8% that TrustMRR shows is a percentage of a small base.
- **Other apps of the same seller.** The App Store lists two other apps by Sven van der Zee. GoBlue offers analytics for Bluesky. My Calorie Tracker AI scans food to count calories. The copyright holder, PlayStudio Apps, is older than these apps. A Wayback Machine copy of its website of 16 December 2019 lists three Android apps. No page states when the studio started or who worked in it. This page judges HairStudio alone. The App Store age rating is 4+. The privacy policy says the service is not intended for children under 13. No downloaded page aims the app at minors.

## Sources

1. TrustMRR profile of HairStudio, cached copy of 12 October 2026 — https://trustmrr.com/startup/hairstudio.md (grade A). Read the cached markdown profile in full (revenue last synced 12 October 2026). The live profile answered HTTP 500 on 12 November 2026. Revenue, monthly timeline, MRR and subscriptions are read from RevenueCat and are grade A. The description, tech stack and marketing channels are founder-written, grade C.
2. App Store page: HairStudio AI, Try Hairstyles, US storefront — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hairstudio-ai-try-hairstyles/id6752422676 (grade C). Read in full on 12 November 2026. Source for the description, the in-app purchase prices, the version history, the rating, the review, the age rating, the seller name and the privacy labels.
3. whatsthe.app page for HairStudio — https://www.whatsthe.app/hairstudio (grade A). Read in full on 12 November 2026. Figures "verified through RevenueCat", last updated 1 October 2026, from the same connection as TrustMRR. Also the release date and the ratings per storefront.
4. HairStudio website: home page, terms.txt and privacy.txt (hairstudio.playstudioapps.com) — https://hairstudio.playstudioapps.com/ (grade C). Read in full on 12 November 2026. Source for the FAQ, the Pro features, the legal texts dated 11 November 2024 and the contact details. The home page has no testimonial, no logo wall and no counter.
5. App Store page: GoBlue, analytics for Bluesky, by the same seller — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/goblue-analytics-for-bluesky/id6738623478 (grade C). Read in full on 12 November 2026. Source for the version history from 27 November 2024 and the seller name.
6. Database of failed startups, local export — /method/#dead (grade C). Record pages read on the website on 12 November 2026. AI-assisted summaries, not independently verified. Source for the failed predecessors.
7. Wayback Machine copy of playstudioapps.com, 16 December 2019 — https://web.archive.org/web/20191216081615/http://playstudioapps.com/ (grade C). Read in full on 12 November 2026. It is the earliest copy the Wayback Machine holds. The page is titled PlayStudio Apps and lists the Android apps Sticker Studio, My Inbox and Meme Studio.

Contact: aiolum@livyden.com. Run HairStudio? Send corrections or a verified figure to aiolum@livyden.com (subject: Correction: HairStudio).