InkFusion: Revenue, team and how it was built
InkFusion (AI tattoo design generator and virtual try-on app for iPhone and Android, United Kingdom): US$4.3K MRR, October 2026. Evidence grade A: disclosed by a company or a filing, or verified by a payment processor. Team: 2 designated members of the UK partnership that sells the app; the seller on the sale listing writes in the first person. Launched 12 February 2025; still running, revenue flat.Added 25 October 2026
- Outcome
- US$4.3K MRR, October 2026Revenue flat
- Evidence
- A disclosed by a company or a filing, or verified by a payment processor
- Launch
- 12 February 2025
- Status
- Still running
- Team
- 2 designated members of the UK partnership that sells the app; the seller on the sale listing writes in the first person
- Outside funding
- None reported; the seller states expenses of US$100 a month and no paid ads
- Group
- Photos and portraits
- Main channel
- Creators and short videos
InkFusion is an iPhone and Android app that generates tattoo designs from a text description or from a photo, and shows the design on a photo of the user's skin. This last feature is a virtual try-on, a picture of how something would look on you before you buy it. The images come from generative image models, AI models that draw a new picture from a text prompt or a reference picture; the company's terms say that prompts and photos go to fal.ai and OpenAI. The app is free to download, and most use sits behind a paywall, a screen that asks for a subscription before the result is shown: from US$4.99 a week or US$19.99 a year on the US App Store.
The app was released on 12 February 2025. It is sold by ASTRONIX LLP, a limited liability partnership (LLP), a UK company form whose owners are called members, registered in England and Wales on 14 October 2025 with two designated members. One of them, Nikita Barabash, matches the X handle @nikita_barabas that offers the app for sale on whatsthe.app, a marketplace for phone apps, at US$59,000. whatsthe.app reads the sales through an API key, a password that lets one program read another program's data, for RevenueCat, a service that records in-app subscription purchases. On 2 October 2026 it showed MRR, monthly recurring revenue, in which a yearly plan counts as one twelfth of its price, of US$4,269 from 600 active subscriptions, and US$3,909 of revenue in the last 28 days.
The revenue figures are grade A, because they come from the app's own subscription records, not from screenshots. On 25 February 2026 the same listing showed MRR of US$3,141, so the MRR rose by about 36% in seven months, while the revenue of the latest 28 days was 5.4% below the 28 days before. The API key expired after 2 October 2026, and the seller's own text still says "Around $2,500 MRR". The page also shows earlier companies that sold a preview before a purchase, or creative and photo tools, and failed.
How much revenue does InkFusion make?
Each row shows the evidence grade and the source numbers from the list at the end of this page. The grades are explained in How Aiolum verifies.
| Fact | Value | Grade | How we know | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly recurring revenue (MRR), 2 October 2026 | US$4,269 from 600 active subscriptions | A | whatsthe.app, read from the app's RevenueCat account through an API key, last updated 2 October 2026 at 03:01 UTC. The page says the API key expired after that date. MRR growth over 28 days: 0.2%. Calculated: US$7.12 of MRR per subscription. | [1] |
| Run rate from the October 2026 MRR | about US$51,228 a year | calc | Calculated: US$4,269 times 12. whatsthe.app shows the same figure as ARR. | [1] |
| Revenue in the 28 days to 2 October 2026 | US$3,909 | A | whatsthe.app, RevenueCat. Revenue growth over 28 days: -5.4%. Revenue is the money received, so a yearly plan counts in full on the day it is paid. The page data also gives 5,263 active users and 3,968 new customers in the period; no source defines these two terms. | [1] |
| The same listing, 25 February 2026 | MRR US$3,141 from 496 active subscriptions; US$3,400 of revenue in 28 days | A | Wayback Machine copy of the whatsthe.app listing, last updated 25 February 2026. MRR growth over 28 days: -1.5%; revenue growth: -6.8%. | [2] |
| Change from February to October 2026 | MRR up 35.9%, 28-day revenue up 15.0%, subscriptions up 21.0% | calc | Calculated from the two whatsthe.app readings. MRR per subscription rose from US$6.33 to US$7.12. Over the latest 28 days the MRR was flat and revenue fell 5.4%, so this page calls the trend flat. | [1, 2] |
| The seller's own revenue figure | "Around $2,500 MRR" | C | Seller's text on the listing, the same in February and October 2026. It is 58.6% of the verified MRR of October and 79.6% of February's. No source explains the difference; it may be an older figure or a figure after Apple's and Google's commission. | [1, 2] |
| Costs and marketing | "Only $100/month in expenses"; "No paid ads - all traffic is 100% free" | C | Seller's text. The seller says the traffic is "fully organic traffic from TikTok" and that the sale includes two TikTok accounts. whatsthe.app marks the marketing spend of US$100 a month as unverified. | [1] |
| Asking price | US$59,000 | C | Entered by the seller, the same on 25 February and 25 October 2026. whatsthe.app calls it 1.3 times revenue. Calculated: 1.15 times the October run rate of US$51,228. 265 buyers had viewed the listing and 2 inquiries were sent by 25 October 2026. | [1, 2] |
| Downloads | 10K+ on Google Play; 4.0K in the 28 days to 2 October 2026 on iOS and Android | B | Google Play shows the 10K+ band. The 28-day figure is from whatsthe.app. The company's studio site says 50k+ downloads for its apps (grade C). | [6, 1, 12] |
| Ratings, 25 October 2026 | 4.5 from 20 ratings on the US App Store; 2.9 from 89 reviews on Google Play | B | Apple's and Google's records. One Google Play review of July 2025 says the app is not AI; the developer replied that it uses AI to generate designs from the prompt, style and ratio. | [4, 6] |
| Age rating | 18+ on the App Store; Everyone on Google Play | B | The two stores rate the same app differently. The company's terms require users to be at least 16. | [4, 6, 11] |
| Company | ASTRONIX LLP, registered in England and Wales, incorporated 14 October 2025 | B | Companies House: active, two designated members, both appointed 14 October 2025, both with verified identity. First accounts to 31 March 2026 are due by 31 December 2026. The terms and privacy policy name the same company and number. | [7, 8, 10, 11] |
| Seller of record on the App Store | an individual in December 2025, ASTRONIX LLP in October 2026 | B | A Wayback copy of the App Store page from 4 December 2025 names as seller a person who is the second designated member of the LLP. The live page of 25 October 2026 names ASTRONIX LLP. Google Play names the developer as ASTRONIX APPS, run by ASTRONIX LLP. | [5, 4, 6, 8] |
| AI providers | fal.ai and OpenAI | C | Terms of use and privacy policy: prompts and uploaded photos are processed by "our AI partners, fal.ai and OpenAI". No source names the models. | [11, 10] |
| Time from release to the October 2026 figure | 20 months | calc | Calculated: February 2025 to October 2026. | [4, 1] |
How to read this table: a grade A value was read by whatsthe.app from the app's RevenueCat account through an API key. A grade B value is a record that Apple, Google or the UK company register (Companies House) shows. A grade C value was written by the seller or the company, on the sale listing, on its own site or in its terms. A "calc" value was computed on this page from the rows above it.
| Plan | Per month, billed yearly (US$) | Per month, billed monthly (US$) | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pro Weekly Access, lowest price | 21.62 | US$4.99 a week, all features | |
| Pro Weekly Access, other prices | 25.96 to 38.96 | US$5.99, US$6.99 and US$8.99 a week | |
| Pro Annual Access, lowest price | 1.67 | US$19.99 a year, all features | |
| Pro Annual Access, other prices | 2.33 to 3.33 | US$27.99, US$29.99 and US$39.99 a year |
The app is free to download, and generating, viewing and trying on most designs needs a subscription. Apple lists ten in-app purchases with names and prices; the names say weekly or annual, and no source says which users see which price. The per-month values are calculated: a weekly price times 52 divided by 12, a yearly price divided by 12. whatsthe.app shows the same prices. One Google Play review of 25 July 2026 complains that after the first design the app kept asking for an upgrade to see the image.
When did InkFusion launch, and how did it grow?
From release in February 2025 to a sale listing and a flat month in October 2026. Each entry carries its grade.
- 12 February 2025BVersion 1.0 on the App Store. whatsthe.app gives the same worldwide release date. [4, 1]
- March 2025CThe website is one page with the words "AI TATTOO GENERATOR" and links to the privacy policy and terms. [17]
- 28 May 2025BVersion 1.0.25: "Improved the quality of tattoo generations." Eleven more versions follow in 2025. [4]
- July 2025BA Google Play reviewer writes that the app is only an image library; the developer replies that it generates designs with AI. [6]
- 14 October 2025BASTRONIX LLP is registered in England and Wales with two designated members. [7, 8]
- 4 December 2025BThe App Store still names an individual, the second designated member, as the seller. [5]
- 25 February 2026AListed for sale on whatsthe.app at US$59,000. Verified MRR US$3,141 from 496 subscriptions. [2]
- 19 May 2026BVersion 2.0.0: better generation quality, new styles for men and women, design customization, better photo and on-body features, voice input for prompts. [4]
- 19 August 2026BVersion 2.1.0 adds German, French and Spanish. [4]
- 27 September 2026BVersion 2.2.0 adds an Edit mode and a smoother try-on, on both stores. [4, 6]
- 2 October 2026ALast RevenueCat reading: MRR US$4,269 from 600 subscriptions, US$3,909 of revenue in 28 days. The API key then expires. [1]
- 25 October 2026CStill offered for sale at US$59,000. The studio also sells a tattoo-meaning app, a couples question game and a recipe manager. [1, 13]
Why did InkFusion work?
Four causes, in the order they mattered. Each one is a reusable lesson.
A narrow need with a clear moment
People search for a tattoo app at one moment: before a permanent decision. The app answers three questions of that moment, what the design could be, how a personal photo could become one, and how it looks on the body, and it charges at the point where the user wants to see the result.
Rented models
The terms say that prompts and photos go to fal.ai and OpenAI. The company did not build or train an image model; its work is the app, the styles, the prompts and the try-on screen. That keeps the work small enough for a team of one or two people.
Unpaid short videos
The seller writes that all traffic comes from TikTok, from two accounts that are part of the sale, with no paid ads and about US$100 a month of expenses. Tattoo designs are visual and short videos show the before and after in seconds. No source shows the accounts or their figures.
Weekly and yearly subscriptions
The prices are US$4.99 to US$8.99 a week or US$19.99 to US$39.99 a year. The seller states that most annual subscriptions renew. The verified MRR per subscription rose from US$6.33 in February to US$7.12 in October 2026.
How it was built
These details come from the company's terms, privacy policy and site (grade C) and from the App Store and Google Play pages (grade B). [11, 10, 1, 4, 6]
- Image generation by fal.ai and OpenAI, according to the terms and the privacy policy; no source names the models.
- Three modes: a text prompt with a style, a photo turned into a design, and a try-on on an uploaded body photo with size, position and rotation.
- RevenueCat records the subscriptions; whatsthe.app reads the revenue from it through an API key. The privacy policy names Mixpanel for usage analytics.
- One app on both stores under the package name com.app.inkfusion. The iPhone app is 127.6 MB and needs iOS 15 or later.
- 23 versions in the App Store history from 12 February 2025 to 27 September 2026, with German, French and Spanish added in August 2026.
Tools named in the sources
Each one opens its page in the Tools tab, with every story that uses it.
Who tried this before InkFusion, and why did they fail?
Four companies in the Loot Drop database sold a preview before a purchase, or a creative or photo tool for consumers, and failed. The values below are from that database and are not independently verified.
Modsy
The promiseUpload photos of a room and see it in 3D with new furniture before buying.
Why it diedEach room needed hours of human designer time and paid social ads were expensive, so it never became profitable.
Try.com
The promiseTry clothes at home before you pay for them.
Why it diedHigh operating costs, few retailers willing to adopt it, and large stores with free returns already offered the same comfort.
Seerslab
The promiseAugmented reality effects for selfies and social posts.
Why it diedSnapchat already had AR filters built in, and no large social platform partnered with it.
FiftyThree
The promiseA digital sketchbook for the iPad with its own stylus.
Why it diedApple's own Pencil and stronger drawing apps took away what made it different.
The failed startups come from Loot Drop, a free database of dead startups, retold here in our own words. Loot Drop describes its entries as AI-assisted summaries of public sources, so these cards carry no evidence grade.
What changed
Modsy and Try.com sold the same thing as InkFusion, a way to see a result before committing, but each preview cost them real work: designer hours per room, or clothes shipped and returned. Seerslab and FiftyThree built creative tools and had to pay for their own technology, then lost when a large platform offered the same feature for free.
InkFusion's preview is drawn by models from fal.ai and OpenAI, with no human work for each design, and the companies that could copy it are the model providers, which sell to the app instead of competing with it. The risk that remains is the one Seerslab met: many other tattoo generator apps are listed next to it on the App Store, and the technology is open to all of them.
Can one person copy InkFusion now?
The format, yes. The niche, only with care.
A single-purpose app that wraps rented image models around one decision that people fear, with a try-on screen, a paywall and unpaid short videos, is a format that many small studios now repeat. The App Store shows at least five other AI tattoo generators next to InkFusion, so a copier needs a niche with fewer rivals or a better result than theirs.
Where it is still open: Other choices that people cannot undo easily, where a photo of themselves or their space is enough input and no large app serves the niche yet.
- 1Pick a permanent or expensive choice where people want to see the result first: tattoos, hair, rooms, gardens.
- 2Use a hosted image model through an API, and spend the work on styles, prompts and the screen that places the result on the user's own photo.
- 3Show a first result for free, then ask for a weekly or yearly subscription, and make the price visible early.
- 4Post the before and after as short videos from your own accounts, and connect RevenueCat to a verification site so that a buyer can check the figures.
What could go wrong for InkFusion?
The risks are the mirror image of the causes above.
One tracker, and the key has expired
All money figures come from whatsthe.app reading RevenueCat. The last reading is from 2 October 2026; the page says the API key expired after it. No second tracker, such as TrustMRR, has a profile of the app.
The seller's figure is lower than the verified one
The listing text says "Around $2,500 MRR" in both February and October 2026, while RevenueCat showed US$3,141 and then US$4,269. No source explains the gap.
Who built it is not stated
The company has two designated members. The seller is named only by the handle @nikita_barabas, which has 5 followers on whatsthe.app and matches one member's name. In December 2025 the App Store named the other member as seller. No source says who designed, coded or marketed the app.
Mixed reviews and a hard paywall
The Google Play rating is 2.9 from 89 reviews, against 4.5 from 20 ratings on the US App Store. One reviewer complains that the app keeps asking for an upgrade to see a design; another says it is not real AI, which the developer denies.
Different age ratings
The App Store rates the app 18+ and Google Play rates it Everyone, and the terms ask for users of at least 16. The app processes photos of users' bodies, which are sent to fal.ai and OpenAI.
Dependence on TikTok and on model providers
The seller names TikTok as the only source of users, and the designs come from two outside AI providers. A change in TikTok's reach or in the providers' prices changes the business, and the buyer receives the two TikTok accounts with the sale.
Sources
The grade next to each source is the best grade that the source can support. "Read in full" means that the text of the page was downloaded and the numbers were checked in it.
- A whatsthe.app listing: InkFusion, read 25 October 2026Read in full, including the data embedded in the page. The revenue, MRR, subscription and growth figures were read by whatsthe.app through RevenueCat, last updated 2 October 2026; the asking price, the seller's text, the marketing spend and the founder handle are entered by the seller (grade C). The site's robots.txt allows this path.
- A whatsthe.app listing: InkFusion, Wayback Machine copy of 26 February 2026Read in full, including the embedded data. RevenueCat figures last updated 25 February 2026, and the same seller text and asking price.
- C whatsthe.app founder page: @nikita_barabas, read 25 October 2026Read in full. Lists one app, InkFusion, with 600 subscriptions, and 5 followers.
- B InkFusion: AI Tattoo Generator on the US App Store, read 25 October 2026Read in full: description, in-app purchases, version history, privacy label, age rating, seller and ratings. Seller, dates, ratings and age rating are Apple's records; the description and prices are written by the company.
- B InkFusion on the US App Store, Wayback Machine copy of 4 December 2025Read the seller, copyright, age rating and in-app purchase sections, to see who sold the app before the LLP.
- B InkFusion: AI Tattoo Design on Google Play, read 25 October 2026Read in full: developer, downloads band, rating, content rating, update date, reviews and the developer's reply. The robots.txt allows /store/apps/details.
- B Companies House: ASTRONIX LLP (OC458462), company overviewRead in full. Source for the company form, status, incorporation date and filing dates. The site's robots.txt returns a 404 page, so no rule blocks it.
- B Companies House: ASTRONIX LLP, officersRead in full. Two LLP designated members, both appointed 14 October 2025. Only the member who is also the public seller is named on this page.
- C InkFusion home page, read 25 October 2026Read in full. Source for the three modes, the styles and the company named in the footer. The robots.txt has no rules for any agent.
- C InkFusion privacy policyRead in full. Source for the operating company, its registration, the AI providers and the analytics tool.
- C InkFusion terms of useRead in full. Source for the AI providers, the minimum age, the weekly and annual subscriptions and the governing law.
- C ASTRONIX LLP studio site, read 25 October 2026Read in full. The company's own description as a UK app studio and its download claim. The site's robots.txt returns a 404 page.
- B App Store developer page: ASTRONIX LLP, read 25 October 2026Read in full. Lists four apps: InkFusion, InkSense, WeDeep and TomPal. Read for the purpose check of the studio's other apps.
- B InkSense: Find Tattoo Meaning on the US App StoreRead the description, age rating (18+) and seller, for the purpose check: it explains the symbolism of a scanned tattoo.
- B WeDeep: Couple Deep Questions on the US App StoreRead the description, age rating (18+) and seller, for the purpose check: a question card game for couples.
- B TomPal: Recipe Manager on the US App StoreRead the description, age rating (16+) and seller, for the purpose check: a recipe saver and grocery list.
- C InkFusion home page, Wayback Machine copy of 20 March 2025Read in full. The first archived version of the site, one month after release.
- C Loot Drop database export, 1,749 failed startupsLocal export. AI-written summaries, not independently verified. Source for the failed predecessors.