Aiolum Browse stories
All stories
iPhone app that edits photos from a text instruction with an AI image model · Spain (inferred: the seller is an S.L. company, the Spanish limited-company form; no register read)

Ploxto: Revenue, team and how it was built

Solo founderB2CPhoto editing

Ploxto (iPhone app that edits photos from a text instruction with an AI image model, Spain (inferred: the seller is an S.L. company, the Spanish limited-company form; no register read)): US$2.1K MRR, November 2026. Evidence grade A: disclosed by a company or a filing, or verified by a payment processor. Team: 1 founder named on TrustMRR (Manu); the seller is ADVANCORIUM S.L, whose App Store page lists 9 apps; headcount not published. Launched 23 December 2025; still running, revenue falling.Added 7 November 2026

Outcome
US$2.1K MRR, November 2026Revenue falling
Evidence
A disclosed by a company or a filing, or verified by a payment processor
Launch
23 December 2025
Status
Still running
Team
1 founder named on TrustMRR (Manu); the seller is ADVANCORIUM S.L, whose App Store page lists 9 apps; headcount not published
Outside funding
None reported
Main channel
Creators and short videos

Ploxto is an iPhone and iPad app for prompt-based photo editing: the user gives a photo and a sentence such as "add a dinosaur to the garden", and the app returns the changed photo. The work is done by an image model, a neural network trained to generate and change pictures, which the app calls through an API, an interface that lets one program use another over the internet. The founder's description, quoted on IdeaWave, says the app is built on "Nanobana", that is Nano Banana, Google's nickname for its model Gemini 2.5 Flash Image. The App Store listing sells it for creative edits and "realistic visual pranks".

The seller on the App Store is ADVANCORIUM S.L, a company that publishes eight other apps; TrustMRR and IdeaWave name the founder only as Manu. Version 1.0 appeared on 23 December 2025. Most of the 19 releases since then changed the onboarding screens, the pricing or the paywall, the screen that asks the user to pay. The founder connected the app's RevenueCat account, a service that runs in-app subscriptions and reads the App Store payment records, to TrustMRR. On 7 November 2026 TrustMRR showed MRR (monthly recurring revenue: one month of subscription income if all current subscriptions continue) of US$2,109 from 357 active subscriptions, and US$20,908 of revenue since launch.

The revenue figures are grade A: TrustMRR and IdeaWave read them from the payment records, not from the founder. The same records show a fall. Monthly revenue was US$3,729 in March 2026 and US$1,170 in October 2026, and the last 30 days brought US$1,149, about half of the MRR. The app has been listed for sale on TrustMRR since 23 June 2026, with an asking price of US$16,000 on 7 November 2026.

Ploxto: US$2.1K MRR, November 2026. iPhone app that edits photos from a text instruction with an AI image model, Spain (inferred: the seller is an S.L. company, the Spanish limited-company form; no register read), solo founder, evidence grade A.
The story in one card. Share it with the address of this page.
01

How much revenue does Ploxto 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.

An AI photo-editing app with US$2,109 of verified monthly recurring revenue and US$20,908 of verified revenue in its first 11 months, with monthly revenue down from its spring peak
FactValueGradeHow we knowSources
Monthly recurring revenue (MRR), 7 November 2026US$2,109 from 357 active subscriptionsATrustMRR profile, read from the app's RevenueCat account through an API key; revenue last synced 7 November 2026 at 15:45 UTC. MRR growth over the last 30 days: 0.0%. Calculated: US$5.91 of MRR per active subscription.[1]
Run rate from the November 2026 MRRabout US$25,308 a yearcalcCalculated: US$2,109 times 12. This is the headline figure on this page.[1]
MRR on 26 October 2026US$1,907AIdeaWave, "payment-verified via RevenueCat", last check 26 October 2026; its daily checks from 24 to 29 September 2026 show US$1.5K to US$1.7K. IdeaWave reads the same RevenueCat record, so it is a second reading, not an independent check. Calculated: the 7 November figure is 10.6% higher.[2]
Revenue in the last 30 days, to 7 November 2026US$1,149ATrustMRR, RevenueCat. Growth over 30 days: +6.0%. Calculated: 54.5% of the MRR. The profile does not explain why money received is about half of the MRR.[1]
Verified revenue by month, 2026February US$836; March US$3,729; April US$2,557; May US$2,936; June US$3,704; July US$2,751; August US$1,629; September US$1,313; October US$1,170ATrustMRR monthly revenue table. It starts in February 2026; November had US$280 by 7 November.[1]
Change from the spring to the autumnOctober 2026 revenue 68.6% below March 2026calcCalculated from the monthly table: the average of March to July is US$3,135.4 a month, the average of August to October US$1,370.7. October is 10.9% below September. This page therefore calls the trend falling, although the MRR rose from September to November.[1, 2]
Revenue since launch, 7 November 2026US$20,908ATrustMRR, all-time verified revenue, the same as the last 12 months. Calculated: the monthly table adds up to US$20,905; the difference is rounding.[1]
Profit margin, last 30 days80%CTrustMRR snapshot on the profile. The profile does not say how costs were measured or whether they were verified.[1]
Sale listingAsking price US$16,000; first listed 23 June 2026; 45 offers receivedCTrustMRR acquisition section, 7 November 2026. The seller sets the price. TrustMRR shows a revenue multiple of 1.2x; calculated: US$16,000 is 1.16 times twelve months of the last-30-day revenue.[1]
LaunchVersion 1.0 on 23 December 2025BApp Store version history. TrustMRR gives 3 January 2026 as the founded date. The latest version, 1.1.8, came out on 26 October 2026.[3, 1]
Seller and founderADVANCORIUM S.L; founder Manu (@manueleeal on X, 105 followers)CThe App Store names the seller (grade B). TrustMRR and IdeaWave name the founder by first name only. The developer page lists 9 apps by the same seller. No company register was read.[3, 4, 1, 2]
Model and traction claim"Ai Photo Editor App apified to Nanobana with more than 60M views on TikTok and +15K$ in revenue."CThe founder's undated description, quoted on IdeaWave. "Nanobana" means Nano Banana, Google's nickname for Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, which Google priced at US$0.039 per image on 26 August 2025. The 60 million views were not checked. TrustMRR lists TikTok as the marketing channel.[2, 5, 1]
App Store ratings, US storefront, 7 November 20264.5 out of 5 from 56 ratingsBApp Store page. Age rating 4+; "Contains User-Generated Content". Languages: English and Spanish.[3]
Time from launch to the November 2026 figure11 monthscalcCalculated: December 2025 to November 2026.[1, 3]

How to read this table: a grade A value was read by TrustMRR or IdeaWave from the app's RevenueCat account through an API key. A grade B value is a record that Apple or Google publishes. A grade C value was written by the founder or seller, or is a TrustMRR figure that its profile does not say it verified. A "calc" value was computed on this page.

Ploxto in-app purchases on the US App Store, read 7 November 2026 (grade B)
PlanPer month, billed yearly (US$)Per month, billed monthly (US$)Limit
Ploxto ProUS$6.99; period not shown
Plotox ProUS$9.99; listed four times; period not shown
Plotox ProUS$19.99; period not shown
Plotox ProUS$39.99; period not shown

The app is free to download and editing is paid. Apple lists seven in-app purchases by name and price only: six called "Plotox Pro" (Apple's spelling) and one called "Ploxto Pro". Apple does not show whether each one is a weekly plan, a yearly plan or a pack of credits, so the per-month columns are empty. The version notes say a credit system was added on 19 January 2026 and the monthly plan was changed to a weekly plan on 23 January 2026. TrustMRR describes the pricing model as "Free · In-App Purchases".

02

When did Ploxto launch, and how did it grow?

From an API release by Google to a paid iPhone app in four months, then a listing for sale six months later. Each entry carries its grade.

  1. 26 August 2025BGoogle releases Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, nicknamed nano-banana, through the Gemini API at US$0.039 per image. It can blend several photos and make targeted changes from a sentence. [5]
  2. 23 December 2025BPloxto version 1.0 appears on the App Store. The seller is ADVANCORIUM S.L. [3]
  3. 31 December 2025BVersion 1.0.2 adds A/B testing of the paywall: two versions of the payment screen shown to different users to see which sells more. [3]
  4. January 2026BA credit system is added on 19 January; the monthly plan is replaced by a weekly plan on 23 January. [3]
  5. 16 February 2026BUsers can attach more than one photo and mix them; the paywall is updated again. [3]
  6. March 2026AThe best month in TrustMRR's table: US$3,729 of verified revenue. Six releases in April change the onboarding. [1, 3]
  7. 23 June 2026CThe app is listed for sale on TrustMRR. [1]
  8. August to October 2026AMonthly revenue falls to US$1,629, US$1,313 and US$1,170. Video generation is added on 29 September and removed on 26 October. [1, 3]
  9. 26 October 2026AIdeaWave reads MRR of US$1,907 from the RevenueCat record. [2]
  10. 7 November 2026ATrustMRR shows MRR of US$2,109 from 357 active subscriptions, US$20,908 of revenue since launch, and an asking price of US$16,000. [1]
03

Why did Ploxto work?

Four causes, in the order they mattered. Each one is a reusable lesson.

01

A rented model

Google's model does the editing. The app sends the photo and the sentence, shows a preview and charges for the result. At Google's list price of US$0.039 per image, one dollar pays for about 25 images, and TrustMRR shows an 80% profit margin for the last 30 days (a figure the profile does not say it verified).

02

Work on the paywall, not the editor

Of the 19 releases in the version history, 12 change the onboarding, the paywall or the pricing: an A/B test of the paywall eight days after launch, a credit system, a switch from monthly to weekly billing, a new paywall in February and eight onboarding updates. Six releases mention the editing or video features.

03

Short videos as the channel

TrustMRR lists TikTok as the only marketing channel, and the founder's description claims more than 60 million TikTok views. A surprising edited photo is easy to show in a short video, and the listing calls the results "made to be shared".

04

Little upkeep

The seller wrote on the sale listing that he does not do anything and that the numbers had been the same for two months. That is the claim of a seller, and the monthly table shows revenue falling over the same period.

How it was built

These details come from the TrustMRR profile, the App Store page and the founder's description quoted on IdeaWave. The App Store items are grade B; the rest are grade C. [1, 3, 2, 5]

  • Native iPhone app in Swift and SwiftUI (TrustMRR tech stack). It also runs on iPad and on Macs with Apple chips, and needs iOS 17 or later. Size: 11.3 MB.
  • Image editing through an API, according to the founder's description, with Google's Nano Banana model (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image), which can blend several photos and edit from a sentence.
  • RevenueCat for subscriptions and in-app purchases; seven in-app purchases with prices from US$6.99 to US$39.99.
  • A credit system and a weekly plan since January 2026; A/B testing of the paywall since 31 December 2025, eight days after launch.
  • English and Spanish. Apple's privacy label lists payment information, email address, name, photos or videos and a user ID as data linked to the user. The privacy policy is a Notion page.
  • A video generator was added on 29 September 2026 and removed on 26 October 2026.

Tools named in the sources

Each one opens its page in the Tools tab, with every story that uses it.

04

Who tried this before Ploxto, and why did they fail?

Four companies in our database of failed startups sold quick photo or video edits made for sharing, and lost to bigger companies or to free tools. The values below are from that database and are not independently verified.

Died 2005 to 2012Burned US$3.5M

Picnik

The promise

Photo editing in the browser, with no software to install.

Why it died

Google bought it in 2010, moved its technology into Google+ and shut it down in 2012.

Competition
Died 2006 to 2009Burned US$20K

Snipshot

The promise

Quick photo edits in the browser.

Why it died

Larger editors such as Picnik and free tools offered the same features, and it did not add enough to stay ahead.

Competition
Died 2007 to 2010Burned US$20K

Splashup

The promise

Online photo editing with real-time collaboration.

Why it died

Built on Flash as browsers moved to HTML5, with no clear business model, while Adobe and mobile apps offered cheaper editing.

Product/Tech Failure
Died 2011 to 2014Burned US$30M

Viddy

The promise

Short videos with filters, made to be shared.

Why it died

Users tried it once and did not return; Instagram added video in June 2013 and took the use case.

Competition

The failed startups come from our database of 1,749 dead startups, retold here in our own words. Its entries are AI-assisted summaries of public sources, so these cards carry no evidence grade.

What changed

Picnik, Snipshot and Splashup had to build their own editing engines, and bigger companies built better ones or gave them away. Viddy made shareable clips and lost when Instagram added the same feature inside the app people already used. Ploxto faces the same risk in a sharper form: Google sells the model it uses to every developer, so a competitor can build the same app in weeks, and the App Store page itself recommends several similar apps.

What differs is the cost of starting. Ploxto did not build an editing engine; it pays per image for one of the strongest available, and sells through App Store subscriptions that RevenueCat manages. That is why one founder could release it four months after the model came out and reach US$2,109 of MRR in eleven months, according to TrustMRR. The same facts explain the falling monthly revenue: the product is easy to copy, and its demand depends on short videos that must keep working.

05

Can one person copy Ploxto now?

Yes, quickly, and so can everyone else.

Every part is available to one developer: an image model sold by the API, a SwiftUI app, RevenueCat for subscriptions and short videos for distribution. The hard part is keeping revenue up after the first months, when similar apps appear and the videos stop bringing users.

Where it is still open: Narrow uses of the same models that a general editor does not serve well: product photos for small sellers, room or garden changes, old-photo repair, and edits in languages that the big apps do not support.

  1. 1Pick one new model ability (here: editing a photo from a sentence) and build the simplest phone app around it.
  2. 2Put a paywall in front of the result and A/B test it from the first week.
  3. 3Show the results in short videos; a surprising before-and-after image is the advertisement.
  4. 4Watch monthly revenue, not only MRR, and plan for the drop when copies arrive.

What could go wrong for Ploxto?

The risks are the mirror image of the causes above.

Marketed for realistic pranks

The App Store listing sells "Realistic visual pranks" and "playful images that look real", made for "anywhere you want to surprise someone". Edited photos that look real can mislead the people who receive them. The listing does not mention faces or people, and it lists no face swap, body editing or attractiveness feature. Google says every image made or edited with Gemini 2.5 Flash Image carries an invisible SynthID watermark, but no source says whether Ploxto still uses that model. The age rating is 4+ and the app contains user-generated content. The TikTok videos could not be checked, because tiktok.com does not allow Claude agents.

Revenue is falling

Verified monthly revenue fell from US$3,729 in March 2026 to US$1,170 in October 2026. MRR rose from US$1.5K to US$1.7K in late September to US$2,109 on 7 November 2026, but the money received in the last 30 days, US$1,149, is about half of the MRR, and the profile does not explain the gap.

Depends on one model provider

According to the founder's description quoted on IdeaWave, the app is built on Google's Nano Banana model. Google sets the price per image (US$0.039 in August 2025) and the terms, and sells the same model to every competitor. A price rise, a change of terms or a better free tool from Google would hit the app directly.

Many similar apps

The App Store page recommends similar apps, among them Lumo: AI Video Photo Generator, Photogeniq and an app with an almost identical name, Ploxtos: AI Photo Editor ("Object Swap & Image Generator"); no source says who makes it. On this site, Boothie (US$141K verified revenue in 16 weeks, October 2026) and Lenz AI (US$8.9K verified revenue in one month, August 2026) are larger AI photo apps of the same kind.

For sale, with a seller's claim of no work

The app has been listed for sale since 23 June 2026, asking US$16,000 on 7 November 2026. The seller's message says "I literally don't do anything and numbers have been like this for 2 months now", and the profile text says revenue comes "without doing anything". These are statements to buyers, not promises to app users. The same seller publishes eight other apps (House Value AI, Cardly Couples, Nidit, Neurox, Memento, Gascan, Orvi and Sous); this page judges only Ploxto.

Little is known about the team

TrustMRR and IdeaWave name the founder by first name only. The seller is a company, ADVANCORIUM S.L; the country on this page is inferred from its legal form, and no company register was read. The headcount is not published.

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.

  1. A TrustMRR profile: Ploxto, read 7 November 2026
    Read the markdown profile in full. The revenue, MRR and subscription figures come from a RevenueCat API key (last synced 7 November 2026); the description, seller message and profit margin are founder-written or not marked as verified (grade C).
  2. A IdeaWave: Ploxto revenue, $1.9K MRR (payment-verified via RevenueCat), read 7 November 2026
    Read in full. Source for the MRR of US$1,907 on 26 October 2026, the daily checks from September, and the founder's description of the app. It reads the same RevenueCat record as TrustMRR.
  3. B App Store: Ploxto: AI Photo Editor, read 7 November 2026
    Read in full: description, version history, in-app purchases, ratings, age rating and privacy label. The description is written by the seller.
  4. B App Store: ADVANCORIUM S.L developer page, read 7 November 2026
    Read in full. Source for the seller's other apps.
  5. B Google for Developers blog, 26 August 2025: Introducing Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, our state-of-the-art image model
    Read in full. Source for the nickname nano-banana, the editing abilities, the price of US$0.039 per image and the SynthID watermark.
  6. C Database of failed startups, local export
    Local export. AI-written summaries, not independently verified. Source for the failed predecessors.

Run this company? Send corrections or a verified figure to aiolum@livyden.com

Back to all stories