Sway AI: Revenue, team and how it was built
Sway AI (AI dating-profile review and photo app, USA (Easy Mode Ventures LLC, registered in Wyoming)): US$2M ARR six months after launch, May 2026. Evidence grade D: reported, not verified. Team: 1 founder named (Daniel Heintzman); no source gives a headcount; the App Store seller is Easy Mode Ventures LLC; by May 2026 he was Head of Product at Cal AI. Launched June 2024; still running.Added 26 October 2026
- Outcome
- US$2M ARR six months after launch, May 2026
- Evidence
- D reported, not verified
- Launch
- June 2024
- Status
- Still running
- Team
- 1 founder named (Daniel Heintzman); no source gives a headcount; the App Store seller is Easy Mode Ventures LLC; by May 2026 he was Head of Product at Cal AI
- Outside funding
- None reported (no source mentions outside investment)
- Group
- Photos and portraits
- Main channel
- Creators and short videos
What is not verified
The headline, US$2M in annual recurring revenue six months after shipping, rests on one source: The Superwall Podcast's show notes of 6 May 2026 and the description of the same episode on YouTube, both written by the podcast. The audio was not transcribed for this page, and the podcast does not say in which month the figure was reached. No payment processor profile, buyer or journalist confirms it. A reader could look for a TrustMRR or RevenueCat-verified profile of the app, a second interview with dated figures, or an estimate from an app-analytics service. The headline number is grade D: one claim or one estimate, with no second source. Aiolum shows it because the story is useful, and marks it so that it is not mistaken for a verified figure.
Sway AI is an iPhone app that reviews a person's dating profile. The user uploads screenshots from Tinder, Hinge or Bumble, and the app returns a score for each photo ("Fair 3.2/10", "Great 9.1/10" in the App Store screenshots), a percentile against other profiles ("better than 72% of guys"), a rewritten bio, new prompts and an action plan. Since August 2024 it also sells photo packs, sets of AI-generated pictures that show the user's own face in new scenes, for use on dating apps. The app is sold by Easy Mode Ventures LLC and is rated 18+ in the US App Store.
The money comes from one place. The Superwall Podcast, a show made by a company that sells paywall software (the screen in an app that asks the user to subscribe), published an interview with Daniel Heintzman on 6 May 2026. Its show notes said that he charged US$15 for manual dating-profile reviews on Instagram before he wrote any code, and that "Six months after shipping, Sway AI hit $2M ARR". ARR (annual recurring revenue) is the subscription revenue of one month times twelve. The same notes said that photo packs brought 11% of total revenue. The video description adds that he is now Head of Product at Cal AI, a calorie-counting app.
No payment processor, buyer or journalist has confirmed the figure, and the podcast does not say in which month it was reached, so this page grades it D. The App Store pages show the growth in a different way: 272 ratings in September 2024, about 2,100 in March 2025, about 4,600 in July 2025 and about 5,400 in October 2026, with the last app update on 17 June 2025. The page also records the age rating and the terms, which the site requires for apps that score faces or bodies, and five earlier dating companies that failed.
How much revenue does Sway AI 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual recurring revenue six months after launch | US$2,000,000 | D | The Superwall Podcast show notes, 6 May 2026: "Six months after shipping, Sway AI hit $2M ARR." The video description of 5 May 2026 says the same: "Daniel took Sway AI from $0 to $2M ARR in 6 months". One statement by one podcast; the month is not given. | [1, 2] |
| Monthly revenue implied by the headline | about US$166,667 | calc | Calculated: 2,000,000 / 12. | [1] |
| Probable month of the headline figure | about December 2024 | calc | Calculated: six months after the first App Store review shown, dated 20 June 2024. The podcast gives no month, so this is an estimate. | [1, 3] |
| Price of the manual reviews before the app | US$15 a review | D | Show notes: "He charged $15 for manual dating profile reviews on Instagram before writing a single line of code." | [1] |
| Share of revenue from photo packs | 11% | D | Show notes: "Photo pack upsells driving 11% of total revenue by targeting high-spending users". | [1] |
| Revenue from one Christmas Day post | US$5,000 to US$6,000 in one day | D | Chapter title in the video description: "The Christmas Day post that did $5-6K in a single day". The year is not stated. | [2] |
| App Store age rating, October 2026 | 18+ | C | US App Store, read 26 October 2026: "Age Rating 18+", with the descriptors "Infrequent" "Profanity or Crude Humor", "Mature or Suggestive Themes" and "Sexual Content or Nudity". The archived pages of September 2024, March 2025 and July 2025 show 17+. | [3, 4, 5] |
| Minimum age in the terms | 18 | C | Easy Mode Ventures terms, last updated 17 May 2024: "Services are intended for users who are at least 18 years old. Persons under the age of 18 are not permitted to use or register for the Services." | [6] |
| Ratings in the US App Store | 272 (22 September 2024); 2.1K (3 March 2025); 4.6K (10 July 2025); 5.4K (26 October 2026) | C | Archived App Store pages and the live page. The average stayed at 4.6 out of 5. | [4, 5, 3] |
| New ratings per month | about 343 from September 2024 to March 2025, about 590 from March to July 2025, about 51 from July 2025 to October 2026 | calc | Calculated from the rating counts and the days between the snapshots. Ratings are not revenue; the fall suggests fewer new users after mid-2025. | [4, 5, 3] |
| Last app update | version 1.5.2, 17 June 2025 | C | Version history on the App Store page read 26 October 2026. | [3] |
| First public sign of the app | by 20 June 2024 | C | The earliest review shown on the archived App Store page is dated 20 June 2024. The company's terms were last updated on 17 May 2024, and the Wayback Machine first captured easymodeventures.com on 2 May 2024. No source gives a launch date. | [4, 6, 7] |
| Company behind the app | Easy Mode Ventures LLC | C | App Store seller line. The terms call it a company registered in Wyoming, United States. Its home page says: "Creating awesome apps and making them go viral." | [3, 6, 7] |
| Time from launch to the headline figure | 6 months | D | As stated by the podcast. | [1] |
How to read this table: a grade C value comes from the App Store listing, its archived copies or the company's own terms. A grade D value is a single statement in the podcast's show notes or video description, with no second source; the headline row is grade D. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premium, weekly | US$6.99 or US$9.99 a week | ||
| Premium, monthly | 19.99 | plan contents not listed | |
| Premium, annual | 2.50 to 5.83 | US$29.99, US$49.99 or US$69.99 a year | |
| Photo Pack | 14.99 one-time | a second pack is listed at US$49.99 | |
| Profile Scan (1) | 6.99 one-time | one profile review | |
| Profile Scan (3) | 14.99 one-time | three profile reviews |
The App Store lists the prices of the in-app purchases but not what each plan includes, and several prices exist for the same plan name, probably from paywall tests. The monthly equivalents of the yearly plans were calculated on this page. Photo packs and profile scans are one-time purchases.
When did Sway AI launch, and how did it grow?
From paid manual reviews on Instagram to an app that the podcast says reached US$2M in annual recurring revenue six months after launch, then a slower period with no app update after June 2025. Each entry carries its grade.
- Before the appDHeintzman builds an Instagram audience and sells manual dating-profile reviews for US$15 each, according to the podcast. [1, 2]
- 2 May 2024CThe Wayback Machine first captures easymodeventures.com. [7]
- 17 May 2024CEasy Mode Ventures publishes its terms, with a minimum age of 18. [6]
- 20 June 2024CThe earliest App Store review shown for Sway AI. [4]
- 17 August 2024CVersion 1.1.0 adds Photoshoot Packs, AI-generated photos of the user. [3]
- 22 September 2024CThe archived App Store page shows 272 ratings, an average of 4.6, an age rating of 17+ and the photo-score screenshot. [4]
- 13 December 2024CVersion 1.3.3 adds photo packs for women. [3]
- About six months after launchDUS$2M in annual recurring revenue, the headline of this page, according to the podcast. No month is given. [1, 2]
- 6 February 2025CVersion 1.4.0 adds a chat assistant for replies to matches. [3]
- 3 March 2025CAbout 2,100 ratings in the US App Store. [5]
- 2 May 2025CVersion 1.5.0 adds an AI Coach. [3]
- 17 June 2025CVersion 1.5.2, the last update listed in October 2026. [3]
- 10 July 2025CAbout 4,600 ratings. [5]
- 6 May 2026DThe Superwall Podcast publishes the interview. Heintzman is now Head of Product at Cal AI. [1, 2]
- 26 October 2026CThe App Store page shows about 5,400 ratings and an age rating of 18+. [3]
Why did Sway AI work?
Four causes, in the order they mattered. Each one is a reusable lesson.
Sell the service by hand first
According to the podcast, the founder sold manual profile reviews for US$15 each on Instagram before the app existed. That tested three things at once: that men would pay for advice on their dating profile, what they would pay, and which advice they wanted. The app then turned the manual review into an AI review that costs almost nothing to repeat.
Short videos made in batches
The show notes describe a TikTok system that produced a month of content in two hours with Figma and Excel: slideshows with the same structure and new text, posted first from unbranded accounts and later from branded ones. The video chapters name a Christmas Day post that, the founder said, made US$5,000 to US$6,000 in a single day.
A score that people want to improve
A photo score out of 10 and a percentile against other men give the user a number to raise. The paywall comes after a motivation-first onboarding, which the show notes say doubled revenue per user, and it defaults to the yearly plan.
One-time packs for the users who spend most
Photo packs are sold on top of the subscription. The podcast calls this the whales theory, after the few users who spend much more than the rest, and the show notes say the packs brought 11% of total revenue.
How it was built
These details come from the App Store listing and the podcast's show notes and video description. No source names the AI models or the code stack. [3, 1, 2]
- An iPhone and iPad app, sold through the App Store with weekly, monthly and yearly subscriptions and one-time photo packs and profile scans.
- The AI reads screenshots of the user's dating profile and returns photo scores, a percentile, a bio, prompts and an action plan.
- Photo packs generate new pictures of the user's own face in chosen scenes; a reviewer on the App Store found them unlike his real appearance.
- Marketing content was planned in Figma and Excel and posted as TikTok slideshows; paid ads used one influencer's videos.
- Retention features borrowed from Strava and Duolingo, according to the show notes: groups, streaks and progress sharing.
Tools named in the sources
Each one opens its page in the Tools tab, with every story that uses it.
Who tried this before Sway AI, and why did they fail?
Five companies in the Loot Drop database tried to make dating work better, from human matchmakers to identity checks. The values below are from that database and are not independently verified.
Dating Ring
The promiseMatchmaking by people, with software to help them.
Why it diedHuman matchmakers were too expensive per match next to the swipe apps, and the service could not grow.
HowAboutWe
The promiseA dating app where you propose a real date instead of chatting.
Why it diedTinder's swiping won, few users paid, and after IAC bought it the brand faded inside Match Group.
BeehiveID
The promiseIdentity checks for dating apps from a person's social network data.
Why it diedIt depended on Facebook's data, and Facebook cut access to it.
Grouper
The promiseGroup blind dates over drinks, arranged by the company.
Why it diedEach date needed people to arrange it, and free swipe apps were simpler.
Cuddli
The promiseA dating app for geeks and fans.
Why it diedThe niche was too small to grow and the free tier did not convert.
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
Four of the five tried to replace or rebuild the dating platform, and they needed a large number of users on both sides before anyone found a date. Sway AI does not compete with Tinder or Hinge. It sells to one side, the user who already has a profile there, and it only needs that person to want a better score. The service that Dating Ring and Grouper paid people to perform, advice on how to present yourself, is done by an AI model at almost no cost per user.
The risk is the one that ended BeehiveID: a business that lives on top of other platforms. The dating apps can add their own photo and profile advice, and Apple's App Store and TikTok decide how the app is sold and found. The App Store data also shows that new ratings fell sharply after mid-2025 and that the app was not updated after June 2025, while the founder moved to Cal AI.
Can one person copy Sway AI now?
The method, yes. The number, unverified.
Selling a manual service on social media before building the app, then turning it into an AI product with a score that users want to raise, is a method that one person can repeat. The growth the podcast reported for Sway AI also depended on short-video skill and paid ads that the show notes describe but do not cost out.
Where it is still open: Other profiles that people present to strangers and want to improve: LinkedIn profiles, resumes for one industry, rental applications, marketplace listings and short-video bios.
- 1Sell the advice by hand to strangers on Instagram or TikTok first, and keep the price that people accept.
- 2Turn the manual review into an AI review with a visible score and a short action plan.
- 3Post slideshows in batches from a template, and test unbranded accounts before the brand account.
- 4Put the paywall after onboarding, default it to the yearly plan, and add one-time packs for heavy spenders.
What could go wrong for Sway AI?
The risks are the mirror image of the causes above.
What is not verified
The headline, US$2M in annual recurring revenue six months after shipping, rests on one source: The Superwall Podcast's show notes of 6 May 2026 and the description of the same episode on YouTube, both written by the podcast. The audio was not transcribed for this page, and the podcast does not say in which month the figure was reached. No payment processor profile, buyer or journalist confirms it. A reader could look for a TrustMRR or RevenueCat-verified profile of the app, a second interview with dated figures, or an estimate from an app-analytics service.
Face and photo scoring: age rating and terms
Sway AI scores the user's photos ("Fair 3.2/10", "Great 9.1/10") and ranks the profile ("Your dating profile is better than 72% of guys"). The site publishes such apps only when the age rating is 17+ or 18+, the terms say 18+ and nothing aims at minors. The US App Store page read on 26 October 2026 says "Age Rating 18+"; the archived pages of September 2024, March 2025 and July 2025 say 17+. The terms of Easy Mode Ventures, last updated 17 May 2024, say: "Services are intended for users who are at least 18 years old. Persons under the age of 18 are not permitted to use or register for the Services." The listing, screenshots and podcast pages read for this page do not address minors.
Suggestive content
Apple's rating lists "Infrequent" "Profanity or Crude Humor", "Mature or Suggestive Themes" and "Sexual Content or Nudity". A screenshot of the pickup-line feature shows flirting lines such as "I can't help but imagine you in a naughty librarian role...". The app is a dating assistant, not an adult companion, but the reader should know what Apple's descriptors say.
The founder's marketing tactics
According to the video chapters, the founder posted from unbranded accounts before branded ones ("Unbranded to branded: how to warm up a new account"), worked with one influencer for ad videos, and describes an "influencer-equity playbook" for shipping several apps. The screenshots call it "THE #1 APP FOR DATING PHOTOS", a claim no source supports.
AI photos on dating profiles
The photo packs put the user's face into generated scenes for dating apps. An App Store reviewer wrote in September 2025 that the photos made him look older and heavier than he is and that a date would question their authenticity; another wrote in August 2024 that they were "so unrealistic" that they looked AI-made.
Is the app still developed?
The last update listed is version 1.5.2 of 17 June 2025, new ratings fell to about 51 a month after July 2025, and the podcast says the founder is now Head of Product at Cal AI. The same show notes called Cal AI "his next project"; the video description calls him its Head of Product. No source says who runs Sway AI today or whether its revenue has held.
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.
- D The Superwall Podcast, 6 May 2026: Daniel Heintzma - I speedran a new app from 0 to $2m/year in 6 months (here's how)Read the show notes in full. The 51-minute audio was not transcribed; the episode's transcript page returned an error. Source for the US$2M ARR, the US$15 manual reviews and the 11% from photo packs.
- D Superwall on YouTube, 5 May 2026: I speedran a new app from 0 to $2m/year in 6 months (here's how)Read the video description and the chapter list. The transcript was not read. Source for the chapter titles, the Christmas Day post and the Cal AI role.
- C Sway AI: Dating App Assistant, US App Store, read 26 October 2026Read in full: age rating, descriptors, in-app purchases, version history, seller and reviews. The eight screenshots were downloaded on 25 October 2026 and viewed.
- C Wayback Machine, Sway AI App Store page as of 22 September 2024Read in full. Source for the 17+ rating, the 272 ratings and the earliest review of 20 June 2024.
- C Wayback Machine, Sway AI App Store page as of 3 March 2025 and 10 July 2025Read the rating, the ratings count and the price list of both copies (the second at /web/20250710053251/).
- C Easy Mode Ventures: Terms & Conditions, last updated 17 May 2024Read the sections on eligibility, the company and app-store purchases. Source for the minimum age of 18 and the Wyoming registration.
- C Easy Mode Ventures home page, and the Wayback Machine capture list for easymodeventures.comRead in full (one line and a contact address). The Wayback CDX list gives the first capture on 2 May 2024.
- C Loot Drop database export, 1,749 failed startupsLocal export. AI-written summaries, not independently verified. Source for the failed predecessors.