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An AI-wrapper selfie editing app that hit $2M/mo on controversial before-and-after creatives plus Facebook paid acquisition
At its core it's just a wrapper around a handful of AI photo-editing APIs (fix the face, redirect the gaze, add a smile, remove clutter, upscale) — yet a controversial hook like "how to not look ugly" plus a flood of before-and-after creatives scaled paid acquisition to $2M/mo.
Fewer bars = easier, cheaper, or faster for an AI-assisted solo builder. Editorial judgments based on the case details.
[Video] Creator Steven Builds (who says he grew a quit-smoking app to $40K/mo) tears down Retake, an AI selfie editor, citing Sensor Tower data that puts it at roughly $2M/mo revenue and #15 in the Photo & Video category. The feature list is tiny: fix bad photos, redirect the gaze, change facial expression, retouch skin, remove objects, upscale quality, generate multiple variants — essentially a wrapper around AI APIs.
Everything points at one audience: women, and only women.
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Data credibility: Creator-relayed / unverified ⚠️ The figures come from a Sensor Tower estimate cited by Steven Builds, not an official disclosure. All revenue figures are founder-reported or estimated by the video creator — unaudited.
There is no onboarding to speak of. A before-and-after video plays behind a Start button, the button is tapped, and the paywall arrives with no questions asked - a soft one, with a faint close X, listing every feature an upgrade unlocks.
The engine is creative volume, not product. Facebook carries 480 active ads at once, all built to one template - a hard hook, before-and-after footage, a call to action - which means the format is frozen and only the hook and the face change.
The hard part of this model is that honest feedback is two weeks behind the spend. Installs and trial starts arrive the same day, but a weekly plan only tells the truth on day eight, when the first rebill either lands or does not, and again on day fifteen.
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