🎙️ Listen to the Podcast Episode
Professional headshots have gone mainstream as AI, with the average studio session costing around $295 while AI tools deliver comparable results in about ten minutes. PFPMaker.AI is taking affordable, realistic AI photoshoots to every major country, including places like India and South Africa that the category usually overlooks.
A professional headshot in 2026 costs an average of about $295 and often takes two weeks to schedule, according to industry research. PFPMaker.AI, an AI profile picture maker, is betting that the next phase of this shift happens outside the United States, where a good photo has been just as hard to come by and far fewer tools have arrived to help.
The founder, Priyansh Kothari, built the product to solve his own problem. “I built PFPMaker.AI because photoshoots give me anxiety,” said Kothari. “I wanted a way to get good photos from home, and AI arrived at exactly the right moment.”
The category is no longer niche. The AI headshot and portrait market reached an estimated $420 million in 2025 and is on track for around $640 million by 2028, according to market research. Yet by some estimates roughly 85 percent of that demand still comes from the United States. PFPMaker.AI reports customers in every major market, with strong adoption in countries like India and South Africa, and keeps its pricing affordable so a studio-style photo is not a luxury.
“Most of this industry is built for the United States,” said Kothari. “We have customers in every major market, including places like India and South Africa that usually get ignored, and we keep the price low so a good photo is not a luxury.”
The AI headshot generator turns a handful of selfies into dozens of photos across professional, social, dating and special-occasion styles in about ten minutes. PFPMaker.AI has served more than 98,000 customers and holds a 4.9 out of 5 rating from over 7,200 reviews. Alongside the paid photoshoots it runs a set of free tools, including a free background remover and an image compressor, which is unusual in a category where most competitors gate every feature.
The company is also stepping into a real tension. After two years of AI headshots flooding social platforms, a backlash has grown against photos that look plastic or barely resemble the person. PFPMaker.AI argues the technology has moved past that. “People say AI photos look fake, but the models are good enough now that if you give them good source photos, the results look real,” said Kothari. “Most people cannot tell the difference anymore.”
By the numbers:
- AI headshots typically cost far less and are ready in about 10 to 30 minutes. (Source: industry pricing analyses, 2026)
- The AI headshot and portrait market reached an estimated $420 million in 2025. (Source: pfpmaker market research)
- Roughly 85 percent of AI headshot demand has come from the United States, leaving large markets underserved. (Source: pfpmaker market research)
- LinkedIn profiles with a professional photo get up to 21 times more views and 9 times more connection requests. (Source: LinkedIn)
Who is using it has shifted too. Industry data puts the median AI headshot user in their early forties, which points to managers and senior professionals who had put off updating a photo for years because booking a photographer felt like a hassle. PFPMaker.AI says the same convenience now pulls in job seekers updating their LinkedIn headshots, people generating AI dating photos for the apps, creators who want a matching avatar, and small teams that need a consistent look without flying everyone to one city.
Kothari expects the shift to keep accelerating. “In the next two to three years, AI photoshoots will simply be normal,” he said. “The models keep getting better, and soon we will move from photos to video shoots too.”
1111B S Governors Ave, #46347
Dover
Delaware
United States
+13073814560