Companies

Photo AI

AI photo and video generator that trains models on users' own photos.

Generative AIPhotographyConsumer softwareBootstrapped

ActiveSource [4]Source [3]Last verified Oct 2, 2026

About Photo AI

Photo AI lets users upload photos of themselves, train an AI model of that person and generate realistic photos of them in any setting or pose. It also supports fully synthetic AI influencers, product videos and clothing try-on.Source [4]Source [2]

Levels described it as an evolution of AvatarAI.me, built after talks with fellow indie maker Danny Postma, and said it began as about 14,000 lines of raw PHP with jQuery.Source [2]Source [5]

He reported $61,808 a month from 1,872 paying customers in July 2023 and $161K a month at a September 2024 peak after his Lex Fridman interview, both self-reported. GPU costs for Photo AI and Interior AI were about $60K a month at that time, per Levels.Source [5]Source [6]

The homepage counter showed more than 30.8 million photos generated as of October 2026, and the product now includes video generation.Source [4]

What happened

Pieter Levels launched Photo AI in February 2023 after two months of building, as a photorealistic successor to his AvatarAI.me project. Users upload selfies to train a model of a person and then generate photo shoots and, later, videos. It became his largest product by revenue and is still operating.Source [2]Source [6]Source [4]

Timeline

  1. 2024-09Revenue roughly tripled after Levels appeared on the Lex Fridman Podcast, per Levels.Source [6]
  2. 2023-07Levels reported 1,872 paying customers and $61,808 monthly revenue.Source [5]
  3. 2023-06Added a clothing try-on mode aimed at online sellers.Source [7]
  4. 2023-02Launched as a photorealistic AI photo studio.Source [2]

Products and brands

  • AI photo shoots: Generates photos of a trained person model in chosen settings.Source [4]
  • AI video: Generates and edits videos starring trained models.Source [4]
  • Photo packs: Preset themes such as dating or Instagram photos.Source [4]
  • AI Avatars: Former AvatarAI.me product, now served at photoai.com/ai-avatars.Source [8]

How it makes money: Paid subscriptions for model training and generation credits.Source [4]Source [5]

Leadership

Pieter LevelsFounderSource [2]Source [3]Since 2023

Funding and financials

Revenue (self-reported, Jul 2023)
$61,808 per month from 1,872 paying customersSource [5]
Revenue (self-reported on X and levels.io, Sept 2024)
$161K per month at a one-day record snapshotSource [6]

People on Founded, and where they went next

1 person on record, connected to 7 other companies.

PersonHereAlso built
Pieter LevelsFounder2023 to nowfly.pieter.com2025 to nowActiveAvatar AI (AvatarAI.me)2022 to 2023MergedInterior AI2022 to nowActiveRebase2021 to 2024Shut downHoodmaps2017 to nowActiveRemote OK2015 to nowActiveNomads.com (formerly Nomad List)2014 to nowActive

Sources

  1. List of all my projects ever, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2026-09-23. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  2. My new project Photo AI a photorealistic AI photo studio, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2023-02-10. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  3. @levelsio (Pieter Levels) llms.txt, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2026-10-01. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  4. AI Video Generator & Image Generator by Photo AI, Photo AI. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  5. Photo AI is almost 14,000 lines of raw PHP making $61,808 per month, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2023-07-03. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  6. I hit a new $420,000/mo revenue record thanks to the Lex Fridman podcast, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2024-09-22. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  7. Photo AI adds try on mode for AI clothing models, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2023-06-14. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  8. avatarai.me (redirects to photoai.com/ai-avatars), Photo AI. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.

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