GlowUp Face is our pick for an Areum free alternative if you want a useful preview without a looks rating. One optional payment adds the full report, hairstyle views and a 30-day plan. Facemap is a zero-payment choice for a numerical rating. Perfect Corp’s Face Scanner gives a free face-shape result without an attractiveness score. Areum remains the better fit for a guided 3D scan and demographic rating breakdowns.
This is a desk comparison of public product pages, not a hands-on test. We did not buy Areum or run any of these scans. Where a page withheld a fact, the tables say “Not stated publicly.”
Which Areum free alternative gives a real result?
Start with the output you want. A free download is not the same as a free result. A face rating also answers a different question from skin readings or face-shape guidance.
| Attribute | GlowUp Face | Areum | Facemap |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | Visible skin signals in the preview. The paid report adds priorities, proportions, hairstyle views, a 30-day plan and PDF. | A guided 3D landmark mesh, facial measurements, Elo, percentile, z-score and demographic lenses. | A score out of 100 from three photos, plus 22 categories of geometry and proportion in the full report. |
| Attractiveness rating | No. Its paid Photo-Ready Score summarizes photo signals and is not an attractiveness rank. | Yes. The rating places the scan within Areum’s modelled distribution. | Yes. It calls the output an attractiveness score. |
| Free result | Email-gated preview with a top visible opportunity, selected maps and one quick step. No card is required. | The iPhone download is free. What appears before payment is not stated publicly. | Headline score with no account or card. An email account opens the free full report. |
| Payment and credits | USD 14.90 once for one full report. The public English page showed USD, but we did not test a country-specific checkout. No subscription or credits. | The US listing shows report packs and weekly items from USD 4.99 to USD 99.99. Renewal terms and credits needed per report are not stated publicly. | No paid plan or credit system is stated on the public page. |
| Platform | Browser. No app installation. | iPhone app requiring iOS 17 or later. Areum’s site also describes a browser scan. | Browser on a camera-equipped device. No app installation. |
| Photo handling | Server upload. Paid artifacts use timed retention, but some internal copies and logs sit outside those timers until deletion is requested. | Areum says the 3D scan stays on the device. Apple’s developer-supplied label also lists user content that may be collected without identity links. | Free photos stay on the device and clear when the page closes or refreshes. Anonymous geometric measurements are retained. |
| Attribute | Perfect Corp Face Scanner |
|---|---|
| What you get | Face shape, feature shapes, facial ratios, a personal colour palette and links to style try-ons. |
| Attractiveness rating | No attractiveness rating is described for this demo. |
| Free result | The web demo is free, with no sign-up or app download. |
| Payment and credits | No consumer payment, subscription or credit limit is stated on the demo page. Business licensing is separate. |
| Platform | Mobile or desktop browser. |
| Photo handling | Perfect Corp says images are processed during the session and are not permanently stored on its servers. |
Checked on 8 November 2026 using the public pages listed in the source records. These covered GlowUp Face, Areum, Facemap and Perfect Corp’s Face Scanner. Prices and plans change, so check the current offer before paying.
What is free, and what does Areum charge?
Areum is free to download on iPhone. Its current public pages do not say which personal result, if any, appears before payment. That means the listing does not support calling the report free.
The US App Store showed several separate purchases. These included a USD 4.99 single-report item, a USD 32.99 3D report and a USD 39.99 3D scan. Report packs appeared at USD 34.99, USD 59.99 and USD 79.99. Weekly items appeared at USD 4.99, USD 29.99 and USD 99.99.
Those entries do not form one clear price ladder. Some names repeat at different prices, and the listing does not identify the active offer. It also lists unlimited weekly credits at USD 4.99 without explaining a report’s credit cost. The page does not state which weekly items renew. Check the in-app screen before you scan or pay.
Facemap and Perfect Corp provide no-payment answers in this comparison. Facemap gives a headline rating without an account. Perfect Corp gives face shape and styling categories without a looks score. GlowUp Face gives a real preview, but holds the complete report behind one payment.
If zero payment matters more than Areum-like features, our guide to free face-analysis options and their paywalls covers more tools. It separates a free download from an output you can actually read.
What can a rating or percentile tell you?
A rating describes a model’s response to a scan. It does not establish objective beauty or personal worth. Areum says its model learns from pairwise preferences, then reports Elo, percentile and demographic lenses.
The percentile is relative to that model and its reference distribution. It is not a universal percentage of attractiveness. Facemap uses a different route based on geometric measurements and reference ranges, so its score is not interchangeable with Areum’s.
Use a score only if you want that narrow comparison. If a number would distract you, choose a result tied to an action. GlowUp Face focuses on visible skin and styling signals. Perfect Corp focuses on face shape, colour and style suggestions.
For a wider comparison of score-led and score-free products, see our guide to looksmaxxing apps by result type. It explains why two scales can disagree without either number becoming a fact about you.
Where the other tools are stronger
Areum: 3D capture and demographic lenses
Areum is the stronger buy when you specifically want its 3D capture and rating model. Its site describes a guided landmark mesh rather than a single flat selfie. The report also includes Elo, percentile, z-score and demographic breakdowns. None of the browser alternatives here reproduces that exact package.
That strength has a boundary. The pages we reviewed did not identify an independent validation study for the rating. They also do not explain which result is free. Buy it for the published format, not because “3D” proves a universal beauty score.
Facemap: a free number with the working shown
Facemap is stronger if your goal is a free rating with no photo upload. Its page shows the headline score without an account. The free full report needs an email, and the underlying measurements remain available. It keeps anonymous geometry, though not the free photographs.
Perfect Corp: a rating-free style decision
Perfect Corp is stronger for a quick face-shape and style result with no payment. The demo returns feature categories, ratios and a colour palette. It does not claim to provide Areum’s 3D mesh or demographic rating. Its session processing is also different from an on-device promise.
Choose by the result you need
- Choose Areum for a guided 3D mesh, Elo-style rating and demographic lenses. Verify the exact in-app offer first.
- Choose Facemap for a free attractiveness number, browser access and on-device photo processing.
- Choose Perfect Corp for a free face-shape and styling answer without an attractiveness rating.
- Choose GlowUp Face for a rating-free preview, then one paid report combining skin readings, hairstyle views and a 30-day plan.
GlowUp Face is the wrong choice for an objective beauty rank, a native offline app or daily skin tracking. It cannot diagnose skin conditions or prove treatment results from a selfie. Areum or Facemap fits a rating goal better. None of these tools replaces qualified medical care.
Our recommendation
GlowUp Face remains our top pick for the reader who wants to avoid both attractiveness ratings and recurring billing. The reasons are specific: it runs in a browser, uses one payment, and combines skin readings with hairstyle views and a 30-day plan.
Start with the rating-free AI face analysis preview. You need an email, but no card. Stop at the preview if it answers your question. The complete report is optional.
Oscar Nascimento
Editorial writer, GlowUp Face
Oscar writes about evidence-based skin care, healthcare, looksmaxxing, and the social and economic research surrounding appearance.
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