The honest answer about free glow up apps is that one app rarely covers every job. Use Kera for free hair help, SoftMaxx for habits, and Skyyn for weekly skin tracking. Our pick is GlowUp Face for one paid report across skin, face and hair; its free preview needs your email. Skyyn beats it for ongoing free skin checks, while Kera beats it for hair help without an email.
What “free” means in this review
A free download proves little, so we counted only usable output and recorded the account gate, limit, paywall and current price.
This desk review covers public product pages and store listings; we did not upload photos, buy plans or inspect signed-in screens. “Not stated publicly” means the page did not answer that point, so we did not guess.
The four tools have different jobs: GlowUp Face combines face, skin and hair in one report. Skyyn tracks skin photos, Kera focuses on hair, and SoftMaxx tracks care habits. If cost is not your only filter, our broader app selection guide covers the wider choice.
Face and skin tools: free output versus the paywall
| Attribute | GlowUp Face | Skyyn |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | One mixed preview across visible skin, face proportions and hairstyle framing | Repeat skin-photo scoring and history |
| Free tier | Top visible opportunity, selected proof maps, one quick win and an illustrative preview | One completed scan every 7 days, overall score, history, trend, FaceMap and a share card |
| Email or account | Valid email required; no account or payment card | No account for the first score; later account requirements are not stated publicly on the pricing page |
| Rating or score | No attractiveness rating; the paid Photo-Ready Score summarizes visible signals | Free 0–100 skin score; four numeric sub-scores are paid |
| Paywall and price | Full maps, six hairstyle views, a 30-day plan and PDF: USD 14.90 once; country-specific checkout not tested | Unlimited scans, sub-scores, photo comparison and Coach: USD 49.99/year, USD 9.99/month or USD 5.99/week in the US |
| Platform | Browser; no app installation | iPhone and Android |
| What happens to the photo | Uploaded for server processing; private operations and storage copies may remain until deletion is requested | The pricing page says scans and history remain after Pro ends; other photo-handling details are not stated there |
Checked on 5 November 2026 on GlowUp Face’s home page and Skyyn’s pricing page. Prices and plans change, so check the current checkout; this was desk research, not a purchased or hands-on test.
Skyyn’s annual plan alone starts with a 7-day trial, while its monthly and weekly plans bill from day one. GlowUp Face has no subscription, but one payment buys one report rather than ongoing tracking.
Hair and habit tools: what stays free
| Attribute | Kera | SoftMaxx |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Hair test, care routine, hairstyle preview and hair check-ins | Recurring skin, hair, grooming and self-care habits |
| Free tier | Website guides, hair test and one try-on every 3 days; the app adds a hair profile, routine and check-ins | Five care items, five photos each month, one routine, reminders, records and 31 days of calendar history, with ads |
| Email or account | Website needs no account, email or card; the app has no separate account | Not stated publicly in the App Store listing |
| Rating or score | 0–100 cosmetic hair score; Kera says it is not a clinical measurement | No face or skin rating |
| Paywall and price | Premium adds unlimited try-ons, deeper analysis and full history; UK App Store: GBP 4.99/week, GBP 13.99/month or GBP 99.99/year | Pro adds unlimited items and photos, more routines, full history and no ads; GBP 5.99 once in the UK |
| Platform | Web, iPhone and Android | iPhone |
| What happens to the photo | Website try-on photos are deleted after rendering; the App Store privacy label says app photos may be linked to you | Progress photos stay on the device, according to the developer’s listing |
Checked on 5 November 2026 on Kera’s pricing page, its UK App Store listing and SoftMaxx’s UK App Store listing. Prices and plans change, so confirm the live store price; we did not activate either paid tier.
SoftMaxx offers one 7-day Pro trial without automatic charge, then returns to the free plan unless you buy Pro.
Where the other tools are stronger
Kera gives the clearest no-email hair route, with a hair test and one hairstyle render every 3 days. You do not need to start a subscription or create an account.
SoftMaxx is stronger for daily follow-through because five care items, one routine and reminders support a small grooming plan. Its progress photos stay on your iPhone, while GlowUp Face sends analysis photos to a server.
Skyyn is stronger for ongoing skin tracking because its free tier keeps history and allows one completed scan every 7 days. GlowUp Face sells one report per purchase and has no general daily skin timeline.
Illustrative example: a useful setup for no payment
Illustrative example: you want one haircut preview, weekly skin checks and five recurring care tasks. It models a decision and does not describe a real user test.
- Use Kera’s website for the hair test and one hairstyle try-on.
- Use Skyyn once each week for a skin score and history.
- Put five repeat tasks into SoftMaxx, such as sunscreen, cleansing, hair care, sleep and grooming.
- Use GlowUp Face only if you want one cross-category preview and accept its email gate.
Your upfront payment is GBP 0 if you remain inside those limits. The tradeoff is fragmentation: three or four services hold different data and apply different deletion rules.
A free score is still a photo estimate
Do not treat a selfie score as an objective change in your skin. Cronin and colleagues tested smartphone photos of colour standards representing diverse skin tones. Their 2023 Journal of Biophotonics study found that camera angle changed colour and lightness readings, while camera distance changed lightness.
The study tested colour cards, not faces or these four products, and it does not validate any app’s score. It shows why you should keep the phone, light, distance and head angle consistent. Our guide to the evidence behind photo-based skin analysis explains the wider limits.
The tools measure different things, so a Skyyn skin score cannot be converted into Kera’s hair score or GlowUp Face’s paid summary. None of those vendor-defined scores should guide medical diagnosis or treatment decisions.
Free options for men and women
For men
Choose by task, not gender label: Kera includes men’s hairstyle routes, while SoftMaxx lists haircut, beard, brow and skincare habits. Skyyn handles repeat skin checks, while GlowUp Face fits a one-off mixed report rather than a daily tracker.
For women
The same task split applies for women: Kera includes women’s hairstyle routes, while SoftMaxx tracks hair, skin, nails or appointments. Skyyn suits weekly history, while GlowUp Face suits a one-time view across skin, face and hairstyle framing.
What to pick, including when not to pick GlowUp Face
- Pick Kera when your question is about hair and you do not want to share an email.
- Pick SoftMaxx when consistency matters more than analysis and five free care items are enough.
- Pick Skyyn when you want repeated skin checks and accept a vendor-defined 0–100 score.
- Pick GlowUp Face when you want one combined skin, face and hair preview without a subscription.
Do not pick GlowUp Face for diagnosis, treatment decisions, attractiveness ranking, offline use or general daily skin tracking. Choose Skyyn for weekly skin history, SoftMaxx for repeat habit logs, or Kera for a no-email hair decision.
If a one-off mixed preview matches your task, you can open the free GlowUp Face preview. It needs a valid email, shows only selected signals and does not include the full paid report.
Our pick, if you want one report across skin, face and hair, is GlowUp Face: one payment, no subscription and no attractiveness rating. We sell it and this was a desk review, so this is our recommendation, not a test result.
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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