AnimeMyPic
Your face, reimagined as anime — powered by AI.
Hey Indie Hackers 👋
I launched AnimeMyPic.com — an AI tool that transforms your photo into anime-style art (Ghibli, Naruto, Chainsaw Man, etc.). You upload a picture, choose a style, and get a custom anime version of yourself.
A few days ago, I had my biggest traffic spike yet — over 2,000 visitors in a single day from TikTok.
✅ Traffic was real.
❌ Conversions: basically zero.
What I’ve Got Set Up:
A clean landing page with examples
Style previews and community images
Simple pricing: users buy credit packs (e.g., $3 for 10 credits)
No signup required to browse
Transparent info about how the AI works
Optional signup for image generation + community features
What I’m Wondering:
Is the credit system confusing or vague?
Do people want a free preview (even watermarked)?
Is the value not clear enough in the first 10 seconds?
Is it a trust issue (not enough social proof/testimonials)?
Should I emphasize fun/challenges more than just "transform your image"?
I’d Love Your Thoughts:
If you've been through this early traction → no conversion phase, what helped you fix it?
What makes you more likely to buy or sign up when you hit a creative/AI site for the first time?
Thanks for reading — I really appreciate any insight! 🙏
AnimeMyPic.com
Hey Indie Hackers 👋
I recently launched AnimeMyPic — a platform that lets users turn their real-life photos into anime-style artwork using AI.
Think Studio Ghibli, Naruto, Chainsaw Man, etc. — users upload a pic, choose a style, and get an anime version of themselves.
What’s Going Well:
I’m getting a lot of traffic — mostly from Reddit, Product Hunt, Instagram, tiktok, and even some Google search.
There’s definitely curiosity — people are visiting and checking out the styles.
The Problem:
Very few are converting. Out of hundreds of daily visits, I’m getting very few sales.
How the Pricing Works:
Users buy credit packs (e.g. $1 = 10 credits)
Each image transformation costs a certain number of credits
Subscription is required
Visitors can browse styles without signing up, and only register if they want to generate
What I’ve Tried:
Clear before/after examples on the homepage
Clean UI and quick onboarding
A new community section where people can post, upvote, and download artwork
Social proof via Product Hunt & user submissions
Weekly new styles to keep things fresh
What I’m Wondering:
Is it unclear what users will get before they buy?
Do I need more testimonials or creator shoutouts?
Are users unsure of the value of “credits” vs. just paying per image?
Would building more community or profile features improve retention and conversions?
If you’ve built a visual/creative product, I’d love to hear:
What helped turn visitors into buyers?
What kind of trust-building strategies worked for you early on?
Any feedback or thoughts would mean a lot 🙏
Thanks in advance!
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I'm currently in the learning phase and looking for opportunities to strengthen my skills. If you have any tasks or need help with something, I'd be happy and eager to help you—for free. Helping you would give me valuable hands-on experience.
PleaseBest regards,
Mehtab -
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Hi.
The traffic you're getting already says a lot about how much curiosity and visual appeal it has.
Just a few thoughts that might help bridge the gap between traffic and conversions:
• The credit system might be adding a bit of confusion. People may not fully understand what they’re buying, or how far 10 credits will get them.
• Requiring a subscription might be too big of a step upfront. Maybe offering a one-time purchase or trial option could reduce friction.
• People might be curious but still unsure what they will get. Could help to highlight one or two clear "before → after" examples above the fold, with a stronger focus on individual styles.
• Making the value obvious in the first 10 seconds is huge, “upload your photo, pick your anime style, get this”, something that visually and instantly clicks.
And one thing I’ve also seen work well in situations like this is email. You’re getting a ton of visits, so even if a small percentage leaves their email for a free preview or early access to new styles, that’s your chance to re-engage people who weren’t ready to buy.
It also doesn’t have to be complicated:
• A welcome email with their preview + other cool transformations
• A follow-up showing trending styles
• Maybe a “style of the week” drop or even a fun leaderboard contest
Just a light way to build trust over time and keep them curious.
If you ever want to explore ideas like that, I’ve written email flows for creative tools like this and would be glad to chat and share a few directions that could work well for your setup.
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This is incredibly helpful, thank you so much for taking the time to break it down.
You're absolutely right about the credit system possibly being confusing. I realize now that the “value per credit” may not be immediately clear, and that's definitely something I can simplify.
Love the idea of putting strong before/after examples above the fold, especially tied to specific styles. That quick visual clarity could make a big difference in helping people “get it” within seconds.
Also, the email angle is spot on. I haven’t leaned into that yet, but you’ve convinced me it’s worth prioritizing. Even a basic flow like you described (preview + trending styles + style of the week) could re-engage a good chunk of visitors.
Would absolutely love to chat more if you're open to it, your experience shows. Thanks again! 🙌
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Glad you found it helpful!
I’m open to chat, feel free to reach out anytime. I'd be happy to share a few quick ideas or explore what kind of support might be a fit.
I can’t drop links here, but you can find my email and LinkedIn in my profile to get in touch easily.
All the best😊
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Others have made this point but I think it stands: maybe switch the credits system to just generations. describing how many images you can generate with a given plan probably says more than you can with a credit-based system.
Some additional advice I gave to the person building ghibliaigenerator.app was that they should add watermarks to a generous free plan. This way, your power users on the free plan are both giving you free advertising to their friends (who are probably a lot like them) and are more likely to convert to water-mark free generations if they are generating lots of images.
Consumer apps only work if you have a lot of users, so working hard to drive growth and virality is really the only way to compete. Thinking about features that differentiate your product and encourage people to invite their friends will pay off in the long run.Subsidizing early users to be evangelists by giving them mostly free and unlimited access is one way to do this. Your lifetime value is probably so low that ads are totally not worth the money unless acquiring 1 users through paid ads actually leads to 3 paid users since they invite 2 of their friends etc.
My final piece of advice would be to worry less about generations (since that's not a true differentiator), and worry more about the things that your power users care about. Maybe that's organizing their images, or doing bulk uploads, or mirroring all of the images in their icloud with anime style images - who knows! you just have to talk with them. These people should be easy to identify since they will you use the app 10x more than your average user. once you know what these people look like, you'll have identified your true ICP, and then the hunt for customer acquisition becomes more obvious.
Edit: one additional thought on your pricing.If you can afford to be less expensive earlier on, do it.
Even better: make your annual plans so discounted that it would be stupid not to choose it. Say your avg spend is like 3 months ($60) and then people usually churn because they use it less or something. if you make your annual plan $100 and people still fall off after 3 months of use, then you just increased your LTV by 80%. So pay attention to that.
You could also allow monthly credits to roll over for up to a year so they are not 'losing' any thing by not using it for a few months.
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Wow, this is one of the most insightful and actionable replies I’ve received so far. Thank you for taking the time to break it all down 🙏
You're totally right about the credit system, I’ve already been thinking about switching to a simpler “per image” model, and your point solidified that. It’s just more intuitive.
The watermark-on-free-plan idea is 🔥, especially when paired with a more generous free tier. I hadn’t fully considered how that could double as both free marketing and a subtle upsell path. Definitely going to test that.
Also love your thinking around LTV vs. annual pricing. I haven’t tried annual plans yet, but framing it that way (massive value vs. low risk of churn) makes a lot of sense.
Seriously, thanks again, this kind of feedback is so valuable. 🙌
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No worries. Happy to chat if you have any other questions. Twitter link is in my profile.
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what is the source of traffic ? Is it more display ads, display brings lot of traafic but majority of it bounce back with no action. Have you setup the events on the website, to see if the traffic is interacting with the page like - click buttons, watch video, or scrolling.
When I launched AnimeMyPic, I didn’t expect much.
It was a side project — something fun, visual, and personal. Upload your photo, choose an anime style (Ghibli, Naruto, Chainsaw Man…), and boom: you're the main character.
It wasn’t built to “solve a problem.”
It wasn’t targeting a niche market.
It was built out of curiosity and passion.
But then something happened:
People started using it.
Then sharing it.
Then paying for it.
Not just once — but enough to make me rethink what I had.
What I’ve Learned Along the Way:
Delight matters. People want to feel something — not just get something done.
"Non-serious" tools can become real products if you treat them seriously.
Community helps shape direction. User feedback led to features like leaderboards, public galleries, and weekly style drops.
The line between play and product is thinner than you think.
What I’m Working on Now:
Exploring API integration for other platforms (e.g. avatars for user profiles)
Adding new styles weekly to keep it fresh
Building light social features to make it more interactive and shareable
Slowly figuring out monetization without losing the magic
If you’re building something just for fun, don’t underestimate it.
Fun projects can become real products if they spark joy, build connection, or give people something to talk about.
And if you want to see what I’ve built:
👉 AnimeMyPic.com
Hey Indie Hackers 👋
I launched AnimeMyPic a little while ago — a tool that transforms real photos into anime-style portraits using AI. Think Studio Ghibli, Naruto, Chainsaw Man, and more.
At first, it picked up traction. A few sales came in, people posted their results, and I thought, “Okay, this might be something.”
Then… things slowed down.
No sales for days. Fewer visits. That early momentum? Gone.
But weirdly enough, I’m not discouraged.
What I’ve Built:
A growing set of anime & cartoon styles
A community gallery to view and upvote creations
A leaderboard to highlight top styles and fan-favorite images
Jujutsu Kaisen & Chainsaw Man styles (just added!)
Behind-the-scenes: starting to explore a B2B avatar API idea based on user interest
What I’m Thinking About:
How do I balance “fun side project” with “repeatable product”?
Should I double down on social content… or go API-first?
Are anime fans the end goal, or is this the start of something bigger in visual identity?
If you're building something creative, weird, or personal — I’d love to connect.
And if you're into anime or AI, feel free to check it out and let me know what you’d improve 👇
Thanks for reading — and shoutout to everyone here who keeps showing up even when the dashboard goes quiet 🙏
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This is such a solid share. Honestly, that “traction, then crickets” cycle is criminally underrated in founder journeys.
But I was thinking, instead of just showing off the AI-generated anime portraits as products, how about turning the whole platform into a story-driven experience? Make the project feel like a world, not just a tool.
So…
Don’t just let people generate a portrait.
Let them name their character.
Let them write a short backstory.
Let people upvote or follow their favorite characters (not just styles).
Create challenges like: “Create your anime villain alter ego” or “Anime you, but in the Chainsaw Man universe.”
All of that makes people emotionally invested. It becomes more like a community playground for creativity, not just “upload photo → get image → leave."
What do you think?
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I absolutely love this direction — and you're spot on. The idea of making it a creative world, not just a one-click tool, really resonates.
We’ve actually just launched a community section where users can share their anime-style creations, get upvotes, and explore what others are making. It’s still early, but the response has been great — and your suggestions about naming characters and writing backstories take it to the next level.
I’m definitely thinking now about adding themed challenges and deeper storytelling layers. This kind of engagement is exactly where I want to take it — thank you for the push! 🙌
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Glad you like it😊 I do this kind of creative strategy work with businesses who want to stand out without doing the usual boring stuff.
Im down to chat more if you ever want to bounce ideas or explore deeper angles — world-building like this has so much potential, especially when done right.
Good Luck ✨
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what is this problem?
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It’s not a tech issue — more about the emotional dip after launch. Sales slowed down, hype faded, and now it’s about staying consistent and improving even during quiet days.
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This hit home. I’m just launching something small myself, and already thinking about how to stay consistent when things inevitably slow down.
Thanks for the honesty — it’s motivating to see someone pushing through the quiet phase. Any routines or mindset shifts that help you keep showing up?
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That means a lot, really. Wishing you a great launch, and yeah, that quiet phase hits hard.
For me, what helps most is shifting from “viral or nothing” to “build one thing that adds value today.” Some days it’s a bug fix, other days a blog post or a small feature. It all stacks up.
Also: I treat any comment, visit, or like as proof that someone cares, even if it’s not a sale. That mindset shift keeps me motivated when numbers dip.
You’ve got this, keep showing up, even quietly. 💪
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It might sound strange but for some reason I can imagine where you can scale this...you can into the corporate world by helping out employees with their professional pics using AI-powered image generation. You can get into AI-powered video creation where perhaps users can upload their pictures, give context to what the video can look like, and BAM! You have an AI-generated video of yourself without even filming it. You can make tools that might help out YouTubers with their editing, maybe tools that edit your videos FOR YOU! Sounds unrealistic now, but could be a possibility in the future, you never know. Basically what I'm saying is...possibilities and opportunities are endless! 😉
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Not strange at all, honestly, I love the way you’re thinking! 🙌
That kind of creative leap is exactly what makes building in the AI space exciting. I’ve been so focused on the fun, expressive side (anime styles, art vibes), but you’re totally right, the core tech could evolve into way more practical and professional use cases.
AI-generated profile pics for teams, dynamic video intros for YouTubers, even full-on video generation from just prompts + photos… it all sounds futuristic now, but the pace of this space is wild. The “unrealistic” today could be tomorrow’s baseline.
Really appreciate this vision, it's the kind of perspective that makes me want to keep dreaming (and shipping)! Let’s see where it all goes 🚀✨
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This comment was deleted a year ago
Hey IH 👋
I launched AnimeMyPic — a fun tool that transforms photos into anime-style portraits using AI.
At first, the launch was exciting:
Got traffic from Product Hunt, Indie Hackers, and Instagram
Made a few real sales in the first week
Got great feedback and even some DMs from anime fans
But now… it’s quiet.
No new sales for a while. Engagement slowed down. I'm getting some visits, but not many people are converting.
What I’m wondering:
Was it just launch hype?
Am I attracting the wrong kind of traffic now?
Or do I need to rethink pricing, messaging, or flow?
I’ve recently added cool features like:
Public gallery + community upvotes
Leaderboards for styles and user creations
New anime styles (Jujutsu Kaisen + Chainsaw Man)
But I think it might be time to zoom out and listen more — and maybe pivot how I market or onboard new users.
If you’ve gone through this early excitement → quiet phase…
What helped you bring momentum back?
I’d love to hear how you approached this kind of dip.
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Great initiative with AnimeMyPic — post-launch slowdowns are common, but continuous iteration usually helps. I’ve had similar experiences when managing projects like 👉 krydsordfinder and found that refreshing content and tapping into niche communities helped regain momentum. Keep experimenting and listening to your users!
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Really appreciate that, and it’s super reassuring to hear you’ve been through the same! Post-launch dips can feel a bit discouraging, but like you said, staying in motion and listening closely seems to be the key. I’ll definitely take a page from your playbook and start leaning more into niche communities and content refreshes. Thanks for the encouragement 🙌
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Anime fan and copywriter here. Gotta say, it's a good product. Just upload and pick a style.
I'd say your pricing is the reason behind it. Have you thought of making it freemium with 1-2 max image-gen?-
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Thanks a lot, really appreciate that, especially coming from a fellow anime fan and copywriter!
And yes, totally hear you on the freemium model. We actually did test offering free credits, but it quickly became an issue, users were creating multiple accounts just to farm the free images. It started messing with the experience and made it hard to keep things sustainable.
Still exploring other ways to lower the entry barrier without attracting abuse. Definitely open to ideas!
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Invest in device fingerprinting .
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That’s a solid suggestion, device fingerprinting could definitely help curb abuse without blocking legit users. I’ll look into implementing something lightweight to track usage patterns more reliably. Thanks for the tip, exactly the kind of direction I needed! 🙌
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As someone who is a closet major anime fan, I support you. I have actually heard about your app on Reddit.
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That’s awesome to hear, thank you so much! 🙌
And wow, the fact that you heard about it on Reddit makes my day. love knowing it’s slowly reaching fellow anime fans in unexpected ways. Appreciate the support, truly! 🖤🍥
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well the traction that anime image's dipped and the competition is big.
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For sure, the hype dipped and the competition’s definitely tough. I’m leaning into quality and community to stand out. Still feels like there’s space if you keep it personal and consistent.
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if you don't mind me asking what's your tech stack ?
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Not at all, happy to share!
Right now the stack is pretty lightweight and designed to move fast:
Frontend: Next.js + Tailwind CSS
Backend/Auth/DB: Supabase
Image generation: OpenAI (for now), wrapped with custom prompt logic
Payments: Stripe
I went for a stack that’s serverless-friendly and easy to scale as I iterate. Let me know if you’re curious about any part in more detail!
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Hey, really relate to what you’re describing here — I went through the same “launch high → quiet dip” phase just recently.
I launched a dev-focused product called QuickStartCommerce — a full starter kit for building eCommerce projects with auth, Stripe checkout, and an admin dashboard. Got some solid interest and traffic early on (around 70+ hits from Indie Hackers), but conversions have been tricky.
What’s helped me lately is focusing on new distribution angles. Instead of relying just on launch platforms, I listed on marketplaces like Codester — it's slower traffic, but more targeted buyers who are actively browsing to purchase dev kits or templates.
Also, revisiting messaging has helped — just clarifying who exactly it’s for (in my case, solo devs and freelancers who want to skip the boilerplate and launch faster).
Appreciate you sharing your story — this dip is tough but also a great chance to tweak and experiment. You’ve clearly built something cool — rooting for your next spike of momentum 🔥
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Really appreciate this, it’s super encouraging to hear from someone going through the same dip. That launch hype → silence shift can really mess with your momentum and confidence, so it helps a lot to know I’m not alone in that.
Your approach makes total sense , I hadn’t thought about tapping into more niche marketplaces like Codester, but that actually sounds perfect for higher-intent traffic. And yes, messaging is probably my next big thing to revisit. I’m starting to realize that even with a visually fun product like mine, people still need clarity: who is this really for, and why should they care?
QuickStartCommerce sounds super useful, by the way, especially for indie devs who want to skip the boring scaffolding. I’ll check it out!
Thanks again for the thoughtful words. Rooting for your next wave of traction too 🔥 Let’s keep building.
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Thanks! let me know if you have any feedback for QuickStartCommerce.
Cheers!
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I think it was hype of Anime images but now its over, actually i have seen some hate towards the Anime images on X
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Yeah, I’ve noticed that too, there was definitely a big wave of hype around anime-style AI images, and like most trends, it’s cooled off a bit. And yeah, some of the backlash on X is real, especially around overuse, low-effort spam, or unclear use of original styles.
That said, I think there’s still a space for it if the quality is high, the experience is unique, and it’s not trying to just ride the trend. I’m trying to focus more on creating something that feels fun, personal, and intentional — not just viral.
Appreciate the honest take, it's a helpful reminder to stay focused on value, not just the hype cycle. 🙌
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Just saw your website, and it looks amazing. I'm working on my own messaging app myself (altough it's in dev phase), so I can relate to what you're going through. Unfortunately I do't have any advice for you since I'm looking for those myself 😂 But I do have a question for you though. Just out of curiosity, What you're doing is somewhat similar to ChatGPT's AI image generation. That animation style also got pretty viral on social media a couple days ago if I'm not wrong. So don't you think that is a competitor to you? A much stronger competitor? And how do you plan to tackle that competition against a bigger giant? (Just a question straight out of curiosity . Would appreciate your response!)
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Hahaha totally get you, we’re all figuring this out one step at a time 😅. Really appreciate you checking out the site! And yes, you’re right — tools like ChatGPT’s image generation (especially with that viral animation style recently) definitely overlap in some ways. They're big, powerful, and evolving fast.
But here’s how I see it:
ChatGPT and similar tools are general-purpose, they’re powerful but broad. You can get anime-style images with some prompting, but:
You need to know how to prompt
It often takes trial and error to get consistent results
It’s not really tailored to photos or personal identity
AnimeMyPic is ultra-focused, you upload your real photo, pick a style, and get a clean, recognizable anime version of yourself. It’s fast, no prompt required, and the output is polished and consistent. No learning curve.
So instead of competing directly with OpenAI or big platforms, I’m carving out a niche experience that’s super easy, personal, and fun — something you can’t quite replicate easily with a general AI model.
That said, if they ever offer a photo-to-anime API that nails it, I’ll have to keep innovating 😅
But for now, the focus is on building a distinct vibe and experience people enjoy and maybe even turning it into a community.Appreciate the question, and good luck with your messaging app! Would love to see it when it’s out 🙌
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Thanks man! I need all the best wishes 😁 One more question for you: Where do you see this AI image generation niche in the next 5 years? Do you think that the giants right now (OpenAI or Canva) would compete with eachother in this space or do you see that you'd need to modify the platform with times and pivot to something new?
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Haha, you’ve got this! And that’s a great question.
I think in 5 years, AI image generation will be everywhere, but it’ll shift from being the wow-factor to being the infrastructure behind a lot of creative tools. Giants like OpenAI, Adobe, and Canva will probably compete on flexibility, speed, and integration — but not necessarily on niche experiences.
That’s where I see the opportunity: building focused, emotional, and curated tools that deliver a specific vibe or identity (like turning your photo into something that feels like Ghibli, not just any cartoon).
So yeah. I do think the platform will need to adapt with time, maybe add more personalization, maybe lean into B2B/avatar APIs, or even lightweight storytelling tools. But I’d love to evolve it without losing the soul.
Appreciate the question — it’s fun to think big!
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I would consider creating stories using images created earlier.
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That’s a really cool suggestion. Appreciate the idea, definitely adding this to my content roadmap! 🙌 If you have any story concepts in mind, I’d love to hear them too.
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Looked at your site, the images look really cool. Personally, I could see myself creating a fun avatar from a personal photo, but that feels like something I might only do once or twice. Who is your target customer? Is there a market for AI stock photos, like there is for traditional stock photos?
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Thanks so much for checking it out — and great question!
You're totally right: for many people, it might be a fun one-time thing — a cool profile pic, a birthday surprise, or just curiosity. And honestly, that's the use case I leaned into at first. But now I’m starting to explore two types of users who go deeper: Fans + Creators who love anime and like collecting different styles of themselves (Ghibli, Naruto, Chainsaw Man, etc.). Some people have done 5+ transformations already — kind of like digital cosplay.
Still figuring it out, but your question hit right on the current direction. Appreciate you asking 🙏
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An interesting angle that comes to mind. I'm building ACEGI.io which at it's most basic form is a public profile for users. One of the biggest issues when onboarding new users is getting them to fill in the user bio and avatar. For one, people don't like to brag about themselves and two, they don't love pictures of themselves.
If you can offer some form of API connection that would allow a platform to upload an image and then return one of your generated images that the application can use as the person's avatar...you might have a repeatable revenue stream.
I also work with an educational publisher, student avatars are always a big thing. Kids want to feel empowered to customize their experience; however, allowing them to upload a real picture of themselves can be problematic for PII regulations. If they upload a photo and get back an animated representation of themselves...that could work if guidelines were put on how realistic the image return could be. I assume you could set those guidelines in a prompt.
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This is really insightful, and exactly the kind of thinking that gets me excited about where AnimeMyPic could go.
An API integration to return an anime-style or stylized avatar from a photo is something I’ve had in the back of my mind — but this gives it much more practical grounding. Especially in:
Platforms like yours where personal branding is optional but encouraged
EdTech and youth-focused platforms where PII is sensitive but customization is highly valued
You're also totally right that I could set prompt parameters to dial back realism, e.g., making the output more cartoon-like or symbolic (vs. near-photorealistic) — while still preserving the essence of the user.
Would love to explore this API idea further — both in terms of tech and guidelines. Sounds like there's real potential for repeatable B2B usage here.
Appreciate you sharing this so thoughtfully 🙌
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You’re very welcome — it’s genuinely exciting to see how thoughtfully you’re approaching this space. AnimeMyPic clearly has legs, especially with your eye toward ethical design and flexible outputs.
If you end up exploring the B2B API angle, I’d love to stay in the loop. Also, when you get a minute, I’d encourage you to claim a free ACEGI profile — even just as a placeholder. You’re clearly headed toward thought leader territory, and it’s a great way to future-proof your inbox for when opportunities start rolling in: https://acegi.io
You can see my profile as an example: https://acegi.io/bclemenziLooking forward to seeing where this goes! 🙌
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Thank you so much , that genuinely means a lot 🙏
I’m trying to build AnimeMyPic with intention, not just as a fun tool, but as something that can grow with real creativity, ethics, and potential use cases (B2C and B2B).The API idea is definitely something I’m starting to explore more seriously, and I’ll absolutely keep you in the loop as it takes shape. I can already see the value in integrations like the one you mentioned earlier.
And thanks for the heads-up on ACEGI, just checked your profile, super clean and thoughtful. I appreciate the nudge, and your support along the way.
Excited to stay connected and see where both our journeys lead 🙌
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awesome
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Hey I own animeai.app . Do you wanna use my website, split revenue? I've got traffic (Google "anime ai") and it's #1 :)
I didn’t expect this.
I was just playing around with AI and anime styles one night (vibe coding + Ghibli music = magic), and thought:
“What if you could see yourself in a Studio Ghibli film or a Naruto episode?”
So I built AnimeMyPic — a simple tool that transforms your photo into anime or cartoon-style art in one click.
No prompts. Just instant transformation.
What happened next surprised me:
✅ People started paying
✅ Fans requested new anime styles
✅ A mini community started forming — sharing, upvoting, and saving their creations
So I leaned in…
🆕 New Features (Just Shipped):
❤️ Like your favorite styles + creations
🖼️ Explore a public anime gallery of user results
🏆 See what’s trending with a live style leaderboard
📥 One-click downloads of shared images
What I’m wondering now:
Would you share your result in a public feed?
Should I add free watermarked previews to boost conversions?
How far can something fun and creative go if I keep building in public?
This is now a real, revenue-generating product — built from a single “what if” moment.
If you’re into anime, creative tools, or indie product experiments…
👉 Check it out here
Happy to answer any questions, and always open to feedback 🙏
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Cool. I bet you never thought people would be so interested in trying it. Brilliant idea!
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Thanks so much, honestly, you're right! 😅
It started as a fun little side experiment, and I didn’t expect this many people to get excited about seeing themselves in anime. Super grateful for all the support definitely motivates me to keep improving it! 🙌
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This is awesome! Would love to see a jujutsukaisen-season3 . com imagine Culling Game lighting or cursed energy effects on our photos. I think a public feed + watermarked previews would work great. Fans would absolutely share their results.
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AnimeMyPic is an excellent tool for creating personalized anime-style avatars quickly and easily. It stands out for its user-friendly interface and high-quality output, making it suitable for anyone wanting to create an anime look without advanced design skills. Definitely worth trying if you want a fun and creative avatar.
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well what ends up working most of the time is the simplest idea's!
congrats!
Hey IH 👋
I launched AnimeMyPic a while ago as a fun side project — a tool that turns real photos into anime-style portraits using AI (think Ghibli, Naruto, One Piece, etc.).
Since then, I’ve been building steadily, and...
🎉 We’re finally making money.
It’s not life-changing yet, but seeing users actually pay to be part of something you created is such a surreal feeling. Especially when it's just you building, learning, and shipping week after week.
What’s New:
I added a community gallery where people can now share their generated anime images
Users can ❤️ upvote others’ creations and styles
There’s a new leaderboard for top creations & trending styles
You can now download shared images from the feed
These small social layers are turning it from a “cool one-time tool” into something more fun and sticky — and the feedback’s been great so far.
What’s Working:
Posts on Product Hunt and Indie Hackers brought in the most engaged users (more than social media).
People love seeing other creations — it's driving more interaction than I expected.
Monetization kicked in once I smoothed the UX and made pricing feel simpler.
🤔 What I’d love to learn from you:
If you’ve converted free users to paying ones — what really moved the needle? Design, pricing, copy, or something else?
As a solo founder, how do you balance building features vs. building community?
Now that users can share, upvote, and download creations — should I stay minimalist or go deeper with profiles, collections, badges?
I’d love to hear how others made the shift from “cool tool” to “sticky product.”
🙌 If you like what I’m building:
I’m live on Product Hunt now — an upvote or comment would mean a ton!
👉 https://www.producthunt.com/posts/animemypic-2
Thanks for reading and for all the support this community keeps giving 🙏
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How do you keep your business in law? When people make for them self Ghibli style photo, is one thing, but when you make it, you make like copyrighted content. Isn’t?
I just curious, and heard that especially about ghibli studio they was in one step go to the court with OpenAi
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That’s a totally fair concern , and I really appreciate you bringing it up.
To clarify: AnimeMyPic doesn’t use or copy any official copyrighted material, characters, or artwork. The styles are inspired by general visual aesthetics (like soft lighting, brush strokes, and color palettes that evoke Ghibli or other anime), but everything is generated from scratch using custom prompts and models — not by copying, scraping, or modifying actual scenes or assets from those studios.
It's kind of like how fan artists draw in the "Ghibli style" without using Ghibli's actual IP, it’s influence, not reproduction.
Also, we're always careful not to present anything as "official" or affiliated with any studio (Ghibli, Toei, etc.). We're fully open to adapting and evolving if legal standards around AI and style imitation shift.
That said. Studio Ghibli is famously protective of their brand, and I respect that deeply. If at any point a studio or rights holder reaches out, I’d be more than willing to adjust the offering accordingly.
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Hey Indie Hackers 👋
A few weeks ago, I launched AnimeMyPic — a tool that lets you turn real-life photos into anime-style or cartoon portraits using AI.
Think Studio Ghibli, Naruto, One Piece, or even retro cartoon vibes 🎨
It started as a fun project… now it’s slowly growing into a real product — and I’ve been learning a ton along the way.
🆕 What I’ve Added Recently:
❤️ Like your favorite styles
📊 See which styles are trending
📝 Leave reviews after using
🎨 New classic cartoon styles
📷 Improved UI + image preview flow
🏆 Coming Soon: Leaderboards!
I’m currently building:
A Style Leaderboard — to show which styles are most used and loved
A User Creations Leaderboard — to highlight the best/fan-favorite transformations (with permission)
The goal is to make it more interactive, visual, and community-driven.
Would you share your result to get featured?
📈 Where traffic is really coming from:
Despite posting on Instagram, Threads, and X, Indie Hackers and Product Hunt have brought the most engaged users so far — the ones who actually visit, explore, and give feedback.
🙏 Would love your advice on:
What’s helped you convert curious users into paying ones?
Would a free preview (with watermark) help or hurt in your opinion?
What other features would you expect from a visual/creative tool like this?
Check it out if you're curious:
🌐 https://animemypic.com
🚀 Live on Product Hunt too: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/animemypic-2
Thanks as always for the support 💛
Hey Indie Hackers 👋
I launched AnimeMyPic a few weeks ago — it's a tool that transforms your photo into anime or cartoon-style art using AI. Think: Ghibli, One Piece, Naruto, or even classic cartoon vibes.
I’ve been testing different platforms to get the word out: Instagram, X, Threads, etc.
The visual posts do well in terms of engagement, but to my surprise...
💡 The majority of my actual traffic came from Indie Hackers and Product Hunt.
This community, along with Product Hunt, drove the most curious and genuinely interested visitors — people who read, clicked, explored, and even shared feedback.
So thank you — this kind of maker-first support is something social media just doesn’t deliver in the same way.
📢 If you want to support, I’m live on Product Hunt now:
👉 https://www.producthunt.com/posts/animemypic-2
Would love a visit, a comment, or even just an upvote if you like the project 💛
🙏 I’d also love your feedback on:
How you convert curious traffic into action (signups or usage)
Whether you think I should add a free preview mode or smaller price entry point
What’s worked for you when growing a niche, visual product
Thanks again, and happy to return the support for your launches too!Here’s the site if you want to try it: 👉 animemypic.com
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Upvote on PH done ! Thanks for sharing your feedback !!
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I upvoted you on PH. Quick question - I noticed that you launched on PH 2 times - I thought you could launch only once. Are there any prerequisites for relaunching? Or anyone can relaunch their product?
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Nice work!
I didn't launch any product, but yes, I would add the preview mode.
And in my opinion, the landing page needs some improvements:
Transform now CTA should lead to the sign up page directly. At this moment it's two clicks away.
No header & footer on signup/sign-in page.
The Transform "tab" in the navbar (desktop) could be displayed only after logging in
You could put the pricing off text as a badge in the hero section or a banner on top of the header, so it could be seen on mobile too right when opening the page.
No idea how much those help with conversions, but they should be fixed. Was the landing page generated by AI?
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Absolutely, I hear you on the UI feedback and I’ll definitely work on improving it. And yep, the landing page was generated with a bit of help from AI. it’s been super useful for speeding things up and getting ideas out quickly!
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This sounds great. I'll support it..
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Wow, love this! You nailed the vibe and I totally agree, the community here really shows up in a way social doesn’t.
As for conversions — I’d personally love a preview mode! Even just seeing a watermarked sample could push people over the edge.
Hey Indie Hackers 👋
I’ve been working on [AnimeMyPic]animemypic.com — a web app that transforms real photos into high-quality anime and now also classic cartoon portraits using AI.
I started with styles like Ghibli, One Piece, Naruto, and just recently added retro cartoon looks (think Tom & Jerry, Looney Tunes vibes). You upload a photo, choose a style, and get a unique, fully generated image.
Here’s what’s been working:
Instagram gets solid engagement from anime fans
Visual content (before/after posts) gets the most clicks
Users love seeing what’s trending — so I added likes + usage stats to styles
What I’m trying to improve:
Conversion rate from visitors to paid users
Making the landing page clearer and more trust-building
Finding the sweet spot between free previews and spam-proofing
If you’re into anime, AI art, or visual storytelling — I’d love your thoughts:
What would make you try something like this?
Would a free trial image increase trust or reduce perceived quality?
What cartoon or anime style should I add next?
Thanks for reading 🙏
Here’s the site if you want to try it: 👉 animemypic.com
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Congrats! the the product and website looks great. I had some questions:
1. What do you think it is that sets you apart from your competitors? you might want to add that to your website.
2. What strategies are you thinking of employing to effectively reach and engage with your customers (i think anime and AI art enthusiasts), and build a community around your product?-
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Thank you so much. I really appreciate the kind words and thoughtful questions! 🙏
1. What sets me apart:
I think what makes AnimeMyPic different is the style-specific focus and personalization. Most tools just apply a generic “anime filter.” AnimeMyPic offers recognizable styles (like Ghibli, One Piece, Naruto, etc.) and focuses on keeping core facial features + emotion intact, so the result actually feels like you in an anime world, not a random filter.
That’s a great point, I’ll definitely make that clearer on the site. Thanks for the nudge!2. Community & Strategy:
Right now I’m focusing on:Visual storytelling on platforms like Instagram, Threads, and Reddit (before/after, “Guess who?” posts, Ghibli edits of classic movies, etc.)
Engaging with anime subcultures — not just fans, but the aesthetic/lifestyle side (Ghibli-core, fan artists, etc.)
Slowly building in social features (like favoriting styles, community style stats) to make users feel part of something, not just running a one-off transformation.
In the long term, I’d love to add things like:
A style leaderboard,
A “remix” feature where people can submit photos for public transformation,
And eventually, even creator-submitted styles.
Open to any suggestions if you’ve seen community growth work well in this space!
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Nice product
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It's honestly one of the best AI Image Generating tools I have ever seen, just amazing!
The Landing page, Styles and simplicity of navigating, all was done correctly.
But the pricing wasn't clear enough, for example: In first package you say 1$ instead of 3$, then you say Special Offer! Originally $3.00 again,
I would recommend removing that line
Then you will have more space to write 10 Creadits, instead of just 1010 alone confused me, it took me a while as a customer to understand the first pricing package.
I hope that might help a bunch with the conversion!
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Thank you so much for the thoughtful feedback — I really appreciate your help! 🙏
I’ll definitely take your pricing suggestion into account and work on improving it.
Thanks again for your support!
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Firstly -t his is awesome in theory. I love anime and I love AI. I cnsume a lot of it but am not in the culture (e.g., don't go to animecons, dont' write/read fanfiction, etc.). My baby does have a vegeta doll given as a gift by a friend though.
However, the problem with your product is that I consumers of anime who are not in the culture, aren't going to pay for it. I don't want to generate my own anime and storyline - I want someone else to do it for me so I can consume it. I don't want to write frieren, I want to read or watch it.
Hence, I thinkt he target demographic for your product is very very small - people who are deeply in teh culture and generate content (e.g., fanfiction, etc.)-
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Thanks so much for the thoughtful response
Totally hear where you’re coming from. Just to clarify though AnimeMyPic doesn’t generate anime or storylines. It’s not about creating original narratives or characters like a writer or animator would. Instead, it’s a simple, visual transformation tool — we take your photo and reimagine it in a specific anime style (like Ghibli, One Piece, etc.).
It’s really meant for casual fans too — people who love the look and feel of anime and want to see themselves in that world, even if they’re not deep into conventions, cosplay, or content creation.
Appreciate you taking the time to share your perspective — it helps us communicate the concept better 🙏
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Hi bro,
I just saw your website and I really like what you're building — congratulations on launching it!
I'm a technical writer and I help startups like yours clearly explain their product through simple and engaging documentation, landing page content, and user guides.
If you're interested, I’d love to help you write clear, professional content that makes your users understand and trust your product better.
Let me know if that sounds useful — I can share some examples of my work too.
Wishing you great success with AnimeMyPic
7 Comments
From a user perspective:
Chatgpt can do this now. So, people may not use this separately.
From a developer perspective:
Your website needs more work on the frontend. Some places are broken. I took some screenshots. Shoot me an email so I can share with you.
Thanks a lot for checking it out and for the honest feedback — really appreciate both perspectives!
You're right, the space is evolving fast, and ChatGPT’s image tools are definitely part of the landscape now. That said, we’re focusing on offering unique styles, a smoother user experience, and a fun creative community that goes beyond just generation.
And absolutely, I’d love to see the screenshots! Here's my email : animemypics@gmail.com — thanks again for taking the time to help improve it 🙏
I 100% feel you!! I think it's a right of passage experience for all entrepreneurs, you get a taste of what could be and then nothing...
Keep pushing past the hurdles, and keep grinding!!
Absolutely, it really does feel like a rite of passage! That early spark gives hope, but the real growth seems to come from showing up through the quiet phases. Appreciate the encouragement, keeping the grind alive! 💪🔥
This feature is in OpenAI so I think that's the main issue. It also isn't a business critical idea.
You forgot to answer yourself:
Who has a problem and need your tool to solve it?
How are they solving that already?
Why would they ditch that other tool and jump to yours?
These answers will give you paying customers. Sadly, not necessarily with this tool.
I believe these features are already available in most of open AI platforms, which can make the product redundant.