8 Best Photo to Japanese Anime Converters

Ever imagined what you would look like as an anime character?

Hiring an anime artist can cost hundreds of dollars, but luckily in 2023, there are many AI photo to anime apps that you can use for free or a fraction of the cost.

We’ve tested a dozen of them and here are the best photo to anime converters:

1. Anime Myself (Best Quality)

AnimeMyself is the gold standard when it comes to photo to anime converters. Using a custom, fine tuned AI model, their app produces the best quality anime art of all generators.

Female Example:

Male Example:

Selfie to Anime Examples:

AnimeMyself works by allowing users to upload a photo, which the app then transforms into five distinct anime variations.

This method offers a greater likelihood of producing quality artwork since even the most advanced AI algorithms can make errors.

Pros of AnimeMyself

• Produces top quality results
• Generates multiple variations of each image
• Unlike other companies, AnimeMyself doesn’t retain users’ photos; they are erased immediately after the art generation process.

Downsides of AnimeMyself

• Free package has a watermark
• 1 upload per day for free users

It currently costs $2.99 for a pack which allows 6 uploads, and 5 variations of each image (totalling 30 images).

If you’re looking for a high quality anime artwork for Dungeons and Dragons, a pfp (profile picture), a game or to share on social media – AnimeMyself will produce the best results, but at a cost.

2. TikTok Anime Filter

TikTok released an anime filter last year. Here’s an example of it:

As you can see, it’s capable of producing excellent anime art – for free!

However, there are a few drawbacks.

• Sometimes, the artwork looks nothing like the original photo, resulting in a character that doesn’t resemble the user at all.
• Additionally, using the filter necessitates having a TikTok account and granting TikTok access to your phone camera.

Here’s how to use TikTok’s anime filter:

1. Download and open TikTok on your phone
2. Press the “plus” button (+) in the buttom center.
3. Allow camera access.
4. Click Effects gallery on the left
5. Search “AI manga filter”
6. Hold the button for a few seconds to apply the effect.

3. Fotor’s AI Cartoonizer App

Fotor’s AI Cartoonizer App generates 3 different variations of an image you upload.

As you may have guessed from the name, it produces a mixture of “cartoon” style images and anime style.

The output is often very good:

The downside is you are only allowed one generation before you have to pay for “credits.” You get credits through their subscription which starts at $8.99 USD per month or $39.99 billed annually.

Fotor app is good for those looking for a high quality anime style that’s a bit more westernized.

4. Selfie2Anime

Selfie2Anime is a free service that requires email sign-up.

How it works:

You upload a selfie, enter your email address. Then Wait.

Once your image has finished processing, you’ll receive an email with your artwork.

The downside of this app is it often produces low quality images. Here’s the result I got:

Why would you use this app? The only reason I can think of is if you want an image that looks like a sketch. Otherwise, the next one is a much better selfie2anime alternative:

5. Genfty- Selfie2Anime Alternative

Genfty is an NFT generator that released their own selfie to anime app.

Here’s an example of the style their app produces:

The best part? It’s free! You don’t even need to email sign up!

The downside is there’s a QR code at the bottom of each image you generate, but overall this is the best free photo to anime generator.

6. StableDiffusion Img2Img – Automatic1111 WebUI

Another option is setting up Stable Diffusion on your computer.

This method is for those who are more tech-savvy.

You can set up Stable Diffusion much more easily using Automatic1111’s WebUI.

The advantage of this method is it’ll always be free for you. Many apps including the ones mentioned above use Stable Diffusion, but they charge a fee for it (because server costs can be expensive).

The downsides of this are it takes a while to set up and requires a good computer to run.

7. AnimeFilter

AnimeFilter produces anime art that looks like a painting. Here’s an example:

Pros of Anime Filter:

• All the processing is done on your device, so you never upload the photo.
• Has a unique style
• Completely free with no ads

Cons of Anime Filter:

• The painty-art style might not be what you’re looking for.
• Often produces weird looking faces

8. Meitu (Mobile App)

Meitu is a Chinese filter mobile app focused on enhancing beauty using AI. The app has exploded in popularity and gone viral on social media multiple times.

Pros of Meitu

• Produces very good quality art
• Free to use

Cons of Meitu

The biggest con of Meitu are its terms & conditions which you must accept before you get to use the app.

There are huge red flags in privacy concerns. The app not only asks for camera permission, photo storage permission, but also your location, phone number and to launch on startup. 

It also checks whether you’re phone is jailbroken, which provider you are using and other data. This data could potentially be used to sell to advertisers.

Also another privacy concern is ownership over the photos. When you upload your photo, you basically give them the rights to use your face. They can use your photos in advertisements if they wanted to. But note – that’s not as bad as it sounds. If you’ve uploaded photos to Facebook or Instagram, you’ve given them the same permissions.

But if you can overlook these issues, Meitu is a very good app for not just anime filters, but over 200 other ones.