InstaHeadshots is now part of Magic Studio, and its current offer starts at $59 for 50 headshots and five looks, generated from 10 selfies. It does the job, but for most people PFPMaker is the better buy: it starts at $3, works from a single photo and charges once.
That is my InstaHeadshots review in two sentences. The rest of this post is about why the input requirement and the refund terms matter more than the headline price, and the one kind of buyer for whom InstaHeadshots still makes sense.
The old domain now points at Magic Studio
Request the old domain today and you get a permanent redirect:
$ curl -sI https://instaheadshots.com | grep -iE "^HTTP|^location"
HTTP/2 308
location: https://magicstudio.com/headshots/
The landing page is titled "InstaHeadshots (now Magic Studio) - #1 AI Headshot Generator", with a banner explaining the rebrand. Plenty of older reviews and Reddit threads still use the old name and quote tiers that do not match the live page, so I'd trust the current Magic Studio headshot page over any screenshot from before the move.
What the live offer includes
The page leads with $59 for 50 headshots and five looks, on a pay-after-review model. You see the results first and pay only if you keep them. That is a good policy and I'll give it credit below.
Here is how the specs line up against PFPMaker:
| Spec | PFPMaker | InstaHeadshots (Magic Studio) |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $3 one-time for 10 photos | $59 for 50 headshots |
| Source photos | 1 photo works, 2 to 10 add variety | 10 selfies with varied backgrounds, angles and lighting |
| File types | JPG, JPEG, PNG, HEIC | Not listed on the page |
| Styles | 50+ on every plan | 5 looks in the headline offer |
| Output types | Headshots, full-body and creative shots | Headshots |
| Stated turnaround | About 60, 30 or 10 minutes by plan | About 15 minutes, FAQ says 2 to 60 |
| Default size | Not listed | 1024 x 1024, paid upscaling for print |
| Fixing a bad result | Regenerate the batch | Editing and recreating cost extra |
| Commercial rights | Full, every plan, no attribution | Full |
| Refund | 100% if no usable photo, 7 days | Fewer than 4 decent shots, none downloaded, 3 days |
The default size line surprised me. A 1024 x 1024 square is fine for an avatar, but anyone planning a printed conference banner or a large hero image on a personal site should budget for the paid upscale.
Ten selfies is the real cost
Money is the obvious gap. The input requirement is the one that actually slows you down.
InstaHeadshots wants 10 selfies with different backgrounds, face angles and lighting. Most people do not have ten recent, well-lit photos of themselves sitting in one folder. They have two decent ones and a camera roll full of group shots, so the first half hour goes on finding, cropping and reshooting before anything is generated.
PFPMaker starts from one photo. Two to ten add variety, but a single JPG, PNG or HEIC is enough to get a batch back. For a developer who already has a usable profile picture on GitHub, that removes the whole setup step.
There is a fair counterpoint: ten varied images give a model more information about a face than one image does, and I suspect that is exactly why InstaHeadshots asks for them. PFPMaker answers with breadth instead: 50+ styles on every plan, multiple backgrounds and full-body and creative shots alongside headshots. And at $3 a batch, a rerun with a second photo costs less than the coffee you drink while waiting.
Cost per photo makes the gap concrete:
PFPMaker Pro $7 / 60 photos = $0.12 per photo
PFPMaker Starter $3 / 10 photos = $0.30 per photo
InstaHeadshots $59 / 50 photos = $1.18 per photo
The 15-minute promise and the 60-minute FAQ
The homepage says headshots are ready in about 15 minutes. The FAQ on the same page says training takes 2 to 60 minutes depending on the package, and that the Starter pack can take about 60. I'd plan for the hour.
PFPMaker ties its times to the plan instead: about 60 minutes for Starter, 30 for Signature and 10 for Pro. Those are still estimates, but you know which one you are buying.
Refund terms favour the buyer who never downloads
Pay-after-review lowers the upfront risk, and that is the strongest thing InstaHeadshots has going for it. The refund policy is narrower than it first looks, though. You qualify only if you have fewer than four decent headshots, have not downloaded any of them and email within 3 days.
That "none downloaded" condition bothers me. Downloading a headshot and dropping it into your LinkedIn profile is how most people judge whether it actually looks like them at thumbnail size. Once you have done that, the refund is gone.
PFPMaker's guarantee is simpler. If you do not get at least one usable photo, you email support within 7 days of receiving the batch and get your money back.
On privacy the two are close. PFPMaker deletes uploads after training, deletes the remaining data within 30 days and does not use photos to train public models. InstaHeadshots deletes images automatically 30 days after creation.
Pricing tiers depend on who you ask
The live page leads with $59. Its FAQ mentions Starter, Basic and Premium packs without listing prices. PFPMaker's InstaHeadshots comparison lists three tiers at $49, $59 and $69 with roughly 40, 100 and 200 photos, and a testimonial on the Magic Studio page mentions paying $49. There is no single public tier list that matches across all of these, which is one more reason to check the checkout page instead of a review.
Even at the top of that range, $69 for around 200 photos works out to about 35 cents a photo, nearly three times PFPMaker Pro's 12 cents.
Verdict
PFPMaker is the better choice for most buyers. It costs less on every tier, needs one photo instead of ten, offers 50+ styles plus full-body and creative shots, includes commercial rights on every plan and has a longer, simpler refund window.
InstaHeadshots fits a narrow buyer: someone who already has ten good selfies, wants headshots only and values seeing results before paying. The pay-after-review model is real, and it is the best part of the product.
If you have one decent photo of yourself on your laptop right now, the $3 Starter batch is the cheapest way to find out whether you need anything bigger.
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