Read on 12 August 2026: Umax — Become Hot holds 4.6 stars from 51,343 ratings and last shipped version 1.4.3 on 28 June 2024. LooksMax AI holds 4.5 stars from 42,608 ratings and last shipped version 1.0.21 on 4 April 2024. Between them that is nearly 94,000 ratings sitting on builds that are more than two years old. Star ratings are sticky and release dates are not, which is why the two most recommended apps in this category can look current and not be. Neither publishes what its score is computed from, which is the deeper issue with both.
How these numbers were read
Star ratings, rating counts, seller names and update dates come from Apple’s own app-lookup feed rather than from page text, because the two disagreed: one listing renders an 18+ badge where Apple’s data field says 17+. In-app purchase prices are not in that feed and were read from the listing pages the same day. Prices and ratings move — re-check before you spend anything.
1. First: which apps are these names pointing at?
This is the main reason comparisons of these two contradict each other. Both names are claimed by several unrelated listings, and listings get renamed underneath the search results pointing at them.
The two this article compares:
- Umax — Become Hot, ID 6471026798, Improvement Tech LLC.
- LooksMax AI, ID 6474518292, Mnkybrain Labs, Inc. — the exact-name match, first released December 2023.
Three more that get mistaken for the second one, all checked 12 August 2026:
- LooksMax Face Rating AI－LooxUP (ID 6478697267, DIALIGHT INTERNATIONAL LP) — a different company's app with a similar name and a large ratings base of its own. It appears in section 5.
- ID 6654922116 is indexed across search results as “LooksMax AI: Face Rater & Scan”; its live title is “PSL Looksmax: Ai Face Rating” (80 ratings).
- ID 6477533180 — “LooksMax AI: umax looksmaxxing” — returned a 404. No longer on the US store.
The App Store ID is the identity; the name is a label that changes. If you are comparing these yourself, match on the ID.
2. Umax — Become Hot (ID 6471026798)
Umax put AI face scoring in front of a mainstream audience and its numbers still show it: 4.6 stars from 51,343 ratings, the largest base in the category by a wide margin. Age rating 17+ — the highest here, worth knowing if the person considering it is a teenager. First released 29 November 2023.
Current version 1.4.3, released 28 June 2024. Apple's own data, read 12 August 2026. It still requires only iOS 13.4, consistent with a build that has not been revisited. Fuller write-up in our Umax review.
Pricing is weekly-first: $3.99, $4.99, $6.99 and $9.99 tiers listed concurrently, monthly to $24.99. Four concurrent prices for one named tier means the price is being tested, so the one you are shown may not be the one anyone else sees.
3. LooksMax AI (ID 6474518292)
4.5 stars from 42,608 ratings, seller Mnkybrain Labs, Inc., age rating 12+, first released 27 December 2023. On ratings volume this is the genuine peer to Umax — the two of them are the category, numerically speaking.
Current version 1.0.21, released 4 April 2024 — even older than Umax's, and still on a 1.0.x version string after two and a half years on sale. Same iOS 13.4 floor.
Its pricing is structured differently and, in one respect, more honestly: alongside a $3.99 weekly there are one-off packs — Chad Pack $0.99, 3 Boosts $2.99, 5 Boosts $3.99, 9 Boosts $5.99, Hairstyles Pack $4.99, LooksMax Pro $3.99. You can spend a few dollars once rather than enrolling in anything, which is rarer here than it should be.
The listing markets “personalized recommendations” and an AI coach, and carries an explicit disclaimer that it does not provide medical guidance. Like Umax, it does not say what the score is computed from.
4. Head to head
| Umax — Become Hot | LooksMax AI | SoftMaxx (us) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| App Store ID | 6471026798 | 6474518292 | Web — no app required |
| Seller | Improvement Tech LLC | Mnkybrain Labs, Inc. | SoftMaxx |
| Rating | 4.6 (51,343) | 4.5 (42,608) | Not an App Store product |
| Last updated | 28 Jun 2024 | 4 Apr 2024 | Continuously |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ | 18+ by our terms |
| Cheapest entry | $3.99/week | $0.99 one-off pack | Free first scan |
| Weekly annualised | $207–$519 | $207.48 | $239.88 on Pro monthly |
| Method published | No | No | Yes — ~50 ratios from 478 landmarks |
A caveat we would want applied to us: rating count is not currency. A 4.6 built from 51,343 ratings collected largely in 2024 describes the product as it was then. Both averages here are describing 2024 software.
5. The third app, and the only maintained one
LooksMax Face Rating AI－LooxUP (ID 6478697267, DIALIGHT INTERNATIONAL LP): 4.5 stars from 36,387 ratings, version 1.62 shipped 3 August 2026 — nine days before this was written. iOS 16+, age rating 9+.
It is a different company's product from LooksMax AI despite the near-identical name, and on the one thing a buyer can check without spending money — whether anyone is still working on it — it is the strongest of the three. Its pricing is the most aggressive in structure: promo weeks at $1.99 and $6.99 next to premium weeks at $4.99 and $9.99, and one-offs to $29.99.
It does not publish its method either. Maintained and unverifiable is better than stale and unverifiable, but it is not a different kind of answer.
6. Verdict
Between Umax and LooksMax AI specifically: there is no meaningful winner. A tenth of a star apart, both unpublished in method, both last shipped in 2024. If you want one of these two, pick on price structure — LooksMax AI's $0.99–$5.99 one-off packs let you spend once instead of subscribing, which is the more buyer-friendly shape.
If “still being worked on” matters: LooxUP is the only one of the three that qualifies.
If what you actually want is to know which feature is off and by how much: none of them will tell you, because none publishes what it measures. That is the gap we build for, and you should weigh that claim knowing we sell against them.
Whatever you pick, annualise the weekly price first. $9.99 a week is $519.48 a year — more than the human-reviewed reports these apps are positioned as the cheap alternative to.
See the measurements, not just a number
The SoftMaxx free scan shows the actual ratios behind the score — no signup, first scan free.
Run the free scan6. Common questions
Is Umax or LooksMax AI better?
They are close to level on the numbers and share the same weakness. Umax holds 4.6 stars from 51,343 ratings, LooksMax AI 4.5 from 42,608, both read on 12 August 2026. Neither publishes its scoring method, and neither has shipped an update since 2024 — Umax on 28 June 2024, LooksMax AI on 4 April 2024. If being actively maintained matters to you, the honest answer is that the better pick is neither of them.
Have Umax and LooksMax AI been abandoned?
We cannot claim that and are not claiming it — an app can be stable, profitable and still selling without new releases, and both are still listed and still charging. What is verifiable is the release data on Apple's own listings, read 12 August 2026: Umax (ID 6471026798) version 1.4.3 dated 28 June 2024, and LooksMax AI (ID 6474518292, Mnkybrain Labs) version 1.0.21 dated 4 April 2024. Check both listings before subscribing; if either has shipped since, this is out of date.
Which app is the real LooksMax AI?
The one named exactly “LooksMax AI” is ID 6474518292 by Mnkybrain Labs, Inc. It is routinely confused with LooksMax Face Rating AI－LooxUP (ID 6478697267), a different app by a different company, and the name is spread across many more listings that change over time — ID 6654922116 is still indexed as “LooksMax AI: Face Rater & Scan” but is live as “PSL Looksmax”, and “LooksMax AI: umax looksmaxxing” (ID 6477533180) returned a 404 when we checked. Match the numeric ID, never the name.
Is there a maintained alternative to both?
Among the big mass-market apps, LooxUP (ID 6478697267) is the one still shipping — version 1.62 on 3 August 2026, 4.5 stars from 36,387 ratings. It inherits the same unpublished-method problem as the other two, so it solves the staleness question and not the verifiability one. Tools that publish their measurement basis are a different category of answer.
What do these apps actually measure?
None of the three publishes that. All describe AI analysis of features like symmetry, jawline and skin, and all return a score, but none states which ratios are computed, against which reference population, or how the score is calibrated. That does not make the scores wrong — it makes them unverifiable, which means they are best read as an impression rather than a measurement.
How much do they cost per year?
Both sell weekly plans, which is where the real cost hides. Apple lists Umax weekly tiers at $3.99, $4.99, $6.99 and $9.99 plus monthly tiers to $24.99; LooksMax AI lists a $3.99 weekly alongside one-off packs from $0.99 to $5.99. A $9.99 weekly plan is $519.48 over a year and a $3.99 one is $207.48. Multiply any weekly price by 52 before comparing it to anything billed monthly or yearly.