What is QOVES? How the facial analysis works, what you get, and what it costs

1. The company behind the name

Qoves Inc. is the corporate entity; its About page (read 2026-09-14) lists London HQ · Founded 2019 · 121 team members · 50K+ clients served, and says the team "transformed this old library into our primary HQ in 2025". The co-founder and CTO is Shafee Hassan, whose computer-vision work on faces began in 2019; the company incorporated in 2024 with co-founder Leo Olsen Guillot. Public contact points are hello@qoves.com (support), press@qoves.com and inquiry@qoves.com.

The YouTube channel came first and is still the front door: QOVES at @QOVESStudio, 1.04M subscribers as of 2026-09-14, described by the channel as "taking a look into the age old question of what makes a face beautiful through anthropology and cognitive psychology". If you have seen a video that explains hunter eyes, midface ratio or facial thirds with anthropometric diagrams, it was probably theirs.

Two pieces of positioning are worth knowing before you read anything else about them. First, they do not call themselves a looksmaxxing app; their FAQ says outright that "this is not some gimmicky AI app". Second, their own disclaimer states that "Qoves does not provide licensed clinical or medical services" and that "some images on this website are digitally generated to illustrate potential changes in appearance".

2. What the membership actually includes

The checkout page (2026-09-14) describes the Qoves Membership as "yearly expert-backed facial analysis, personalized improvement plan, continuous biometric tracking, and unlimited concierge service", priced at $150 / year, "Due today $150", with the line "No Hidden Fees. Cancel Anytime." The homepage pricing card lists the pieces: a complete facial analysis, a personalised facial improvement protocol, biometrics scores and tracking, before-and-after visualisations of your potential improvements, and "ask us anything, anytime".

Three paid add-ons now sit on the same checkout, each a one-time charge on top of the membership:

• Express Delivery (24–48h) — "Fast-track your analysis" — $80.
• Surgical Recommendations — "Add surgical recommendations and visualizations" — $180.
• Hairstyle Suggestions — "Get 5 personalised hairstyle recommendations" — $25.

So the realistic range is $150 for the base membership and up to $435 with every add-on — which, not coincidentally, matches what YouTube reviewers reported paying for the old à-la-carte reports in 2023–2026. Full price history and the refund rules are on QOVES pricing explained.

3. How the process works, step by step

Their FAQ lays out three steps: "Tell us about yourself: demographics, lifestyle, and goals. Upload your photos: six specific angles of your face and head. Get your results: within 28 days, you'll receive your full protocol." The 28-day figure is repeated in three places on the homepage — "It takes up to 28 days from the moment you upload your photos for our team to prepare your analysis and protocol" — and it is the single most common complaint in one-star reviews, which is why the $80 express add-on exists.

What happens in those 28 days is a hybrid. Landmark detection and measurement are automated ("proprietary models"); interpretation and the written protocol involve people ("the hands-on expertise of our team"); and the company has said it uses "tools like Claude to help articulate findings clearly". Their own figures for what is measured vary by page — "521 facial points" and "160+ aesthetic assessments" in the hero, "512 points" and "100+ aesthetic tests" in the FAQ — which probably reflects different ways of counting rather than an error, but it does mean nobody outside the company can say exactly what the report computes.

Membership is described as a yearly subscription with one analysis per year; you re-submit photos to track change ("continuous biometric tracking"), and support questions are answered by "real people". Their FAQ also poses and answers "Can't I just do this with ChatGPT or Claude?" — their answer is that ChatGPT is "a reasonable starting point" for quick free questions, and that their product is "in a different category entirely".

4. What the report and protocol look like

Buyers who have posted about their reports on r/QOVESStudio describe a long, multi-page PDF organised by facial region, with diagrams and charts, a set of measured ratios compared against reference ranges, and a written protocol of non-surgical changes — grooming, skincare, hair, eyebrow shape, styling, weight and posture — ordered by expected impact. One frequently misread element is the headline score: a commenter on a recent thread explains that it measures how close you are to your own potential, not how attractive you are in absolute terms, so a 71 means "almost there" rather than "7.1 out of 10".

The optional surgical report ($180) adds procedure suggestions and morphed visualisations. Both the surgical and non-surgical protocols are covered by the disclaimer that recommendations involving clinical procedures "should be discussed with a licensed provider" — QOVES is a consultancy, not a clinic.

What you will not get: a raw score you can compare with a friend's, a same-day result, or a guarantee. What you will get, if the four-year run of Reddit threads is representative, is a document that most buyers found thorough and a minority found expensive for what is, in one reviewer's words, running a photo through a formula.

5. How QOVES differs from face-rating apps and from SoftMaxx

The category has three shapes, and QOVES is the slow, expensive, human one by design:

• QOVES — $150/year, six photos, up to 28 days, a person-reviewed written protocol. Best when you want advice you can hand to a barber, dermatologist or surgeon.
• App-store raters (Umax, LooksMax AI and similar) — $3.99–$12.99 a week or month, a selfie, an instant score. Best when you want a number for fun; the two category leaders last shipped an update in 2024.
• SoftMaxx (ours) — a free front scan with a 0–10 score and 11 category sub-scores in about a minute; Pro at $19.99/month adds side-profile analysis, the full protocol and a coach; a one-time full-report unlock is $9.99. Instant, AI-only, with the scoring method and its limits published.

These are not one product at three prices. QOVES sells a person's time and a document. Apps sell a model output. The honest way to choose is to decide which of those you want first — the full comparison walks through it — and only then ask whether the price is fair. If you liked QOVES's videos but want the measurement side without the month, QOVES alternatives sorts the options by what you actually wanted from it.

6. What this page cannot tell you

Whether the analysis is accurate. No validation study of a QOVES report against a clinical or panel standard has been published by QOVES or anyone else; the same is true of every consumer face-analysis product, ours included, which is why we publish our method and its limits.

Exactly what is measured. The company's own counts differ between pages (521 vs 512 points; 160+ vs 100+ assessments).

Whether membership auto-renews. The FAQ calls it a yearly subscription; the checkout says "Due today $150" and "Cancel Anytime". Read the terms before paying.

Everything above was read from qoves.com (homepage, FAQ, About, Contact and checkout pages), the QOVES YouTube channel page and r/QOVESStudio on 2026-09-14. We sell a competing product; that is why every claim is quoted and dated so you can check it.

7. Common questions

What is QOVES?

A London-based facial-aesthetics consultancy (Qoves Inc., founded 2019) that sells a $150/year membership: you upload six photos and a questionnaire, and within 28 days a team-plus-AI facial analysis and non-surgical improvement protocol come back. It grew out of the QOVES YouTube channel (1.04M subscribers).

What does QOVES actually do?

It measures your face from six photos using automated landmarking (their pages cite 512–521 points and 100–160+ assessments), then a team writes a personalised report and an improvement protocol — grooming, skincare, hair, styling — with optional surgical recommendations as a $180 add-on.

How much does a QOVES analysis cost?

$150 USD per year for the Qoves Membership, which includes one analysis per year. Optional one-time add-ons at checkout: express delivery $80, surgical recommendations $180, hairstyle suggestions $25. There is no free version.

How long does QOVES take?

Up to 28 days from the moment you upload your photos, in the company's own words. An $80 express add-on promises 24–48 hours.

Is QOVES done by humans or AI?

Both. QOVES describes "proprietary models" for measurement combined with "the hands-on expertise of our team" for interpretation, and has said it uses tools like Claude to help articulate findings. Support is by "real people".

Who is QOVES for?

People who want a written, person-reviewed plan they can act on or hand to a professional, can wait about a month, and consider $150 discretionary. If you want a number today, an instant AI scan is the other product category.

Can't I just do this with ChatGPT?

QOVES's own FAQ says ChatGPT is "a reasonable starting point" for quick free aesthetic questions, and positions its product as a different category — measured, person-reviewed and written up. For a free measured baseline in a minute, SoftMaxx's front scan is the middle option.

Is QOVES the same as looksmaxxing apps like Umax?

No. Umax and similar apps sell an instant selfie score for a weekly or monthly fee. QOVES sells a slow, expensive, human-reviewed report and explicitly says it is not a gimmicky AI app.