Afterlight: Photo Editor
79
Quality Score
Strong
Afterlight: Photo Editor
by Afterlight Collective, Inc
High confidence
✍️ Bumetric analysis
“
Afterlight: Photo Editor is an iOS app from Afterlight Collective, Inc in the Photo & Video category, currently rated 4.7★ across 20,276 ratings. Initial signal reads as mixed reviews: supporters praise core features while critics cite stability and value gaps.
Quality Score is 79: Strong (healthy traction). For a Photo & Video app, that means healthy traction. The full BU Investment Matrix below scores 8 dimensions including monetisation, growth, and operational risk.
Track changes month-over-month in the Performance section below: live snapshot history and revenue forecast included.
💰 Monthly revenue · now vs forecast
● Right now
$5.0K
per month
→
12-mo forecast
$5.2K – $10.8K
per month
→
24-mo forecast
$6.4K – $19.2K
per month
MID tierSUBSCRIPTION
💡 Grow this revenue
Free AI audit of this app’s store listing
- Title & subtitle keyword fit
- Description hook & conversion structure
- Screenshots, ratings, reviews strategy
Typical impact: +2-5× organic installs
📊 Performance Tracking LIVE
133 snapshots on record
Rating
4.7
Reviews
20,276 reviews
Forecast Revenue / mo
$5.0K
Snapshots tracked
133
since Feb 2019
🤖Also on Android
$149/mo · 60K ratings · 2.7★
View →
ONE-TIME · BUILD
💰 Estimated build cost
$195K
↳ What it cost to build · not monthly revenue
Likely range $145K – $265K
$25K · MVP floor
$100K · indie scale
$500K+ · studio build
📈
Pays back in ~3.2y at current MRR
Synthetic estimate. Inputs: category complexity, file size, screen count, monetization layer, platform reach, age × team-size proxy. Calibrated against 2024-2026 indie-agency rate surveys. Full math + source list on /methodology.
Where the money goes
| 🧱 MVP baseline (design + 1-store ship) | +$28K |
| 📱 5 unique screens × $4.5K | +$22K |
| 📦 Asset bundle (412 MB) | +$40K |
| ⚙ Photo & Video complexity ×1.55 | +$49K |
| ⚙ 8.9y maintenance × ~1-person team | +$53K |
Total estimate
$195K
ONE-TIME · EXIT VALUE
💵 Estimated acquisition value
$100K
↳ What it would sell for · not monthly revenue
Marketplace range $75K – $125K · 21× MRR multiple
💸
~0.5× build cost (under-water)
Synthetic estimate. Multiple band derived from ad-supported + age, rating quality, category demand, and user-base maturity. Calibrated against 2024-2026 indie-app-marketplace closed-deal medians. Full math + comparable deal list on /methodology.
How the multiple was built
| 📺 Ad-supported base | 15× MRR |
| 📅 8.9y proven track record | +20% |
| ⭐ ★ rating ≥ 4.7 (premium) | +15% |
Final multiple
21× MRR
👥 Estimated audience size
1.9M
Lifetime downloads (US-equivalent)
Monthly active
205K
Daily active
61K
Synthetic estimate from ratings × category benchmarks. Calibrated against 2024-2026 mobile-attribution retention + DAU/MAU reports. Numbers are US-storefront-equivalent — true global audience can be 5-10× larger for international apps. Full math + source list on /methodology.
How we sized it
| 📲 Photo & Video engagement | ~140 installs / rating |
| 📅 8.9y of rating accumulation | -30% |
| 🔁 Photo & Video D30 retention | 18% |
| 📍 DAU / MAU stickiness | 0.30 |
DAU / MAU
30% sticky
🛠 Estimated tech stack
🍎
Native iOS (Swift / UIKit)
Medium confidence · 55%
Also possible
React Native
Flutter
Heuristic guess from app bundle size, category, store description signals, and release-date stack era. Bumetric does not disassemble binaries — for binary-level certainty you would need an SDK intelligence tool or the manifest itself. Reasoning chain on the right. Full ruleset on /methodology.
Signals we read
| 📦 App bundle size | 412 MB |
| 🏷 Category context | Photo & Video |
| 📦 Large iOS bundle | → Native Swift / UIKit (pre-2020 era) + assets |
💀 Maintenance status
Active
15%
Last shipped 2026-08-03 · 53 days ago
0 · Active
50 · At risk
100 · Abandoned
Heuristic risk score from time-since-last-update + ratings velocity proxy + Editor's Choice / curated featuring signals. Calibrated against 2024-2025 app-store ranking decay reports. Not a guarantee — a quiet app with a healthy codebase looks the same as an abandoned one until something breaks. Full math on /methodology.
Risk signals
| 📅 53 days since last update | Healthy release cadence |
Verdict
Active
🔬
How we forecast this revenue
MEDIUM CONFIDENCEBaseline
$5.0K/mo · ML-estimated from 234 triggers
Growth rate
+4.0% MoM · MID tier baseline (compound monthly)
Direction
Tailwinds: monetization model proven
6 months
$4.7K – $7.9K
12 months
$5.2K – $10.8K
24 months
$6.4K – $19.2K
Compound growth at +4.0% MoM (tier baseline for MID). Range widens with horizon — typical noise band ±25% at 6mo.. Ranges widen with horizon — distant futures carry more uncertainty.
📊
BU Investment Matrix
Below median · 50/100MID TIERSUBSCRIPTIONunderperforming peersGrowth Velocity
5.0
Founder Strength
5.1
Product Quality
8.0
Revenue Strength
3.7
Monetization Maturity
9.5
Defensibility
6.7
Market Position
2.0
Operational Safety
0.0
- 💰 Revenue: Modest — $3K - $7K/mo · MID tier · medium confidence, trajectory unclear.
- ⭐ Quality: 4.74★ across 20,276 reviews — strong (top 10%).
- 📍 Market: Not yet charting in any of the 9 monitored markets.
- 📈 Growth: Insufficient signal to assess trajectory.
- ⚠️ Risk: High — 11% subscription complaints, scam/fraud mentions detected, bug mentions above category norm.
🎯 For competitors: Vulnerable. Quality drift + slow updates create a clear opening for a fresh competitor with active dev cadence.
💵 For acquirers: Estimated asking range 12-22× monthly = $60K-$110K. Portfolio play ($12K/mo combined) commands premium. Discount applied for operational risk..
Composite of 8 dimensions computed deterministically from public signals — no LLM, every score traces back to a measurable input. Default weights shown; "compete" / "acquire" / "invest" lenses re-weight without re-fetching.
Range:
💰 Forecast Revenue / mo
MODELRevenue forecast computed from BU's 234 trigger model on each snapshot. Calibrated against ground-truth from 58 verified-revenue apps.
🔬Forecast Breakdown — Why This Estimate?Top 14 of 14 triggers
Our ML model uses 200+ signals from public data. These are the most influential for this app:
| Mid install base (20,276 ratings)METRIC | +$5,500 | |
| Excellent rating (4.7★)METRIC | +$2,200 | |
| worth every pennyREVIEW | +$2,000 | |
| bugsREVIEW | −$1,800 | |
| 5 starREVIEW | +$1,800 | |
| cancelledREVIEW | −$1,500 | |
| excellent appREVIEW | +$1,500 | |
| Mature app (8y old)METRIC | +$1,500 | |
| Multilingual (17 languages)METRIC | +$1,500 | |
| highly recommendREVIEW | +$1,400 | |
| slowREVIEW | −$1,200 | |
| too expensiveREVIEW | −$1,000 | |
| support teamREVIEW | +$900 | |
| Ad-supported / freemiumMETRIC | +$600 |
METRIC = structural app data · REVIEW = mined from user reviews · ✓ VERIFIED = Stripe-verified anchor (TrustMRR)
📈 Reviews Growth
LIVECumulative review count from first BU snapshot. Each point = a tracked update.
⭐ Rating Trend
LIVEAverage rating evolution. Updates with each new review batch.
🆕 What's New · v5.3.3
— Bug fixes & UI improvements
Thank you for using and supporting Afterlight!
Thank you for using and supporting Afterlight!
Profile & Insights
Everything we know — and don't — about this app and its company.
Identification
- App name
- Afterlight: Photo Editor
- Developer
- Afterlight Collective, Inc
- Bundle ID
- us.afterlight.Afterlight
- App Store URL
- Open in App Store
- Category
- Photo & Video
- Content rating
- 4+
- Languages
- AR, EN, FR, DE, HE, ID, IT, JA, KO, PT, RO, RU, ZH, ES, TH, ZH, TR
Company
- Website
- Not found
- Tagline
- Today
- Description
- Find apps and games for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and more on the App Store.
- Founded
- Not found
- HQ / Address
- Not found
- Employees
- Not found
- Logo
- Available
Revenue
- Reported revenue signal / mo
- Not found
- AI revenue estimate / mo
- Not found
- AI annual estimate
- Not found
- Model estimate / mo
- $5.0K/mo
- Top-grossing rank
- Outside top 100 in US Photo & Video
- All-time revenue
- Not found
- Pricing
- Not found
Founder
Founder data not yet collected for this app.
Funding
Funding data not yet collected for this app.
Press & Links
Press & Links data not yet collected for this app.
Contacts & Socials
Contacts & Socials data not yet collected for this app.
📈Ratings growth20,609 ratings+4239% lifetimeShow 3-year history estimate ▾
Tracked (60 weeks) Pre-tracking estimate (0 weeks) · model-based, ±5% noise · anchored to release date and current value
🌍Geographic ReachNot ranked
This app is currently outside the top 100 grossing in all 9 countries we monitor (US, UK, DE, FR, JP, CA, AU, BR, IN). Niche or new apps often launch this way — popularity rankings appear once daily revenue clears the regional threshold.
🚀Update Frequency · Releases per Quarter5 releases tracked
🚀Version Release Timeline5 releases tracked
Profile is built from iTunes Lookup + developer site scrape + ML revenue model. Empty fields show "Not found" — additional sources (Crunchbase, X, IndieHackers, Acquire.com) coming.
📝 About this app
Afterlight is built by a small, independent team of creatives & photographers who are deeply committed to designing authentic Presets, Effects, and Overlays, made by people who really use them.
— 300+ FILM-INSPIRED PRESETS
Add character to your photos with a wide selection of one-tap Film Presets inspired by real film photography. Our presets were created to emulate genuine film like Kodak Gold, Portra, Agfa Vista, and Disposable cameras. Combine Effects and Tools to create your own custom look as a Fusion Filter.
— STUNNING FILM EFFECTS… View full description on the official store →
— 300+ FILM-INSPIRED PRESETS
Add character to your photos with a wide selection of one-tap Film Presets inspired by real film photography. Our presets were created to emulate genuine film like Kodak Gold, Portra, Agfa Vista, and Disposable cameras. Combine Effects and Tools to create your own custom look as a Fusion Filter.
— STUNNING FILM EFFECTS… View full description on the official store →
App Specs
🔐 Own this app? Claim & verify MRR →💾 412 MB🔞 4+📱 iOS 16.6+🔖 v5.3.3🔄 updated 1mo ago🌐 AR, EN, FR, DE, HE +12📂 Photo & Video💰 Paid🚀 Launched 2017 (8y old)
📅
What Worked™ · Development Pipeline
22 EVENTS TRACKEDDetected changes in this app over its tracked lifetime — each event links cause (what changed) to effect (what moved). Sorted newest first.See full history →Version history →
2026-08
🔧
Shipped update — v5.3.2 → v5.3.3
→ 30 days after: reviews +128 medium · co-occurring
2026-07
🔧
Shipped update — v5.3.1 → v5.3.2
→ 30 days after: reviews +145 medium · co-occurring
2026-07
🔧
Shipped update — v5.2.3 → v5.3.1
→ 30 days after: revenue −$5.7K/mo · reviews +85 high confidence
2026-06
🔧
Shipped update — v5.2.2 → v5.2.3
→ 30 days after: revenue −$5.7K/mo · reviews +122 high confidence
2026-05
⭐
Rating ↑ 3.36 → 4.74 (improved 1.38★)
→ 30 days after: reviews +80 high confidence
2026-05
📈
Crossed 1,000 ratings — social-proof flywheel kicking in
→ 30 days after: reviews +80 high confidence
2026-03
📈
Crossed 500 ratings — social-proof flywheel kicking in
→ 30 days after: revenue +$71/mo low · multiple changes
2026-03
⭐
Rating ↓ 4.70 → 3.36 (dropped 1.34★)
→ 30 days after: revenue +$71/mo low · multiple changes
2026-03
⭐
Rating ↑ 3.36 → 4.70 (improved 1.34★)
→ 30 days after: revenue +$107/mo medium · co-occurring
2026-03
📈
Crossed 500 ratings — social-proof flywheel kicking in
→ 30 days after: revenue +$107/mo medium · co-occurring
2019-08
📈
Crossed 100 ratings — social-proof flywheel kicking in
→ 30 days after: revenue +$733/mo · reviews +19 high confidence
2019-08
📈
Crossed 100 ratings — social-proof flywheel kicking in
→ 30 days after: revenue +$567/mo · reviews +15 high confidence
2019-05
📈
Crossed 50 ratings — social-proof flywheel kicking in
→ 30 days after: revenue +$649/mo · rating −0.05★ · reviews +17 high confidence
2019-05
📈
Crossed 50 ratings — social-proof flywheel kicking in
→ 30 days after: revenue +$1.6K/mo · reviews +41 high confidence
2019-03
⭐
Rating ↑ 3.50 → 4.38 (improved 0.88★)
→ 30 days after: revenue +$809/mo · rating −0.08★ · reviews +21 high confidence
2019-03
📈
Crossed 10 ratings — social-proof flywheel kicking in
→ 30 days after: revenue +$809/mo · rating −0.08★ · reviews +21 high confidence
2019-03
📈
Crossed 10 ratings — social-proof flywheel kicking in
→ 30 days after: revenue +$551/mo · rating +0.88★ · reviews +14 medium · co-occurring
2019-03
⭐
Rating ↓ 4.63 → 4.22 (dropped 0.41★)
→ 30 days after: revenue +$551/mo · rating +0.88★ · reviews +14 medium · co-occurring
2019-03
⭐
Rating ↑ 3.50 → 4.00 (improved 0.50★)
→ 30 days after: revenue +$551/mo · rating +0.88★ · reviews +14 low · multiple changes
2019-02
⭐
Rating ↑ 3.00 → 3.50 (improved 0.50★)
→ 30 days after: revenue +$551/mo · rating +0.88★ · reviews +14 medium · co-occurring
🔎
ASO Keyword Positions
BEST RANK #17Ranked for 1 App Store search query in our last keyword sweep. Lower position = closer to the top.
photo editor·#17🇺🇸
Last sweep: 2026-05-19 · iTunes Search API
🗣
Voice of Customer
Based on 733 reviews across 9 markets● 59% positive · ● 16% neutral · ● 25% negative · Rating drift: -1.64★ (declining — recent 50: 3.1★ vs lifetime: 4.74★)
VADER compound sentiment per quarter (−1 = fully negative, +1 = fully positive). Each point ≥ 5 reviews.
Sentiment by country (−1 to +1)
🇮🇳 IN
+0.47
🇦🇺 AU
+0.41
🇺🇸 US
+0.41
🇬🇧 GB
+0.38
🇨🇦 CA
+0.21
🇫🇷 FR
+0.17
🇯🇵 JP
+0.10
🇧🇷 BR
+0.00
🇩🇪 DE
-0.37
Top praise themes
highly recommend ×8 editing photos ×8 edit photos ×7 fusion filters ×6 new features ×6 editing tools ×6 les photos ×6 pro version ×5
Top complaint themes
new update ×10 nicht mehr ×10 new version ×9 pay again ×9 keeps crashing ×8 please fix ×8 free trial ×7 subscription model ×7
Risk signals
Refund mentions: 1.6% Subscription complaints: 11% Bug mentions: 12% Fraud / scam mentions: 2.1%
🌍
Multi-Country Performance
Available in 9 of 9 monitored markets| Market | Rating | Reviews | Current version |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇺 AU | 4.65886★ | 982 | 4.65886★ this version |
| 🇧🇷 BR | 4.79796★ | 6,182 | 4.79796★ this version |
| 🇨🇦 CA | 4.69587★ | 1,792 | 4.69587★ this version |
| 🇩🇪 DE | 4.61093★ | 2,159 | 4.61093★ this version |
| 🇫🇷 FR | 4.71494★ | 1,519 | 4.71494★ this version |
| 🇬🇧 GB | 4.65266★ | 1,880 | 4.65266★ this version |
| 🇮🇳 IN | 4.55213★ | 681 | 4.55213★ this version |
| 🇯🇵 JP | 4.69764★ | 635 | 4.69764★ this version |
| 🇺🇸 US | 4.7426★ | 20,653 | 4.7426★ this version |
🔔
Track this app’s revenue
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📝 Description
95
BU Score · Transcendent
Full revenue analysis
Read the article-style breakdown for Afterlight: Photo Editor: category rank, percentile, growth signal, comparable apps, and how the forecast is calibrated against verified-MRR anchors in this niche.
About this analysis
Why high confidence: 20,276 ratings · no founder-verified revenue (model estimate only).
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
10 answers · auto-generated from this app's public dataHow much does Afterlight make per month?▴
Based on our ML-calibrated revenue forecast, Afterlight earns approximately $5.0K/mo. This is a US-storefront-equivalent estimate; global revenue can be several times larger for internationally-distributed apps. See the methodology page for the full formula and confidence bands.
Is Afterlight profitable?▴
With estimated build cost $195K and monthly revenue $5.0K, Afterlight looks slow ROI — payback period is around 3.2 years at the current run-rate. Profitability also depends on paid-acquisition spend and refund rate which the public model doesn't see.
How many users does Afterlight have?▴
Estimated audience: ~1.9M lifetime downloads, ~205K monthly active users, and ~61K daily active users. Derived from ratings count × category installs-per-rating × age decay. US-storefront-equivalent — global audience can be 5-10× larger for internationally-distributed apps.
What apps are like Afterlight?▴
Browse the full Photo & Video category catalog to find similar apps with revenue, build cost, audience and tech stack data. Each /p/{slug} page also shows a Compare side-by-side widget with three peer apps from the same niche.
What is Afterlight built with?▴
Our heuristic places Afterlight on the Native iOS (Swift / UIKit) stack (Medium confidence, 55%). Signals: app bundle size, category context, store-description markers, release-date era. We don't disassemble binaries. Alternative possibilities: React Native, Flutter.
Is Afterlight still actively maintained?▴
Maintenance status: Active (15% abandonment risk). Last shipped version was 1 months ago. The risk score combines time-since-last-update with Editor's Choice / curated featuring + user-base maturity adjustments.
How much would Afterlight sell for?▴
Estimated acquisition value: $100K (marketplace range $75K – $125K). Calculated as 21× monthly revenue using the standard multiple for the detected monetization model + adjustments for age, rating quality and category demand. Calibrated against 2024-2026 Flippa / Acquire.com / MicroAcquire closed-deal medians.
When was Afterlight last updated?▴
Afterlight last shipped a new version on 2026-08-03 — 1 months ago. This is the date Apple / Google last accepted a new build, not a content-only push.
Who makes Afterlight?▴
Afterlight is published by Afterlight Collective, Inc on the Apple App Store. See the full publisher portfolio (other apps by the same developer) via the More by developer block on the product page above.
What is Afterlight's BU Score?▴
Afterlight has a BU Score of 79/100 (Strong). The score combines App Store rating, ratings count, monetization model and revenue signals calibrated against founder-verified MRR anchors. See the BU Score formula.