Banuba Face AR SDK

Banuba Face AR SDK is a developer toolkit for adding face tracking and live-camera appearance effects to apps. It is best suited to teams building virtual beauty try-on, social camera, or video experiences that need control over integrations and effects. Its range is a strength; custom pricing and a feature-dependent app-size cost make scope important.

Overview

The SDK supports makeup, skincare, hair dye, eyeglasses, and jewelry, with live-camera input and API access. Banuba says makeup rendering can reach up to 60 FPS on mid-range mobile hardware, and head-angle tracking covers −80° to +80°. That makes it a plausible fit for interactive try-on rather than static product previews, though the performance claim is specific to makeup and does not remove the need to account for app size.

Key features

Makeup and effect creation

Users can combine lipstick, eyeshadow, blush, foundation, contouring, highlighter, and hair color; developers can add combinations with prefabs. Banuba Studio lets teams create filters, adapt makeup made in other 3D software, and adjust positioning, orientation, and color. This flexibility suits branded catalogs and tailored camera experiences, but effect authoring becomes part of the product work rather than a turnkey catalog choice.

Tracking and broader AR effects

Banuba’s feature categories include skin smoothing, whitening, face editing, single- and multi-face tracking, avatars, gesture recognition, liveness triggers, and face analytics. That breadth can support applications beyond cosmetics, but teams should choose features to match their use case: the SDK adds around 15 MB to an app, depending on enabled features.

Integration and privacy

Integration options include native Android and iOS, Flutter, React Native, Web, Unity, and Desktop; Banuba also provides platform-specific documentation, code samples, and hybrid-app plugins. Its makeup solution can connect to live-streaming stacks, including an official Agora extension, which is useful for teams adding effects to live video. Processing runs on the user’s device, and Banuba says it gathers or stores no user data; it describes the makeup product as GDPR-compliant on that basis. Offline mode is supported for selected features, not necessarily the entire feature set.

Pricing

The Face AR SDK uses custom pricing. The quote depends on platforms, activated features, and monthly active users; annual billing is the stated basis, while half-year and quarterly billing are available on request. There is no per-developer seat fee, so the quote is not tied to the size of the engineering team. A 14-day trial is available, but there is no free plan. The pricing FAQ describes SLA-based support, with fast technical support and a dedicated manager included.

This structure best fits businesses able to scope a commercial deployment with Banuba and assess usage before committing. It is less convenient for small teams seeking a predictable self-serve subscription or a lasting free tier: there is no published entry price or free-plan allowance to budget against. The trial offers a short evaluation window, while feature selection matters both to the quote and to the SDK’s app footprint.

Platforms

The SDK is available for Android, iOS, macOS, Web, and Windows. The makeup API also supports Flutter, React Native, Unity, and Desktop integration, giving teams several routes into cross-platform products. That range is useful for products spanning mobile and web, but each deployment still needs platform and feature choices reflected in the commercial scope.

Who it's for

Banuba identifies eCommerce, video conferencing, and social media as the domains with the most traction for its Makeup API. It is a strong candidate when a team needs live appearance changes, face tracking, or branded effects across multiple development environments. A product that only needs static imagery, or a team without room for a roughly 15 MB feature-dependent SDK addition, has less reason to carry this toolkit.

Pros and cons

Pros: Broad effect categories cover makeup and other face AR use cases, including multi-face tracking, avatars, gestures, liveness triggers, and analytics.

Pros: Banuba Studio and prefab combinations give teams ways to tailor and adapt effects to their own products.

Pros: On-device processing, no user-data collection or storage, and selected offline support suit privacy-conscious camera experiences.

Cons: Custom pricing depends on platform, enabled features, and monthly active users, making costs harder to forecast without a quote.

Cons: The SDK adds around 15 MB depending on feature selection, a meaningful tradeoff for apps with tight download budgets.

Cons: There is no free plan, and the 14-day trial is the only no-cost evaluation route stated.

Alternatives

Virtual Try-On Software is the broader category to explore when comparing products for virtual fitting experiences.

TryItOn is worth considering for teams that want a free plan with three try-ons and a small wardrobe, or a listed Plus tier at $5 a month billed annually. Photta offers a free start with 20 credits and no credit card required, followed by a $14 a month Hobby plan billed monthly; it fits buyers looking for a credit-based web or API option. Fittingbox Virtual Try-On is an alternative for virtual try-on buyers who prefer a listed paid entry tier: Bronze costs $59 a month, or $590 per year billed annually, and includes up to 10 active products and up to 500 virtual try-ons.

RealityTry has a free web plan with 20 try-on credits, Shopify installation, basic analytics, and standard support, making it a fit for a web store seeking a no-cost starting point. TryOn Virtual offers a free API or web tier with 25 sessions per month and three AI-built 3D models; usage pauses at the limit. Voilae provides a free web tier with 15 try-ons per month and a $0.20 per-generation overage, a clearer starting point for low-volume use.

AI Clothes Changer API is another paid option with Android, iOS, web, and API platforms. makeup|SDK is a focused alternative with Android, iOS, web, and API support; its license does not limit SKU count and pricing comes from a sales quote.

Verdict

Choose Banuba Face AR SDK if your team needs configurable, real-time face effects across several platforms and can justify a custom commercial quote. Its integration range, effect tooling, and on-device processing make it particularly well suited to beauty, retail, social, and live-video products. Look elsewhere if you need a transparent subscription price, a permanent free tier, or a smaller app addition.