QR Code AI ↗: art QR codes made with ControlNet
- MRR
- $14,827 Verified 2026-10-21
- Total revenue
- $325,799
- Active subscriptions
- 1,495
Verified by TrustMRR
In one line: A tool that makes artistic QR codes with ControlNet, free to start with paid subscription tiers.
- Founder
- Nicolas CellaX ↗
- Dates
- Launched Jul 2023
Timeline
- Launches on Product Hunt; #2 in launch week (self-reported)
- iOS and Android apps go live; mobile traffic is redirected to the apps
- Founder reports 5K MRR, all organic, all SEO (self-reported)
- Revenue that month: $14,548 (TrustMRR)
- Latest full month of revenue, the highest of the last 12 months: $17,157 (TrustMRR)
Sources: X post by @ncella_; X post by @ncella_; X post by @ncella_; X post by @ThibautMelen; TrustMRR: QR Code AI.
TrustMRR figures are monthly revenue as shown on 2026-10-23 (read-only sync from the payment provider).
Compared with similar products
No public information yet
Moves QR Code AI made
No public information yet
How to copy it
Catch a newly viral AI technique and produce reliably usable results by hand first
Find an AI generation effect recently shared widely where your target users gather, pick one you can reproduce on a local or cloud GPU, generate a batch by hand and test each on several phones. What the founder did: his co-founder mastered a new ControlNet technique to generate output that looks great and still works, then announced a Product Hunt launch (X post by @ThibautMelen).Expand ▾Collapse ▴
Find an AI generation effect recently shared widely where your target users gather, pick one you can reproduce on a local or cloud GPU, generate a batch by hand and test each on several phones. What the founder did: his co-founder mastered a new ControlNet technique to generate output that looks great and still works, then announced a Product Hunt launch (X post by @ThibautMelen ↗).
- A batch of hand-made samples, each marked usable or not on several phones.
- Samples generated in a row with the same parameters work on several phones.
I want to turn a newly viral AI generation technique into a product for <your target users>. Below are my manual run parameters and each sample's test results on different phones. Please: 1) find the parameter set with the highest success rate; 2) name what failed samples have in common; 3) propose the parameter changes to test next, based only on my data. Data: <paste>
Step 1: use the QR code as a control image to generate art; co-founder Thibaut's post says they used ControlNet.
Step 1: the open image model to pair with ControlNet (our inference; the authors did not name the base model).
Build a web version fast and launch on Product Hunt
Turn the step 1 process into a web page: enter content, pick a style, generate, download, with an automatic usability check after generation. Give a few free uses with no charge yet, and prepare the Product Hunt title, screenshots and first comment. What the founder did: they built v1 in under two weeks and launched on Product Hunt (X post by @ncella_), ranking near the top in launch week (X post by @ncella_).Expand ▾Collapse ▴
Turn the step 1 process into a web page: enter content, pick a style, generate, download, with an automatic usability check after generation. Give a few free uses with no charge yet, and prepare the Product Hunt title, screenshots and first comment. What the founder did: they built v1 in under two weeks and launched on Product Hunt (X post by @ncella_ ↗), ranking near the top in launch week (X post by @ncella_ ↗).
- The web version runs generation and download end to end; the Product Hunt page is live.
- Launch day on Product Hunt brings a batch of signups and generations.
I built a web tool where <your target users> enter content and pick a style to generate <output>. Write for Product Hunt: 1) an English title and a tagline under 60 characters; 2) the first comment: why I built it, how it works, how many free uses; 3) what each of 5 screenshots should show. No hype.
Step 2: launch the first version; Nicolas posted that they reached #2 of the day with 493 upvotes.
Win the search term for your product's name and grow the single effect into a full tool
Use Google Search Console to see what users search for, build a page for the term matching your product's name and for frequent long-tail terms, and expand the single effect into the full feature set users want. What the founder did: he ranked on Google for the product's own name (X post by @ThibautMelen), with growth entirely from organic search (self-reported, X post by @ThibautMelen).Expand ▾Collapse ▴
Use Google Search Console to see what users search for, build a page for the term matching your product's name and for frequent long-tail terms, and expand the single effect into the full feature set users want. What the founder did: he ranked on Google for the product's own name (X post by @ThibautMelen ↗), with growth entirely from organic search (self-reported, X post by @ThibautMelen ↗).
- The product-name term shows impressions and clicks in Search Console; a batch of long-tail pages is live.
- Organic search becomes the main source of signups.
Below is my site's Search Console export: query, impressions, clicks, position. Please: 1) find the terms matching the product name and long-tail terms with many impressions but few clicks; 2) suggest a page per long-tail term: English title, H1, the feature it should offer; 3) list features users search for that the product lacks; 4) use only my data. Data: <paste>
Step 3: see what people search and which pages get impressions (our recommendation; the founders only say SEO, not which tools).
Start a Stripe subscription with premium features in the paid tier
Keep basic generation free and put premium features and more generations in a paid tier. Create a monthly subscription in Stripe and show the paywall when the user reaches for a paid feature. You set the price. What the founder did: payments go through Stripe (TrustMRR), and the iOS app also has a paid subscription (App Store page).Expand ▾Collapse ▴
Keep basic generation free and put premium features and more generations in a paid tier. Create a monthly subscription in Stripe and show the paywall when the user reaches for a paid feature. You set the price. What the founder did: payments go through Stripe (TrustMRR ↗), and the iOS app also has a paid subscription (App Store page ↗).
- The paywall appears when a paid feature is clicked; Stripe test mode completes a subscription; Stripe shows the first real payment.
- Stripe shows the first subscription not paid by you.
My tool offers basic generation free and will put <premium features> in a $<price>/month tier. Please: 1) say whether each feature is free or paid and why; 2) write English popup copy shown when a paid feature is clicked: headline, 3 things paid unlocks, button; 3) write an English two-tier comparison table for the pricing page. Use only my price.
Step 4: collect subscriptions; TrustMRR verifies QR Code AI's revenue through the Stripe API.
Sources
- TrustMRR
- X: Nicolas on building V1 in 13 days and launching on Product Hunt (2024-07-01)
- X: Nicolas on Product Hunt #2 of the day, 493 upvotes (2023-07-07)
- X: co-founder Thibaut, "5K MRR ... 100% organic - Full SEO" (2024-07-19)
- X: co-founder Thibaut, "ControlNet mastered, AI is now our artist"
- X: Nicolas on building the iOS and Android apps in 3 days
- X: co-founder Thibaut on ranking for QR Code AI on Google
- App Store: QR Code AI iOS app (Premium $8.90/month, checked 2026-10-20)
- QR Code AI pricing page (free tier only, as of 2026-10-20)
- QR Code AI website
Next case
Fiddl.art: many AI image and video models, one points wallet
Business model: Pay-as-you-go points: launch price not disclosed. Current pricing (TrustMRR page, 2026-10-20): "Free to start. Pay-as-you-go point packs from $10 to $280, with volume discounts up to 30%. Optional monthly subscriptions include 15% bonus points." Subscriptions launched in Q1 2026 and brought $5,385 that quarter. Payments via Stripe (TrustMRR's verification source).
Data source: TrustMRR, checked 2026-10-21
