Ever needed to convert a picture to a caricature online for free? It’s insane, isn’t it? The trouble is, it seems like a fairly easy task. You plug in your search, something like ‘turn photo into cartoon’ and receive about a dozen different websites. And that’s on the first page alone.
Assuming that you don’t use this sort of service often enough to have a favorite, it can be challenging (not to mention time-consuming) to find one that does the job well and is easy and safe to use.
In this article, I’ve reviewed 11 of the most popular websites that can cartoonize a picture, so that you don’t have to waste your time anymore.
1. Pho.to
The cool thing about these guys is that besides allowing you to cartoon your photo, they also offer a wide variety of effects, filters, and digital retouches that can make your selfie flawless. You can make it look like it’s snowing or like you’re standing in flames, and all these effects look quite real.
As far as the cartooning option goes, the converted pictures look professional and have some beautiful color schemes. Another aspect I like about this website is that it’s very easy to use. You simply browse the available effects, select one, then upload your photo and have the final product within 10 seconds. No registration needed, no laggy response. Overall, a great and creative photo conversion website.
Bonus: They also offer quite a few mobile apps, including one that allows you to ask the AI which Instagram filter you should use to get the most reactions out of your pic. Pretty cool, I must say.
2. Cartoonize
Looking at their effects, I didn’t think they’d amount to all that much, but after I uploaded my photo and started playing around with it, things got cool.
They’ve got over 230 effects from which you can choose, so you’re pretty much guaranteed to find a cartoon version of your picture that suits your needs. The images look quite realistic, though they can sometimes be a bit lacking in detail (but this also depends on your picture).
They’re also straightforward to use and very fast. What I liked about it is that you only have to upload the picture once and then can apply different effects, as opposed to having first to select the effect, then re-upload the image each time.
Bonus: They also offer software that allows you to get the images without a copyright logo and offers great image sizes – available both for Windows and iOS!
3. PhotoFunia
With over 600 effects to choose from, I have to say I expected a bit more. While the drawing effects I played around with were quite neat, the Caricature effect left me unimpressed (somehow, I ended up nose-less in two separate pictures).
The PhotoFunia website is easy and fast to use, so that’s a plus. And they sure offer a lot of exciting effects (like putting your picture in a book or even as a poster on the subway). But most of these effects rely on just pasting your image on that space with very slight alterations).
For its other effects (such as getting a pencil sketch of your picture), I’d say it’s a pretty good site, but not to cartoonize your photo.
4. Cartoon.Pho.to
This one was definitely an interesting experience. Besides allowing you to cartoon your picture, they can also create animated gifs from it (whether the cartoon version or the normal one). So you can make the person in the pic look sad, smile, wink, seem offended, and other things like that. You can also give them a weird face like an alien or a troll.
I have to say these animated effects were quite nice (although they’re hit or miss, depending on the picture you’re using), but the cartoon option itself was something of a letdown. I found the quality quite poor, and the website took a bit of time to load.
Tip: If you decide to check out their animation effects, remember they might ask you to allow Flash Player!
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5. Kuso Cartoon
Overall, this Kuso Cartoon seemed too demanding and slow for its limited effects. It offers 5 cartoon versions, but honestly, only one seemed semi-decent to me. The others are just mild alterations, which bring down the quality of the picture by quite a bit.
I found it quite inconvenient to use. You have to add tags to the photo, which is just a bit annoying, and the waiting time is around 10 seconds for each different effect. Another downside was that the export resolution is 500×500 px, which is very little.
I tried liking Kuso, but in the end, I think there are easier to use and more versatile sites out there. One aspect I did find nice was that they allow you to customize the picture a little after applying the cartoon filter.
6. Anymaking
One thing that irritated me a little was that the cartoon effect they offer is more of a photo filter. It doesn’t cartoonize your picture as much as I’d like, but it does render the details quite clearly and certainly gives the photo a compelling and unique spin.
Another thing I liked about this website was that the loading time was quite fast and that it allowed me to customize the photo after applying the filter. I also enjoyed that the Anymaking offer other fun effects, like Engrave or Pop Art, and though the cartoon was a little poor for my taste, I’d give this site a passing grade.
Tip: Highly recommend having a look around at the other effects they offer!
7. CaricatureSoft
Seeing that these guys offer downloadable software, I seriously hope that runs better than their website. To be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed as soon as I accessed their website, mainly because of the poor design and the hard-to-read options.
The online cartoon converter did warn me that it might take a while to load, so I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t have to wait a lot. Initially, I was also impressed by the slider that allows you to add or remove details from your cartoon. But then I saw the most detailed version and found it quite a weak and amateurish rendition. So considering that their software can be bought, I hope that it has a better quality.
8. Snaps Touch
So, I and this website got off to a rocky start, since it took forever for it to load in my browser. And considering I’d had no trouble with the other websites so far, I can only assume it’s a problem on their end.
When it finally loaded, I was a bit disappointed to find that they do not offer a proper cartoonize effect, merely a B&W sketch or a drawing effect. Now, these are quite well-done, there’s a lot of detail in them, and if that’s what you’re looking for, then the site is a viable option. But unfortunately, it won’t turn your picture into any type of caricature or cartoon.
9. Wish2Be
Well, this was an interesting experience. The most cartoon/caricature-like of the websites I’ve reviewed so far. Though bear in mind that although the results might be closer to what you’re looking for, it does also require some imagination on your part.
This isn’t the average upload&download kind of website. You get to upload your image, the Wish2Be detects the face and then allows you to play around with it, adding it to all sorts of cartoonish bodies and representations.
They also offer a PRO Cartoon Maker at a very reasonable price.
If you have the patience, the results can be super-fun. The only aspect I didn’t like was that it removed your hair and ears (it seems the PRO version keeps them, however).
Oh, another aspect that annoyed me a little was that it asked me to disable my ad-blocker, but overall, it was worth it.
10. PhotoCartoon
What I liked about PhotoCartoon.net was that it was really fast and easy to use. The interface was user-friendly, and I had my cartoon photo within a few seconds. Didn’t ask to disable or enable anything, which is always a plus.
Honestly, I thought the cartoonized pictures came out quite cute and detailed. Depending on the type of cartoon you’re looking for, this can be quite satisfactory, I thought.
I also liked that it allowed me to play around with things like Brightness or Contrast for a bit after applying the effect. If you’re craving more, they also allow you to download a free version of their software, which offers a lot more filters and effects. They also have an Android app that looks quite creative and interesting.
Tip: When using their online cartoonizer, do try to use a colorized picture, as those seem to come out better than B&W.
11. iToon.Net
The iToon website was quite fast and easy to use, and I was definitely impressed both with the choice of effects (you can get about 50 effects, out of which the first 10 are cartoonish) and with the quality. I tried two different pictures with two different cartoon effects and loved them both, as they were very detailed and precise, and yet maintained that cartoon impression.
One minor snag was that while the website homepage loads, it shows you the online converter but then snaps to their software, so that you end up clicking on that a few times before you can convert your pic. Other issues were that the resolution allowed for the online version is only of 500px and that it bears a watermark.
That being said, you can download a 14-day free trial of their software and play around with that all you want.
The Photo to Cartoon Website Comparison
And because everyone loves a neatly laid out table, here’s all you need to know about these 11 photo conversion websites: what’s best about them, how easy they are to use and whether or not they’ve got downloadable goodies!
| Website | Easy to Use | Features | App/Software |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pho.to | Very |
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A few apps |
| Cartoonize.net | Very |
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Software (for Windows and iOS) |
| PhotoFunia | Very |
|
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| Cartoon.Pho.to | Fairly |
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| Kuso Cartoon | Not (Slow) |
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| Anymaking | Fairly |
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| Caricature Soft | Fairly |
|
Software available (for Windows) |
| Snaps Touch | Not ((Really Slow)) |
|
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| Wish2Be | Fairly |
|
They do have a PRO subscription |
| Photo Cartoon | Very |
|
PC Software & Android App |
| iToon.Net | Very |
|
PC Software |
Bottom Line
While I can’t tell you which of these websites is best, because that depends on what you need, I can point out some favorites. So, I definitely loved Pho.to because they were professional and offered a lot of variety (and very detailed pics). I also loved Wish2Be because they were true to the idea of caricatures and ease of use.
And I also want to give a shout-out to Cartoon.Pho.to, which, although not the fastest, was a fun experience that gave you all sorts of facial expressions.
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