Skinli

Built for acne

Scan your acne. Get a score and a plan.

Take a photo. Answer a few quick questions about your pimples. Skinli gives your acne a score out of 100, tells you what it can see, and writes you a morning plan and a night plan.

About two minutes
Photo, questions, score, and plan.
Free score
No sign-up. The plan is from $19.99 for 4 weeks, paid once.
Not a diagnosis
We describe the surface. A dermatologist looks under it.
A person resting their chin on their hand at a table with a few skincare products
62

Acne score

Some pimples, and a clear first step.

Sample scan. The plan starts with the two gels.

How it works

Take the photo and the analysis starts right away. If the photo cannot be used, you are sent back to the camera with the reason.

  1. A phone on a small tripod facing a bright window, ready for a daily photo
    1

    Take a photo

    Use your phone camera or pick a photo. Stand by a window in daylight. No filter. Look at the camera.

  2. Five different tubes and bottles crowded together on a counter
    2

    Answer two or three quick questions

    The photo finds your pimples. You only answer what a photo cannot see: what you used before, and if creams sting you.

  3. Two small white tubes with a green cap and an orange cap, and a drop of clear gel
    3

    Get your acne score and plan

    An acne score out of 100 and what is going well, free with no sign-up. Then pick a 4 or 12 week plan, day by day for the first 14 days. One payment, and nothing renews.

  4. Four pots on a windowsill showing a plant growing from bare soil to leafy
    4

    Track daily, rescan every two weeks

    Take one photo a day, same spot, same light, same angle, ten seconds. After a few weeks the photos show what the mirror cannot. Every two weeks, scan again for a new score.

How the acne score is worked out

Sample score: 62 out of 100.

Sample scan

Some pimples, and a clear first step.

  1. Every scan starts at100
  2. 14 pimples seen−28
  3. Flat red or brown marks−10
  4. No warning signs0

How a pimple starts

Every pimple starts the same way: a tiny hole in your skin gets blocked. Knowing this is why the plan uses two gels, one for the block and one for the germs.

  1. 1

    A clear pore

    Your skin has tiny holes called pores. Oil comes out of them.

  2. 2

    It gets blocked

    Oil and dead skin get stuck inside. That is a blackhead or whitehead.

  3. 3

    Germs move in

    Germs love the oil. They grow in the blocked hole.

  4. 4

    A red pimple

    Your skin fights the germs. It turns red, sore, and bumpy.

What the photo looks for

Five kinds of bumps, and the marks old pimples leave. A mark is not a pimple, but the photo checks for marks too, because the plan treats them.

  • Whitehead

    A blocked hole with skin over the top. A small white bump.

  • Blackhead

    A blocked hole that is open. The top turns dark in the air. It is not dirt.

  • Red pimple

    Germs grow in the blocked hole. The skin around it gets red and sore.

  • Pus pimple

    A red pimple with a white or yellow top. Do not squeeze it.

  • Deep lump

    Big, sore, and deep under the skin. This kind needs a doctor.

  • Old pimple mark

    Flat and brown or red. It fades. Sunscreen makes it fade faster.

Two gels. That is the plan.

Doctors' guides list these two gels together as a first choice for any amount of acne. You can buy both without a doctor. The plan tells you how to start them slowly so they do not sting.

Source: Acne vulgaris: management (NG198), recommendation 1.5.1 (NICE) and Guidelines of care for the management of acne vulgaris (2024) (Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology).

Acne gel (adapalene 0.1%)

Opens the blocked hole and stops new ones from blocking.

Pimple gel (benzoyl peroxide 2.5%)

Kills the germs that make a pimple red and sore.

See a whole example plan
Two small white tubes with a green cap and an orange cap, and a drop of clear gel

How much to use

Every step says how much, using things you already know. More gel does not work better. It only stings more.

  • A pea

    Each acne gel, for the whole face

  • A blueberry

    Moisturizer

  • A coin

    Face wash

  • Two finger lines

    Sunscreen, face and neck

Morning

3 steps
#Step
1

Face wash

Every morning

2

Light moisturizer

Every morning

3

Sunscreen, SPF 30 or more

Every day

Night

4 steps
#Step
1

Face wash

Every night

2

Pimple gel (benzoyl peroxide 2.5%)

Every other night for 2 weeks, then every night

3

Acne gel (adapalene 0.1%)

Every other night for 2 weeks, then every night

4

Moisturizer

Every night

Day 1Week 4Week 8Week 12
A drawing of the usual shape, not real data. The red part is the early weeks. The adapalene label says acne may look worse before it gets better, and that this is normal. Keep going.

What a chat answer cannot give you

A chat bot can write a routine from words. It cannot look at your skin, and it does not keep track of how you are doing. Skinli does these four things.

  • A count from your own photo

    The photo check counts the pimples it can see and says where they are. It is an AI estimate, so it can be off, but it comes from your face, not from a guess.

  • A plan for each day

    The first 14 days are written day by day: what to put on, how much, and what to do if it stings. Then one card for each week.

  • Check-ins that compare

    Scan again every two weeks. With a free account, your scans are saved, and the progress page shows how your score moved since the last one.

  • Named sources

    Every plan lists what it follows: the NICE acne guideline, the 2024 American Academy of Dermatology guideline, the NHS, and the adapalene drug label. The 400+ free guides name their sources the same way, so you can read them before you trust the plan.

    Read the 400+ free guides
How Skinli works, step by step

What a photo can and cannot tell us.

A photo shows the surface: bumps, shine, redness, and the dark marks old pimples leave behind. It does not show what is happening underneath, and we will not pretend it does.

Skinli does

  • Describe what it can see in your photo, in simple words
  • Explain what each product does and how to start it slowly so it does not sting
  • Give a score out of 100 that only counts what the photo shows: pimples, marks, and warning signs
  • Say plainly when your acne needs a doctor instead of another product

Skinli does not

  • Diagnose acne or give it a medical grade
  • Guess your age, ethnicity, or anything about your health
  • Keep your scan photo longer than 90 days, unless you save it with your plan
  • Promise clear skin by a date
Read how photos and data are handled

Free tools, no photo needed

Answer a few questions instead. No account, no email address.

How Skinli compares

Side by side with other acne apps and online clinics, with prices and sources.

Common questions

Answers to what people ask before they take a photo.

How much does Skinli cost?

Your acne score and what your photo shows are free. The 4 week plan is $19.99 once, for 4 weeks. The 12 week plan is $39.99 once, for 12 weeks. Nothing renews and nothing else is charged. You do not need to sign up to see your score. Every safety part, the sample plan, the guides and the tools are free too. You pay by card or Apple Pay on Stripe's page, and you do not need an account to pay.

See what is free and what the plan includes

Is this a medical diagnosis?

No. Skinli describes what is visible in your photo and combines it with your answers. That is education, not a diagnosis. A dermatologist can tell you things a photo cannot.

How accurate is the photo check?

Nobody has tested it yet. Skinli has not compared its pimple count with a dermatologist's count, so there is no accuracy number to share. The count is an estimate from an AI and can be wrong. The AI is told to reject photos that are too dark, blurry, filtered, or hidden by heavy makeup.

How accurate are AI acne apps?

Which AI reads my photo?

An outside AI service reads the photo. It gets a fixed list of rules and sends back only a short list of facts about the pimples: the main kind, about how many, any marks, where they are, and signs a doctor should check. Skinli's own rules then write the plan from those facts and your answers.

How Skinli works, step by step

What happens to my photo?

It is sent to that outside AI service to be read. Skinli keeps a copy for 90 days, and the Skinli site owner can see it. You can delete it any time on your results page.

Read the privacy page

Who makes Skinli?

Nick, the founder, makes Skinli. He is not a doctor, a nurse, or a dermatologist. The plan follows published acne guidelines and a drug label, and each guide lists its sources.

About Skinli

What kind of acne is this for?

Everyday acne: whiteheads, blackheads, the odd red bump, and the dark marks they leave behind. If your pimples are big, deep, and sore, or spreading, your plan will say so and tell you to see a doctor.

Do I need to remove makeup?

It helps, because makeup hides bumps and color. If makeup hides too much of your skin, you will be asked to take a new photo. After two unclear photos, you can answer a few questions about your pimples instead.

Can Skinli help if I have a lot of acne?

Not on its own. Big, deep, sore pimples, or acne that keeps getting worse, needs a doctor. A doctor has stronger medicine than any store. If your photo shows that, your plan says so at the top, and you can start the plan while you wait.

How many products will I need?

Five. In the morning: face wash, moisturizer, and sunscreen SPF 30. At night: face wash, benzoyl peroxide 2.5% gel, adapalene 0.1% gel, then moisturizer. If old pimples left flat marks, the 12 week plan adds a mark cream from week 5.

How long until I see fewer pimples?

Give the plan 12 weeks before you judge it. The American Academy of Dermatology says it takes at least 6 to 8 weeks before you start to see fewer pimples. The adapalene label says results can take up to 3 months. In the early weeks, the label says acne may look worse before it gets better, and that this is normal.

Do I need to create an account to use Skinli?

No. You can take the photo, answer the questions, and see your acne score without signing in or giving an email address. You can also buy a plan without an account. Skinli only asks you to sign in if you want to save that plan and come back to it later, or if you want to store daily progress photos on the progress page.

Start with one photo.

It takes about two minutes, and you do not need an account to see your acne score.

Get my free acne score