is there a website that turns pictures into cartoons?

If you want it free with no sign up

Cartoonize is a web photo editor whose cartoonizer, sketch and painting effects turn a photo into a cartoon in one click, with a full editor for backgrounds, text and frames. Its Basic account is free, needs no registration and runs in the browser on Mac, Windows and Linux. Its FAQ says you may commercially benefit from photos made with Basic and Pro accounts, which matters if you are making something for a business rather than for fun.

What you give up is the full toolbox. Basic covers numerous essential effects, but premium effects, all graphics and higher resolution export need Pro. If a standard cartoon at normal size is enough, Basic may cover it.

If you want a cartoon avatar of yourself

Fotor is an online photo editor with a Cartoon Yourself tool that takes a selfie and makes a cartoon portrait in several styles. The same editor has sketch, anime, painting and watercolour effects, so you can try a few looks in one place. It runs on the web, iOS, Android, Windows and Mac.

The cost is credits. The Basic plan is free forever but comes with limited free credits, and Fotor's plan comparison shows its exports at normal rather than HD quality and not watermark-free. Fotor's pricing page shows Pro, Pro+ and Max plans in US dollars, but the figures load by script and did not show for us, so we cannot say what going past the free credits costs.

If you want a painted look on your phone

Prisma is an iPhone and iPad app that turns photos into art with a library of more than 500 styles, including portrait styles made for selfies. It can style the person or the background separately, so a face can stay recognisable while the scene behind it changes.

Cartoon styles are only half of what you can do with a photo, mind. If it's the scene behind the face you'd rather change, there's a separate answer on swapping a photo's background. It covers Photoroom, Pixelcut, remove.bg and Canva, which all strip the background out and let you drop in a plain colour or a whole new scene, plus which ones have free options.

It is an app, not a website, and it is for iPhone and iPad only. It also looks little maintained: the App Store's version history shows its last update in October 2023, and its copyright line reads 2016-2022. It is free to download with in-app purchases and a 3-day free trial of Premium. In a reply on the listing, the developer says many styles work without a subscription and free saves are SD quality. Premium is what unlocks every style and HD saving. The UK App Store lists in-app purchases from £1.99 for Premium Weekly to £35.99 for one year.

If you want a look no filter offers

Google Gemini, with its Nano Banana image model, does image generation and editing in the Gemini app. You upload a photo and describe the change you want, or map the colour and mood of a reference image onto your subject. That suits a particular look that no preset filter offers. Google's page talks about styles, headshots and figurines but does not mention cartoons, so getting one is down to your prompt.

The cost is effort. It is a general image tool, not a cartoon filter, so the result depends on how well you describe what you want, and you may need to reword your prompt. Google's page names no price, says limits apply, and says it is for users aged 18+.

When paying is worth it

Each choice gives something up. Cartoonize needs no sign up but holds back premium effects and higher resolution export. Fotor does portraits but runs on limited credits, and its free exports are not watermark-free. Prisma does painted styles but only on iPhone and iPad, Premium is needed for the full set, and it has not been updated since 2023. Gemini is flexible but puts the quality in the hands of your prompt, and its images carry a visible watermark.

Paying is worth it when you hit a specific limit. If it is export resolution or the premium effects, Cartoonize Pro is US$9.99 a month, or US$83.88 billed annually, which works out at US$6.99 a month. Its FAQ says monthly plans are not refunded, and annual plans are not refunded either, except that switching to monthly within the first 30 days may qualify for a full or partial refund, so try Basic properly first.

Prisma's UK App Store listing shows several overlapping Premium prices, from £1.99 a week to £35.99 a year, so check which plan you are buying before you confirm.

Gemini marks its images with a visible watermark and an invisible SynthID watermark to show they are AI-generated. If you want a clean image for a profile picture or a poster, know that before you start.

Cancelling Cartoonize Pro closes the account and permanently removes saved projects, according to its FAQ. Download what you need before you cancel.

Cartoonize's FAQ covers commercial use; for the others, check each tool's own terms before using a cartoon for a business.