ComfiSkin vs Skinive
Skinive analyses photos of your skin with AI, funded by ads and weekly or yearly plans. Depending on which country’s App Store you read, it’s either a CE-marked medical device or explicitly not a diagnostic test. ComfiSkin never needs a photo of your skin. It reads the product label.
“CE-marked medical device software”
“not a skin cancer detector… diagnostic test”
The short answer
Skinive asks for photos of your skin, shows ads unless you pay up to $49.99 a year or $4.49 a week, and its App Store label lists photos and health data as linked to you, with purchases and identifiers used to track you. It calls itself a CE-marked medical device in the UK and “not a diagnostic test” in the US, and the main accuracy study was written by people from the company.
What that means: you’d be handing intimate photos to an ad-funded app whose own claims change at the border. If something on your skin worries you, see a doctor. For choosing products, ComfiSkin needs no photo of you at all.
Side by side
| ComfiSkin | Skinive | |
|---|---|---|
| Needs photos of your skin | Never | Yes, that’s how it works1 |
| What it costs | Nothing | $4.49 a week, $9.99 a month or $49.99 a year1 |
| Ads | None | Yes, through Google AdMob, in the free version3 |
| Tracks you across other apps | No | Purchases, contact info and identifiers1 |
| Shares your content with other companies | No | Yes, including for advertising, says Google Play4 |
| UV index and sun timer | Daily UV forecast | Yes, with a timer |
A medical device in one country, not one in another
Skinive’s UK App Store listing calls it “CE-marked medical device software”. Its US listing says it is “not a skin cancer detector… diagnostic test”, while its subtitle still reads “Rash Identifier, Acne Scanner”.1,2 Its terms describe it as “Class I under MDR” and “not a diagnostic tool”.3 The main accuracy paper has a first author from Skinive Holding BV, yet declares “There are no conflicts of interest.”5
Experts have been sceptical too. A dermatologist at the Netherlands Cancer Institute called the app’s weekly self-test advice “utterly over the top”.6 And users notice the inconsistency: one wrote that “Different photos of the same issue” came back with different diagnoses.7
When an app can’t agree with itself about what it is, it shouldn’t be the thing you rely on for your skin’s health. ComfiSkin doesn’t diagnose anything and never pretends to. It helps you choose and use products, and tells you to see a doctor if something worries you.
What that means for you: an app that changes its medical claims by country can either worry you for nothing or reassure you when it shouldn’t.
Your skin photos, in an ad-funded app
The free version is paid for with ads: Skinive’s privacy policy says it uses Google AdMob for personalised and non-personalised advertising.3 Its App Store label lists purchases, contact info and identifiers as data used to track you, and photos, health and sensitive info as linked to your identity.1 On Google Play, it says user-generated content is shared with other companies for purposes that include advertising.4 And the privacy policy gives a contact for data requests at an address ending “testovii.fun”, which looks like a leftover test domain.3
Photos of a rash, a mole or a breakout are about as personal as data gets. ComfiSkin never asks for them. It works from the product label and the skin profile you give it, and keeps everything on your phone.
What that means for you: your most private photos sit with an app that earns from advertising. ComfiSkin doesn’t want them.
Weekly plans for peace of mind
Skinive’s paid plans run from $4.49 a week to $49.99 a year, with a free trial that renews automatically.1 Weekly billing on a health worry is a powerful combination: people keep paying because they’re anxious. At $4.49 a week, that’s over $230 a year.
ComfiSkin is free, with no trial and no subscription. If you’re worried about your skin, the right step is a doctor, not a weekly plan.
What that means for you: a worry about your skin can turn into a weekly bill. Spend it on a dermatologist appointment instead.
What to do instead
- If a mole or rash worries you, see a doctor. An app can’t replace a proper examination.
- Think twice before uploading skin photos to an app that earns from advertising.
- Use ComfiSkin to choose products. It reads labels, not your skin, and keeps your notes on your phone.
Sources
- Skinive on the US App Store: subtitle, description, in-app purchases and App Privacy label. apps.apple.com
- Skinive on the UK App Store. apps.apple.com
- Skinive terms and privacy policy. skinive.com
- Skinive on Google Play, data safety section. play.google.com
- PubMed, PMID 36386072, accuracy study with authors from Skinive. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- IO+, “Smartphone app Skinive helps prevent skin cancer, yet experts are critical”, 11 December 2022. ioplus.nl
- Apple’s public feed of UK App Store reviews of Skinive, read 11 October 2026. itunes.apple.com
More comparisons
Check products, not photos of your skin
ComfiSkin reads the label and checks it against the skin you describe.
- Free, all of itNo plans, trials or paywalls. Every feature, for everyone.
- No sign-upNo account, no email, no password to lose.
- No ads, no trackingNothing about you is sold, shared or followed around the web.
- Your notes stay on your phoneWith a password-protected backup that only you control.
- Never asks for your faceIt reads the label, not you.
- Answers for your skinYour skin type, concerns, avoid list and routine, every time.