NaillyThe short version
Almost every nail app on the App Store is answering the same question: what would this look like on me? They generate designs with AI and paint them onto a photo of your hand. CutieCure, NailedBy and Nail Designer AI all do this, and they do it well.
Nailly is answering a different question: how do I actually get these nails? You design the exact set, then send it to a real nail artist in your city who claims it, quotes it and makes it.
So the honest way to choose is by which question you are asking.
| App | Best at | AI try-on | Books a real artist | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nailly | Getting the set actually made | No | Yes — post a design, artists near you claim and quote it | Free week, then one monthly rate |
| CutieCure | AI designs from a text prompt | Yes | No | Free, with a paid tier |
| NailedBy | Try-on tuned to your skin tone | Yes | No | About $9.99 / month |
| Nail Designer AI | Fast idea generation | Yes | No | Free, with a paid tier |
Where the others beat us
Try-on. If seeing a design rendered on your own hand is the thing you want, pick one of the other three. We built that feature and then cut it before launch: on-device nail detection drifted on busy backgrounds, and a headline feature that works most of the time is worse than no feature at all. It stays out until it is right.
Browsing for ideas. If you do not know what you want yet, an AI generator is a faster way to find out than a design studio is. Come back when you know.
Where we think we win
A generated picture still has to survive contact with an appointment. A screenshot is someone else's hand, in someone else's light, at a length that is not yours — and most disappointment at the chair lives in that gap. Nailly closes it by making the design a spec rather than a picture: shape, length, base, tip, finish and art, finger by finger, in terms an artist can work from. Then it hands that spec to an artist who has said they can make it.
There is no commission on the appointment. The price stays between you and your artist.
The four, in more detail
Nailly this one is ours
The only one here that ends in a booked chair rather than a picture. Design every shape, length, colour, finish and finger, then send the spec to a real artist in your city. Salon Mode prints a per-finger recipe any tech can read without downloading anything.
CutieCure
Type what you want and it generates designs, previews them on a photo of your hand, and scores your nail health. The widest free tier of the group.
NailedBy
Recommends styles from a skin-tone analysis instead of a generic gallery, with new sets weekly. Subscription only — no free tier to speak of.
Nail Designer AI
Describe a look in a few words and it produces designs in seconds. Built for browsing and inspiration rather than for a specific appointment.
Which should you install?
Want to play with looks and see them on your hand — CutieCure free, or NailedBy if you will pay for skin-tone matching. Want the set you are picturing to exist on your hands next week — Nailly. Plenty of people use one of each, and that is a perfectly sensible answer.