These AR creators, part of a fast-growing niche in India’s creator economy, are quietly earning six-figure monthly incomes using skills that anyone can pick up, especially in the age of AI chatbots. Engineers, lawyers and even marketing executives are switching careers or taking it up as a side hustle.
The skyrocketing popularity of short-form video content on platforms such as Snapchat Spotlight and Stories, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts is significantly fuelled by the use of engaging AR overlays and filters. Popular AR overlays are dynamic and interactive, often using facial tracking for real-time effects, like the classic ‘Dog Face’ or ‘Cartoon 3D Style’ on Snapchat, or virtual ‘try-ons’ for makeup and accessories.
Meanwhile, static or minor-motion filters provide simple colour grading and aesthetic tweaks, such as ‘Glow Up’ or ‘Retro’ effects that instantly smooth skin or give a vintage film look to the video. Both types are instrumental in viral trends, such as location-based AR portals, quiz effects, and the persistent popularity of beautification filters.
“The potential has only expanded,” said Chhavi Garg, co-founder of Arexa XR and Bharat XR. “Platforms are realising that effects are becoming as central to content as the videos themselves.”
The silent influencers
Jeetesh Singh, an extended reality (XR) developer in Mumbai, was an engineering student when he stumbled upon a lens creation hackathon in 2020 and bagged ₹1.5 lakh in prize money. Lenses are Snapchat’s term for AR effects that dynamically change your appearance or environment in real-time video.
“As a college student, that sort of prize felt huge. It made me realise this was a booming field,” Singh recalled. He skipped campus placements and began building Lenses for Snapchat and Meta instead, working freelance with brands and creators. “In a good month, our income can touch ₹10 lakh,” he said.
“Creating social AR gives you the same independence that influencers enjoy,” he added. “The difference is that instead of making videos, we build interactive effects and filters that power their content. The upside is that it’s growing fast but still far less crowded than content creation.”
India’s influencer marketing industry—comprising more than eight million creators—is estimated to be worth more than ₹3,500 crore. But AR creators, Singh said, are less dependent on brand campaigns for income. “About 80-90% of influencers’ earning comes from brands, while only 20-30% of ours does,” he added. Content creators with more than a million followers earn ₹3-12 lakh a month, depending on their niche and the amount of engagement they draw.
Competitions are the cash cow
AR developers often collaborate with brands such as Myntra, Zomato, Swiggy and Ajio to design promotional AR overlays, and sometimes even with film production studios for movie launches. However, the bulk of their earning comes directly from platforms that offer cash rewards and incentives for popular creations. Mint previously reported that while marketers are able to raise brand awareness through AR on platforms such as Snapchat, they struggle with conversions.
Snap Inc., which owns Snapchat, was the first to open up AR development to the public back in 2017. “The moment we put these tools in the hands of developers, we saw an explosion of creativity,” said Srivatsan Jayasankar, head of AR partnerships for India at Snap. “AR creators have a unique pulse on culture and audience behaviour. They know what resonates, move fast, and build formats that often shape how people use the platform.”
According to Jayasankar, over 350,000 creators have developed more than four million Snapchat Lenses, reaching 350 million daily active users worldwide. In India, he noted, over 40% of Gen Z users — an estimated 377 million people — use AR while shopping for beauty products. Successful creators can earn up to $100,000 (about ₹89 lakh) a year through a mix of platform payouts and brand collaborations.
Recalling successful marketing campaigns through Snapchat Lenses, Jaysankar said Ajio’s Big Bold Sale campaign in 2024 reached 42 million users and delivered a 22-fold return on ad spend (ROAS). Also, Myntra’s Sneaker Club campaign allowed sneaker lovers to explore and try on sneakers using AR, seamlessly linking to purchases within the app.
Queries emailed to the brands mentioned above did not elicit a response.
The perfect side hustle?
Vaibhav Suri, a software engineer at a multinational in Delhi, creates AR overlays as a side hustle. “What I earn from this is two to three times my monthly salary,” he said.
Suri estimated there were now several thousand such creators in India, thanks to online communities, competitions and tutorials. “AI tools have made it simpler—you can create filters just by typing prompts, though it still helps to know a bit of coding or design,” said Krunal Gediya, an XR developer since 2018.
“Creating lenses combines creativity, technical logic, and 2D/3D design. Core skills include 3D asset handling, visual or JavaScript scripting, and understanding camera-based interactions (such as head or hand tracking). With the rise of AI tools for asset generation, material design, and animation, the learning curve has shortened. Most creators can build their first professional interactive overlays in one to three weeks,” Gediya said.
“On average, experienced creators make ₹5-7 lakh a month based on the number and type of projects they choose,” he added.
Though it can be lucrative, AR design isn’t without its challenges. Singh said, “Not all overlays are monetised, compliance with platform rules is a must, and payouts depend on engagement – how many users actually use it – though creativity matters as well. Copyright checks have also become stricter with generative AI integrations.”
Still, for many, creating AR overlays represents a lucrative mix of art and technology. As Gediya put it, “When people use your lens to express themselves online, it’s not just rewarding financially—it’s like you’re helping to build the fabric of the internet’s next visual language.”
Gediya said, “This profession rewards consistency and curiosity. The field it evolving quickly, so staying updated and experimenting often makes all the difference.”
YouTube joins the party
YouTube has also quietly begun testing its own AR effects program with select developers. Earlier this year it announced the launch of Effects Maker, a public beta filter-making program for a limited set of users.
“Our goal with Effect Maker is to make Shorts creation even more fun, expressive, and collaborative. By empowering effect creators to publish their own effects directly on Shorts, we hope to foster a new level of creativity and engagement on the platform,” Youtube wrote in a blog post in August. Singh added that YouTube’s efforts on AR filters were still nascent and that the company was yet to begin monetising the process.
Meanwhile, Meta paused its third-party AR partnerships under ‘Meta Sparks’ in 2024, but creators expect new opportunities to crop up as the company experiments with AR and AI features in its smart glasses. Queries emailed to Meta did not elicit a response.