Best AI Image Upscalers Compared

Topaz Labs' Gigapixel is the best-known photo upscaler. It is now sold only as a subscription: Gigapixel alone costs $29 per month or $149 per year, Gigapixel Pro $499 per year, and the Topaz Studio bundle with all apps $399 per year (discounted in the first term). A web version for images starts at $12 per month. Perpetual licenses are no longer sold.

Gigapixel runs locally on Windows and macOS with unlimited images, which needs a capable graphics card, and also offers cloud rendering. Topaz states enlargements up to 6x. The basic plan allows only limited commercial use.

Let's Enhance is a browser service built for print: the Starter plan ($9 per month billed yearly, $12 monthly) includes 100 credits and outputs up to 256 MP, while Pro ($24/$32) and Max ($34/$45) raise both. New accounts get 10 free credits, but free results carry a watermark and are limited to 8 MP.

It supports batch processing, and businesses can use an API. Because it is cloud-only, images are uploaded for processing.

Upscayl is an open-source desktop app (AGPL-3.0) for Windows, macOS and Linux. It is completely free with no limits, and because it runs locally your images never leave your computer. You can add your own models. An optional paid cloud service exists for people without a suitable graphics card.

It needs a GPU that supports Vulkan; many integrated laptop GPUs do not work well. Results are faithful rather than creative, with less invented detail than Topaz or Magnific.

Photoshop offers two ways to upscale. Super Resolution in Camera Raw doubles width and height (four times the pixels) and runs locally. The newer Generative Upscale runs in the cloud, enlarges 2x or 4x and can use Adobe Firefly or Topaz models, consuming generative credits; Photoshop includes 25 such credits per month.

Adobe's plans page did not show us a US-dollar price on the check date, so please check it there. If you do not already use Photoshop, a dedicated upscaler is cheaper.

Magnific became famous for “creative” upscaling that invents new texture and detail, which suits AI-generated art and illustrations. It now belongs to Freepik and is sold as a credit-based plan bundling many AI models; on the check date the pricing page showed us euro prices from €12 per month on a yearly plan. Enlargements go up to 16x.

The creative approach can change faces, text and small details, so it is less suitable when the result must stay true to the original.

Krea is an AI image suite with an enhancer/upscaler. The free plan refills compute units every day and upscales up to 2K. Paid plans (on the check date $5, $21 and $63 per month as promotional prices) raise the output to 22K pixels and include several models, among them a Topaz model.

It is a generator suite rather than a dedicated upscaler, and unused units expire each month.

Bigjpg is based on waifu2x, a model designed for anime and drawn art. The free plan allows 20 images per month, uploads up to 5 MB and 4x enlargement. Paid plans are cheap: $6 for two months, $12 for six months or $22 for a year, with up to 16x and 50 MB uploads. The original waifu2x is also free and open source.

For photographs the older technology is clearly weaker than modern upscalers.