Free AI Image Upscalers
Which AI image upscalers a startup can enlarge and enhance product and marketing images with for free today, how many images or credits are free, the largest free output, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs, read from each provider's own page.
Free allowances read on each provider's own pages, all checked on or after . AI upscalers change their free plans from time to time: confirm the terms on the provider's page before you rely on it.
AI image upscalers a startup can use for free today include VanceAI (10 free credits to try), Upscayl (Free and open source desktop app), Let's Enhance (10 free credits at sign-up), chaiNNer (Free and open source desktop app), and Upscale.media (3 free credits a month). Each of the 9 free plans below links to the provider's page that states it, with its main limit, the free output size, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs.
Low-resolution product photos, old logos and screenshots look sharper at a larger size after an AI upscaler adds detail. Online upscalers give free credits or a small free allowance, and open-source upscalers run free on your own computer's GPU.
The headline rarely tells you how far it goes. Free credits are often given once, free images may carry a watermark or wait in a queue, and the largest upscale factors cost more credits. Each tool below shows what is free, its main limit, the free output size, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs, quoted from the provider's own page with the date we read it.
Which tools we picked and the order they appear in are our editorial choices; the terms are the providers'. Some of these providers pay us a referral commission when someone signs up through our link: those links are labeled, and they play no part in which tools are listed or where.
AI image upscalers with free credits
Upload an image and get a larger, sharper version, free to start.
- 1
VanceAI
A web trial of AI upscaling up to 8x
VanceAI's web app gives 10 free credits to try, and its image upscaler runs at 2x, 4x or 8x for 1, 2 or 3 credits. Free jobs wait in a queue, and Starter is $15 a month billed annually.
- What's free
- 10 free credits to try (source: vanceai.com)
- Free output size
- Up to 8x, 3 credits (source: vanceai.com)
- First paid plan
- Starter: $15 a month, billed yearly (source: vanceai.com)
- 2
Let's Enhance
Sign-up credits for a few product photos
Let's Enhance gives 10 free credits when you sign up, with no card needed, and upscales up to 8 megapixels. Free images carry a watermark, and Starter is $9 a month billed annually.
- Free output size
- Up to 8 megapixels (source: letsenhance.io)
- Payment card
- No credit card needed (source: letsenhance.io)
- First paid plan
- Starter: $9 a month billed yearly (source: letsenhance.io)
Start free at Let's EnhanceTerms read on letsenhance.io on Let's Enhance: the free allowance and how to start - 3
Upscale.media
A few images a month, with no payment
Upscale.media gives 3 free credits and 3 free downloads every month, and one image a day without signing up. No payment is required to start.
- Payment card
- No payment required (source: upscale.media)
Start free at Upscale.mediaTerms read on upscale.media on Upscale.media: the free allowance and how to start - 4
ImgUpscaler
Light use, one image at a time, with ads
ImgUpscaler's Free plan gives 50 credits per month and single-image processing, with ads. Premium is $9.90 a month for 500 credits, with batch processing.
Start free at ImgUpscalerTerms read on imgupscaler.com on ImgUpscaler: the free allowance and how to start - 5
Bigjpg
Artwork and photos enlarged up to 4x
Bigjpg's Free Plan gives 20 pictures a month at up to 4x, with 5MB uploads on a slow, shared server. Basic is $6 USD for 2 months, with 500 pictures a month.
- Free output size
- Up to 4x (source: bigjpg.com)
- First paid plan
- Basic: $6 USD for 2 months (source: bigjpg.com)
- 6
Upscayl Cloud
Trying the web version before paying
Upscayl Cloud's free trial includes 10 credits after you log in and fill out a trial application. Pro is $24.99 a month for 300 credits, and unused credits roll over.
- What's free
- 10 free credits to try (source: upscayl.org)
- First paid plan
- Pro: $24.99 a month, 300 credits (source: upscayl.org)
Start free at UpscaylTerms read on upscayl.org on Upscayl Cloud: the free allowance and how to start
Open-source upscalers you run yourself
Upscale images on your own computer with open models, free.
- 1
Upscayl
A desktop upscaler you run yourself
Upscayl's desktop app is free and open source, and it enhances images by up to 16x better resolution. Its cloud version is a separate product.
- Free output size
- Up to 16x (source: upscayl.org)
- 2
chaiNNer
Repeatable upscale pipelines on your own PC
chaiNNer is free and open source for Windows, macOS and Linux, and runs upscaling models through PyTorch, NCNN, ONNX or TensorRT. GPU support depends on your hardware, from CUDA on Nvidia to MPS on Apple Silicon.
- 3
Real-ESRGAN
Developers who run the model themselves
Real-ESRGAN is open source under a BSD-3-Clause license, with portable executables for Windows, Linux and MacOS that run on Intel, AMD or Nvidia GPUs.
Start free at Real-ESRGANTerms read on github.com on Real-ESRGAN: the free allowance and how to start
Also useful for design and creative work
Referral links, picked for fit and ordered by fit (70%) and what a signup earns us (30%), at no cost to you. They never change this page's ranking.
How this comparison is built
The list covers AI image upscalers a founder can use for free today without applying to a program. The order and the "best for" notes are our editorial reading of each tool's terms. Every term comes from the tool's own pricing or help page on the date shown, never from a third-party list; follow each link for the full conditions. A cap on images or credits, a watermark or limited output resolution, commercial use kept for paid plans can matter more than the headline, so the comparison quotes them wherever the provider states them. Some of these tools pay StartupPerks a referral commission, and their links are labeled as referral links; that decides neither whether nor where a tool appears, and no tool pays for a placement on this page.
Read the full methodologyCommon questions
What is the best free AI image upscaler?
By the terms each provider states, ImgUpscaler gives 50 credits a month on its free plan, Bigjpg 20 pictures a month up to 4x and Upscale.media 3 free credits a month, while Upscayl is a free open-source desktop app that upscales up to 16x.
Is Let's Enhance free?
Let's Enhance gives 10 free credits at sign-up, with a watermark on free images and output up to 8 megapixels; its Starter plan is $9 a month billed yearly.
Is there a free open-source image upscaler?
Yes. Upscayl and chaiNNer are free open-source desktop apps, and Real-ESRGAN is open source under the BSD-3-Clause license and runs on your own GPU.
Is VanceAI free?
VanceAI gives 10 free credits to try, with free jobs waiting in a queue; upscaling up to 8x takes 3 credits.
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