Upscayl
Open-source upscaling that runs on your own GPU, with no upload and no quota.
What it is
The only upscaler here that never touches the internet. It ships Real-ESRGAN and similar models as a desktop app, so you can process a thousand product images overnight without a per-image fee. The catch is hardware: it wants a reasonably modern GPU, and it is a batch tool rather than something you point at one photo.
Pricing updated 2026-11-12 Official pricing
Contact us for pricing — custom credit volume and unlimited storage.
Open pricingUpscayl pricing explained
Two different things share the name. The desktop app is free and open source under AGPL-3.0, with unlimited batch processing and no account — that is what most people mean by Upscayl. Upscayl Cloud is a separate, newer product sold in credits: a free trial with 10 credits, Pro at $24.99 a month for 300 credits with rollover and 256MP output, a Business tier that is not offered at the 300-credit level, and a Custom plan priced on request for larger volumes. If you have a discrete GPU, the free desktop app makes the cloud tier unnecessary.
Free-tier limits are taken from the official pricing page on the update date above. They change often — confirm before you commit to an annual plan.
Upscayl key features
Local GPU upscaling
Real-ESRGAN and similar models run on your own graphics card, so a thousand images overnight costs electricity and nothing per image.
Models for photos, anime and art
Different models suit different material: a face model on portraits, an illustration model on line art, a general one when you are unsure.
Batch folder processing
Point it at a directory and it works through the whole set, which is the only way upscaling is practical at catalogue volume.
2× and 4× scale factors
Enough to bring a thumbnail up to a usable asset, with the option to chain passes rather than one enormous jump.
Desktop builds for all three platforms
Windows, macOS and Linux, installed rather than opened in a browser, so there is no upload and no account.
Open source with custom model support
The code is AGPL-3.0 and the model folder is user-accessible, so a specialised model can be dropped in without a vendor release.
Upscayl: how it works
Nothing leaves the machine
Processing happens locally with no upload step at all, which is the property that makes it usable for confidential imagery.
A credit-based cloud tier exists separately
Upscayl Cloud sells credits for people without a capable GPU. The desktop app is a different product and stays free.
The GPU is the bottleneck
A discrete card process a batch quickly; integrated graphics will still finish, eventually. There is no server fallback in the desktop app.
Upscayl core strengths
No quota, no per-image fee
The marginal cost of the thousandth image is zero, which changes how you use it: whole archives get processed instead of a selection.
Confidential material stays confidential
Client work under NDA, medical images or unreleased product shots can be upscaled without a data processing agreement.
Auditable and forkable
AGPL-3.0 with 52k stars means the pipeline can be inspected and changed, not just trusted.
Batch-first design
It is built to run through a folder while you do something else, rather than to make one hero image look impressive.
Upscayl compared with alternatives
| Tool | Upscayl | Clipdrop | Photopea | remove.bg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Batch upscaling on your own GPU with no quota and no upload | Single-purpose image fixes with no prompt engineering | Layered editing in a browser tab, including PSD files | The cleanest one-click cut-out on hair and fur |
| Pricing shape | Desktop app free and open source / Cloud from $24.99 per month | Free daily quota / Pro SGD 22 per month | Free, ad-supported | Free at low resolution / no standalone paid plan after 1 December 2026 |
| Where files are processed | Entirely local, nothing is uploaded | Cloud | Entirely local in the browser | Cloud |
Written from the official product pages listed under Sources, not copied from another directory. Prices and limits reflect the update date above; features ship faster than reviews, so treat the list as a starting point and confirm on the official site.
Pros and cons
Strengths
- Nothing is uploaded — suitable for confidential material
- Unlimited batch processing with no per-image cost
- Open source, so the model can be inspected
Limitations
- Needs a decent GPU; integrated graphics are painfully slow
- No web version, so phones are out
- Desktop-app UX, not a polished product
Upscayl use cases
Rescuing a product photo archive
Run a few thousand old listing images through a batch overnight and come back to a consistent set, with no per-image bill.
Enlarging for print
Take a 4× pass on a client-supplied shot so it holds at print size instead of asking for the original again.
Upscaling anime and line art
Use the illustration model on artwork where a photo model would smooth away the line quality.
Confidential image work
Process material that cannot be uploaded to a cloud service, on a machine that never sends it anywhere.
