Are you wondering how to increase the resolution of a pixelated image? An AI Image upscaler can help you.
But with so many tools on the market — which is the best one? We’ve analyzed over 30 AI upscalers and here are the five that consistently outperform the rest.
These upscale tools can increase image resolution by 4x, 8x, or even 16x while preserving sharpness and texture. What are they? Continue reading to find out.
An AI image upscaler is a tool that takes an image and increases its resolution while preserving details and edge clarity.
Most image upscalers work online, but sometimes you need to download and run it locally.
Examples of AI image upscalers include DeepImage, Topaz Gigapixel AI and AVCLabs Photo Enhancer, though there are many others.
This depends on the type of image upscaler. There are two main types: traditional and AI-powered. Let’s consider how each of them works:
1️⃣ How do traditional image upscalers work? Traditional upscalers increase the resolution by duplicating existing pixels. While this effectively increases the size of the image, it can also create issues such as blurry or blocky results.
2️⃣ How do AI upscalers work? These tools generate new pixels and reconstruct missing details by drawing on millions of training images.
This reconstruction takes place at a macro-detail level, so the overall look of the image remains unchanged.
Here's how the top 5 AI upscalers compare across key features and pricing:
Quick takeaways:
Now that you understand the technology and pricing, let's examine each tool in detail. We'll cover features, usage steps, and performance.
DeepImage is a cloud-based AI upscaler that balances quality with simplicity. It handles most image types well, making it a solid choice for general use.
The tool offers three AI models optimized for different content.
How to use DeepImage:
Pricing: Credit-based system starting at $5/month for 100 credits. Each image costs 1-5 credits depending on resolution and features used.
Freepik Image Upscaler offers the highest upscaling factor among cloud-based tools, reaching up to 16x enhancement. The tool provides two modes: Classic mode delivers quick 2x–4x upscaling, while the Magnific mode supports up to the full 16x upscaling factor with advanced controls like HDR, creativity, resemblance, and fractality settings.
How to use Freepik Image Upscaler:
Pricing: Credit-based plans starting at $5.75/month (billed annually). Classic mode uses fewer credits than Magnific mode.
Topaz Gigapixel AI is famous among professional photographers, and there’s a good reason why. It offers the best overall quality and the most control over the image resolution.
The software includes six specialized AI models:
How to use Topaz Gigapixel AI:
Pricing: $99.99 one-time purchase. Includes 12 months of updates. Additional years of updates cost $49.99.
Adobe's Super Resolution integrates directly into Photoshop and Lightroom, making it the most convenient option for Creative Cloud subscribers.
While limited to 2x upscaling, it delivers reliable results with minimal effort.The feature uses Adobe Sensei AI to analyze and enhance images. It works best with RAW files but handles JPEGs and other formats well. The integration means you can upscale without leaving your editing workflow.
How to use Photoshop Super Resolution:
Pricing: Included with Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan at $19.99/month. No additional cost for the feature, though Adobe is notorious for increasing subscription costs with little warning.
AVCLabs Photo Enhancer is fixing old or damaged photos, and it increases resolution as part of that process.
This also means that the tool alters the image in other ways, for example, tweaking the color, so keep that in mind.
The software automatically detects faces and applies specialized enhancement. It also includes tools for other forms of photo-restoration:
This is not a cloud service, so you’ll need to download and use it locally on your computer.
How to use AVCLabs Photo Enhancer:
Click Save All to export
Pricing: $39.95/month or $99.90 one-time purchase. Free trial available with watermarked output.
An AI upscaler is software that increases image resolution using artificial intelligence. It analyzes your image, predicts missing pixel data, and generates new detail to create a larger, sharper version.
AI upscaling works by using neural networks trained on millions of image pairs. The AI examines patterns in your image, identifies content types, then generates new pixels that match the existing style and detail.
Most AI upscalers support common formats like JPEG, PNG, and WEBP. Professional tools like Topaz Gigapixel also handle RAW files (CR2, NEF, DNG) and TIFF. Some tools work with PSD files while maintaining layers.
Besides AI upscaling, you can use bicubic interpolation in Photoshop, vector tracing for logos and graphics, or fractal-based scaling. That said, traditional methods can't match AI quality for rasterized content.
In this article we learned about AI image upscaling technology and reviewed the top 5 tools available in 2025. AI upscalers use deep learning to intelligently increase resolution while preserving detail, far surpassing traditional interpolation methods. When choosing the right AI upscaler for you, consider the upscaling power, supported file formats, if it’s cloud vs local, and whether you can process multiple images at once.
