Upscayl

Enlarge and sharpen images with AI, offline and free.

Editorially reviewedChecked Oct 2026How we review·11 visited this week

photo-editing#practical-oss#open-source#self-hosted#image

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Free plan Self-hosted Offline mode

Toolglade’s take

A genuinely useful, no-cost upscaler that keeps your images on your own machine, and the batch mode plus swappable models make it more flexible than most free web tools. It is best for people with a Vulkan-capable GPU who want quick local enlargements; skip it if you only have integrated graphics or expect it to rescue blurry, out-of-focus shots, which it cannot.

Should you use Upscayl?

Biggest strength: Completely free and open source, with no watermarks, sign-ups, or upload limits
Biggest weakness: Requires a Vulkan-compatible GPU; many integrated graphics chips and CPUs will not work
Pricing: Free plan
Top alternative: WeShop AI · see all

Facts & pricing last checked October 2026. How we review

About Upscayl

Upscayl is a free desktop app that uses AI to upscale low-resolution images without making them blurry. It runs locally on your own GPU as an offline alternative to paid upscaling tools.

Upscayl is a free, open-source desktop app that enlarges and sharpens low-resolution images using AI. It runs entirely on your own computer: you point it at an image or a folder, pick a model and a scale (such as 2x or 4x), and it rebuilds the picture with more detail than a plain resize would produce. Under the hood it uses Real-ESRGAN and similar models through an NCNN/Vulkan backend, so the heavy work happens on your GPU rather than in the cloud. It ships for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Because it is local and batch-capable, Upscayl is popular with photographers, designers, retro-gaming and print hobbyists, and anyone restoring old or small images. It supports additional community-made models and lets you choose which GPU to use. It is not a magic deblur tool, though: it enhances pixelated or small images but cannot fix photos that are out of focus or heavily blurred.

Weighing your options?See how Upscayl compares to the alternatives.

Pros & cons

Pros

Completely free and open source, with no watermarks, sign-ups, or upload limits
Runs locally on your GPU, so images never leave your computer
Batch mode upscales entire folders in one pass
Supports extra community-made models beyond the built-in ones, plus GPU selection
Native apps for Windows, macOS, and Linux with a simple before/after workflow

Cons

Requires a Vulkan-compatible GPU; many integrated graphics chips and CPUs will not work
Cannot deblur or fix out-of-focus images, only enhance low-resolution or pixelated ones
AGPL-3.0 license can complicate embedding it in closed commercial products
Large images and big batches can be slow or memory-hungry on modest GPUs