A photo is worth a thousand words.

You heard this saying, right? Maybe some slightly different iteration of the saying. But you get the point, right?

Images are important.

You may be a social media influencer, or perhaps, you have an ecommerce store where images you post play an important role. You may be a blogger, or a graphic designer, too!

Whatever the case be, if your online activities and business requires using images, you very well know that they play a vital role in not just engaging users, but also putting your message across.

Sometimes, the images that you use may not be of high quality. Honestly, low-quality images aren’t going to give the impact that you are looking for.

But what if there is no higher resolution available for the image you need? What are you going to do?

There are ways you can upscale your image. Upscaling an image simply means increasing the resolution of your image. Of course, if you are skilled with image editing programs like Adobe Photoshop, or GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP), you can do that by yourself.

What about those who do not possess such skills? This is where AI-powered image upscalers come into play. There are programs available that will take your low-resolution image and spit out a high-resolution version without requiring you to move a pebble.

This article is going to tell you about all the available image upscaler programs available today. In case you are not ready to read the entire article, here is the quick list of the names you are going to find in this article:

Okay, now that you know what is on this list, let us quickly go through each option to understand what they have to offer.

Ready?

Upscaler by Stockphotos.com is one of the finest online image upscalers you can get today. With an easy-to-use interface featuring a drag-and-drop function, Upscaler can upscale your images up to 8x the original size. Don’t worry about the quality. The platform is designed to improve the quality of the images, not degrade it.

The platform has some interesting features to offer including:

You can use Upscaler for free. However, the free plan will allow only 3 images a month. Upscales will be retained for only 3 months.

There are two more plans for which you must pay, and they are:

The name is pretty simple and straightforward. This platform will enlarge your images without losing quality using artificial intelligence. The maximum enlargement allowed is 800%. However, you can decide to enlarge the image by either 200% or 400%, as well.

The platform also offers an Image Enhancer and Image Denoiser for free. Apart from that, they also have Face Retouch, Background Remover, and Image Sharpener tools available.

Depending on the plan you are selecting, the maximum image dimension that you can use is 2000 x 2000 pixels.

The platform itself is insanely simple to use. You need to either click and select an image from your local disk, or you can drag and drop the image on the platform and wait for it to perform the task.

The important features of the platform include:

There are three plans to select from. They are:

Note that the prices mentioned are applicable when you select a monthly billing cycle. However, you do have an option for choosing a yearly billing cycle where prices will be reduced significantly.

Vance AI Image Enlarger is one of the most powerful options you can get today. However, the only problem with Vance AI Image Enlarger is that the free version is not going to give you the AI Image Enhancer software.

There are many interesting features that this program has to offer, which include:

There are four pricing models available with Vance AI Image Enhancer, and they are:

What is interesting is that Vance AI Image Enhancer gives a 14-day free trial. So, if you want to try it, you can do so before making a purchase.

Deep Image AI is a neural network image enhancer with a brilliantly designed interface that allows directly uploading the images to the browser interface either by navigating from the source or by dragging and dropping the images from the source to the platform interface.

They also have a batch processing feature that works only and only with Google Drive. The platform can upscale images by 2x or 4x using Generative Adversarial Networks, while it uses Convolutional Neural Networks for removing JPG artifacts. They also use the Generative Adversarial Networks for removal of noise from the images.

The core features of Deep Image AI include:

Deep Image AI has various subscription plans that include:

In case you are going for their subscription plan, and you need more than 1000 credits, you must speak with them to get a bespoke pricing.

Yet another popular AI-based image upscaler is BigJPG. This platform also offers a very clean interface wherein you can either click and select the images that you want to be enhanced, or you can drag and drop the images to the interface and get started.

Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks, it quickly reduces both serration and noise in images, thereby allowing easy upscaling without the loss of quality. In fact, the quality is enhanced.

BigJPG is perfect for enhancing illustrations and anime images, however, you can also use it for enhancing regular images. Free users get to upload images of maximum 5 MB in size and 3000 x 3000 resolution. If you are a paid user, you can upload images of maximum 50 MB in size.

The core features of BigJPG include:

BigJPG offers a free plan under which you get to upscale only 20 images a month with no parallel and batch processing. The maximum upload size allowed will be 5 MB, while the maximum enlarging ratio will be 4x. It, however, allows offline enlarging.

If you want, you can upgrade to a paid plan. There are three paid plans available, which include:

Let’s Enhance is yet another popular platform that offers AI-based image upscaling and enhancements. The platform is superfast, and it automatically enhances the images. You need not do anything. It uses a neural network for enhancing the images. It can enhance image colors, remove blur and noise, delete compression, automatically detects dark areas in an image and improves them, and much more.

Whether you are an artist or an e-commerce shop owner, Let’s Enhance can do magic for your images and make them more marketable and professional-looking. The program can upscale images up to 256 MP.

The most important features of Let’s Enhance include the following:

Let’s Enhance offers various pricing plans. They have subscription plans for individuals and businesses. They also have pay-as-you-go plans available.

The free plan offers up to 5 credits (that is 5 images for only once). It allows upscaling up to 64 MP, and unlimited storage for 6 months. However, remember that once you use all the credits, you cannot use the free plan again. You must go for a paid plan.

The paid plans include the following:

Subscription for individuals:

Subscription for businesses:

Pay-as-you-go plans:

Note that for the subscription plans for individuals, the credits rollover for up to 6 months and maximum upscale is up to 256 MP. Prices mentioned are for yearly billing.

For subscription plans for businesses, there are no credit rollovers. The maximum upscale is up to 500 MP. Prices mentioned are for yearly billing.

Pay-as-you-go model does not have any expiry. You can use the credits until they expire.

Waifu2x is a deep convolutional neural network-based image upscaler that is excellent for anime-style graphics. This AI upscaling tool also has picture processing capabilities and can upscale images online.

The capabilities to upscale a picture are very excellent, despite the website’s UI not being particularly well designed and structured. You may upload from a local file or enter the URL of an internet picture.

This online image upscaler also includes noise reduction and allows you to upscale images up to 2x, which is a little less than the other image upscalers listed above.

Note that Waifu2x is a Japanese website, and it might not be available in certain countries. You do, however, have an alternative called Waifu2x.org, which allows upscaling up to 800%.

Neither of the two sites allow batch processing. So, you have to get things done one at a time.

It is a completely free service. You can keep using it for free, forever!

Crea8tiveAI offers a large number of tools, and one of them is Photo Refiner. Photo Refiner bills itself as an AI image upscaler that claims to be able to upscale photos by 16x in less than a minute. If you have tiny pictures that you wish to enlarge before printing, our AI image enlargement tool is an excellent option. Unlike traditional methods, this online picture upscaler uses deep learning to increase the resolution of images without compromising their quality.

It allows upscaling images up to 16x, and yes, it even allows 4K upscaling. The platform is quite easy to use, but unfortunately, it is not a very stable one. On the downside, it is also quite expensive compared to the options you have read so far.

There is no free plan available. The different pricing plans available include:

The thing that you are not going to like about Crea8tive AI is the complexity of its pricing plans, which can very off-putting, especially if you are looking for using only the Photo Refiner tool.

Icons8’s website has an AI-powered Smart Upscaler that enhances images using deep learning techniques. It may enhance a picture by up to 2x or 4x and contains noise reduction and flaw correction capabilities. Additionally, it is completely free for limited usage, but premium options are available if you need more. It comes with an interesting drag and drop interface where you can drop your images up to 3000 x 3000 pixels and up to 5 Mb in size.

If you want, you can also get access to their API for integrating it with the platform of your choice. The platform can remove JPEG compression artifacts with ease.

Their free plan will allow you to enhance 3 images for free. If you want to enlarge your images, you can pay $0.20 per image. Alternatively, you can pay $9 a month and get 100 images limit per month (enhancing and upscaling), or you can settle for unlimited image enhancement and upscaling for 99 USD a month.

Upscale Pics is a service that allows users to increase the resolution of images without sacrificing quality. What’s remarkable is that this image upscaler can increase the size of any image up to 2X. Supported by an AI upscaling algorithm, it enhances the details in your pictures, giving them the appearance of being shot by a professional photographer. Upscale Pics offers a free trial package.

It uses AI-Powered Deep Convolutional Neural Networks for image enhancements, and it is capable of removing JPEG artifacts. The platform is capable of adding extra details while improving the tone of the images.

The company offers two simple pricing plans. One is meant for regular users, while the other is for professionals and agencies.

The two plans are:

Blow Up 3 is the newest version of Exposure Software’s picture enhancement software, which is compatible with both Windows and Mac systems. It’s a program, similar to Photoshop, that utilizes conventional technologies to enhance picture clarity and expand images without sacrificing quality.

A nice aspect is that they offer presets for various paper types, which guarantees that your picture will print optimally. If you have experience working with Photoshop, you will find Blow Up 3 to be incredibly easy. However, even without Photoshop experience, you can use it like a pro. The learning curve is not very steep.

You may sign up for a 30-day free trial and then upgrade to their premium service.

You can purchase Blow Up 3 for $79. If you already have an older version, you can upgrade it for $49.

You can even purchase Blow Up 3 as a part of Exposure 6 Bundle, which is essentially a collection of various photography tools. The bundle costs $149.

Of course, you can try Blow Up 3 pr Exposure 6 Bundle for free.

Pixbim Enlarge AI, which is based on advanced machine learning methods, achieves outstanding results without sacrificing picture quality. As an artificial intelligence upscaler, it is capable of automatically filling in missing pixels using intelligent analysis and precise prediction. Additionally, when you use it to enlarge a photograph, the details in the photograph may be improved.

The program is capable of enlarging images by 400%, that is 4 times the original input. It not only increases the image size, but also helps to increase the image resolution.

On the downside, you cannot use it online. You must download the program and install it on your computer. It may not give the ideal or desired results always.

There is no subscription fee. You must purchase it with a one-time fee of $49.99. They do have a 30-day refund policy, and also offer lifetime free upgrades. There is a free trial that you can use to understand its capabilities.

This is a simple-to-use picture upscaler that enables you to utilize deep convolutional neural networks to upscale images. It is completely free to use. There is no limit to the number of pictures that can be processed. However, the production quality falls short of expectations. If you’re looking for a quick way to upscale pictures without sacrificing quality, this free online image upscaler may be a decent choice.

What is interesting is that Zyro is essentially a website builder platform with the image upscaler service being provided for free to anyone who wishes to use it.

It is a completely free tool provided by Zyro website builder.

GIMP is an image manipulation program available for free. It is not really an AI-driven program, but what you must understand is that it is capable of enhancing and upscaling images. GIMP is an open-source program available for Windows, Linux, and Mac users.

However, the program is extremely difficult to use, and you must learn it properly before you can use it like a professional. Note that though GIMP is a free tool, it is an extremely powerful image manipulation program, and it is often dubbed as the best free Photoshop alternative.

Upscaling an image with GIMP requires several steps that includes opening the image in GIMP and then using the Scale Image option. Once you do that, you will be required to provide the desired width and height. To maintain the quality, you must Quality >> Interpolation >> Sinc to maintain the quality while scaling.

Since it is not an online program with AI-driven technology, further enhancements should be performed by you.

It is open source and free!

To be honest, Photoshop is at the very bottom of this list because of two reasons. First, it is not an AI-driven program, and second, it is not free. Yes, it is now cloud-based, but you still need to install it on your computer.

Photoshop is one of the most powerful photo editing programs available today, and it is widely used by designers. It has a steep learning curve, but once you do that, you can edit, enhance, and upscale images like a pro.

There are different pricing options for different types of plans available. The Photography plan that includes Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop starts at $9.99 a month.

Okay, now that we have learned about the list, let us quickly go through a couple of questions. You must know the answers to these questions.

Upscaling simply refers to the process of expanding pictures to fit on a bigger monitor. Stretching a picture reduces the pixel density and results in pixelation, which is particularly noticeable when the original image has a low resolution. However, the advancement of AI picture upscaling guarantees that images are upscaled without sacrificing quality.

When dealing with a low-resolution picture, manual upscaling is necessary to maintain the image’s visual quality at larger levels. While AI picture upscaling is considerably more automated, it does it by analyzing the image and filling in the missing pixels using a deep learning model. Thus, with an AI upscaler, you can simply do picture upscaling to 2x, 4x, 8x, or even 16x.

Whether you use conventional picture upscaling techniques such as Photoshop or even other professional software or AI image upscaling techniques using a powerful AI upscaler, what matters most is quality. AI based solutions offer great quality because of their deep machine learning based on complex algorithms and neural networks. They allow lossless picture upscaling up to two, four, eight, or even 16 times. Additionally, some of them would enhance the image’s quality by increasing the photographer’s details. More importantly, they are much less expensive and simpler to use than Photoshop or GIMP or other similar photo editing programs.

It’s encouraging to see a growing number of AI firms zealously developing their AI upscaling technology, resulting in an increasing number of good AI upscalers. Apart from AI picture upscaling, AI technology is getting stronger to assist us in every area via continuous training and growth. It is thought that AI will enable us to live in a more convenient environment.