AI Image Editing & Enhancementfree

Upscayl

Free open-source desktop app (Windows, macOS, Linux) using Real-ESRGAN on a Vulkan GPU

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What Upscayl does

  • Free open-source desktop app (Windows, macOS, Linux) using Real-ESRGAN on a Vulkan GPU
  • Upscales up to 16x with multiple models for photos, digital art and compressed images
  • Fully offline; batch mode

Upscayl — straight answers

What is Upscayl?

Upscayl is listed under AI Image Editing & Enhancement, in the Content & Media Generation category on Flocci AI Tools. Free open-source desktop app (Windows, macOS, Linux) using Real-ESRGAN on a Vulkan GPU. It is free, with no paid plan attached, and it lives at upscayl.org.

Is Upscayl free?

Upscayl is listed as fully free — there is no paid tier attached to it in the catalog. That makes it one of the 397 entries on Flocci AI Tools with no upgrade path built in.

Can I use Upscayl in a browser, or is there an app?

Upscayl needs to be installed or self-hosted — it doesn't run in a browser tab. It is available on Mac, Windows, Linux and self-hosting.

What can Upscayl do?

Upscayl does 3 things the catalog singles out: Free open-source desktop app (windows, macos, linux) using real-esrgan on a vulkan gpu; upscales up to 16x with multiple models for photos, digital art and compressed images; fully offline; batch mode.

What is the best free alternative to Upscayl?

OpenPixels is the closest free alternative: it sits in the same AI Image Editing & Enhancement sub-category and is free. Segment Anything Playground, Affinity by Canva and BAGEL (ByteDance) also start free. The full list is on the alternatives page.

See the full list →

Upscayl alternatives

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Head-to-head comparisons

Upscayl vs ClipdropUpscayl vs PhotoroomUpscayl vs remove.bgUpscayl vs Cleanup.picturesUpscayl vs Vectorizer.AIUpscayl vs Pixelcut