Photo upscaler apps compared: privacy, price, and platforms

The short version

If your priority is keeping a photo on your own device and paying once, Local Photo Upscaler, Photomator, and Pixelmator Pro all upscale on device. Local Photo Upscaler focuses on four enhancement modes and has the lowest listed one-time purchase price among these three products. For other workflows, compare Remini’s portrait tools and Topaz’s desktop editing options on your own sample. This page compares documented features, processing location, and dated prices; it does not benchmark output quality.

Remini

Processing: Cloud. Photos are uploaded for enhancement; its privacy policy says uploaded and enhanced images are deleted after one day.

Price: Free download. App Store in-app purchase list includes Remini Pro Weekly $9.99, Remini Lite Weekly $4.99 to $7.99, and 1 Month $9.99.

Choose Remini instead if you want its portrait, AI photo generation, or video features, and uploading is acceptable to you. Test the same source image before deciding which output you prefer.

Sources: Remini on the U.S. App Store; Remini privacy policy (Bending Spoons).

Upscale.media

Processing: Online service. On the web you upload the image to be processed; it also offers an API.

Price: Web: 3 free credits a month, $69.99 a year, or 60-credit pack listed at $7.99 billed once. Web and iOS offers may differ; check the storefront before paying.

Choose Upscale.media instead if you upscale occasional non-sensitive images from any browser, or need batch processing through an API.

Sources: Upscale.media pricing; Upscale: AI Photo Enhancer on the U.S. App Store.

Topaz Gigapixel / Topaz Photo

Processing: Desktop apps render locally; Topaz also sells web and cloud rendering.

Price: Gigapixel Personal $29 a month or $149 billed annually. Topaz Photo and Studio subscriptions have separate plans, promotional introductory prices, and renewal prices; check the linked pricing page.

Choose Topaz Gigapixel / Topaz Photo instead if you are a photographer or studio that needs big prints, batch jobs, RAW files, and additional model options.

Sources: Topaz Labs pricing.

Pixelmator Pro

Processing: On device. Super Resolution is part of a full image editor.

Price: $49.99 one-time on the Mac App Store, or Apple Creator Studio at $12.99 a month or $129 a year (includes the iPad version).

Choose Pixelmator Pro instead if you want a complete layer-based editor on Mac or iPad and upscaling is one tool among many.

Sources: Apple: Pixelmator Pro; MacStories: Pixelmator Photo adds ML Super Resolution on the Neural Engine.

Photomator

Processing: On device. ML Super Resolution comes from Pixelmator’s Neural Engine work.

Price: Free download. In-app purchases: $7.99 a month, $29.99 a year, or $119.99 lifetime.

Choose Photomator instead if you want a full photo editor with RAW support and color tools, with upscaling included.

Sources: Photomator on the U.S. App Store; MacStories: Pixelmator Photo adds ML Super Resolution on the Neural Engine.

Picsart

Processing: Cloud AI tools inside a social and template editor.

Price: Free download. In-app purchases include Gold $12.99 a month or $57.00 a year and Pro $13.99 a month or $83.99 a year.

Choose Picsart instead if you mainly make social posts, collages, and templated designs.

Sources: Picsart on the U.S. App Store.

Local Photo Upscaler

Processing: on device with bundled models; the App Store privacy label says Data Not Collected.

Price: $9.99 once, no in-app purchases, Family Sharing included.

Choose it if you enhance personal photos occasionally, want them to stay on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, and would rather not subscribe. Skip it if you need RAW files, video, colorization, or large prints from already-large photos (output is capped at about 17 megapixels).