Magnific
The detail-adding upscaler people cite by name. It invents plausible texture, which is the point and also the risk.
AI TOOLS · UPSCALING AND ENHANCEMENT
AI upscalers.
Adding detail versus just adding pixels.
A plain resize makes a bigger file. An AI upscaler guesses the detail that was never in the original. That is useful for photographs and disastrous for text, diagrams and screenshots, where you want a resize or a re-render instead.
6 tools in this group
Topaz Photo AI
Denoise, sharpen and upscale in one desktop app, with everything processed on your machine.
Upscayl
Free, open-source desktop upscaler with a handful of models. The no-account option.
Real-ESRGAN
The open model behind a lot of other upscalers. Worth knowing because you can run it in a script over a whole folder.
Clipdrop
A browser upscaler sitting next to cutout, cleanup and relight tools, useful when one image needs several fixes.
Krea
Real-time generation and enhancement in the browser, with an upscale step that keeps you in the same canvas.
Listed in the order we would try them, not by who asked. Prices and free tiers change often — check the vendor's page before you commit. Tool Pantry tools run in your browser and upload nothing.
QUICK ANSWERS
Should I upscale a screenshot or a logo?
No. They contain sharp edges and text, so inventing detail produces mush. Re-export at the right size, or vectorise it.
Does upscaling bring back lost detail?
It produces detail that looks right, not the detail that was there. For evidence, restoration or anything audited, say so.
Local or hosted?
Local if the image is sensitive or you have many files. Hosted if you need the best texture model and only have a few images.
We add tools by hand, and only ones we have actually used. Send the link with one sentence on what it does better than the alternatives.