Pricing Try it free

Upscayl vs EditThisPic — Full Comparison

Upscayl is a brilliant free, open-source desktop upscaler — fully local, no cloud. EditThisPic is a browser AI editor that handles upscaling plus everything else.

Quick Answer Updated
Upscayl is a free, open-source desktop app for Linux, macOS, and Windows that upscales images using AI models locally on your machine — no signup, no cloud. EditThisPic is a browser-based AI editor that does upscaling plus object removal, background replacement, photo restoration, and any edit you can describe. First edit free per week, packs from $4.99 for 10 edits.
Upscayl is a free, open-source desktop AI upscaler that runs locally. EditThisPic is a browser AI editor for upscaling plus removal, restoration, background swap — first edit free, packs from $4.99.
Original photo before AI editing
Before
Same photo after AI image enlarger edit
After

EditThisPic in action — image enlarger

Try Image Enlarger →

The Verdict

Upscayl and EditThisPic don't compete — they solve different problems. Upscayl is the right tool for free, local, privacy-first AI upscaling — especially batch jobs, anime, and confidential photos where cloud processing isn't acceptable. EditThisPic is the right tool for any edit beyond upscaling — object removal, background replacement, photo restoration, color editing — on any device without installing software. Most users benefit from owning both.

Feature EditThisPic Upscayl
Core Purpose General AI editor (any edit) AI image upscaler only
Install Required No — runs in any browser Yes — desktop app for Linux/Mac/Windows
Cost Free first edit weekly, packs from $4.99 for 10 edits Desktop app: completely free, open source. Upscayl Cloud: paid tiers
Privacy Cloud-based — images uploaded to process 100% local on desktop — images never leave your computer
Upscaling Quality Generalist Multiple specialized AI models, up to 16x
Object Removal Describe what to remove Not supported
Background Replacement Describe the new scene Not supported
Photo Restoration Describe what to fix Not its core job, though upscale + denoise overlaps
Color & Light Editing Describe the change Not supported
Batch Processing Single at a time Batch upscaling built-in
Platform Any browser (mobile, tablet, desktop) Desktop only (no mobile)
Open Source No Yes — fully open source on GitHub

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes — the desktop app is fully free and open source, available on Linux, macOS, and Windows. There's also Upscayl Cloud (paid tiers) if you want to upscale without using your own hardware.
Yes — say 'upscale this photo to 4x and enhance the details.' For pure upscaling work, Upscayl's specialized local models are typically more predictable. For upscaling combined with other edits (remove, replace, restore), EditThisPic does it in one prompt.
For the desktop app, yes — images are processed entirely on your computer with local AI models. They never leave your machine. EditThisPic is cloud-based and uploads images to process them.
Not natively. The Upscayl desktop app is Linux/Mac/Windows only. Upscayl Cloud is accessible on mobile via browser. EditThisPic works on any mobile browser without install.
No — EditThisPic processes one image at a time. For batch work (folders of dozens or hundreds of images), Upscayl's batch processing is the better fit.
Upscayl ships dedicated models tuned for anime and line art. For anime upscaling specifically, that specialist focus typically beats a generalist. EditThisPic interprets the description but isn't optimized for that one use case.
Helpful but not required. Upscayl works on integrated GPUs — just slower. For extreme ratios (8x+) or large images, a dedicated GPU saves significant time. EditThisPic uses cloud GPUs so your hardware doesn't matter.
Yes — common workflow. Batch-upscale a folder in Upscayl, then per-image generative work in EditThisPic. Two specialists beat one generalist for many workflows.

Related comparisons

Bigjpg vs EditThisPic EditThisPic vs Magnific (Upscaling) AI Photo Upscaler AI Photo Restorer Remove Watermark from Photo Best Free AI Photo Editors (2026)

More Comparisons

EditThisPic vs Snapseed EditThisPic vs VSCO EditThisPic vs BeFunky EditThisPic vs Cleanup.pictures EditThisPic vs Inpaint EditThisPic vs AirBrush
View all comparisons →

Try EditThisPic Free

No signup required. Start editing in seconds.

Drop your photo to try it

"enlarge image"

Free to try · no sign-up · photos are never shared

Release to upload