Best Free AI Scratch Remover Tools in 2026

The short version

EditThisPic is the best free AI scratch remover for old photographs in 2026: one free preview edit a week, no signup, and clean full-resolution downloads once you buy credits. Describe the damage in plain English and the AI repairs it in 15 to 30 seconds.

For a dedicated old-photo restoration workflow that also colorizes and upscales, Fotor is the strongest runner-up. If the damage is one isolated tear or spot rather than damage across the whole photo, Cleanup.pictures' brush tool is a good fit.

• Best overall: EditThisPic — free preview edit weekly, clean paid downloads from $4.99
• Best dedicated restorer: Fotor — from $8.99/month after limited free credits
• Best for spot repairs: Cleanup.pictures — free up to 720p, Pro from $5/month
• Most expensive path: MyHeritage Photo Repair — bundled into $119+/year genealogy plans

1. EditThisPic — best overall free scratch remover

Upload the damaged photo and describe what needs fixing — a scratch, a crease, a torn corner. EditThisPic's AI repairs it directly, no masking or layers required. The free preview edit resets weekly and doesn't require an account; buying credits unlocks a clean, full-resolution download.

• Free: 1 preview edit per week, no signup
• Paid: from $4.99 for 10 edits, downloads never watermarked
• Limitation: free tier is a preview, not a download — and heavily damaged photos sometimes need a second prompt

2. Fotor — best dedicated old-photo restorer

Fotor's Old Photo Restorer is purpose-built for scratches, tears, creases, and holes, and bundles in face enhancement and colorization. It runs in-browser without an account for basic use.

• Free: limited monthly credits (reported around 5/month)
• Paid: Pro from $8.99/month, or $5.94/month billed annually
• Limitation: struggles with heavy damage like large tears or water stains; full workflow needs the paid plan

3. Cleanup.pictures — best for a single tear or spot

Cleanup.pictures is a brush tool: paint over the damaged area and the AI fills it with matched detail. It's not a whole-photo restorer, but it's fast and free for isolated damage.

• Free: unlimited uploads, capped at 720p resolution
• Paid: Pro at $5/month or $36/year for full resolution
• Limitation: no colorization, no face enhancement, and you fix one area at a time

4. VanceAI Photo Restorer — best credit-based batch option

VanceAI processes for free but charges 2 credits per download. New accounts get 3 free credits a month — roughly one free download — with pay-as-you-go packs or a monthly subscription for more volume.

• Free: 3 credits/month (about 1 download)
• Paid: pay-as-you-go from $4.95 for 100 credits, or subscriptions from $9.90/month for 200 credits
• Limitation: requires signup, and the credit-per-download model adds friction for a single photo

5. Remini — best mobile-first enhance-and-restore

Remini bundles scratch/tear repair with general photo enhancement and upscaling in a mobile app. It's billed weekly or annually rather than through one-time credits, and the free version watermarks results and limits daily exports.

• Free: daily export limit, watermarked
• Paid: Personal $6.99/week, Business $9.99/week, or $299/year
• Limitation: weekly billing is expensive without committing to the annual plan, and repair isn't the tool's sole focus

6. MyHeritage Photo Repair — only if you already pay for MyHeritage

MyHeritage's Photo Repair fixes scratches and can also enhance and colorize, but it isn't sold on its own — it's bundled into annual genealogy subscriptions. The free tier caps out at 10 photos with a watermarked preview.

• Free: 10 photos, watermarked preview only
• Paid: bundled into annual plans from $119/year to $259/year
• Limitation: not purchasable as a standalone photo-repair tool

How we picked

We checked each tool's own pricing page in August 2026, and where a vendor's pricing page was unclear or inconsistent, cross-checked against multiple independent reviews that quote the current price. We looked specifically for free-tier limits, signup requirements, watermark behavior on free exports, and whether the paid price is a standalone purchase or bundled into a larger subscription. Tools we couldn't verify with a reliable current source were left out rather than guessed at.