Head to head · Images · updated Oct 15, 2026
Upscayl vs Krea
Upscayl scores 70 to Krea's 29 on public evidence for upscale & restore images, and they rank #1 and #2 there. Both are free to start. Numbers below are the same public signals the ranking uses, recomputed nightly — nothing here is sponsored.
Upscayl
Free open-source desktop upscaler built on Real-ESRGAN models with a simple drag-and-drop interface.
+ Completely free, runs offline on almost any GPU and batch-processes folders.
− Only deterministic upscaling, so it cannot add believable detail like Magnific or Gigapixel.
Krea
All-in-one creative suite offering real-time generation, enhancement/upscaling and access to many third-party image and video models.
+ One subscription gives access to Flux, Veo, Kling, Wan and others plus a strong enhancer, so you rarely need another tool.
− It is an aggregator, so model availability and pricing shift often and credits drain quickly on video.
Side by side
public evidence| Upscayl | Krea | |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence score / 100 | 70 | 29 |
| GitHub stars | 50,614 | closed source |
| Hacker News stories, 30d | 0 | 0 |
| Release-feed mentions, 30d | 0 | 4 |
| Last activity | 9 days ago | 0 days ago |
| Pricing | Open source · free | Free tier · from $10/mo |
| Platforms | windows, mac, linux | web |
| Maker | Upscayl | Krea AI |
Which one?
Pick Upscayl if
- you want the stronger public evidence (70 vs 29)
- you want open source — self-host it, read it, fork it
- you need it on linux, mac, windows
- a bigger GitHub community matters (50,614 vs 0 stars)
Best for free offline batch upscaling.
Pick Krea if
- you need it on web
Best for trying every model in one place.