Head to head · Images · updated Oct 15, 2026
Upscayl vs Real-ESRGAN
Upscayl scores 70 to Real-ESRGAN's 15 on public evidence for upscale & restore images, and they rank #1 and #3 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.
Real-ESRGAN
Open-source super-resolution models and CLI for general images and anime, widely embedded in other tools.
+ Lightweight, scriptable and the de facto upscaler inside ComfyUI, A1111 and Upscayl.
− Command-line only with no official GUI, and the models have not been updated in years.
Side by side
public evidence| Upscayl | Real-ESRGAN | |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence score / 100 | 70 | 15 |
| GitHub stars | 50,614 | 0 |
| Hacker News stories, 30d | 0 | 0 |
| Release-feed mentions, 30d | 0 | 0 |
| Last activity | 9 days ago | – |
| Pricing | Open source · free | Open source · free |
| Platforms | windows, mac, linux | cli, windows, mac, linux |
| Maker | Upscayl | Xintao Wang et al. |
Which one?
Pick Upscayl if
- you want the stronger public evidence (70 vs 15)
- a bigger GitHub community matters (50,614 vs 0 stars)
Best for free offline batch upscaling.
Pick Real-ESRGAN if
- you need it on cli
Best for scripted upscaling in pipelines.