Upscayl vs Midjourney

Tagline

The #1 Free and Open Source AI Image Upscaler for Linux, MacOS, and Windows

Text-to-image generation for stunning AI art

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Pricing

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Platforms

API

Open source

Description

Upscayl is a powerful AI image upscaler designed to enhance blurry or pixelated photos into clear, high-resolution images. It offers a completely free, open-source desktop application that works offline on Linux, MacOS, and Windows, as well as a cloud-based service that runs on any device without requiring dedicated graphics hardware.

Midjourney generates high-quality images from natural language prompts, popular with designers and artists.

Key features

• AI Image Upscaling
• Up to 16x Resolution Enhancement
• Offline Local Processing
• Multiple AI Model Styles
• Custom Model Support
• Cloud-based Processing
• Text-to-Image Generation
• Face Enhancement
• Device-agnostic Cloud Access
• Zero Hardware Constraints on Cloud

• 4K temporal upscaling
• Grain and color match
• Batch API
• Timeline plugins for Premiere and Resolve

Pros

• The desktop application is completely free, open-source, and yours forever.
• Desktop processing is done locally on your machine, eliminating the need for an active internet connection.
• Upscayl is cross-platform, natively supporting Linux, MacOS, and Windows.
• Enhances images by up to 16x resolution with advanced AI quality preservation.
• Uploaded images are not used to train AI models, and users retain full ownership of their content.
• Allows deep customization, including the ability to add and use your own custom AI models.
• Upscayl Cloud does the processing heavy lifting without requiring local graphics cards or powerful hardware.
• Cloud subscription provides additional features like face enhancement and text-to-image generation.

• Best-in-class aesthetic quality
• Wide range of artistic styles
• Style references via --sref
• Character references via --cref
• Fast generation on paid plans
• Active creative community
• Regular model version updates
• Built-in upscaling and variations

Cons

• If you cancel your plan, unused subscription credits do not roll over and your history is deleted after 1 month.
• Unlike the direct download, the Mac App Store version of the software is not free.
• Accessing the free trial of the Cloud version requires submitting a formal trial application.
• No public API details or documentation are explicitly confirmed or disclosed in the provided content.
• Subscription payments are generally non-refundable unless technical errors or duplicate charges are verified.

• Requires Discord or web app
• No free trial available
• Restrictive content moderation
• Commercial rights only on paid tiers
• No official public API
• Public gallery by default on cheaper plans
• Steep prompt learning curve
• Limited fine-grained composition control

Pricing plans

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