AI image upscaler for PC
Enhance image quality with AI on your own graphics card, without uploading it anywhere.
Updated: November 2026 · 6 min read
To enhance image quality with AI on your PC: install AppGrabbit, open Enhance image with AI, drop the image, pick "Photo" or "Drawing or logo" and ×2 or ×4, check the free preview and click Enhance. It runs Real-ESRGAN on your graphics card: the image isn't uploaded anywhere. The honest part: the AI invents believable detail; it doesn't recover detail the photo never had. Free preview · 1 credit per image
What the AI does (and what it doesn't)
When you enlarge an image the normal way, every pixel gets stretched and everything looks soft and blurry. The AI (Real-ESRGAN, a model trained on millions of images) looks at the edges and textures and draws the detail that was probably there: sharp edges, fewer JPG blocks, cleaner lettering. It works very well with small or heavily compressed images, logos, screenshots and illustrations.
What it doesn't do: it doesn't remove blur or motion, it doesn't recover what the camera never captured and, in very fine details, it can invent something that wasn't there (a different letter, a slightly changed feature). That's why the preview comes first.
How to upscale an image with AI, step by step
- 1Install AppGrabbit. 163 MB, Windows 10 and 11, no account. The AI engine comes built in: there's nothing else to download. Windows will say it protected your PC because the installer is not code-signed: More info › Run anyway.
- 2Open "Enhance image with AI" › Enhance. It's in the menu on the left. In "Your image", pick one or several, or drop them on the image area: JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC and more, up to 2048 × 2048 px.
- 3Tell it what it is. In "How to enhance it": "Photo" for people, landscapes and objects, or "Drawing or logo" for illustrations, logos, text and anime. Then ×2 or ×4.
- 4Check the free preview. A box on the image shows that part before and with AI, side by side. Move it with the mouse or the arrow keys to check what matters to you (a face, some text) before spending anything.
- 5Enhance. "Enhance 1 image · 1 credit". The image lands in the "Enhanced" folder, as PNG, JPG or WebP (you choose in "Where it's saved"), and "See up close" lets you compare the result.
Photo or drawing, ×2 or ×4
| If your image is… | Pick | Enlarge |
|---|---|---|
| A small photo: people, landscapes, a product | Photo | ×4 if it's very small; ×2 if it only needs a little |
| A logo, a drawing, a screenshot with text, anime | Drawing or logo | ×4: the edges come out clean |
| A photo that's already large (over 2048 px per side) | No need | It already has detail; the AI won't improve it |
If what you want is a logo that scales up without limit, what you need is a vector: see pixelated logo to vector.
The ways to enhance an image, compared
| AppGrabbit | An upscaling website | Upscayl | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | On your PC, with your graphics card | On their servers: you upload the image | On your PC, with your graphics card |
| Preview before saving | Yes, free | Varies; many ask for an account or payment to download it full size | You see the result when it finishes |
| Price | Free preview; 1 credit per image (5 free a month) or Pro | Free with limits, credits or a subscription | Free, with its code on GitHub |
| Also | In the same section, convert to vector (SVG) | Depends on the site | More models to choose from |
Upscayl is a good free app and uses the same family of models; if you already use it and it works for you, there's no reason to switch. AppGrabbit makes sense if you also download, transcribe or convert, and want it all in one app.
Before you start
- Graphics card. The AI uses your PC's graphics card (with Vulkan, which almost every NVIDIA and AMD card from recent years has, and many Intel ones). The app tests it before using it; if your PC doesn't have one that works, it tells you and charges nothing.
- Size. Up to 2048 × 2048 px in and 16,000 px per side out.
- Credits. If an enhancement fails, the credit comes back automatically.
Your images, bigger and sharper
Windows 10 and 11 · 163 MB · Free preview · 1 credit per image, 5 free a month · Nothing uploaded
Frequently asked questions
The preview is: you see part of the image before and with AI without spending anything (up to half of each image). Saving costs 1 credit per image; the Free plan comes with 5 credits a month for the whole app. With Pro (USD 8.99 a month) or a 2-day pass (USD 2.99) or 7-day pass (USD 3.99), you don't use credits at all.
No. The image is processed on your PC, with your graphics card; it doesn't go through any server. The only things the app sends are what the privacy page lists (license, credits and anonymous counts), never your files.
No. The AI enlarges a small or compressed image and rebuilds its texture; an out-of-focus or motion-blurred photo stays just as blurry, only bigger. There's no honest shortcut for that.
Yes, but carefully: the AI draws believable detail and can slightly change features, small text or textures. That's what the preview is for: put the box over the face and decide.
The AI uses your PC's graphics card (with Vulkan, which almost every NVIDIA and AMD card from recent years has, and many Intel ones). The app tests it before using it; if your PC doesn't have one that works, it tells you and charges nothing.
Up to 2048 × 2048 px going in; the result, up to 16,000 px per side. A bigger photo already has plenty of detail and doesn't gain anything from the AI.
Yes: pick several and they're enhanced in a queue, one after another, on the graphics card. Each one costs 1 credit; with Pro or a pass there's no cap.
No: AppGrabbit is for Windows 10 and 11 only.