AI upscaler prices compared: what you pay over 1, 3 and 5 years
Prices checked on the vendors' own pages on November 9, 2026. Local Upscale Studio is in development.
A subscription and a one-time licence are hard to compare by their headline prices. This page adds them up over 1, 3 and 5 years, so you can see what each option costs for as long as you are likely to use it. We show the sums so you can check them.
How we worked it out
- Yearly plans: the yearly price × the number of years.
- Monthly plans: the monthly price × 12 × the number of years.
- One-time licences: the same price in every column, since you pay once.
- Prices are today's, in US dollars, before tax, for the Mac version. Where a vendor shows a crossed-out "original" price, we use the price charged. We assume nobody raises their price, which is unlikely over five years. Several one-time prices here are labelled as sales and may end.
Total cost of ownership
| App and plan | Price | 1 year | 3 years | 5 years | Macs per licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upscayl (GitHub) | Free | $0 | $0 | $0 | Any |
| Upscayl (Mac App Store) | $12.99 once | $12.99 | $12.99 | $12.99 | Not stated |
| Local Photo Upscaler (ours) | $9.99 once | $9.99 | $9.99 | $9.99 | Not stated |
| Local Video Upscaler (ours) | $9.99 once | $9.99 | $9.99 | $9.99 | Not stated |
| Local Upscale Studio (ours, coming) | $49 once at launch, then $79 | $49 | $49 | $49 | Not stated |
| Pixelmator Pro | $49.99 once | $49.99 | $49.99 | $49.99 | Not stated |
| VideoProc Converter AI, Lifetime | $54.95 once | $54.95 | $54.95 | $54.95 | 1 |
| VideoProc Converter AI, Family | $79.95 once | $79.95 | $79.95 | $79.95 | 3 to 5 |
| UniFab Video Upscaler AI, Lifetime | $84.99 once (sale) | $84.99 | $84.99 | $84.99 | Not stated |
| Aiarty Image Enhancer | $109 once | $109 | $109 | $109 | 3 |
| AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI, Perpetual | $149.90 once | $149.90 | $149.90 | $149.90 | 1 |
| Aiarty Video Enhancer | $165 once | $165 | $165 | $165 | 3 |
| Aiarty Image + Video bundle | $199 once | $199 | $199 | $199 | 3 |
| HitPaw VikPea, Lifetime | $284.69–$350.39 once | $284.69–$350.39 | $284.69–$350.39 | $284.69–$350.39 | 1 |
| VideoProc Converter AI, Premium 365 | $34.95/year | $34.95 | $104.85 | $174.75 | 3 |
| HitPaw VikPea, yearly | $89.69–$110.39/year | $89.69–$110.39 | $269.07–$331.17 | $448.45–$551.95 | 1 |
| AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI, yearly | $95.96/year | $95.96 | $287.88 | $479.80 | 1 |
| Apple Creator Studio (includes Pixelmator Pro) | $129/year | $129 | $387 | $645 | Family Sharing, up to 5 others |
| Adobe Lightroom plan (Super Resolution) | $11.99/month, yearly plan | $143.88 | $431.64 | $719.40 | Not stated |
| Topaz Gigapixel Personal | $149/year | $149 | $447 | $745 | Not stated |
| Adobe Photography plan | $19.99/month, yearly plan | $239.88 | $719.64 | $1,199.40 | Not stated |
| Topaz Video Personal | $299/year | $299 | $897 | $1,495 | Not stated |
| Topaz Gigapixel Personal, monthly | $29/month | $348 | $1,044 | $1,740 | Not stated |
| Topaz Video + Gigapixel Personal, bought separately | $448/year | $448 | $1,344 | $2,240 | Not stated |
| AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI, monthly | $39.95/month | $479.40 | $1,438.20 | $2,397 | 1 |
| Topaz Gigapixel Pro | $499/year | $499 | $1,497 | $2,495 | Not stated |
| Topaz Studio (Video, Photo, Gigapixel and more) | $499/year | $499 | $1,497 | $2,495 | Not stated |
| Topaz Video Pro | $699/year | $699 | $2,097 | $3,495 | Not stated |
| Topaz Video Personal, monthly | $59/month | $708 | $2,124 | $3,540 | Not stated |
"Not stated" means the vendor's plan page doesn't give a number of computers. HitPaw's purchase page shows two prices for its yearly and lifetime plans without saying which applies, so we show both ends; its FAQ says a single licence covers one Mac. AVCLabs says "1 license for 1 PC". Video2X is free but has no Mac app, so it isn't in the table.
A few sums worth spelling out
- Topaz Video, paid monthly for a year, is $59 × 12 = $708, more than twice the $299 yearly price. Monthly only makes sense for a single short project.
- Both Topaz apps cost $299 + $149 = $448 a year bought separately. Topaz Studio, at $499 a year, costs $51 more but adds Topaz Photo and Topaz's web and mobile apps.
- A one-time licence pays for itself quickly against a subscription. Aiarty Video Enhancer at $165 costs less than one year of Topaz Video Personal ($299). AVCLabs' perpetual licence ($149.90) costs about the same as 19 months of its yearly plan ($95.96 ÷ 12 × 19 = $151.94).
- UniFab's add-on. UniFab sells an optional "New Products Guarantee" at $99 a year, covering new models, features and updates. Bought every year from the start, the licence plus the add-on is $84.99 + $99 = $183.99 after one year, $381.99 after three and $579.99 after five.
What you get for the money
Updates on one-time licences
"Lifetime" means different things. Here is what each vendor's page says about updates:
- Aiarty: "Free lifetime access & update" on each app; the FAQ says lifetime licences include "all future updates and version upgrades".
- VideoProc Converter AI (Lifetime and Family): lifetime updates, major and minor.
- AVCLabs (Perpetual): "Free Update" is listed. It doesn't say for how long.
- HitPaw VikPea (Lifetime): "Free updates within the current big version". A new major version may cost extra.
- UniFab (Lifetime): the price page doesn't say which updates are included, apart from the paid add-on above. Its product page also lists one of the four models (Titanus) as a separate add-on.
- Pixelmator Pro: a one-time Mac App Store purchase.
- Local Upscale Studio: updates for this major version are included. We haven't set a price for any later major version.
What subscriptions add
- Topaz Video: unlimited local rendering, plus 25 cloud credits a month on Personal and 100 on Pro. Credits don't roll over. Personal allows commercial use only for organisations under $1M in annual revenue; Pro allows full commercial use.
- Topaz Gigapixel: unlimited local and cloud image rendering, with the same commercial-use split between Personal and Pro.
- Adobe: Super Resolution comes with the whole editor. The Photography plan includes Lightroom, Lightroom Classic and Photoshop.
- Apple Creator Studio: Pixelmator Pro plus Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Motion, Compressor and MainStage. Students and teachers pay $29.99 a year.
When a Topaz subscription is cancelled, Topaz's documentation says access continues to the end of the current billing period.
The cheapest option that fits you
- You upscale a few photos now and then: Upscayl, free.
- You already pay for Adobe: Super Resolution, at no extra cost.
- You want a photo editor as well: Pixelmator Pro, $49.99 once.
- Photos only, on up to 3 Macs, pay once: Aiarty Image Enhancer, $109.
- Video on one Mac, pay once: VideoProc Converter AI Lifetime, $54.95. It does images too.
- Video on several Macs, pay once: VideoProc Family, $79.95 for 3 to 5 Macs, or Aiarty Video Enhancer, $165 for 3.
- Only one project this year: a yearly plan, or one month of a monthly plan, can cost less than a lifetime licence. Cancel before it renews.
- Paid video work in an organisation earning over $1M a year: Topaz Video Pro, $699 a year, is the plan here that states full commercial use.
- Coming: Local Upscale Studio does photos and video for $49 once at launch. Its Quality video mode needs a Mac with a lot of memory, likely 24 GB or more, so check that it suits your Mac first. See the pricing page and early results.
Price is only part of it. Try the free trials on your own photos and a short clip before you pay. For a comparison by features and Mac requirements, see AI upscalers for Mac by use case. Moving from Topaz? See pay-once Topaz alternatives and Gigapixel alternatives.
About Studio's price
Local Upscale Studio is $49 at launch and rises to $79 at version 1.0. You pay once. It needs a Mac with Apple silicon. It isn't available yet.
Questions
Is a lifetime licence always cheaper? Over three years or more it usually is, if you keep using the app. Over one year a subscription can cost less, and it brings new models as they ship.
Do these prices include tax? No. Sales tax or VAT is added at checkout where it applies.
Why are some prices so specific, like $95.96? That is the price the vendor's page charges today, often after a discount it shows. We don't list the crossed-out price.
Sources
- Topaz Video: plans; Topaz Gigapixel: plans; Topaz Studio: plans; cancelling: Managing your subscriptions
- Aiarty: aiarty.com/store.htm
- VideoProc Converter AI: buy page
- AVCLabs: Mac purchase page
- UniFab: unifab.ai/promotion.htm, Video Upscaler AI
- HitPaw VikPea: Mac purchase page
- Pixelmator Pro: Mac App Store; Apple Creator Studio
- Adobe: Super Resolution and plans
- Upscayl: GitHub, Mac App Store; Video2X: GitHub
- Our apps: Local Photo Upscaler, Local Video Upscaler
Topaz Labs, Topaz Video, Topaz Studio and Gigapixel are trademarks of Topaz Labs. Pixelmator Pro, Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc. Adobe, Lightroom and Photoshop are trademarks of Adobe. Aiarty, VideoProc, AVCLabs, UniFab and HitPaw are trademarks of their owners. All other names are trademarks of their owners. Local Upscale Studio is not affiliated with any of them.