Skip to content
Day 69: new resources are added every day. See what's new
Best Productivity ResourcesBy Shushant LakhyaniVerified creator

Desktop App

Upscayl

Free and open-source AI image upscaler for Linux, macOS and Windows.

Visit Upscayl4.8

  • Rating

    4.8 / 5

  • Pricing

    Free

  • Difficulty

    Beginner

  • Works on

    Linux, macOS, Windows

Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com

Free: 1,100+ ways people make money onlineFree: 399+ ways to make money online

What is Upscayl?

Upscayl is a free, open-source desktop app that uses AI models to enlarge and enhance images locally. Built with Electron and TypeScript, it lets you upscale photos, digital art and textures without uploading them to a cloud service, keeping files private on your own machine.

Third-party open-source projects. We are not affiliated with their authors; repositories are provided as-is by their maintainers. Review each project's license, code and security before installing. See our Disclaimer.

Pros: what Upscayl does well

  • Free, open-source and actively maintained with 49k+ stars
  • Runs entirely offline so images stay private
  • Supports Linux, macOS and Windows
  • Batch upscaling and multiple AI models included

Cons: where it falls short

  • Requires a capable GPU for reasonable speed
  • Desktop app only; no browser or mobile version

Who Upscayl is for

Designers, photographers, creators and privacy-conscious users who want to enlarge images without sending them to a server.

Who can skip it

Users who need cloud APIs, mobile workflows or automated bulk pipelines may prefer a hosted service.

Upscayl alternatives

Not sold on Upscayl? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.

All AI Productivity resources

bloks

Focus: ai agents, local-first and desktop. Shares privacy and open source with Upscayl. Rated 4.4 (Upscayl: 4.8).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.4Visit

Speakr

Focus: transcription, audio and self-hosted. Shares open source and privacy with Upscayl. A web app, not a desktop app. Adds Web. Rated 4.7 (Upscayl: 4.8).

Web AppFreeWeb, Linux
4.7Visit

Toolcraft

Focus: design tools, design engineering and developer tools. Shares ai and open source with Upscayl. A framework, not a desktop app. Adds Web. Rated 4.5 (Upscayl: 4.8).

FrameworkFreeWeb
4.5Visit

brag

Focus: launch video, cli and developer tools. Shares open source with Upscayl. Rated 4.6 (Upscayl: 4.8).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.6Visit

Wake

Focus: ai agents, sessions and rust. Shares open source with Upscayl. Rated 4.6 (Upscayl: 4.8).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit

Astryx Design System

Focus: design system, react and stylex. Shares open source with Upscayl. A framework, not a desktop app. Adds Web. Rated 4.6 (Upscayl: 4.8).

FrameworkFreeWeb
4.6Visit

Free alternatives to Upscayl

Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.

VSCodium

Focus: code editor, vs code and github. Shares privacy and open source with Upscayl. Adds Offline. Rated 4.6 (Upscayl: 4.8).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit

Pi Desktop

Focus: ai coding, desktop and rust. Shares electron and open source with Upscayl. Rated 4.5 (Upscayl: 4.8).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.5Visit

Bolt Slides

Focus: presentations, slides and ai agents. Shares open source with Upscayl. An AI tool, not a desktop app. Adds Web. Rated 4.4 (Upscayl: 4.8).

AI ToolFreeWeb
4.4Visit
Are you the maker of Upscayl?Get a free Featured badge for your site, a share image and ready-to-paste posts. No sign-up.

New · updated daily

What people are actually doing with AI

Real use cases shared on Reddit, Hacker News, X, GitHub and blogs, summarised in plain words with a link to every original post.

Browse AI use cases

Free Notion database

1,100+ ways people are making money online

Real online businesses, creators and projects, broken down by how they make money: apps, online stores, AI tools and more. Free on Gumroad.

Get the free database

Free Notion database

399+ ways to make money online

Hundreds of online income methods in one place, so you can compare options and pick one to try. Free on Gumroad.

Get the free list

For research and ideas only. Results vary and nothing here is a promise of income. See our Disclaimer.

Weekly newsletter

Everything new, every Monday.

One short email every Monday with everything shipped that week: new free tools and websites, new guides, new free browser tools and what's new in my free Gumroad libraries, plus how the site is growing. Free, and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Join the newsletter

You sign up on Gumroad, which stores your email to send the newsletter. See our Privacy Policy.