Real-ESRGAN
A free tool that makes a small picture look sharper. It's for people making images, video, or audio. It's free.
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No affiliate link on file. Outbound goes to github.com. Identity checked October 21, 2026. Score null is from the run on October 21, 2026.
Grade
We tried it ourselves. Grade C.
- Grade
- C · We tried it
- Score
- 6/10
- Price
- Free
Best for
Jobs people use this for.
Test details
Open-source image super-resolution and upscaler. The repository lists BSD-3-Clause, which was not re-verified for this page.
Hands-on review · 2026-10-21
TestedC6/10- CPU-only box: 8 cores, 15 GB RAM, no GPU.
- 2 images
Real-ESRGAN makes upscales look much sharper than plain resizing, as the letter crop shows. By pixel accuracy it actually scored below bicubic, because it invents detail rather than recovering it. On CPU it takes about 26 seconds per image. Use it for looks, not for faithful restoration.
Visibly sharper, but slow on CPU and less faithful by PSNR.
- Coverage
- 4x upscale of two 256px downscales, compared with bicubic
- What we tested
- 4x upscaling of 256px downscales of two 1024px images, compared with bicubic and the original (PSNR plus visual crop).
Method
Official RealESRGAN_x4plus.pth (64 MB) loaded with spandrel on torch CPU, 8 threads.
Measured
- sign27.3 s CPU, PSNR 24.07 dB vs bicubic 24.60
- mug25.9 s CPU, PSNR 34.98 dB vs bicubic 39.45
- visualMuch sharper edges and letters than bicubic (sign crop); fine texture is invented, which is why PSNR is lower
Pros
- Clearly sharper output than bicubic
- Runs on CPU with the official weights
Cons
- About 26-27 s per 1024px output on CPU
- Hallucinates texture; lower pixel fidelity (PSNR) than bicubic
- The official fast binary needs Vulkan; we used a PyTorch route
- Status
- Not run
- Date
- October 21, 2026
- Time to first output
- —
- Cost
- —
- Result
- —
- Evidence
- Log linked below
Queued task. Generate a fixed prompt set, including one that requires readable text. Log failed takes and cost.
FAQ
What is the agent-tested verdict for Real-ESRGAN?
A free tool that makes a small picture look sharper. It's for people making images, video, or audio. It's free. We tried it ourselves. Grade C.
How much does Real-ESRGAN cost?
Free. Free, open source
Do sponsors outrank this tool?
No. A sponsored slot is labeled and sold separately from tiers. It cannot move this listing.