# AI Image Upscaler API - Upscale & Enhance Photos 4x (`sndzcc/ai-image-upscaler`) Actor

Upscale and enhance any image 2x or 4x with Real-ESRGAN AI, in bulk. Increase resolution and sharpen small, blurry or compressed photos. A pay-per-image Topaz, Upscayl and Let's Enhance alternative.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/sndzcc/ai-image-upscaler.md
- **Developed by:** [Sndz Data](https://apify.com/sndzcc) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $10.00 / 1,000 upscaled images

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## AI Image Upscaler API: Upscale & Enhance Photos 4x

Turn small, blurry or heavily compressed images into **crisp, high-resolution pictures**. Paste image links, choose **2x or 4x**, and get the upscaled files in **PNG, JPG or WebP**, ready to download.

Powered by **Real-ESRGAN**, the open-source AI model behind popular desktop upscalers. No GPU, no software to install, no subscription: **pay per image**.

### Why this one?

- **4x more pixels, real detail.** The AI rebuilds edges and textures instead of just stretching the image.
- **Bulk.** Upscale hundreds of images in one run, straight from their URLs.
- **Your format.** Lossless PNG (keeps transparency), or light JPG / WebP with the quality you choose.
- **Predictable cost.** Very large inputs are scaled to a safe size first, so a run never surprises you.
- **A pay-as-you-go alternative** to Topaz Gigapixel, Upscayl or Let's Enhance subscriptions.

### Use cases

- **E-commerce:** sharpen supplier product photos for your store and marketplaces.
- **Print and merch:** enlarge artwork, logos and photos for posters, t-shirts and mugs.
- **AI art:** upscale Midjourney, Stable Diffusion or DALL·E images to print resolution.
- **Real estate and travel:** improve low-resolution listing photos.
- **Old photos and screenshots:** recover detail from small or compressed images.

### Input

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Image URLs** | Links to JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP or TIFF images, one per line. |
| **Upscale** | 4x (recommended) or 2x. |
| **Output format** | PNG (lossless), JPG or WebP. |
| **JPG / WebP quality** | 50 to 100. |
| **Max input size** | Inputs above this size (default 0.5 megapixel, max 1) are scaled down first. |

```json
{
  "images": ["https://example.com/photo-small.jpg", "https://example.com/logo.png"],
  "scale": "4",
  "outputFormat": "png"
}
```

### Output

Each upscaled image is saved in the run's storage, with one row per image in the dataset:

```json
{
  "inputUrl": "https://example.com/photo-small.jpg",
  "outputUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/abc123/records/0001-photo-small-x4.png",
  "scale": 4,
  "format": "png",
  "inputWidth": 500,
  "inputHeight": 375,
  "outputWidth": 2000,
  "outputHeight": 1500,
  "inputResizedToFit": false,
  "outputBytes": 3815442,
  "seconds": 4.2
}
```

The **Upscaled images** view shows a before/after preview of every image. Images that can't be downloaded or opened are skipped (and not charged) and listed in the `FAILED_IMAGES` record.

### Good to know

- 4x of a 700x700 image gives 2800x2800 (8 megapixels); with the 1 MP limit, 1000x1000 gives 4000x4000 (16 megapixels).
- Each image takes a few seconds (about 8 s for 500x500 at 4x).
- Works best on photos, product shots, illustrations and AI art. Tiny text may not become readable if it was never in the image.
- Transparency (PNG alpha) is kept.
- Model: Real-ESRGAN `realesr-general-x4v3` by Xintao Wang et al., BSD-3-Clause license.

### Integrations

Run it from Make, Zapier, n8n or the Apify API to upscale images automatically, for example every new product photo in your store.

### How to use it

1. Click **Try for free** (or **Start**) at the top of this page.
2. Fill in the input, or keep the example to see it working in seconds.
3. Click **Start** and wait for the run to finish.
4. Download the results as **Excel, CSV, JSON or HTML**, or get them through the Apify API.

### How much does it cost?

**$0.01 per upscaled image** ($10.00 per 1,000). No start fee, no monthly fee, and you only pay for the results saved to your dataset.

| Example | Cost |
|---|---|
| Upscale 100 product photos | about $1.00 |
| A 1,000-image catalog | about $10.00 |

Apify's free plan includes monthly credit, so you can try it for free.

### FAQ

**How much bigger can images get?**

2x or 4x per side. A 700x700 image becomes 2800x2800 at 4x.

**Is it real AI upscaling?**

Yes. It uses Real-ESRGAN, the open-source model behind popular desktop upscalers, which rebuilds edges and textures.

**Which formats are supported?**

Input: JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP and TIFF. Output: PNG (keeps transparency), JPG or WebP.

**Can I upscale many images automatically?**

Yes. Pass hundreds of image URLs per run, or call it from Make, Zapier, n8n or the API.

### More tools from Sndz Data

- [BORME Scraper API - Spain New Company Leads Daily](https://apify.com/sndzcc/borme-spain-companies): every new company registered in Spain, daily
- [App Store & Google Play Reviews Scraper API](https://apify.com/sndzcc/app-reviews-scraper): App Store and Google Play reviews in one run
- [Job Scraper API - Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby & Workable](https://apify.com/sndzcc/ats-jobs-scraper): all open jobs from Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby and more
- [Google News Scraper API - Articles with Real URLs](https://apify.com/sndzcc/google-news-scraper): news by keyword or topic, with real article URLs
- [Email & Contact Scraper API - Emails, Phones & Socials](https://apify.com/sndzcc/contact-details-scraper): emails, phones and social profiles from any website
- [Telegram Scraper API - Channel Posts, Views & Media](https://apify.com/sndzcc/telegram-channel-scraper): posts, views and media from public Telegram channels
- [Brand Monitoring API - Mentions Radar for News & Reddit](https://apify.com/sndzcc/brand-mentions-radar): brand mentions across 9 sources, with sentiment
- [Keyword Research API - Google, YouTube & Amazon Ideas](https://apify.com/sndzcc/keyword-ideas-machine): hundreds of keyword ideas from 5 search engines
- [Tech Stack Detector API - Wappalyzer & BuiltWith Alternative](https://apify.com/sndzcc/tech-stack-detector): the technologies behind any website, in bulk
- [Polymarket & Kalshi API - Prediction Market Odds](https://apify.com/sndzcc/prediction-markets-scraper): live odds from Polymarket and Kalshi in one dataset
- [WHOIS & Domain Lookup API - DNS, SSL & Availability](https://apify.com/sndzcc/domain-intel): WHOIS, availability, DNS and SSL for any list of domains
- [Bluesky Scraper API - Posts, Profiles & Followers](https://apify.com/sndzcc/bluesky-scraper): posts, profiles and followers from Bluesky, no login
- [SEO Audit API - Broken Links, Meta Tags & Site Crawler](https://apify.com/sndzcc/seo-audit): SEO audit and broken link checker for any website
- [OCR API - Image & PDF to Text Extractor, 100+ Languages](https://apify.com/sndzcc/image-pdf-to-text): text from images and scanned PDFs, 100+ languages

### Support

Need another format, a face-restoration mode or a different size? Open an issue on the **Issues** tab.

If this Actor saves you time, a quick ⭐ review helps a lot and keeps it maintained. Thank you!

# Actor input Schema

## `images` (type: `array`):

Links to the images to upscale (JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP, TIFF), one per line. Hundreds at once are fine.

## `scale` (type: `string`):

4x for the biggest jump in resolution, 2x for a lighter result.

## `outputFormat` (type: `string`):

PNG keeps every detail and transparency. JPG and WebP are much smaller files.

## `quality` (type: `integer`):

50 to 100. Ignored for PNG.

## `maxInputMegapixels` (type: `number`):

Bigger inputs are first scaled down to this size, so a run never gets slow. 0.5 MP (about 700x700) gives a 2800x2800 result at 4x; 1 MP (1000x1000) gives 4000x4000.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "images": [
    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xinntao/Real-ESRGAN/master/inputs/0014.jpg"
  ],
  "scale": "4",
  "outputFormat": "png",
  "quality": 92,
  "maxInputMegapixels": 0.5
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

Before and after previews with sizes and download links.

## `files` (type: `string`):

All upscaled image files of the run.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "images": [
        "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xinntao/Real-ESRGAN/master/inputs/0014.jpg"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("sndzcc/ai-image-upscaler").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "images": ["https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xinntao/Real-ESRGAN/master/inputs/0014.jpg"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("sndzcc/ai-image-upscaler").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "images": [
    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xinntao/Real-ESRGAN/master/inputs/0014.jpg"
  ]
}' |
apify call sndzcc/ai-image-upscaler --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,sndzcc/ai-image-upscaler"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/2viiGGZs5IbM1Csex/builds/uWJ5jU29he94MNZ72/openapi.json