Adobe Firefly
Image, Logo & Design
Image and video generator trained on licensed content, so it's safer for client work.
Image, Logo & Design
Topaz Labs
Sharpen, denoise and upscale blurry photos and old video so they look like new.
3.7our ratingNo community reviews yet. Add yours
PaidFrom $19/mo or $199/yrWorks with Claude Code
Quick take
- The best-known tool for making small, blurry or noisy photos and videos sharper and bigger. Photographers and editors still rate it first for restoration.
- Subscription only since October 2025, with no free plan. Expect to pay from about $149 a year for image upscaling to $399 a year for everything.
- The AI can invent detail, change faces or add texture that was never there, so check results closely before you send them to a client.
- Video work is slow and needs a strong graphics card. Cloud rendering helps but uses credits that run out.
- Adobe bought Topaz in September 2026. It says the apps stay standalone, but long-time users are nervous about prices and updates.
What is Topaz Labs?
Topaz Labs makes the software people reach for when a photo or video isn't sharp or big enough. Topaz Photo removes noise and blur, Gigapixel enlarges images (up to six times or more) without them going soft, and Topaz Video upscales old or low-resolution footage to HD or 4K and smooths out choppy frame rates. The apps run on your own computer, and there's now a web version and a phone app for people without a strong graphics card.
Use it when you have a photo that's too small for print, a grainy low-light shot, a phone video you want on a big screen, or old family and archive footage. Canva and Adobe Firefly can upscale a picture in a pinch, but Topaz gives far more control and is the tool photographers and video editors actually trust for restoration. Adobe bought Topaz in September 2026 and says it will stay a separate brand.
The catch is cost and patience. Topaz dropped one-off licences in October 2025, so it's now a subscription, and the yearly price for video work is steep. Video processing is slow even on a good computer, and the AI can invent detail, smooth faces into plastic or change things that were never there, so you need to check every result.
Who's using it, and who it's for
- Photographers
- Video editors
- Archivists
- Marketers
- AI artists
Photographers, video editors and marketers who need to rescue small, noisy or old images and footage for print or a big screen.
Key features
Topaz Photo
Removes noise and blur, sharpens soft shots and recovers faces in one pass, for single photos or whole batches.
Gigapixel
Enlarges images several times over with models for real photos, artwork and AI images, so a small file can go to print.
Topaz Video
Upscales footage to HD or 4K, removes noise and compression, steadies shake and adds frames for smooth slow motion.
Starlight models
Its newest video models rebuild badly degraded footage, either in the cloud or locally on a high-end Nvidia card.
Web and mobile
Topaz for Web and the phone apps run the same models in the cloud, so you don't need a gaming PC to use it.
Plugins and API
Works as a plugin inside Lightroom and Photoshop, and developers can call the models through an API.
How we rate it
3.7overall, out of 5
Our rating, from using the tool ourselves. Each score is out of 5.
- Ease of use
- 3.5
- Features
- 4.5
- Output quality
- 4.5
- Value for money
- 3.0
- Speed & reliability
- 3.0
How quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
How completely it covers the job it's built for, and how well the pieces fit together.
How good the results are before you fix them.
What you get for the price, including the free plan.
How fast it is and how often it falls over.
Community rating
No community reviews yet. Be the first to leave one.
Topaz Labs pricing
Topaz for Web, Image
$19/mo or $199/yr
Occasional photo upscaling in the browser.
- Unlimited cloud image upscaling
- Phone app included
- Exports up to 32 megapixels
- Limited commercial use
Gigapixel
$29/mo or $149/yr
People who mainly need images enlarged.
- Desktop upscaling app
- Unlimited local and cloud image rendering
- Limited commercial use
- Our pick
Topaz Photo
$39/mo or $199/yr
Photographers fixing noise, blur and size.
- Denoise, sharpen, face recovery and upscaling
- Unlimited local and cloud image rendering
- Limited commercial use
Topaz Video
$59/mo or $299/yr
Video editors upscaling and restoring footage.
- Desktop video app
- Unlimited local rendering
- 25 cloud video credits a month
Topaz Studio
$69/mo or $399/yr
Anyone working on both photos and video.
- Photo, Gigapixel, Video, web and mobile apps
- 300 cloud video credits a month
- Limited commercial use
Topaz Studio Pro
$799/yr
Businesses over $1M revenue and studios.
- Pro-only models in every app
- 600 cloud video credits a month
- Full commercial use and seat management
Which plan should you pick?
If you only fix photos, Topaz Photo on yearly billing is the sweet spot. Add video and Topaz Studio costs less than buying Photo and Video separately. The standard plans only cover businesses under $1M a year in revenue, so bigger companies need a Pro plan.
Prices in USD unless noted, checked 21 October 2026. Vendors change plans often, so confirm on their site before you buy.
Best use cases
Ways Topaz Labs can slot into your week.
- 1
Print a small photo big
Run a low-resolution product or event photo through Gigapixel so it holds up on a banner, poster or trade show wall.
- 2
Rescue a grainy event shoot
Batch a set of dark venue photos through Topaz Photo to remove noise and sharpen faces before they go on social.
- 3
Old footage for a brand video
Upscale archive or early phone footage to 4K so it can sit next to new footage in a company history or anniversary video.
- 4
Finish AI images for print
Take a Midjourney or ChatGPT image and upscale it so it's sharp enough for print or large web hero sections.
How it fits your tech stack
Topaz is a finishing step. Shoot or generate first, then run files through Topaz before they go back into Lightroom, Photoshop, Premiere, DaVinci Resolve or Canva. Since the Adobe deal, some Topaz models also appear inside Photoshop and Firefly.
Connects to
- Lightroom
- Photoshop
- Adobe Firefly
- DaVinci Resolve
- Premiere Pro
- fal.ai
Pros and cons
Pros
- Still the reference for photo and video restoration according to most photographers and editors
- Desktop apps render unlimited images locally with no credits
- Covers photos, enlargement and video in one bundle
- Web and phone versions mean you don't need a fast computer for images
- Works as a Lightroom and Photoshop plugin
Cons
- No more one-off licences, and many long-time users resent the switch to subscriptions
- Can invent detail, give faces a plastic look or change things that were never there
- Video renders are slow and need an expensive graphics card, and recent updates brought crash and export errors for some users
- Confusing range of apps, models and plans, with the best video models locked to Pro plans
- Standard plans only allow commercial use for businesses under $1M a year
Topaz Labs alternatives
The closest alternatives to Topaz Labs in the library, best rated first.
- Nano Banana4.6/5· best for editing photos by describing the changeTopaz Labs vs Nano Banana
- Canva4.5/5· best for social media posts and storiesTopaz Labs vs Canva
- ChatGPT Images4.2/5· best for mockups and signage with real textTopaz Labs vs ChatGPT Images
- Figma4.1/5· best for website and app designTopaz Labs vs Figma
Why it made the list
It's still the reference tool for AI upscaling and restoration of real photos and video, and Adobe paid to own it.
Not sure Topaz Labs is the one?
Put it next to a similar tool and see the differences side by side.
Topaz Labs FAQ
How much does Topaz Labs cost?
There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $19/mo or $199/yr. Prices checked 21 October 2026 against Topaz Labs's pricing page.
Is Topaz Labs free?
No. There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $19/mo or $199/yr.
What is Topaz Labs best for?
Topaz Labs is best for enlarging small photos for print or billboards, cleaning up grainy low-light and event photos and upscaling old or phone video to HD and 4K. Photographers, video editors and marketers who need to rescue small, noisy or old images and footage for print or a big screen.
What are the best Topaz Labs alternatives?
The closest alternatives are Nano Banana, Canva, ChatGPT Images and Figma. Nano Banana is best for editing photos by describing the change.
Community reviews
Nobody has reviewed Topaz Labs here yet. If you use it, your take helps everyone else choose.
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