If you want Upscayl but cannot install it
Upscayl already runs locally and sends nothing. The only barrier is the install, and a browser removes that one step.
Upscayl gets the important thing right: it runs the model on your own machine and sends nothing anywhere. If you are looking for a browser version of it, the honest framing is that you are not looking for better privacy — you already have that — you are looking to skip the install. That is what an in-browser upscaler does.
The desktop version is not the problem
It is worth saying clearly, because comparison pages usually imply otherwise: the desktop version of Upscayl is free, processes locally, and does not upload your images. On privacy grounds there is nothing to choose between it and running the model in a browser tab.
If Upscayl is installed and working for you, this page is not trying to talk you out of it.
When the install is the blocker
| Situation | Why the install matters |
|---|---|
| Work-managed laptop | You may not have permission to install software |
| A machine that is not yours | A client's studio, a library, a borrowed computer |
| One image, right now | Installing an application to fix a single screenshot is disproportionate |
| Keeping the machine clean | Nothing to update, nothing to uninstall later |
In all four cases, the model still needs to run locally — which is exactly what a browser can now do through WebGPU.
What the browser version costs
A download on first use. About 11.6MB for the models and runtime, cached afterwards. Upscayl's own download is considerably larger, but you do it once at install time rather than in the browser.
A WebGPU-capable browser. Recent Chrome and Edge qualify. If yours does not, Upscayl is the better answer — that is not a concession, it is the correct recommendation.
Scale factors of x2 and x4. If you need larger factors than that, see the comparison with Upscayl Cloud.
An upper bound of 12.6MP on input. Above that the browser cannot reliably hold the intermediate buffers, and a desktop application is the practical route.
Speed
On an Apple Silicon laptop, a 1024-pixel-square image at x4 finishes in about 7.1 seconds with the photo model and about 3.9 seconds with the illustration model. Both are running the same family of Real-ESRGAN models that Upscayl draws from, so the comparison is closer to "same model, different host" than to a difference in approach.
How to try it
Open Pixmend, drop an image, choose x2 or x4 and the photo or illustration model, and download the result. Nothing to install, no account, and the file does not leave your machine — the same guarantee Upscayl gives you, arrived at from a different direction.