How to Find the Best waifu2x Alternatives: 6 Options

When browsing anime-style images or using your phone, you might encounter very small pictures or memes. To view and share them more conveniently, or to stretch the image to your desired dimensions, you may need to significantly enlarge the original image.

Simply entering a new dimension in your image viewer may just enlarge the image while causing it to become blurry—which is why we sometimes need a professional image upscaler. These tools don't just increase width and height; they ensure the image remains sharp and clear.

No worries, you can totally remove them. This article is a comprehensive guide on how to remove date stamps from photos.

waifu2x is renowned for its expertise in enlarging anime-style images and can also help reduce noise. However, it may struggle with other art styles. If you need to optimize realistic or artistic photos, we recommend trying the 6 waifu2x alternatives featured in this article. They share waifu2x's strengths: simplicity and fast startup.

Part 1. What You Need to Consider When Seeking for A waifu2x Alternative

Waifu2x enjoys widespread support among anime enthusiasts for its free and convenient service. However, the site can be unstable at times and struggles to handle enlarging characters from other art styles.

Given this, our criteria for finding a Waifu2x alternative become clear:

• Fast Startup, Free

Enlarging images or anime avatars is often an occasional and random task. You likely don't want to go through lengthy downloads, installations, payments, or subscriptions—ideally, you can upload and enlarge instantly.

Therefore, prioritize online tools that launch quickly and specialize in image enlargement.

• High Quality

As mentioned earlier, a common issue with manual image manipulation is blurring as dimensions are stretched. Therefore, prioritize waifu2x free alternatives that not only scale dimensions but also enhance image quality and reduce noise, ensuring the enlarged image is nearly indistinguishable from the original.

• Size Adjustment Options

This point requires little emphasis. Given the wide variation in source and target dimensions, a competent image enlarger must offer flexible scaling options.

• Image Format Support

Most screenshots and downloaded images are in JPEG, JPG, PNG, or WEBP formats. When selecting a tool, ensure it supports these formats.

Part 2. Top 6 waifu2x Alternatives

FVC Free Image Upscaler

With the features mentioned in the previous section, it's easy to pick out the best product: FVC Free Image Upscaler. Not only does it excel at anime styles like waifu2x, but it also handles real-person photos and general images with ease. FVC Free Image Upscaler uses AI super-resolution technology to enlarge images up to 8X their original size, even reaching 4K resolution. The AI automatically identifies and restores blurred areas and missing pixels, ensuring the enlarged image retains its original quality or appears even sharper.

Why Should You Choose It

• Supports real-time previews of upscaled results.

• High efficiency with fast image processing speeds.

• No login or registration required to start using it.

• Completely free.

The Drawbacks You Might Dislike

• Currently does not support WEBP format.

BigJPG

If you're still searching for an image upscaling tool like waifu2x that specializes in anime and manga styles, BigJPG is an excellent choice. It delivers the most flawless results when processing anime and illustration images. What delights us most is its truly seamless cross-platform usability—it offers not only a web-based online version but also desktop software for Windows and Mac, plus apps for Android and iOS.

Why Should You Choose It

• Removes image noise, ghosting, and jagged edges during upscaling.

• Excels at handling anime/manga styles while also supporting standard art styles.

• Uploaded images are encrypted and automatically deleted after three days.

The Drawbacks You Might Dislike

• The free version only supports upscaling images under 5MB.

VanceAI

Vance AI Upscale Anime & Waifu appears to be the best alternative to Waifu2x Converter, as its developers claim it's an anime image upscaling tool based on Waifu2x.

After testing, we confirm this claim. It can enhance any anime image, cartoon, anime wallpaper, or comic to 100% high resolution in a short time, reaching up to 4K.

Why Should You Choose It

• Scales anime images up to 8X magnification.

• Employs the SRCNN-based Waifu2x upscaling algorithm, ideal for anime processing.

• Simple step-by-step usage.

The Drawbacks You Might Dislike

• Requires downloading the application for batch image processing.

Upscale.media

Yes, the core functionality of Upscale.media is right there in its name. It's an online waifu2x alternative photos enlarger. Like other tools, it uses AI to process images, but what makes Upscale.media stand out is its support for batch processing multiple tasks.

Why You Should Choose It

• Supports batch enlargement of multiple images.

• Supported formats include JPG, JPEG, PNG, and WEBP.

• Accessible on mobile devices.

The Drawbacks You Might Dislike

• The free version only allows processing of three images.

Let's Enhance

If you prefer a professional style or enlarging photographic works, we recommend Let's Enhance. It can enlarge your images up to 16X, achieving 4K resolution or higher. It's particularly suited for users needing to edit product images and artistic photography, with dedicated settings optimized for printing.

Notably, Let's Enhance's AI also supports converting text into images, enabling you to create truly unique artworks.

Why You Should Choose It

• Flexible adjustment options to format images for any platform or print format.

• Supports batch image processing.

• Offers a cutting-edge text-to-image generator.

The Drawbacks You Might Dislike

• Free version has a limit on the number of enlargements.

Upscalepics

If you prefer a professional style or enlarging photographic works, we recommend Let's Enhance. It can enlarge your images up to 16X, achieving 4K resolution or higher. It's particularly suited for users needing to edit product images and artistic photography, with dedicated settings optimized for printing.

Notably, Let's Enhance's AI also supports converting text into images, enabling you to create truly unique artworks.

Why You Should Choose It

• Flexible adjustment options to format images for any platform or print format.

• Supports batch image processing.

• Offers a cutting-edge text-to-image generator.

The Drawbacks You Might Dislike

• Free version has a limit on the number of enlargements.

Part 3. FAQs of Waifu2X Alternatives

Conclusion

We believe this article will help you find Waifu2x alternatives. We first identified key features alternatives should possess based on Waifu2x's characteristics—such as speed, format support, and handling of anime/manga styles. Building on this, we compiled six top choices, each with pros and cons to aid your decision.