Top 20 Best AI Photo Restoration Software and Online Tools Review | 2024

This article explores the top 20 photo restoration tools in 2024 that use AI algorithms to repair and enhance old, damaged, or faded photos. It provides an overview of their features, benefits, and drawbacks to help you choose the best one for your needs.

Have you ever come across old and damaged photographs, filled with memories of the past, but marred by the passage of time? Do you wish there was a way to restore these precious images to their former glory? In today's digital age, the solution to this problem lies within the realm of photo restoration brought about by artificial intelligence (AI).

AI photo restoration software and online tools have revolutionized the process of restoring old and damaged photos, offering an efficient and effective solution to preserve cherished memories. Unlike traditional methods that often require extensive manual labor and expertise, AI-powered tools utilize advanced algorithms to automatically analyze, repair, and enhance images, saving both time and effort.

This article will delve into the realm of AI photo restoration, presenting a comprehensive review of the top 20 best software and online tools available in market. By exploring their features, performance, and user experiences, we aim to guide you in finding the perfect solution to breathe new life into your treasured photographs.

Top 10 Best AI Tools to Restore Old Photos Online

Note: Our ratings are based on objective assessments, considering factors such as price, compatibility, notable features, overall user experience and its pros and cons.

1. VanceAI Photo Restorer

• Price: Free & Paid
• Compatibility: Online
• Notable features: AI-powered restoration, automatic detail recovery, and colorization option.
• Rating: 10/10

VanceAI Photo Restorer deserves first place on our list. Having experienced a broad spectrum of photo restoration tools, I can confidently say that VanceAI Photo Restore delivers a practical solution, particularly for those seeking to recover the original appeal of their old or damaged photos. Leveraging artificial intelligence, it provides an efficient and user-friendly method for restoring images with just one click, a feature that's particularly beneficial to individuals with no prior editing skills.

During our testing, we noticed that the tool's ability to repair photo ai with significant precision and speed stands out among its competitors. Its robust deep learning mechanism effectively removes blemishes such as scratches and spots, often surpassing the results of traditional photo editing methods. Furthermore, the "Colorize" option allows users to add vibrancy to old photos, making it a well-rounded restoration tool.

Here is a photo (left) we download from Unsplash, when we restore images that need to be colorize, we will use this photo to test all tools that I reviewed.

See the performance (the right photo, click and you can zoom in), this old photo comes to life like it was taken in modern times and the family looks natural and vivid. The only minor drawback is that the algorithm may have miscalculated some parts, for example, the algorithm for this picture thinks of the dad's white socks as skin and paints it as the color of skin. And also the mom's skirt is also painted with skin color.

A downside to VanceAI's product offering is the limited number of free restorations. With only three free images, users may find the need to opt for the paid version earlier than anticipated if they have a larger batch of photos to restore.

Also read: This AI Helps You Restore Old Scratched Pictures Like a Pro.

2. MyHeritage

• Price: Free & Paid
• Compatibility: Online
• Notable features: AI-powered colorization, old photo animation, resolution enhancement.
• Rating: 9/10

MyHeritage Deep Nostalgia, a worthy runner-up in our list, presents a distinctive blend of colorization and animation for old photos, catering ideally to users who wish to bring their old photos to life.

My hands-on experience with this tool has highlighted its ability to revamp blurry photos and restore original colors with an impressive degree of accuracy. The integration of deep learning technology from DeOldify provides a seamless one-click restoration process, simplifying the task for users of all experience levels.

When I use My Heritage to repair the old image (You will be asked to sign in and can download the improved image for free), we found that you will need to upload the image and it will first make it more clear, and then I should click colorize to make it a normal photo. Here is our testing result:

MyHeritage can also recognize the person and see the before and after effects in detail. But compared to the VanceAI, the color in this image is not as vivid as the photo restored by VanceAI. As with VanceAI, My Heritage's algorithm has some minor problems, with the picture of the dad's hand being painted the same gray as the color of his clothes, which seems to be very strange.

Despite its intuitive interface and remarkable capabilities, one major shortcoming lies in its pricing. Free users only have access to 10 images, after which a subscription is required, potentially deterring users with a high volume of photos to restore.

Read our latest review about MyHeritage Photo Enhancer: How to Restore Old Photos with MyHeritage Photo Enhancer?

3. Hotpot.AI Photo Restoration

• Price: Limited features for free; Paid plans start from $10/day for 1000 credits.
• Notable features: Multiple image editing tools, API access, and colorization feature.
• Rating: 8/10

If diversity in image editing tools and customization options is what you seek, Hotpot.AI proves to be a commendable choice for old photo restoration tool. In addition to restoring old photos, this tool offers NFT art creation and AI-assisted graphics, providing an extensive toolkit for both personal and professional use.

During my experience with Hotpot.AI, I found its ability to colorize black and white photos and remove undesired objects particularly useful. By granting users control over elements like background replacement, the platform enhances the restoration process with an added layer of personalization.

Here is the image colorized by Hotpot.AI, it also looks like the colors in this picture are more vibrant, but there are some inaccuracies in the colors, such as the color of the face is different from the color of the neck, and the picture is not clear enough, so if you want a clear version it will cost you 25 credits.

On the downside, despite its array of features, the limited free use could discourage potential users. Additionally, while it provides an API, the added costs and somewhat lengthy processing times are drawbacks worth noting.

4. ImageColorizer

• Price: Eight image credits for free; Paid options start from $6/mo with better features and more credits.
• Notable features: Image enhancement, colorization, accessible across devices.
• Rating: 8/10

Image Colorizer is an online application that is a bit more accessible since it is available on desktop browsers and mobile devices such as iOS and Android.

This application offers other tools as well, such as image enhancement, image colorization, and more. Using this application is easy enough thanks to its AI based design and automatic image processing. As a user, when restoring old photos, you only have to upload images and wait for about 10 seconds.

See the old photo restoration effect from above, the color of the object spills out of the object after this photo is processed, and there are some faint squares of noise in the processed photo.

5. Wondershare Online AI Old Photo Restoration

• Price: Start from $29.9/year
• Notable features: AI-based old photo restoration, scratch removal, color enhancement.
• Rating: 7/10 

During our experience using the AI Old Photo Restoration tool by Wondershare, we found it to be a reliable and effective solution for restoring and colorizing old photos. This tool utilizes advanced AI technology to remove scratches, enhance colors, and sharpen blurry parts of old photos, bringing them back to life.

The AI Old Photo Restoration tool is easy to use, with a simple three-step process. First, you upload your old photo. Then, the AI restorer process begins, automatically removing scratches and improving the clarity of the image. Finally, you can preview the restored photo and download the enhanced version.

One of the notable strengths of this tool is its ability to remove scratches and blemishes from old photos, making them clearer and more enjoyable to view. Additionally, the colorization feature adds vibrant and realistic colors to black-and-white photos, giving them a fresh and modern look.

However, it is worth mentioning that when dealing with complex backgrounds, the AI Old Photo Restoration tool may encounter some error in the algorithm. This is a picture of our test, and you can see that the algorithm miscalculated the mother's face with a strange patch. And there are some inconsistencies in the color of the father's feet.

6. Phowd (Artificial Old Photo Restoration Platform)

• Price: Basic one costs $0.30, standard at $1.00, and advanced at $2.00.
• Notable features: Expert image editing, photo retouching, personalized services.
• Rating: 8/10

Distinguishing itself from typical AI restoration tools, Phowd offers a human touch, making it a unique solution for those seeking professional photo editing services. In the past, when we want to restore images, we will have to find a photography store for photo restoration near me, but now we can do it online.

With real experts handling image editing, users can expect high-quality, personalized results. The retoucher communicates with users, providing regular updates and revisions, ensuring the final product meets their expectations.

However, from an experienced perspective, this photo restoration service may not be ideal for daily work or for fun due to the time-consuming process. If this old photo is very important to us and we are willing to spend more money and time to achieve this purpose, and we don't want to find photo repair near me, Phowd is a good choice.

Check the processing performance (from the official site of Phowd ):

7. Fotor - Photo Restoration

• Price: Free for basic plan; Fotor Pro for $8.99/month
• Notable features: Good output quality and various templates
• Rating: 8/10

Instasize is a popular mobile application that offers a comprehensive set of features for photo editing and photo repair. With Instasize, users can enhance their photos with filters, adjust various parameters such as brightness and contrast, crop and resize images for different social media platforms, add text overlays and stickers, create collages, apply borders and frames, and utilize features like tilt-shift and skin smoothing. The app also integrates seamlessly with social media platforms, making it convenient to share edited photos directly.

Basically, there is no big problem with the image quality of Fotor's restore, except that some details of the original image cannot be perfectly processed.

8. Colourise.com

• Price: Free
• Compatibility: Online
• Notable features: AI-assisted restoration, easy-to-use interface, colorization.
• Rating: 8/10 

As an AI-powered tool, Colourise.com serves a specific niche by focusing primarily on restoring colors to old photos. It offers these services free of charge, making it an accessible tool for many users.

The advanced algorithms it utilizes are quite impressive, capable of restoring and retouching old photos by adding lifelike colors to them.

After testing the product, as you can see from the image, I noticed that it lacks some essential features for comprehensive photo restoration. It seems there is only one color in the image, the skin color.

9. Photomyne

• Price: A three-day free trial; Paid plan costs $59.99/year.
• Notable features: Mobile compatibility, diverse tools, image editing.
• Rating: 7/10 

Photomyne finds its strength in its mobile compatibility, making it an ideal choice for those who prefer to work on the go. It offers more than just photo restoration, including video colorization and family tree creation.

From my hands-on experience, Photomyne image restorer does well in providing basic image editing features, alongside its diverse set of functionalities.

However, some downsides were observed during testing. Its mobile apps can be buggy, the results sometimes underwhelming, and the website could benefit from an increase in tools.

Check the picture below, as you can see, Photomyne handles well. But the color is also not comprehensive enough, it seems to only change the song and blue. The items on the wall and the green plants have no color:

10. jpgHD

• Price: Free with limited access to features and amount of images; Paid plans start from $5 for 50 images and offer full access to the app.
• Notable features: AI-based restoration, animation, and multiple tools.
• Rating: 7/10 

jpgHD offers a robust suite of tools for photo restoration, including the conversion of images into animation, which is a feature that sets it apart from other tools.

The AI-based restoration feature can correct a wide range of imperfections, offering good performance during testing. And when I restore old photos, I can customize whether you want to colorize them or not, as well as choose the magnification.

Nevertheless, some areas for improvement include the low processing speed, and more exquisite UI interface.

Check the after processing picture, this tool does a good job of fixing the colors without any color overflow from the object, but the richness of the colors could be improved. For example, the green color of the plant and the dress color of the dress can be shown. And the image turns out very clear after upscaling.

Top 10 Best Photo Restoration Software

1. Remini-AI Photo Restoration App

• Price: Free & Paid
• Compatibility: Online
• Rating: 10/10 
• Notable features: AI generative technology, mobile compatibility, automatic restoration.

In my hands-on experience with the Remini image restorer tool, it stands out as an effective solution for those seeking to revamp low-quality old photos on mobile devices. Its ability to automatically rectify scratches and enhance images makes it especially appealing.

The application's use of AI to restore and colorize old photos was impressive. During my testing, the one-click restoration feature consistently produced improved image quality.

However, the application's major pitfall was its ad display, which I found intrusive and detrimental to the user experience.

2. Photo Works

• Price: $27.5 /standard/1 year license（special offer $19.25）
• Compatibility: Windows
• Rating: 10/10 
• Notable features: Non-AI integrated techniques, smart brushes, and sharpness tools.

As a seasoned image editor, I found Photo Works to be an adept tool for improving old photo quality. Its non-AI techniques blended with AI integration caught my attention.

Throughout my interaction with the software, the smart brushes and sharpness tools excelled in recovering the charm in old photos. Sliding adjustment features for saturation, light, tint, or clarity proved practical and efficient.

Notably, its paid-only nature can deter those looking for free tools.

3.  AKVIS Retoucher

• Price: $87/lifetime
• Compatibility: Windows & Mac
• Rating: 9/10 
• Notable features: Effective defect removal, intelligent analysis, object replacement.

During my assessment, AKVIS Retoucher emerged as a competitive alternative to AI-based photo restoration software.

I appreciated the software's ability to eliminate unnecessary elements like date stamps and reinstate missing photo areas by extrapolating surrounding details. The performance of the software in removing dust, scratches, and restoring colors was commendable.

Yet, one downside is the Image restorer's demanding system requirements, which may exclude certain users.

4.  SoftOrbits Photo Retoucher

• Price: $49.99/one time payment
• Compatibility: Windows
• Rating: 8/10 
• Notable features: User-friendly design, content-aware algorithms, imperfection masking.

SoftOrbits Photo Retoucher shines as a user-centric solution for rapid, efficient photo restoration.

After my evaluation, the software demonstrated its prowess in utilizing smart content-aware algorithms to correct old photos automatically and effectively. I found the software particularly skilled in reviving the lost parts of an image without compromising other details.

Despite its impressive performance, its inflexible one-time fee model and demanding system requirements may limit its accessibility for some users.

5. Photo Glory

• Price: $19.25
• Compatibility: Windows
• Rating: 9/10 
• Notable features: Comprehensive restoration features, color addition, toning effects.

From my analysis, Photo Glory serves as a dedicated tool for restoring various old photos, ideal for historical images or family mementos.

The software skillfully eliminated scratches and stains from scanned photos and even added colors to grayscale images. I appreciated the simplicity in applying toning effects, retouching, and cropping old images.

Despite its advantages, the software's compatibility is limited to Windows systems, and the lack of AI integration may discourage some users.

6. Luminar 4

• Price:  $55/one time for full access
• Rating: 8/10 

When using of Luminar 4, we found it to be a powerful software for routine photo restoration, making it a suitable choice for professional users seeking daily-use tools.

Despite being a feature-rich software, its automatic functions make it user-friendly, and the quality of the results was consistently high throughout my tests.

However, the trade-off is its somewhat lengthy processing time and relatively high price, which might be prohibitive for occasional users.

7. Old Photo Restoration Software

• Price: Free download
• Rating: 8/10 
• Notable features: User-friendly design, fast image processing.

Old Photo Restoration Software, this aptly-named software stands as an intuitive and straightforward tool for restoring old photos.

The process was simple, requiring only an image upload followed by slider adjustments and application of changes. The swift processing of images was a positive aspect.

However, there are occasional bugs and felt the Image restorer could benefit from a wider range of features.

8. Vivid-Pix Restore

• Price: A free trial and $49.99/one time
• Compatibility: Windows and Mac
• Rating: 7/10 
• Notable features: AI and patented algorithms, automatic color and brightness adjustment, manual customization tools.

Vivid-Pix Restore established itself as a robust software that leverages AI and proprietary algorithms for photo restoration.

Its automated adjustments of color, brightness, contrast, and sharpness stood out during my use, as did its manual tools for further customizations. The software's Smart Fix feature was particularly beneficial, suggesting a series of beneficial adjustments.

A possible downside was the Image restorer's occasionally slow processing times when I try restoring old photos, which can delay user workflows.

9. Retouch Pilot

• Price: A free demo;  Paid version costs 29.95 Euros.
• Rating: 7/10 
• Notable features: Wide range of enhancement tools, Scratch Remover tool, color correction.

Retouch Pilot is a photo restoration software that offers a wide range of tools for enhancing old and damaged photos.

One of its key features is the Scratch Remover tool, which helps to eliminate scratches, dust, and other imperfections from photos. With this tool, users can easily restore old photos to their former glory, without the need for any professional skills or knowledge.

Additionally, Retouch Pilot offers a range of other useful features, such as color correction, image resizing, and perspective correction. Overall, it is a comprehensive image restoration solution that is easy to use and provides impressive results. This picture restoration software is also usable as a plugin for Adobe Photoshop and a few other compatible software apps that restores old photos.

During our testing, the software occasionally became unresponsive, slightly detracting from an otherwise impressive experience.

10. PaintShop Pro

• Price: Depends on the plan you choose.
• Rating: 7/10 
• Notable features: Comprehensive editing capabilities, Color Restoration feature, manual control over results.

From my use of PaintShop Pro, it is apparent that the software offers robust photo editing and graphic design capabilities.

During my testing, the Color Restoration feature performed well in reviving faded colors of old photos. It also offers various ways to restore old photos, providing the user with considerable control over the results.

A possible downside is its limited free use and lack of automated processing options, which could deter certain users.

FAQ

Conclusion

Old photos can connect us to the past and capture a wonderful moment with our beloved ones. Moreover, many old photographs have historical significance. They remind us of what happened in history and give us inspiration and the power to move on. If you happen to have old photos in your album, you want to share them with your families and friends to make them feel warm on this Thanksgiving Day, just use these photo restoration tools to make them better.

As for AI tools for old photo restoration online free, VanceAI Photo Restorer and Colourise.com are worth trying out. When it comes to conventional means, there is no free picture restoration software listed in this post, but paid versions like AKVIS Retoucher can work as the best old photo restoration software. By comparison, old photo restoration using AI is more accessible than traditional solutions. But it is believed that through the overview of 20 photo restoration tools in this article, you will be able to choose a satisfying photo restoration tool

If you are going to try any of the tools here, don't forget to share your fantastic experience. You can leave your comment below or subscribe to our YouTube channel for more AI reviews and valuable tricks. We also recommend you to read our ultimate best image upscaler review that can help you choose a suitable image upscaling tool.