Table Of Content
I'm Echo Drewer, a content contributor focused on video restoration. I started seriously researching AI frame interpolation when I was restoring old 24fps home videos and 30fps client demos for short-form social platforms. Traditional frame duplication looked stuttery the moment any object moved across the screen — so AI-based interpolation became the practical fix. The reviews below are based on roughly 30 hours of hands-on testing across 12 desktop, online, and open-source tools, with the same 1-minute 30fps clip rendered through every workflow.
Below is a short cheat sheet before the deep reviews — these picks for the best frame interpolation software are based on hands-on testing of all 12 tools.
AI frame interpolation — also called video interpolation software when packaged as a standalone app — is a video-processing technique that uses deep learning motion prediction to generate brand-new intermediate frames between the frames already in your clip. Unlike traditional frame duplication — which simply copies the previous frame and produces visible judder on any moving subject — AI models analyse motion vectors and object shapes so the synthesised frames look like real, in-between moments captured by the camera.
Practical uses include:
Key benefits of higher frame rates:
The processing pipeline is broadly similar across modern tools:
| Mode | What it does | GPU cost | Best for |
| 2X | One new frame between every pair (30 → 60) | Light | Standard smoothing, streaming, gameplay |
| 4X | Three new frames per pair (30 → 120) | Medium-heavy | Slow-motion in post, high-refresh playback |
| 8X | Seven new frames per pair (30 → 240) | Heavy | Extreme slow-motion; expect more artefacts |
Practical rule of thumb: 2X is safe almost everywhere. 4X is great for slow-motion but starts to introduce ghosting around fast-moving small objects. 8X is best left to short clips and clean source footage.
You'll see the same handful of model names across most tools — knowing what they do helps you pick the right tool for your footage.
| Algorithm | Strength | Used by |
| RIFE (Real-time Intermediate Flow Estimation) | Fast, low VRAM, strong on live action | Flowframes, SVP, several online tools |
| DAIN (Depth-Aware) | Treats foreground/background separately, good on objects with depth | DAIN-App, Flowframes |
| FLAVR (Flow-Agnostic) | Skips explicit optical flow, robust on chaotic motion | Flowframes |
| Chronos / Apollo / Aion | Topaz's in-house models, tuned for cinematic motion and slow-motion | Topaz Video AI |
| Smoother AI | UniFab's in-house model tuned for restoration + clean 120fps output | UniFab Smoother AI |
| Optical Flow / MEMC | Classical motion estimation, low quality but fast | Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, many TVs |
| Software | Type | Supported System | Max FPS | Best For | Ease of Use |
| UniFab Smoother AI | Desktop (AI) | Windows, macOS | 120fps | High-quality AI frame interpolation & motion smoothing | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Topaz Video AI | Desktop (AI) | Windows, macOS | 120fps | Cinematic slow motion & video enhancement | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| SmoothVideo Project (SVP) | Desktop (Real-time) | Windows, macOS, Linux | 240fps | Real-time playback frame interpolation | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| HitPaw Video Enhancer | Desktop (AI) | Windows, macOS | 60fps | Video upscaling with frame interpolation | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Adobe Premiere Pro | Desktop (Editor) | Windows, macOS | Project-based | Professional video editing workflows | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Final Cut Pro | Desktop (Editor) | macOS | Project-based | macOS professional editing & effects | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| DaVinci Resolve | Desktop (Editor) | Windows, macOS, Linux | Project-based | Color grading & advanced post-production | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| TensorPix | Online (AI) | Browser | 60fps | Quick online AI frame interpolation | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Neural.Love | Online (AI) | Browser | 120fps | Online AI enhancement & interpolation | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Flowframes | Open-source | Windows | Project-based | Advanced users & anime interpolation | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| DAIN-App | Open-source | Windows | 60fps+ | Object-aware frame interpolation | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| HandBrake | Open-source | Windows, macOS, Linux | Limited | Basic video conversion & interpolation | ⭐⭐ |
Supported System: Windows and Mac
UniFab Smoother AI is the easiest AI frame interpolation app I've used: drop a clip, pick 60 fps or 120 fps, and start. The Smoother model generates entirely new intermediate frames rather than duplicating existing ones, which keeps motion natural even on fast camera pans.
Key features:
Pros:
Cons:
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Start UniFab and select 'Smoother' module
Download and install UniFab software on your device. Open it, navigate to 'All Features,' and choose 'Smoother' under 'Video AI.' Then, click 'Add Video' to choose the video file for ai frame interpolation.
Tailor frame interpolation settings
Now, you can make necessary customizations regarding frame interpolation, frame rate, quality, output format, codec, etc.
Begin Processing
Click the 'Start' button to begin. UniFab will use AI add frames to video with accelerated processing.
Supported System: Windows & macOS
Topaz Video Enhance AI ships with three AI frame interpolation models: Apollo, Chronos, and Aion. Each targets a different scenario — standard interpolation, cinematic slow-motion, and high-quality frame reconstruction respectively. For a deeper model-by-model breakdown, see Topaz Apollo vs Chronos.
Pros:
Cons:
Supported System: Windows, Linux & macOS
SVP (SmoothVideo Project) is the go-to choice when you want to play back video at 60 fps or higher rather than re-encode a new file. It hooks into your video player and applies real-time interpolation using MEMC, RIFE, and NVIDIA Optical Flow.
Pros:
Cons:
Supported System: Windows & macOS
HitPaw AI Video Enhancer bundles frame interpolation with resolution upscaling and four AI models for different enhancement modes. It works best when you want one app to handle smoothing plus quick upscaling.
Pros:
Cons:
Supported System: Windows & macOS
Premiere Pro offers both Optical Flow and Frame Sampling as time-interpolation options. It isn't an "AI" model in the strict sense, but Optical Flow does motion estimation and works well on clean source footage with predictable motion.
Pros:
Cons:
Supported System: macOS
Final Cut Pro's Optical Flow retime is reliable for short slow-motion segments inside an edit. Machine-learning object tracking helps the engine separate moving subjects from the background.
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Cons:
Supported System: Windows, Linux, and macOS
DaVinci Resolve combines editing, colour, VFX, motion graphics, and audio in one tool. Its Optical Flow retime — and the AI-assisted Speed Warp on the Studio version — handle slow-motion well inside the timeline without round-tripping to a dedicated app.
Pros:
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The seven desktop tools above all use some form of motion estimation or AI synthesis to boost smoothness. Dedicated AI apps (UniFab, Topaz, HitPaw) handle restoration of older / lower-quality footage noticeably better than NLE Optical Flow features (Premiere, FCP, DaVinci) — the trade-off is that dedicated apps re-render the whole clip, while editor retiming stays inside your timeline. All of them want a modern GPU.
Supported System: Online
TensorPix is a browser-based AI enhancer with motion smoothing built in. You upload a clip, pick a 2×, 4×, or 8× multiplier, and download the result — no install required.
Pros:
Cons:
Supported System: Online
Neural.love is an encrypted browser tool focused on speed: drag-and-drop a clip and get 60 fps or 120 fps output. It also handles facial enhancement and 4K upscaling alongside frame interpolation.
Pros:
Cons:
Online tools are unbeatable for short, one-off jobs — no install, predictable quality. Their two weaknesses are upload time on long files and a hard cap on advanced settings, which is why anything longer than a few minutes is faster to process on the desktop.
Supported System: Windows
Flowframes is a free, open-source GPU-accelerated front-end that lets you choose between RIFE, DAIN, and FLAVR. It's the open-source community's favourite for anime / hand-drawn content because RIFE handles 2D motion cleanly.
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Cons:
Supported System: Windows
DAIN-App is a depth-aware AI interpolation tool that prioritises sharpness on foreground objects. It accepts MP4 and GIF input and exports in multiple formats.
Pros:
Cons:
Supported System: Windows, Linux & macOS
HandBrake is a free, open-source video converter best known for codec re-encoding. It includes basic frame-rate options (CFR / VFR) but the smoothing quality lags well behind AI tools — useful for format conversion, less so for true interpolation.
Pros:
Cons:
Open-source tools are powerful when you're willing to invest time learning the model trade-offs (RIFE vs DAIN vs FLAVR) and managing dependencies. They're a poor fit for casual users who just want one clean 60 fps render — for that, a paid app pays for itself in saved hours.
The cleanest interpolation result comes from clean source footage. If you control the camera, plan ahead:
| Use case | Recommended tool | Why |
| 2D animation / anime | Flowframes (RIFE) or UniFab Smoother AI | RIFE handles drawn motion cleanly; UniFab handles colour stability |
| Gaming clips (30 → 60 fps) | UniFab Smoother AI or SVP | UniFab for render, SVP for live playback |
| Restoring 24fps home video | UniFab Smoother AI + a video upscaler | Smoother for motion, upscaler for resolution |
| Slow-motion inside an edit | DaVinci Resolve / Final Cut Pro / Premiere | Stay inside the timeline, no round-trip |
| Quick browser job | TensorPix or Neural.Love | No install, predictable results |
| Open-source tinkering | Flowframes + DAIN-App | Switch between RIFE / DAIN / FLAVR |
To keep this list honest, every tool was tested under the same conditions:
Summary: UniFab Smoother AI produced the cleanest 60 fps output with the fewest artefacts. Topaz Video AI was close behind but consumed more GPU memory. HitPaw was the fastest end-to-end but visibly weaker on fast motion.
| Tool | Model Used | Conversion Time | Visual Quality | Artifacts | AI Frame Generation Accuracy |
| UniFab Smoother AI | Smoother AI | 3 min | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (High) | Minimal | Very Accurate |
| Topaz Video AI | Chronos Fast | 2 min 30 sec | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Moderate) | Noticeable | Decent |
| HitPaw Video Enhancer | Frame Rate Interpolation | 3 min | ⭐⭐⭐ (Low) | High | Less Accurate |
Test conditions: 30 fps 1080p action footage → 60 fps; focus on motion smoothness, artefacts, and processing time.
Results:
Recommendation: use online tools to evaluate short clips quickly, then move final-production renders to a dedicated desktop app like UniFab Smoother AI.
The world of AI frame interpolation offers a range of options tailored to diverse needs. This technology revolutionizes animated movies, elevates gaming experiences, and transforms videography with advanced features that bring vibrant content directly to your screen.
If you seek for the high-quality effect, you must try UniFab Smoother AI. Regardless of your requirements, this AI frame interpolation tool empowers you to create smoother, more realistic video footage, effortlessly enhancing video quality.
If these options don't meet your needs, you can also check out the article on 60 FPS video converter reviews.
AI frame interpolation uses a neural network to synthesise brand-new intermediate frames between two real frames, predicting where every object should be. Frame duplication simply copies the previous frame, which produces visible judder on any movement. AI frame interpolation reads motion vectors and object shapes, so the new frames look like real moments captured by the camera.
It increases the recorded frame rate of the output file — the new file genuinely contains more frames per second. Those frames are AI-generated rather than camera-captured, so they reflect predicted motion. Perceived smoothness depends on whether the prediction is accurate; on clean source footage with predictable motion, the result looks indistinguishable from a high-fps original.
Some tools combine both passes — UniFab, Topaz Video AI, and HitPaw can interpolate frames and upscale resolution in a single render. Online tools usually keep the two passes separate. If you're restoring old footage, run frame interpolation last (after upscaling and denoising) so the model has the cleanest possible input.
Among free tools, Flowframes (Windows, open-source) gives the best quality because it ships with multiple model backends — RIFE, DAIN, and FLAVR. TensorPix's free credits are useful for short browser jobs without an install. HandBrake is free too but its interpolation is closer to traditional frame blending and noticeably weaker on fast motion.
Paid tools typically run between $30 and $300 a year. UniFab and HitPaw sit on the affordable end; Topaz Video AI is mid-tier; DaVinci Resolve Studio is a one-off licence. If you process more than a few clips a month, the time saved on per-render setup and the quality jump over free tools usually justify the cost — especially for client-facing work.
Open your tool (for UniFab Smoother AI: Smoother module → Add Video), set the target frame rate to 60 fps, choose your output codec (H.264 or H.265 for compatibility, ProRes if you'll edit further), confirm the output folder, and start the render. On a modern GPU a 60-second 1080p clip takes around 3 minutes; 4K clips take roughly 4× longer.
For 24 fps film you have two safe choices: stay at 24 fps and only denoise/upscale, or interpolate to 48 fps or 60 fps. Jumping straight to 120 fps on film often looks unnatural because of the "soap-opera effect". Denoise before you interpolate, keep the multiplier conservative (2× or 2.5×), and prefer models tuned for restoration such as UniFab's Smoother AI or Topaz's Chronos.
In our same-source testing, UniFab Smoother AI produced cleaner motion with fewer artefacts and used less GPU memory; Topaz Video AI was slightly faster on the same clip but showed noticeable ghosting around small fast-moving objects. UniFab also tends to be cheaper. Choose Topaz if you also need its full upscaling model library; choose UniFab if frame interpolation is the primary job.
Online tools (TensorPix, Neural.Love) are best for short clips, one-off jobs, and when you can't install software. Desktop tools (UniFab, Topaz, Flowframes) win on long clips, batch processing, advanced settings, and final-production quality. A practical workflow is to test on an online tool, then commit the final render on the desktop.
Artefacts happen when the model can't confidently predict the in-between frame — usually on sudden cuts, fast object overlap, heavy grain, or low-light flicker. Fixes: denoise before interpolating, drop from 4× back to 2× on chaotic shots, lock exposure during capture if you can, and pick a model tuned for your content (RIFE for animation, UniFab Smoother / Topaz Chronos for live action).