How to Upscale Anime to 4K with AI: Best Tools & Guide [2025]
- Last updated on 2025-04-14
Table Of Content
What is AI Anime Upscaling?
AI anime upscaling is the process of using artificial intelligence to boost the resolution and quality of anime videos—often transforming low-res 480p or 720p footage into crisp, modern 4K. Whether you're watching classics from the early 2000s or improving your AMV edits, AI tools can sharpen lines, enhance colors, and remove blur without damaging the art style.
In this guide, we'll show you how to upscale anime to 4K step by step and recommend the best AI upscale anime tools of 2025—on desktop, online, and mobile.
Why Upscale Anime to 4K?
Wondering why anime upscaling is worth your time? Here’s what you gain:
- 🎨 Sharper Visuals – 4K adds clarity, color depth, and detail, making characters and scenery pop.
- 📺 Better Compatibility – Older anime often looks blurry on modern 4K TVs—AI upscaling fixes that.
- 🧡 Revive Classics – Breathe new life into nostalgic shows without losing their original charm.
- 🚀 Boost Quality for Sharing – Perfect for YouTubers, fan editors, and social media creators.
- 🔒 Future-Proof Your Collection – 4K is here to stay—prepare your favorite anime for the future.
Whether you're watching or creating, upscaling anime to 4K ensures a cleaner, more immersive experience across all screens.
Why Use AI Tools to Upscale Anime?
Traditional upscaling methods often blur the unique look of anime. That’s where AI upscale anime tools shine.
AI tools are trained on anime-specific patterns, allowing them to:
- 🧠 Enhance lines, colors, and textures without distortion
- 🧽 Remove noise and smooth pixelation
- 📈 Automatically upscale anime to 4K with no manual redrawing
- 💻 Save time and budget—no need for studios to reanimate old content
Now let's look at the best AI anime upscaler tools to upscale your anime videos in a breeze and let you can watch anime in 4K again.
Best AI Tools to Upscale Anime to 4K [Windows & Mac]
1. UniFab Video Upscaler AI
UniFab Video Upscaler AI is a powerful tool to AI upscale anime with remarkable clarity and color. Its specialized Animation Model enhances resolution up to 4K, 8K, or even 16K, restoring fine linework, enriching textures, optimizing colors, and eliminating compression artifacts—while preserving the original anime style and nostalgic feel. You can also upscale black-and-white films, low-res videos, and more using its Universal Model.
Price: 30-day free trial with full features, no watermark.
The Lifetime Plan: $69.99
Supported Platforms: Windows OS 11/10/8.1/8/7 or Mac OS 13.0 and higher
Performance
Effect
- Clarity: The 4K-enhanced image is much clearer, with smoother edges around characters and objects, and richer details.
- Color Performance: The enhanced colors are more uniform, with higher saturation, making the image look more vivid and lifelike.
- Contrast: The contrast in 4K images is improved, making object outlines more distinct and enhancing the sense of depth.
- Sharpness: The edges of objects are sharper, with reduced image noise, resulting in less graininess.
Step By Step Guide on How to Upscale Anime to 4K
Let’s see how to upscale anime to 4K using UniFab Video Upscaler AI in just three steps and get it at a blazing speed.
30-day Free Trial with full feature access!
Choose 'Upscaler' Module and Load Your Video
Open UniFab, click 'All Features', and seclect 'Upscaler' from 'Video AI' section. Click the '+' button to add your anime video to upscale, or drag and drop the file directly.
Customize Output Settings
Customize the resolution to 4K, and choose 'Animation Model'. You can also adjust audio, codec, format, and other output parameters as needed.
Start Processing
Finally, tap the 'Start' button to upscale your amine video to 4K.
2. AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI
AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI uses neural networks to upscale anime to 4K with sharpness and detail. It effectively enhances resolution, restores clarity, and brings vibrant color and depth to your favorite anime scenes.
Price: $39.95/month, $119.95/year, and $299.90/one-time purchase
Supported Platforms: Windows 10 (64-bit) and Windows 11, and macOS Catalina 10.15 and above with M1 or M2 chip
Performance
Effect:
- Clarity: The enhanced image has smoother edges and slightly better detail, but some areas, especially in complex scenes, remain blurry.
- Color Performance: Color richness and saturation are improved, but some areas, like the background, appear too flat, losing depth.
- Sharpness: While 4K enhances overall sharpness, some details, like character outlines, are overly smoothed, looking unnatural.
Pros
Upscale video footage in up to 1080p HD
Supports a vast variety of input formats like WMV, MKV, MOV, MP4, MPEG, and more
Enhances anime videos with low quality and frame rate
Enhances noisy, blurry, pixelated, and highly compressed videos
Easy user interface for beginners and novices
Great experience for NVIDIA GPU users
Cons
Visible performance limitations
While upscaling may lose some details of the footage
Slow speed on AMD and Intel GPUs and Apple M1/M2 chips
3. Topaz Labs Video AI
Topaz Video Enhance AI is a top-tier desktop tool to upscale anime to 4K with exceptional sharpness and smoothness. It enhances resolution up to 16K, restoring fine details and eliminating compression artifacts, ensuring your anime looks pristine.
Price: US$299
Supported Platforms: Windows 10 and Windows 11, macOS Catalina 10.15 and higher, macOS Big Sur 11 and higher
Performance
Effect:
- Clarity: It improves sharpness with smoother edges, but some complex areas are blurry.
- Color Performance: Colors are more vibrant and full, but the background lacks depth and appears too smooth.
- Contrast: Contrast is better, making objects stand out, but some high-contrast areas lose smooth transitions.
- Sharpness: Overall sharpness is improved, but some details are overly smoothed, making parts look unnatural.
Pros
Offers an improved user experience
Provides video upscaling to higher resolutions
Upscales old videos to bring new life into low-resolution and old videos
Four primary encoding filters: Stabilization, Frame interpolation, Enhancement, and Grain
Generates slo-mo footage using AI from any source
Provides a multi-threaded architecture for quicker previews and exports
Cons
Slow encoding of slow motion
Requires refinements in queue
AI Upscale Anime Tools [Online]
1. CutOut.Pro
CutOut.Pro is a great online tool to upscale anime to 4K. It enhances video quality by improving resolution, delivering sharper visuals. Perfect for quick, easy anime upscaling without technical expertise.
Price: Free plan available with one credit (one edit). Subscription Plan: US$5.00/month with 40 credits and Pay as You Go: Custom pricing for one-time only service
Supported Platforms: Web-based tool/Online software. Supports all browsers and devices.
Pros
AI-based cutout
Processes bulk files simultaneously
Clear and straightforward UI
Reduce noise and motion artifacts to improve video resolution
Converts low-quality videos in high-res up to 4K
Available online, saving from the hassle of downloading and installing the software
Cons
Limits the file size up to 2 GB
Supports limited file formats like GIF, MP4, MOV, and WebM
2. TensorPix Online Video Enhancer
TensorPix Online Video Enhancer is a reliable web-based AI tool for upscaling anime videos. It improves low-resolution, blurry details and removes artifacts, enhancing multiple videos simultaneously.
Price: Pay As You Go: US$0/month, Standard Plan: US$12/month, Premium Plan: US$27/month, Elite Plan: US$66/month, and Enterprise: Custom pricing
Supported Platforms: Web-based (online) tool. Supports all browsers and devices.
Pros
It does not require download and installation
Directly enhance and upgrade low-quality videos from any device or browser
User-friendly interface to improve video projects
Offers a slo-mo filter, boasting about state-of-the-art technology
Reduces blurriness, restoring original details
Transform low-quality clips into HD formats with AI stabilization
Cons
The Pay As You Go plan supports limited features
Unrealistic outcomes with exaggerated effects during the upscale
Does not fully comprehend the creativity and emotions resulting in oversaturated colors
3. Media.io AI Video Enhancer
Media.io AI Video Enhancer is also capable AI upscale anime online tool for enhancing and upscale your videos. It can breathe new life into your video, resulting in impressive qualities and visually appealing anime videos.
Price: Free account: US$0, Monthly Plan: US$17.90, Pay As You Go Plan: US$59.90
Supported Platforms: Web-based (online) tool. Supports all browsers and devices.
Pros
It does not require one to sign up for enhancing videos
Easily converts your videos into numerous formats with accuracy
Efficiently converts audio files into various formats
Compress audio and video files in any format losslessly
Creates GIFs from videos and pictures
Cons
Slow processing speed occasionally
Limited free trial features
It does not have advanced editing options
AI Upscale Anime [Apps]
1. AI Video Enhancer - HiQuality
AI Video Enhancer - HiQuality is a professional video quality enhancer that enhances upscale animevideos and images with a single tap. It uses advanced AI algorithms to make your videos clearer with AI Video Enhancer - HiQuality on Android and iOS devices. Besides upcaling anime videos, you can enhance selfies, 2D and 3D cartoons, black and white movies, or any video downloaded from social sites.
Price: Free app (offers in-app purchases, i.e., 30 Pro cards at US$4.99, 70 Pro cards at US$9.99, 150 Pro cards at US$14.99, and 240 Pro cards at US$19.99)
Supported Platforms: Android, iOS and Mac devices
Pros
Works seamlessly on Android and iOS devices
Enhances photos and videos
Offers many feature sets and tools
Enhances the videos in up to 4K, making them clearer
Uses advanced algorithms to enhance videos of all genres
The app is available in many languages, including English, Japanese, and more
Cons
The final outcome is inconsistent
Scam to purchase credits
It does not work on longer videos
It takes too long to enhance even short video clips
Requires iOS 12.0 or later and macOS 11.0 or higher to work
2. PowerDirector
Cyberlink PowerDirector is another experienced professional video editing app that makes and edits videos. It can AI upscale anime videos to captivate viewers with stunning visual effects. Its Anime Effect feature cartoonizes your clips in a single click to instantly transform your content into a work of art.
Price: Free app (offers in-app purchases), Monthly Subscription at US$5.99, Quarterly Subscription at US$9.99, and Yearly Subscription at US$34.99
Supported Platforms: Android, iOS, Mac computers and Apple Vision
Pros
It is available in many languages, including English, Hindi, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, French, Indonesian, etc.
High processing power with ease of use for advanced users
Executes the user’s requests quickly and accurately
Offers a variety of tools and gadgets, even in the free format
Readily available templates like text animations, video transitions, and color grading
Offers impressive sharing solutions
Cons
Often, the mobile crashes on adding more text and effects to the videos
Slow and resource-intensive with a steep learning curve for beginners
Requires iOS 13.0 or later, macOS 11.0 or later, and VisionOS 1.0 or later to work
Occasional bugs cause delays and lags in processing video clips
3. Splice
Splice is also an excellent app to upscale anime to 4K. It can trim clips, add music, adjust speed, and create beautiful movies and slideshows for your videos. Its simple and clear UI helps beginners edit videos, add tile slides, and use text overlays to cartoonize their videos. You can choose your transition style and control the speed between transitions.
Price: Free app (offers in-app purchases)
Supported Platforms: Android and iOS devices
Pros
Offers fast and simple social sharing options
Allows access to a free music library and iTunes integration
Easy to use for beginners and novices
Supports adding slo-mo effects and overlay multiple clips
Supports basic editing features like trimming, cutting, transitions, and effects
Cons
Requires iOS 12.2 or later and VisionOS 1.0 or later to work
The app size is too large (269.9 MB)
Limited transition and effect options
Conclusion
Upscaling your anime videos with AI tools is a great idea, as deep learning algorithms not only enhance the videos but also upscale anime by filling in the missing pixels. AI upscale anime tools improve your video quality and resolutions and reduce the shaky effect or motion blur. It saves you a lot of time when getting visually appealing videos. UniFab Video Enhancer is an excellent tool to upscale anime to 4K and enhance all other types of videos with GPU acceleration technology.
FAQs about AI Upscale Anime
Is it possible to upscale anime?
Yes. You can upscale anime with the right tools and techniques. Using reliable software like UniFab Video Upscaler AI, you can upscale any type of video, including anime videos, and enhance the overall quality.
How can I upscale anime to 4K with online tools?
With online tools, you can easily upscale anime to 4Kin a few clicks. Many tools are available to help you upscale and process the video online. Here's an article on how to use Fotor Video Enhancer to enhance your videos online.
What is the best AI anime upscale tool for Windows?
UniFab Video Upscaler AI is the best anime upscaler for enhancing and upscaling anime videos on Windows. It uses AI technology to enhance your video quality regardless of its type. It analyzes the video pixels and enlarges them losslessly.