15 Best AI Video Enhancers to Upscale Quality in 2024

Even with the advanced digital technology and high-powered cameras of today, most videos are not fit for purpose right out of the gate. Even big-budget Hollywood productions need an AI video enhancer to make the final movie look and sound perfect.

Video upscalers allow you to make color corrections, fix imperfections, and improve your clip’s quality. However, choosing the best AI video enhancer can be challenging.

This article ranks the 15 best AI video enhancers for Windows, Mac, and Linux. We’ve listed the pros and cons, key features, prices, and other helpful info to guide you in your search for the best video upscaler for your needs.

• Snapshot of Our Top 3 AI Video Enhancers
• How to Choose the Best AI Video Enhancer
• How We Test the Best AI Video Enhancers
• Best Software to Upscale Video Quality Comparison Chart
• The Best AI Video Enhancers - Ranked
• What is the Best AI Video Enhancer?
• Best AI Video Enhancer FAQ

Snapshot of Our Top 3 AI Video Enhancers

How to Choose the Best AI Video Enhancer

Choosing the best AI video enhancer depends on several different factors. We outline those factors below to help you choose the right tool for your needs. 

Price

In our list, we have options to cover a range of budgets, so you can find what you need without breaking the bank. 

Ease of Use 

We’ve also found the best AI video enhancers to suit a range of skill levels, from first-time users to editing professionals. Some of our video upscalers offer one-click solutions for beginners, while others have manual adjustments so you can enhance video quality exactly the way you want.   

Video Editing Tools

Some AI video enhancers are also fully-featured video editors, some offer only basic editing tools, and others exist only to upscale videos. If you are an influencer, content creator, or filmmaker, it makes sense to get a multifunctional video quality enhancer. 

How We Test the Best AI Video Enhancers

We’ve tested a large selection of AI video enhancers so you don’t have to. These are the steps we followed to help us review and rank video upscalers effectively and without bias. 

Choose Test Videos

To properly test AI video enhancers, we needed low-quality videos that could use upscaling. We found videos of different quality levels, including low-resolution footage, blurry videos with noise, compressed videos, clips with unintelligible audio, and shaky footage. This helped us assess the AI video enhancer’s ability to handle diverse issues.

Upscale Videos

We uploaded the same group of test videos into each AI video enhancer. Then we used all the available tools to get the highest resolution possible. We compared the results against the original, unedited videos, and compared the upscaled videos against one another. Next, we reverted to the original videos and tried each tool independently. That way, we were able to deduce if a video upscaler was better in one area over another (for example, one program offered excellent stabilization, but the color enhancements were poor).

Evaluate Videos

After our hands-on tests were conducted, we recorded the comparisons and ranked the software. Here are some things we look for to make our decisions:

• Check that the noise reduction features result in sharper, clearer visuals without introducing artificial artifacts.
• Assess if the stabilization smooths out shaky footage without creating unnatural jitters or warping the image.
• Evaluate if the color correction enhances the visuals without creating unrealistic saturation or color shifts
• Ensure the software preserves fine details or textures.
• For programs with audio enhancements, make sure the audio is crisp and easier to hear than in the original video

Rate Overall Experience

Many of the AI video enhancers on our list produced similar results. Therefore, we also made notes on the overall experience when using a product. We asked these questions: Was the user interface intuitive? Were the tools easy enough for a beginner? Were there automatic tools and manual adjustments available? How long did it take to process the videos? Did the software run smoothly without lags or glitches? We also read online reviews to see if there were common issues amongst other users that we didn’t come across.

Best AI Video Enhancer Comparison Chart

The Best AI Video Enhancers - Ranked

1. PowerDirector

Best For: Video editing and enhancements for any skill level

The best AI video enhancer on our list is PowerDirector. No matter your video editing experience, you can quickly improve the look and quality of your videos. From basic to advanced color correction and audio editing to powerful AI restoration tools, PowerDirector has all the features you need to create the best-looking and sounding videos.

Fix your video's appearance with lighting adjustments, video denoise, and white balance. You can automatically match color shot-by-shot with Color Match and use the HDR Effect to highlight details. Steady shaky handheld or action sports footage with video stabilization and apply lens corrections to common imperfections. Make your audio crisp and pristine with audio denoise, wind removal, dereverb, and the new AI Restoration Assistant.

Once your footage looks and sounds the way you intended, you can make it even better with visual effects, color grading, titles, and transitions. Or take your videos to the next level by adding pan/zoom effects or swapping dull skies for beautiful sunsets and starry vistas with AI Sky Replacement. With PowerDirector's enhancement tools, your footage will look better than anything you could shoot in real life. 

PowerDirector isn't just a video quality enhancer. It has all the video editing tools and effects you need to create engaging videos. Plus, it has compatibility with all standard video formats and lets you upload directly to social media to save time. With PowerDirector, you can experience state-of-the-art AI capabilities for video/audio enhancements with NVIDIA broadcast support. Whether you need to fix action cam and drone footage, restore old videos, match uneven lighting, enhance poor audio, or upscale videos to look as professional as they can be, PowerDirector has you covered.

Key Features:

1. Fix action cam footage with video stabilization and lens corrections
2. Produce crystal-clear speech with AI Audio Enhancements
3. Remove unwanted grain and background noise with video/audio denoise
4. Enhance colors with the Split Toning tool for a dramatic look

Compatibility: Windows, Mac

PCMag Rating: 5/5

Video Enhancement Tools: 5/5

Price: Free
*Premium version available for a 30-day free trial, then $4.58/month

Click the link below to download PowerDirector for free today to enhance video quality and add a professional touch to your videos. 

Check out these related topics for video editing:

• Best AI Video Editor
• 15 Best Free Video Editing Software for Mac
• 9 Hottest YouTube Trends You Can't Ignore

2. Topaz Video AI

Best For: Slow-motion

Video AI from Topaz Labs is one of the best AI video enhancers for slow-motion effects. While traditional time interpolation causes stuttering, the technicians at Topaz Labs seamlessly generate new frames that are indistinguishable from frames captured in-camera. The result is a natural and stutter-free slow-motion effect. 

Upscale video from SD to HD, and HD to 4K, 8K, or even 16K without sacrificing quality. This video upscaler can remove noise and grain and convert different frame rates while bringing out crisp detail in your shots with minimal flickering. 

Topaz Video AI is very similar to AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI, and in our last version of this article, we felt AVCLabs came out on top. However, since our last round of testing, AVClabs has stayed pretty much the same while Topaz Video AI has made many improvements. First and foremost is the ability to upscale video to 16K - making it the first AI video enhancer we’ve seen to achieve this goal. Second, it has added powerful facial recognition technology, on par with that of AVCLabs and PowerDirector. Finally, it has made UI and performance improvements, including faster processing time (extremely slow processing was an issue in previous versions), and side-by-side video comparison. However, it still takes much longer to process videos than most of the AI video enhancers on our list, and we think the price and time commitment make it a better option for Hollywood films and professionals than for personal projects or social media posts. 

Key Features:

1. Use Gaia CG or Theia to enhance graphics and upscale cartoons/CGI
2. Deinterlace footage with powerful AI tools
3. Fill in details from multiple frames for smoother panning

Compatibility: Windows, Mac

Shotkit Rating: 4.7/5

Video Enhancement Tools: 5/5

Price: $299

3. AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI

Image from avclabs.

Best For: Facial recognition

AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI is one of the best AI video enhancers for its facial recognition features. AVCLabs uses a combination of facial recognition and motion tracking to deblur and enhance facial details on one face in a shot or multiple faces, whether moving or standing still. 

The automated multi-frame super-resolution will upscale video from SD to HD, and from HD to UHD 4K or 8K. Processed videos remain uncompressed, while unwanted video parts are eliminated for a smoother, crisper, more natural look. 

AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI has automatic tools for beginners to upscale video resolution without any quality loss. It’s #2 on our list of AI video enhancers because it does not have video editing tools, and its price is too high for most people to afford both this software and a video editor.  

Key Features:

1. Automatically reduce grain with AI Video Denoise 
2. Use facial recognition to blur faces for privacy
3. Colorize black and white videos naturally

Compatibility: Windows, Mac

Trustpilot Rating: 4.6/5

Video Enhancement Tools: 5/5

Price: $39.95/month, $119.95/year, or $299.90 for a perpetual license

4. HitPaw Video Enhancer

Best For: Enhancing faces

HitPaw Video Enhancer has 7 AI Models that beginners can apply in one click, including Denoise, Animation, Colorize, Face, and Repair.We think it’s one of the best software to upscale video for faces, because the Face Model repairs and sharpens facial details, revealing individual eyelashes and strands of hair. 

With this video upscaler, you can convert low-res video up to 1080p or 4K and convert SD to HD. You can even upscale videos from 4K to 8K and enlarge videos up to 8 times without quality loss.

HitPaw Video Enhancer makes it easy to upscale videos in only 3 steps. However, you must choose only one AI model per video, and there are no manual adjustments. It also costs more than any of the AI video enhancers on this list. We moved it above Premiere Pro and Ashampoo on our updated list due to crisper video quality and glowing reviews for HitPaw’s customer service.  

Key Features:

1. Upscale multiple videos at once with batch processing 
2. Add realistic colors to black-and-white videos
3. Restore clarity in 2D and 3D cartoons

Compatibility: Windows, Mac

Trustpilot Rating: 4.2/5

Video Enhancement Tools: 4.5/5

Price: Mac: $69.99/month, $109.99/year or $349.99 for a Lifetime License

Windows: $42.99/month, $99.99/year or $349.99 for a Lifetime License

5. Adobe Premiere Pro

Best For: Professional video editors

Adobe Premiere Pro is an AI video enhancer for professionals that supports almost all video formats, and it is suitable for editing any video content. Filmmakers and editors have used this software to make various popular movies and TV shows, including Mindhunter, Gone Girl, and Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Premiere Pro features a nonlinear editing platform with Lumetri Color Tool, providing unlimited color manipulation. Using this tool, you can adjust your clip’s exposure, contrast, shadows, and white balance, and you can trigger them at any point in the clip using keyframes.It also comes with audio editing tools to enhance dialogue and remove background noise.

Premiere Pro has a steep learning curve and isn’t the best AI video enhancer for beginners. Although Premiere Pro and PowerDirector are both powerful video quality enhancers and video editors rolled into one, beginner-friendliness and affordability put PowerDirector on top.  

Key Features:

1. Use AI audio tools such as Sound Match to equalize your mix 
2. Quickly create custom animated titles with motion graphics templates
3. Smooth shaky footage with the Warp Stabilize feature

Compatibility: Windows, Mac

PCMag Rating: 4.5/5

Video Enhancement Tools: 4.5/5

Price: $22.99/month or $59.99/month as part of Creative Cloud

6. Ashampoo Video Optimizer Pro 2

Best For: Action camera footage

Ashampoo® Video Optimizer Pro 2 is the ideal AI video enhancer for action camera footage. With this software, you can automatically stabilize shaky videos, fix fish-eye distortions caused by a wide-angle lens, and denoise/deflicker videos taken in bad lighting. 

This video quality enhancer comes with 20 preset filters for vignettes, lighting, saturation, and more. Apply presets with a click of a button or manually fine-tune brightness, shadows, and highlights. It also includes a large preview window to see all of your video enhancements in action. 

Like our top AI video enhancer, PowerDirector, Ashampoo® Video Optimizer Pro 2 has both automated and manual solutions to enhance video quality for beginners and professionals. It also has some basic video editing tools, but unlike PowerDirector, it is not a stand-alone video editor. 

Key Features:

1. Upscale videos in batches and save valuable time 
2. Change your video’s speed with slow-motion and time-lapse effects 
3. Add and edit video metadata

Compatibility: Windows

Softpedia Rating: 4/5

Video Enhancement Tools: 4.5/5

Price: $77

7. UniFab Video Enhancer

Best For: Beginners

DVDFab recently upgraded its popular Video Enhancer AI to the new and improved UniFab, is one of the best AI video enhancers because it works for users of any skill level. No need to tinker with a bunch of settings, simply import your video and choose to enlarge, denoise, or sharpen. If you are tech-savvy, you can have more control over the end result by adjusting the optional parameters. 

Use UniFab Video Enhancer on old home movies shot on DV or classic films and enjoy the enhanced video quality on a big screen. The software boosts saturation, corrects color, decreases noise, and sharpens blur, all with the click of a button. 

In short, DVDFab Video Enhancer AI is an AI video enhancer for novices who need a quick and easy way to upscale old videos. While DVDFab’s old video upscaler suffered from extremely long processing times, UniFab has GPU acceleration for much quicker results. It has also added video compression, converting, and a few editing tools. 

Key Features:

1. Deinterlace old videos with AI
2. Upscale video to HDR10/Dolby Vision
3. Sharpen and denoise without leaving artifacts behind

Compatibility: Windows

Softpedia Rating: 4/5

Video Enhancement Tools: 4.5/5

Price: $299.99  

8. DaVinci Resolve

Best For: Advanced editors and Linux users

DaVinci Resolve is a pro-level video upscaler with advanced tools for colorists, VFX artists, video editors, and sound engineers. While it is available on Windows and Mac, we think it’s the best AI video enhancer available to Linux users. This AI video enhancer also has a very robust free version that will let users on a budget upscale video at no cost. 

Enhance video quality with the impressive Shot Match feature, which matches the color of any clip or Hollywood movie. DaVinci has a library of over 85 Resolve FX plug-ins that enhance video quality, such as Face Refinement, Automatic Dirt Removal, and Dead Pixel Fixer.

DaVinci Resolve is a post-production behemoth with an impressive array of effects to upscale video and audio. However, it has a steep learning curve and it will take some time to improve video quality with all the manual features and precise tools. If you are looking to upscale videos with one click, try PowerDirector. 

Key Features:

1. Clean and repair sound with Fairlight FX plug‑ins
2. Compare a string of clips side by side to help match shots
3. Adjust colors locally with secondary color correction

Compatibility: Windows, Mac, Linux

PCMag Rating: 4/5

Video Enhancement Tools: 4/5

Price: Free
*DaVinci Resolve Studio available for $295

9. Pinnacle Studio

Best For: Editing enthusiasts

When looking for a video quality enhancer, Pinnacle Studio is a viable option. We like this software for hobbyists, because it is almost pro-level, but is also easy to use. It’s also relatively affordable, especially if you opt for the Studio version. 

The Ultimate edition’s video upscaler tools include white balance, exposure, contrast, vibrance, haze correction, and clarity. You can apply auto tone and auto white balance to enhance your clip without spending valuable time with adjustments. 

Pinnacle Studio is one of the fastest video editors, making it similar to the best software to the best AI video enhancer, PowerDirector. But unlike PowerDirector, Pinnacle Studio doesn’t feature a split-screen preview, so you can only see the enhanced video quality once you move the play head. 

Key Features:

1. Improve shaky footage with video stabilization
2. Audio ducking, pitch scaling, and multi-channel sound mixing
3. Remove common lens distortions

Compatibility: Windows

PCMag Rating: 4/5

Video Enhancement Tools: 4/5

Price: $59.99 for Studio and $129.99 for Ultimate

10. Final Cut Pro

Best For: Adjusting focus

Image from BolderVideo.

Final Cut Pro has several tools to enhance video quality, including Cinematic Mode, which can manually change the f-stop and shift focus on footage shot on newer iPhones. You can adjust how blurry or sharp the background appears, and even shift focus from one part of the shot to the other - all in post. 

With this video upscaler, you can change the color, hue, luminance, or saturation of just one color using an eyedropper tool, use keyframes to change colors over time, or use the object tracker to apply color changes to a moving object or person. It also comes with audio enhancements such as reducing background noise and optimizing levels.  

Final Cut Pro is a professional video editing suite with multiple video quality enhancers. It’s not updated very regularly, but there are a few new features and improvements since our last review, including the new Automatic Color Conform feature. This tool lets you instantly tone-map videos from SDR to HDR. We do not recommend this AI video enhancer for beginners. For an equally feature-rich video editor with beginner-friendly AI-powered tools, we recommend PowerDirector.  

Key Features:

1. Quickly find any audio or video that appears more than once with duplicate detection
2. Automatically sync 64 angles and view 16 at once with advanced multicam editing
3. Tag clips and create Smart Collections

Compatibility: Mac

TechRadar Rating: 4/5

Video Enhancement Tools: 4/5

Price: $299.99

11. Pixop

Best For: Businesses

Pixop is one of the best AI video enhancers for businesses because it is designed for large archives of digital footage.We recommend it for broadcasters, media production companies, TV networks, or professional video editors. Clients can easily access their Pixop account online to store, organize, and enhance video quality. 

With this video upscaler, you can remaster digital footage up to UHD 8K. We liked the Face Forward filter, which makes lighting on faces appear uniform, blurs the background for a Portrait effect, and balances color. 

Pixop has powerful AI tools, however, it works best on digital videos from the 90s onward, so this is not the best AI video enhancer if you want to upgrade your classic film collection. We placed it below DaVinci Resolve, Pinnacle Studio, and Final Cut Pro because they offer a full set of video editing features. 

Key Features:

1. Use the frame rate converter to create new frames for a smoother look 
2. Inject details into degraded video and eliminate artifacts
3. Increase resolution and boost clarity with super-resolution

Compatibility: Web Browser

Trustpilot Rating: 3.8/5

Video Enhancement Tools: 4/5

Price: Pay per gigapixel for processing, and per gigabyte for storage and downloads  

12. Movavi Video Converter

Best For: Converting files

Movavi Video Converter is an AI-powered video upscaler, converter, and basic editor. This video quality enhancer allows you to convert not only video but also music and photos into over 180 formats. 

Simply drag and drop your video into the window, choose your upscaling parameters from a drop-down menu, and click Upscale. You also get a recommended resolution in the drop-down menu, making it one of the best AI video enhancers for beginners. You can increase the resolution of your videos by a factor of 2, 4, or 8 and preview your new resolution before it is applied.  

Movavi Video Converter also comes with some basic video editing tools such as color adjustment and adding filters. If you need a three-in-one tool to convert, edit, and upscale video, then this is a good choice. However, it’s mainly a converter. You wouldn’t use it as a stand-alone video editor, and there are more powerful video quality enhancers on our list.   

Key Features:

1. Find and add subtitles automatically
2. Compress large videos with no quality loss
3. Trim/Crop/Merge videos with basic editing tools

Compatibility: Windows, Mac

TechArrival Rating: 4/5

Video Enhancement Tools: 3.5/5

Price: $54.95/year or $69.95 for a Lifetime License

13. VideoStudio Pro

Best For: Instant movies

VideoStudio Pro from Corel is a video upscaler for beginners. We think it’s a good option if you want to make instant movies and slideshows from your media. Drag-and-drop an Instant Project Template onto your timeline to automatically recreate a popular video style. Highlight Reel uses AI technology to choose your best clips, while FastFlick instantly creates a slideshow from a given template. 

Face Effects is one of the most popular features of this software, especially among influencers. Using this tool, you can brighten or smooth your subject’s skin using straightforward controls. This video upscaler has color correction tools that brighten your scenes, add accent colors, or adjust a clip’s hue, saturation, and white balance.

VideoStudio Pro has an intuitive interface that is and easy to learn and use, even if you are new to video editing. We moved it ahead of Lightworks in our updated list because it is easier to use and has a more affordable price. However, VideoStudio is more gimmicky and not the best AI video enhancer for professionals.  

Key Features:

1. Fix common distortions with lens corrections
2. Add text and graphics to moving objects or blur faces/license plates
3. Apply fast or slow motion effects and freeze frames

Compatibility: Windows

TechRadar Rating: 3.5/5

Video Enhancement Tools: 3.5/5

Price: $79.99 for Pro and $99.99 for Ultimate

14. Lightworks

Best For: Enhancing audio

Lightworks is a pro-level video editing software and a great choice for making audio enhancements. It has Quick FX audio templates you can easily drag and drop onto your timeline. These incredibly fast audio adjusters combine different effects to enhance dialogue or music. 

This video upscaler also has advanced color correction tools with HDR workflows to give your video the right look and enhance video quality to HD, Full HD, 2K, or 4K. With Lightworks, you can import a file at any frame rate and it will play at its native shape and resolution.  

Lightworks has a fairly robust free version, however, all of the video upscaler features listed above are only found in the expensive Pro version. This software also has a learning curve for beginners. Our top AI video enhancer PowerDirector, offers AI-powered audio enhancements for a fraction of the cost.

Key Features:

1. Add clips with different frame rates and sizes to the same track
2. Choose from 700+ pre-built titles and motion graphics
3. Isolate and adjust colors or regions for targeted enhancements and storytelling

Compatibility: Windows, Mac, Linux

G2 Rating: 3.5/5

Video Enhancement Tools: 3.5/5

Price: Free
*Premium subscriptions available for $9.99/month or $99.99/year for Create, and $23.99/month or $239.99/year for Pro

15. Vegas Pro

Best For: Collaboration

Image from Vegas Pro.

Vegas Pro is one of the best AI video enhancers for editors who need excellent online collaboration tools. With the Notes feature, teammates can leave virtual color-coded notes linked with timecode on specific areas of the edit. 

Using the look-up tables (LUTs), you can apply various color effects to your clips, conveying specific settings or moods. There’s also an AI-powered tool to upscale video from 720p to 4K.  

Vegas Pro lets you change your clip’s playback speed, but using this feature can be challenging, especially if you are new to the software. While Vegas Pro is a feature-packed video enhancer, it has a relatively unintuitive interface, and it doesn’t feature tutorials for beginners. 

Key Features:

1. Colorization: Add color to black and white videos
2. Style Transfers: Mimic the look of famous artists like Van Gogh or Picasso
3. Audio Editing: Full control over volume, panning, bussing, and audio effects 

Compatibility: Windows

PCMag Rating: 3/5

Video Enhancement Tools: 4/5

Price: $15.99/month or $149 for a Lifetime License

What is the Best AI Video Enhancer?

Poor-quality videos do not perform well on social media. Every content creator should understand how to make videos look and sound their very best. Even if you only post videos for fun on Facebook and YouTube, a video upscaler will help make your footage more enjoyable for friends and family to watch.

If you're looking for the best AI video enhancer, look no further than PowerDirector. This video quality enhancer includes color and audio correction, restoration tools, and sky replacement. PowerDirector also offers video editing features like motion tracking, 3D editing, and chroma key. It has all the functionality you might need as a video content creator.  

Download the best AI video enhancer for free by clicking the link below and see how great your videos can look and sound.