Restory vs Pixelup: Complete Comparison 2026

Quick Verdict

Restory and Pixelup both offer AI-driven photo restoration tools, but they differ in feature depth, pricing flexibility, and overall polish.

Choose Restory if you need a comprehensive set of six restoration tools, want pay-per-use pricing through a coin system, or need support in one of 32 languages. Restory is the better fit for users who want maximum flexibility without being locked into a subscription.

Choose Pixelup if you want a straightforward enhancer and colorizer on a simple subscription model and do not need advanced features like generative fill. Pixelup covers the basics competently, though with fewer specialized tools.

Both apps aim to help users restore and improve old photographs using artificial intelligence. The question is which one delivers more value for your specific needs. Let us break it down across every dimension that matters.

Feature Comparison

The breadth and depth of restoration tools available in each app determines how much you can actually accomplish with damaged or degraded photographs.

Feature	Restory	Pixelup
AI Photo Enhancement	Yes (4 coins)	Yes
Face Restoration	Yes (5 coins)	Limited
Scratch Removal	Yes (5 coins)	Yes (descratch)
Colorization	Yes (4 coins)	Yes
Generative Fill / Recreate	Yes (6 coins, Premium)	No
Photo Animation (video)	Yes (10-15 coins)	Yes (animate)
Languages Supported	32	Limited
Platform	iOS	iOS, Android
User Ratings	Strong	4.42 (39K reviews)

Restory provides six distinct tools, each built for a specific type of photo restoration work. The Colorize feature handles black-and-white to color conversion. Enhance sharpens resolution and detail. Restore Faces targets facial features specifically, producing better results on portraits than general enhancement alone. Remove Scratches addresses physical damage from old prints. Recreate uses generative AI to fill in missing or destroyed sections of a photo. Bring Photos to Life animates still photos into short video clips.

Pixelup offers a more streamlined set of tools. Enhancement and colorization are available, along with a descratch feature and photo animation. However, Pixelup lacks a dedicated face restoration tool and does not offer anything equivalent to Restory's generative fill. The animation feature is a shared capability between both apps, though implementation details and output quality differ.

For users working with severely damaged photographs where portions of the image are missing or destroyed, the absence of generative fill in Pixelup is a meaningful limitation. Restory's Recreate tool can intelligently reconstruct missing areas, turning an otherwise unsalvageable photo into something presentable.

Explore the full details of what Restory offers on the features page.

Pricing Comparison

Pricing structure is one of the most important differences between these two apps, and it directly affects how much value you get for your money.

Restory Pricing:

• Free tier available (limited usage to try the app)
• Weekly plan: EUR 9.99 (50 coins)
• Annual plan: EUR 39.99/year (200 coins, includes 3-day free trial)
• Coin packs (one-time purchase): 50 coins for EUR 7.99, 200 coins for EUR 24.99, 500 coins for EUR 44.99

Pixelup Pricing:

• Free tier with limited features
• Subscription-based model (weekly and annual options)
• Pricing varies by region and promotional offers

Pixelup operates on a subscription-only model. This means you pay a recurring fee for access to the app's features, regardless of how much or how little you use them. If you restore one photo per month or fifty, the cost remains the same.

Restory takes a different approach with its coin system. Each restoration operation has a transparent coin cost displayed before you confirm the action. You can acquire coins through a subscription plan, which offers the best value per coin, or through one-time coin pack purchases. This flexibility is significant for several types of users.

Occasional users benefit the most from Restory's model. If you have a stack of old family photos to restore as a one-time project, you can buy a coin pack, do the work, and never pay again. With Pixelup's subscription model, you would need to remember to cancel after your project is complete or continue paying monthly for a service you no longer need.

Regular users also benefit, because Restory's annual plan at EUR 39.99 provides 200 coins, enough for approximately 50 basic enhancements or 40 face restorations. For most users, this is more than sufficient for a year of restoration work.

The absence of one-time purchase options in Pixelup's model is a notable limitation for budget-conscious users or those with finite restoration needs.

Pricing as of March 2026. Prices may vary by region and are subject to change.

Photo Restoration Quality

Quality is ultimately what matters most. Both apps use AI models to process photos, but the results can vary significantly depending on the task.

Enhancement: Both Restory and Pixelup handle basic enhancement competently. Low-resolution photos gain clarity and sharpness. However, Restory's enhancement model appears to be specifically tuned for the kinds of degradation found in old photographs, including fading, discoloration, and soft focus from early camera lenses. Pixelup's enhancement works well on moderately degraded images but may struggle with severely deteriorated ones.

Colorization: Both apps offer colorization, and this is an area where each produces respectable results. Restory's Colorize tool uses AI trained on historical photographs to produce period-appropriate color palettes. Skin tones, clothing, and natural environments tend to look natural and consistent. Pixelup's colorization is functional but can sometimes produce slightly washed-out or inconsistent tones, particularly on complex scenes with multiple subjects.

For best practices on colorization, our guide on colorizing black and white photos covers techniques that apply regardless of which app you use.

Scratch and Damage Removal: Restory's dedicated Remove Scratches tool is optimized for the specific patterns of damage found on physical photographs: creases, tears, water stains, and surface scratches. Pixelup's descratch feature handles common scratch patterns but may require multiple passes on heavily damaged prints.

Face Restoration: This is where Restory pulls ahead noticeably. The Restore Faces tool is specifically designed to reconstruct facial details, including eyes, mouths, and skin texture, in old or blurry photographs. Pixelup does not offer a dedicated face restoration tool, relying instead on its general enhancement to improve facial clarity. The difference is most apparent on group photos or images where faces are small within the frame.

Generative Fill: Restory's Recreate feature has no equivalent in Pixelup. When a photograph has torn corners, missing sections, or areas destroyed by water damage, Recreate can generate plausible content to fill those gaps. This is a genuinely advanced capability that can save photos that would otherwise be beyond repair.

Ease of Use

User experience matters, particularly for apps that target a general audience rather than professional photo editors.

Restory presents its six tools as clear, distinct options. You select your photo, choose the appropriate tool, see the coin cost, and confirm. The results are displayed alongside the original for easy comparison. The app supports 32 languages, making it accessible to a genuinely global audience. Navigation is straightforward, with no buried menus or confusing workflows.

Pixelup also offers a clean interface. The app is easy to pick up and use for basic tasks. However, some users have noted that the subscription prompts can be intrusive, appearing frequently during the workflow. With approximately 39,000 reviews and a 4.42 rating, user satisfaction is generally positive but somewhat lower than other apps in the category.

Restory's coin system adds a layer of decision-making (which tool to use, how many coins to spend) that Pixelup's subscription model avoids. However, most users find this transparency beneficial rather than burdensome, as it encourages thoughtful use of each tool rather than indiscriminate processing.

Pros and Cons

Restory

Pros:

• Six specialized AI restoration tools covering every common restoration need
• Flexible coin-based pricing with one-time purchase options
• Generative fill for severely damaged or incomplete photos
• Dedicated face restoration tool for superior portrait results
• Photo-to-video animation
• 32 languages supported
• Transparent per-operation pricing with no hidden costs
• Annual plan at EUR 39.99/year offers strong value

Cons:

• iOS only (no Android version currently)
• No batch processing for multiple photos simultaneously
• Generative fill (Recreate) requires Premium tier
• Smaller user community compared to some established competitors

Pixelup

Pros:

• Available on both iOS and Android
• Clean, straightforward interface
• Covers the basics: enhance, colorize, descratch, animate
• Simple subscription model with no coin management needed

Cons:

• Subscription-only pricing with no one-time purchase option
• No generative fill for severely damaged photos
• No dedicated face restoration tool
• Lower user rating (4.42) compared to top competitors
• Fewer supported languages
• Limited feature set compared to more comprehensive restoration apps
• Subscription prompts can be intrusive during use

Final Verdict

Pixelup is a competent photo restoration app that covers the fundamentals. If you only need basic enhancement, colorization, and scratch removal, it will do the job. The subscription model is simple and predictable, and the availability on Android gives it a wider reach.

However, Restory offers a meaningfully more complete restoration experience. The six specialized tools, particularly the dedicated face restoration and generative fill, handle a wider range of restoration challenges. The coin-based pricing model provides flexibility that subscription-only apps cannot match, and the 32-language support makes it accessible to a truly global audience.

For anyone serious about restoring old photos, whether it is a small family project or a larger archival effort, Restory's combination of specialized tools and flexible pricing makes it the more capable choice. The EUR 39.99 annual plan provides substantial restoration capacity, and the one-time coin packs mean you never have to pay for more than you need.

If you are working on preserving family archives or preparing restored photos as a meaningful gift, the depth of Restory's toolset will serve you well across the full range of conditions old photographs can be in.

Ready to see the difference for yourself? Try Restory free and test the tools on your own photos before committing to any plan.

Download Restory and start restoring