Is Topaz Video AI worth it in 2026?
Topaz now sells the app as Topaz Video. Here is what a year costs on each plan, the limits that matter for paid work, and what free upscalers can do instead.
The quick answer
Topaz Video is worth it if you upscale footage every week or need the output for client work. Personal costs $299 a year, or $59 a month with no commitment, and Pro costs $699 a year. There is no free plan, only a trial whose exports carry a watermark. For a clip or two, Video2X is free, so the paid plan is hard to justify.
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Topaz Video AI pays off only if you upscale footage every week, and its entry plan is Personal. Topaz now lists the desktop app as Topaz Video on its pricing page, so expect both names. It upscales old or low-resolution footage to HD or 4K. For a clip or two a year, free tools can do the job with more setup.
Academy data: as of October 2026, none of the tool reviews on this site covers an AI upscaler, so this is the first. We have not tested output quality, because Dupple runs no test lab. Prices and plan limits come from Topaz's own pages, DaVinci Resolve on Blackmagic Design's site and the project pages of the free tools, checked October 10, 2026. Our own arithmetic is labeled as such.
What one year of Topaz Video costs, against the free route
USD list prices checked October 10, 2026. Topaz prices come from its pricing page and DaVinci Resolve from Blackmagic Design. Monthly plans on a 12-month commitment are multiplied by 12.
| Plan | Monthly equivalent | One-year cost |
|---|---|---|
| Topaz Video Personal, annual upfront | $25 a month | $299 |
| Topaz Video Personal, monthly on a 12-month commitment | $39 a month | $468 |
| Topaz Video Personal, month to month | $59 a month | $708 |
| Topaz Video Pro, annual upfront | $58 a month | $699 |
| Topaz Video Pro, monthly on a 12-month commitment | $74 a month | $888 |
| Topaz Studio, which includes Topaz Video, annual upfront | $33 a month | $399 |
| DaVinci Resolve Studio (Blackmagic Design), price to buy | Not a subscription | $295 |
| Video2X (open source) | Free | $0 |
What you get
- ✓An annual plan that costs under half of twelve months billed month to month.
- ✓A trial that runs every AI model, so you can judge output on your own footage before paying.
- ✓More than a dozen video models on one page, including five Starlight variants, so you can match a model to the footage.
- ✓Full commercial use on Pro with no revenue threshold, which matters for client work at any size.
- ✓Studio covers Topaz Video and the other desktop apps in one plan.
The trade-offs
- ✕The trial watermarks every export, and Topaz does not publish how long the trial lasts.
- ✕Personal cloud credits are 25 a month, expire at month end and do not roll over.
- ✕Personal commercial rights stop at a revenue line, so a growing business has to move to Pro.
- ✕The pricing page gives no renewal terms, so the annual price may not be a single payment.
- ✕For occasional use, a paid plan is hard to justify when Video2X costs nothing, even though we have not tested how the two compare on output.
Worth it if…
- →You upscale footage every week and want unlimited local rendering on the desktop.
- →You bill clients and need full commercial rights, which Pro includes.
- →You want to try many AI models in one app and compare them on your own clips during the trial.
- →You want Topaz Video and the other desktop apps, where Studio is the simpler buy.
Skip it if…
- →You upscale a clip or two a year: Video2X can do it for $0 if you accept the setup and hardware needs.
- →You already edit in DaVinci Resolve, where the Studio version adds the Neural Engine features.
- →You send a lot of footage to the cloud: past the included credits, each extra HD minute costs about $4.
What each Topaz plan costs, and where the price jumps
Personal is the plan most people mean when they search for Topaz Video AI. Paid upfront for a year it costs $299, about $25 a month. Paid monthly on a 12-month commitment it is $39 a month, and with no commitment it is $59. That last option is the trap: twelve months month to month comes to $708, more than double the annual price. If you know you will upscale for a full year, pay upfront.
Pro is the step up at $699 a year, about $58 a month. The extra $400 buys additional pro models, seat management, 100 cloud credits a month, and full commercial use. Pro is a team and client-work purchase, so it only makes sense once one of those needs is real.
Studio is the number to check if you might use more than one Topaz app. It costs $399 a year, includes Topaz Video, and the pricing page describes it as covering the desktop apps. Month to month, Studio is $69, only $10 more than Video on its own.
Cloud credits and commercial use: the two limits that change the bill
Personal includes unlimited local rendering plus 25 cloud video credits a month. Monthly credits expire at month end and do not roll over, so an idle month wastes them. Pro includes 100 a month, and Studio includes 300.
Commercial rights depend on revenue. Personal allows limited commercial use for individuals and organizations with under $1 million in annual revenue. Above that line you need Pro, which allows full commercial use with no revenue threshold. A business that bills clients should budget for Pro from the start.
Cloud is a separate meter. Topaz's Astra Standard plan costs $19 a month, a promotional price shown struck through from $39, for 400 credits. The page says those credits cover about 10 minutes of HD video, and extra credits cost $0.10 each. That is 40 credits a minute, so one HD minute beyond the included credits costs about $4. This is our arithmetic on Topaz's figures, not a Topaz benchmark: 60 minutes of HD footage needs 2,400 credits, or about $219 in the first month.
The free trial is the only fair test, and it watermarks
Topaz's product page says the trial lets you process and preview video with every AI model. Exports carry a watermark, which a full subscription removes, and the page does not say how long the trial runs. The model list is long: more than a dozen video models, from five Starlight variants to Proteus, Iris and Artemis.
Run the trial on a clip you know well, then compare the preview with the original frame by frame. Output quality decides this purchase, and no vendor page can answer that for you. If the preview is not clearly better than a free route, the paid plan has no case.
The free alternatives, and what they really cost you
Video2X is free and open source under the AGPL-3.0 license, and it bundles Real-ESRGAN, Real-CUGAN, RIFE and Anime4K. The precompiled Windows and Linux builds need a CPU with AVX2 and a Vulkan-capable GPU from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel, and container images cover macOS. The price is zero. The cost is setup time and hardware.
The free version of DaVinci Resolve works with media up to Ultra HD (3840 x 2160). Blackmagic's page lists Super Scale among the AI Neural Engine features, which come with Studio at $295 before sales tax and shipping. If you already cut in Resolve, that one purchase may replace a year of Topaz Personal.
Upscayl is free and open source, but its README covers image upscaling only. Use it for photos and stills, not footage.
Read the renewal terms before you pay for a year
Topaz's pricing page does not say whether the annual plan renews automatically, what happens to access when a term ends, or what the refund rules are. Those answers decide whether the annual price is a one-year cost or the first of several payments. Read the terms before you buy, and get the answer in writing if you are choosing the annual plan.
The verdict
For someone who upscales footage every week, Topaz Video on the Personal plan is worth buying, provided its output beats what you already have. For a clip or two, it is not. Video2X costs nothing, so you can test your own footage on it before you pay.
Before you buy, run the trial on footage you work with. If you bill clients, budget for Pro from day one, since Personal allows only limited commercial use. If you do not upscale every week, the free routes are the honest answer.
Better alternatives?
If it is not the right fit, these are worth a look.
Video2X
Free and open source under AGPL-3.0, with Real-ESRGAN, Real-CUGAN and RIFE. It needs a capable GPU and some setup.
DaVinci Resolve Studio
Listed at $295 before sales tax, with the Neural Engine and Super Scale. The easier start if you already edit there.
Upscayl
Free and open source, but for still images. Use it for photos, not footage.
Frequently asked questions
Is Topaz Video AI worth it in 2026?▾
For regular upscaling, yes, on the Personal plan, if the output beats what you already have. For a clip or two a year, no: Video2X is free, though it takes some setup. Test the trial on your own footage, because output quality is the deciding question and we have not tested it.
How much does Topaz Video cost?▾
Personal costs $299 a year paid upfront, $39 a month on a 12-month commitment, or $59 a month with no commitment. Pro costs $699 a year. Topaz Studio, which includes Topaz Video, costs $399 a year. These are USD prices on Topaz’s pricing page, checked October 10, 2026.
Is there a free version of Topaz Video?▾
Topaz’s pricing page lists no free plan. The free trial runs every AI model, but exported files carry a watermark that a full subscription removes. Topaz does not publish how long the trial lasts.
Can I use Topaz Video for client work?▾
Personal allows limited commercial use for individuals and organizations with under $1 million in annual revenue. Pro allows full commercial use with no revenue threshold.
What is the best free alternative to Topaz Video?▾
Video2X is the free, open-source option. It is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and bundles Real-ESRGAN, Real-CUGAN and RIFE, but it needs a GPU with Vulkan support and some setup. If you already edit in DaVinci Resolve, its paid Studio version is the easier route, since it adds the AI Neural Engine and Super Scale.
Does the annual Topaz plan renew automatically?▾
The pricing page does not say whether the annual plan renews, what happens to access when a term ends, or what the refund rules are. Read the terms before you buy, and do not assume the yearly price is a single payment.