waifu2x by nagadomi
Image Super-Resolution for Anime-Style Art
About waifu2x
From the project's README at github.com/nagadomi/waifu2x. Lightly cleaned for readability; for the full source see the upstream repo.
Image Super-Resolution for Anime-style art using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks. And it supports photo.
The demo application can be found at https://waifu2x.udp.jp/ (Cloud version), https://unlimited.waifu2x.net/ (In-Browser version). 2023/02 PyTorch version
waifu2x development has already been moved to the repository above. Summary
waifu2x is inspired by SRCNN [1]. 2D character picture (HatsuneMiku) is licensed under CC BY-NC by piapro [2]. [1] Chao Dong, Chen Change Loy, Kaiming He, Xiaoou Tang, "Image Super-Resolution Using Deep Convolutional Networks", http://arxiv.org/abs/1501.00092 [2] "For Creators", https://piapro.net/intl/enforcreators.html Public AMI
Health score breakdown
6-dimension composite. See methodology for formula and weights.
Adoption signals
Real-world usage data, pulled from each registry. The bigger the numbers, the more battle-tested the project.
| Signal | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 28k | github.com/nagadomi/waifu2x |
| GitHub forks | 2.7k | github.com/nagadomi/waifu2x |
| Docker Hub pulls | 24k | hub.docker.com / nagadomi |
Release & maintenance
Is this project actively maintained, or about to die? Check the recency of last commit and last release.
| Project age | 11.0 years | since May 2015 |
| Last commit | 3.0 years ago | May 4, 2023 |
| Releases shipped | 3 | last: 7.5 years ago |
| Funding links | 1 | declared by maintainers |
Self-hosting cost across providers
Detected requirements: 4GB RAM, 40GB disk minimum. Cheapest plan per provider that meets the requirement.
| Provider | Plan | Specs | Monthly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| hetzner | CAX11 | 2c · 4GB · 40GB | $4.13 USD | Deploy → |
| vultr | VC2 | 1c · 1GB · 25GB | $5 USD | Deploy → |
| linode | Nanode 1GB | 1c · 1GB · 25GB | $5.12 USD | Deploy → |
| digitalocean | Basic Regular 1GB | 1c · 1GB · 25GB | $6 USD | Deploy → |
What people say on Hacker News
Ready to self-host waifu2x?
Spin up a hetzner CAX11 (4GB RAM, 40GB disk) for $4.13/mo and follow the project's official install docs.
Data last refreshed May 7, 2026.