Face26 vs Hotpot AI Photo Restorer

Face26 is an AI image-enhancement service from TechArt 26 LLC, founded in 2021 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It improves and repairs image quality with tools for unblurring, denoising, face retouching, colorizing black-and-white images, and restoring old photos. Small, low-definition pictures can be upscaled 2× or 4× to HD. In the browser app, a user uploads a photo, applies enhancement with one click, and downloads the result to a computer or smartphone. Face26 runs on web, Android, and iOS, and lists developer APIs for background removal, object removal, enhancement, background generation, compression, colorization, ID photos, and cropping. A free plan is available; weekly, monthly, yearly, image-purchase, and lifetime plans are listed without prices. Uploads are retained only as needed unless consent is given for AI improvement, after which files are kept temporarily. SSL/TLS protects transfers, and account settings provide personal-data controls subject to deletion latency and legal retention.

Hotpot AI Photo Restorer uses AI to reduce wear in old black-and-white and color photographs. It is designed to reduce scratches, sharpen faded details, and enhance faces. Style references include natural, cinematic, vintage, Polaroid, classic color, and several black-and-white finishes. The workflow is to upload a scan or photograph, choose or describe a finish, review the result, and download a copy. Color enhancement, batch processing, API access, web use, and self-hosted deployment are listed. The free plan costs nothing and allows two images daily. Commercial use is billed at $0.02 - $0.25 per image; API access requires payment with pricing by contact. AI may invent details, especially in damaged or unclear images, and results may be weak for groups of more than two people.