Photo editing

GFPGAN

Proven face restoration for old and compressed photos, with a commercial-friendly license. Often paired with Real-ESRGAN; the most used versions are 1.3 and 1.4.

The last open version came out in Feb 2022. The family has not been updated for a long time: the model still works, but do not expect fixes or new sizes.

Developer
Tencent ARC Lab, China
First release
Jun 2021
Latest release
Feb 2022
Sizes
small, up to 0.1B
License
Commercial use allowedApache 2.0
Running
On your own serverAlso runs without a GPU
Industries
Media and production
Deploy on your server GitHub

What it does

  • Restoring faces in old photos
  • Enhancing avatars and profile photos
  • Restoration in a photo shop or online service

Where it is used

Photo studios and photo shopsMedia and archivesOnline photo editing services

Hardware requirements

LaptopLaptop or regular PC, up to 8 GB of VRAM — smaller versions
fits
1 GPUOne GPU with 16–80 GB — mid-size versions
no versions
ClusterServer with several GPUs — flagship versions
no versions

Versions

  1. GFPGAN v1.3
  2. GFPGAN v1.2
  3. GFPGAN v1

How to run it

On your own serverWeights are downloaded from Hugging Face and served with vLLM (load and API) or llama.cpp (modest hardware). The model then runs in a closed network with no per-request fees.
How much hardware you needCalculate the VRAM for the model size, context length and number of concurrent requests.Open the hardware calculator

I can set this up end to end: pick the model size, deploy it on your server and connect it to your systems.

Frequently asked questions

Can GFPGAN be used in a commercial project?

Yes. License: Apache 2.0. It allows commercial use, but it is still worth having a lawyer review the license before launch.

What hardware does GFPGAN need?

At minimum: Laptop or regular PC, up to 8 GB of VRAM — smaller versions. Some versions also run on an ordinary CPU, without a GPU. You can calculate the exact VRAM for your model size and context in the hardware calculator.

Does GFPGAN support Russian?

Language does not matter for this model: it does not work with text.

Where can I download GFPGAN and what does it cost?

The GFPGAN weights are open and free to download. You only pay for the hardware it runs on and for the setup. Source links are at the bottom of this page.

How I deploy it for clients

  1. SelectionI pick the model size for your task and hardware and test it on your examples.
  2. DeploymentI deploy it on your server or in a closed network and provide an API.
  3. Fine-tuningI fine-tune it on your data (LoRA) or connect a knowledge base — whichever is cheaper for the task.
  4. IntegrationI connect it to your CRM, ERP, bot, website or team chat and set up monitoring.

Similar models

Photo editingCodeFormerS-Lab, Nanyang Technological University · SingaporeNon-commercial only

Popular face restoration for old and blurry photos; also works on video. Has face inpainting and colorization modes. Non-commercial license.

DetailsPhoto editingReal-ESRGANTencent ARC Lab · ChinaCommercial use allowed

The classic for upscaling photos 2–4x while cleaning noise and compression artifacts. Lightweight, runs even on a CPU. Versions for drawings and anime.

Details

Source: github.com/TencentARC/GFPGAN/releases. Data checked against the model card on 22 Sep 2026. Have a lawyer review the license before commercial launch.