Paid
Palette.fm
AI colorizer for black-and-white photos, with filter presets and text descriptions to steer the colors.
BeginnerWeb
ImageColorizer
Colorizes black and white photos, and repairs damage and sharpens faded detail in the same run.
FreemiumBeginnerWebMaciOSAndroid
Overview
ImageColorizer is built around adding colour to a black and white photo. The AI works out what it is looking at and paints in colour to fit. Its restore workspace does colour, damage repair and clarity in one run. You guide it with a text prompt, a negative prompt for what to avoid, and a colour palette control.
It works in a browser and in the Colorize app for iPhone, iPad, Android and Mac. Everything runs on credits. A free account gets 50 credits a month and shows ads. The V0 and V1 models are marked free to run, and V2 spends credits. Paid plans are a subscription, and the app also sells a one-time lifetime plan.
Key features
✓Colorizes black and white photos automatically
✓Colour, damage repair & clarity in one run
✓Prompt, negative prompt & colour palette controls
✓Retouches faces in old portraits
✓Removes unwanted objects
✓V0 & V1 models marked free, V2 spends credits
✓Batch processing on paid plans
✓Reads JPG, PNG & WEBP, or paste from clipboard
✓Apps for iPhone, iPad, Android & Mac
✓Credits roll over while you stay subscribed
When to use
Use ImageColorizer if:
- You have black and white photos and want colour versions.
- Your photo needs more than colour. Colour, damage repair and clarity happen in one run, and older tools for face retouching and object removal sit on the same credits.
- You want to try before paying. A free account comes with 50 credits a month, and the V0 and V1 models are marked free to run.
- You want to work on your phone or tablet. The Colorize app covers iPhone, iPad, Android and Mac.
- You have a batch of photos and are willing to pay. Batch processing is a paid feature.
When NOT to use
Skip ImageColorizer if any of these describe you:
- You know what the real colours were. The AI infers colour from the greyscale picture, so it cannot know a uniform was blue. No photo colorizer can.
- You want to paint the colours in by hand. Control here is a prompt and a colour palette, not a brush. Painting colour in yourself is Adobe Photoshop work.
- You colorize once and never again. Web plans are monthly or yearly subscriptions, and the only one-off purchase is a lifetime plan in the Colorize app. Palette.fm suits an occasional job.
- You need the photo to stay on your own machine. Processing happens in ImageColorizer's cloud.
Frequently asked questions
You can create a free account and get 50 credits a month to spend on the tools. The free tier shows ads and does not include batch processing. The V0 and V1 models are marked free to run, V2 spends credits, and only the top plan gets unlimited use of V2. There is no free use without an account.
Credits are spent as you process and download images, and re-downloading the same image costs a credit again rather than being free. Credits renew monthly with your plan and roll over to the next month rather than expiring at month end. They are cleared once your subscription ends, so unused credits do not survive cancelling.
No. The AI has only a black and white image to work from, so it produces colours that fit what it recognises in the scene: skin, sky, grass, wood. It has no way of knowing the colour of a specific dress or car. The result is a plausible version of the photo, not a record of what was there.
The official app is called Colorize, not ImageColorizer, and it covers iPhone, iPad, Android and Mac. The stores hold several other apps with near-identical names, such as one called Colorize Images, which are different products from other developers. The download link on imagecolorizer.com's own app page points to the official app, unlike a store search. The app needs a connection for colorizing, since the AI runs on ImageColorizer's servers, though it lists upscaling up to 4x as running on the device itself.
Batch processing exists but is a paid feature, and each image in the batch spends a credit. On the free tier you work one photo at a time. A photo takes a few minutes rather than seconds, and the wait grows with the file size and the queue.
The photos go to ImageColorizer's servers, since that is where the AI runs. Its terms state you keep ownership of the files you upload, and the app listing states that uploaded images are deleted automatically after a set period, currently 24 hours. Check the current privacy policy if this matters for your photos.
Alternatives to ImageColorizer
Freemium
MyHeritage In Color
MyHeritage In Color colorizes and restores old black-and-white and faded family photos in a tap, on the web and on iPhone and Android.
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Freemium
Cutout.Pro Photo Colorizer
Adds colour to black and white photos automatically, with free low-resolution previews and credits for the full-size file.
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Freemium
VanceAI Photo Colorizer
Adds color to black and white photos automatically, with nothing to paint or mask by hand.
BeginnerWebWindows