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Photography · head to head

Facetune vs Topaz Photo AI

Facetune logo

Facetune

Photography

Selfie and portrait retouching app from Lightricks, sold on a subscription with a short free trial

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Topaz Photo AI logo

Topaz Photo AI

Photography

Model based noise reduction, sharpening and upscaling sold as a perpetual licence

From
$199/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Facetune has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Facetune the free trial is short, commonly around 3 days, and automatically converts into a paid annual subscription unless the user proactively cancels beforehand, a pattern that has generated a consistent volume of complaints about unexpected charges.; Topaz Photo AI upscaling and detail recovery generate texture that was never captured, so output cannot be used for photojournalism, legal evidence, insurance assessment or scientific imaging without disclosure.
  • They diverge on capability: Facetune covers Skin and blemish retouching, Topaz Photo AI covers Automatic subject detection.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Facetune and Topaz Photo AI actually diverge.

Attributes where Facetune and Topaz Photo AI differ
AttributeFacetuneTopaz Photo AI
Starting priceFree$199/one-time
Pricing modelFree download with a short free trial, most tools require a Facetune Pro subscription that auto-renews annuallyOne-time purchase
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsiOS, AndroidWindows, macOS

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Photography).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Facetune

  • Skin and blemish retouching
  • Facial reshaping
  • Body contouring
  • Teeth whitening and eye enhancement
  • Background blur and replacement
  • One-tap auto-enhance

Only in Topaz Photo AI

  • Automatic subject detection
  • Raw denoise
  • Upscaling
  • Lens blur and motion correction
  • Host plugins
  • Batch processing

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Facetune

  • Someone wanting quick, targeted retouching of a single selfie or portrait before posting to social medianot Topaz Photo AI
  • A user comfortable cancelling a free trial through their phone app store settings before it converts to a paid annual chargenot Topaz Photo AI
  • Someone who has decided to pay for the annual subscription and wants a broad set of face and body retouching tools in one appnot Topaz Photo AI
  • A user who has used Photoleap or Videoleap from the same publisher and wants a consistent editing tool stylenot Topaz Photo AI

Topaz Photo AI

  • Recovering usable frames from a dark reception where the alternative is telling the client those photographs do not existnot Facetune
  • Enlarging a twelve megapixel archive file to a size that survives a large printnot Facetune
  • Wildlife and sports frames shot at high ISO with a long lens where noise, not composition, is the limiting factornot Facetune
  • Estate agency and interior work where handheld frames need enough sharpening to pass a portal quality checknot Facetune

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Facetune

  • The free trial is short, commonly around 3 days, and automatically converts into a paid annual subscription unless the user proactively cancels beforehand, a pattern that has generated a consistent volume of complaints about unexpected charges.
  • Cancellation must be done through the phone Apple App Store or Google Play subscription management screens rather than a clear button inside the app itself, adding friction specifically at the point users most want to stop paying.
  • Nearly all meaningful retouching functionality is locked behind the paid tier, so the free download is not a genuinely usable product on its own, only a gateway to the trial.
  • Heavy reliance on face and body reshaping tools has drawn broader criticism, common to this whole app category, over promoting unrealistic beauty standards, particularly among younger users.
  • Published subscription pricing has varied by region and promotional period, so the price a new user is quoted is not necessarily stable or consistent across markets.

Topaz Photo AI

  • Upscaling and detail recovery generate texture that was never captured, so output cannot be used for photojournalism, legal evidence, insurance assessment or scientific imaging without disclosure.
  • Performance is bound to graphics card memory, and on a laptop with integrated graphics a single large raw file can take minutes, which makes batch work impractical.
  • The licence includes only twelve months of updates, and because the models are the product a lapsed licence falls behind current results at the same price point.
  • It does nothing except fix pixels, with no cataloguing, culling, colour management or output sharpening, so it is an extra round trip in a workflow rather than a replacement for anything.
  • The automatic settings are confident rather than correct, and on skin, feathers and small text the default strength routinely produces plastic or invented detail that has to be dialled back by hand on every file.

Pricing, plan by plan

Facetune

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Very limited basic editing tools
    • Most retouching features locked
    • Trial access to Pro tools for a short period, commonly around 3 days
  • Facetune Pro$47.99/year
    • Full access to retouching, reshaping and enhancement tools
    • Auto-renews annually unless cancelled before trial or renewal date
    • Cancellation handled through Apple App Store or Google Play subscription settings, not inside the app

Topaz Photo AI

$199/one-time
  • Topaz Photo AI$199/one-time
    • Perpetual licence for the version supplied
    • Twelve months of model and application updates
    • Activation on two machines
  • Update renewal$99/year
    • A further twelve months of model updates
    • The application keeps working without it, frozen at the last version received

Which should you pick?

Choose Facetune if

  • You need skin and blemish retouching.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android.
  • You also want facial reshaping.
Facetune review

Choose Topaz Photo AI if

  • You need automatic subject detection.
  • You work on Windows, macOS.
  • You also want raw denoise.
Topaz Photo AI review

Questions people ask

Is Facetune or Topaz Photo AI better?
Neither clearly leads. Facetune starts at Free and Topaz Photo AI at $199/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Facetune or Topaz Photo AI?
Facetune has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Facetune and $199/one-time for Topaz Photo AI.
Does Facetune or Topaz Photo AI run on more platforms?
Facetune runs on iOS, Android. Topaz Photo AI runs on Windows, macOS.
Can I use Facetune for free?
Yes. Facetune has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Topaz Photo AI starts at $199/one-time.
What is Facetune best used for?
Facetune is most often used for someone wanting quick, targeted retouching of a single selfie or portrait before posting to social media, a user comfortable cancelling a free trial through their phone app store settings before it converts to a paid annual charge, someone who has decided to pay for the annual subscription and wants a broad set of face and body retouching tools in one app, a user who has used photoleap or videoleap from the same publisher and wants a consistent editing tool style. Of those, someone wanting quick, targeted retouching of a single selfie or portrait before posting to social media and a user comfortable cancelling a free trial through their phone app store settings before it converts to a paid annual charge are not what Topaz Photo AI is typically brought in for.
What can Facetune do that Topaz Photo AI cannot?
Facetune covers Skin and blemish retouching, Facial reshaping, Body contouring, Teeth whitening and eye enhancement. Topaz Photo AI covers Automatic subject detection, Raw denoise, Upscaling, Lens blur and motion correction.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Facetune: Does Facetune have a free trial?

Yes, typically around 3 days, after which it automatically converts to a paid annual subscription unless cancelled beforehand.

Topaz Photo AI: Does the software stop working when the update period ends?

No. The version you own keeps running indefinitely. You simply stop receiving new models and new camera support.

Facetune: How do I cancel a Facetune subscription?

Cancellation is done through the Apple App Store or Google Play subscription settings on your phone, not through a button inside the Facetune app itself.

Topaz Photo AI: Is it better than the denoise built into Lightroom?

On heavily noisy raw files the results are close, and Lightroom Denoise costs nothing extra if you already subscribe. Topaz wins mainly on upscaling and on non raw files.

Facetune: Can I use Facetune without paying?

The free download offers very limited functionality; nearly all retouching tools require the paid Facetune Pro subscription after the trial ends.

Topaz Photo AI: Can it run on Linux?

No. Windows and macOS only, and the macOS build needs a reasonably recent Apple silicon or Intel machine with a discrete GPU to be usable at speed.

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