Ungray vs Palette.fm
Palette is the best-known specialist colorizer, and a good one. Like Ungray, it adds color without redrawing your photo. The differences are in what you get for free, how you pay, how much control you have over colors, and whether you need video.
Choose Palette if…
you want one photo right now ($1.99), prompt-based color filters, or unrestricted commercial use on every plan.
Choose Ungray if…
you want bigger free previews without ads, credits that never expire, to recolor exact areas yourself, or to colorize video and enlarge small prints in the same place.
Both
keep your photo's detail and only add color, don't train on your uploads, and delete them after processing.
At a glance
| Ungray | Palette.fm | |
|---|---|---|
| How color is added | Keeps the lightness of every pixel of your original and adds color only | Says it "never redraws": the photo "comes back as it went in, plus the color" |
| Free previews | 10 a day, 1024 px, small watermark, no account, no ads | Unlimited, resized to max 500×500 px, Palette watermark; free tier shows ads |
| Free full-resolution | 3 downloads when you sign up | 1 trial credit when you sign up |
| One photo | Smallest pack: 20 photos for $5 | $1.99 for a single photo |
| Photo packs | 20 for $5 · 100 for $15 · 500 for $45 · never expire | 10 for $9 · 75 for $49 · 200 for $89 · 500 for $189 · valid 2 years |
| Subscription | Pro $9/mo or $90/yr: unlimited photos (fair use) plus 20 video minutes a month | 480 photos for $72/yr; larger annual plans available |
| Maximum output | Your original resolution, whatever you scanned; optional 2× or 4× upscale up to 120 MP | Up to 25 MP on desktop (9 MP on mobile) |
| Color control | 4 styles, plus Recolor: tap or brush any area and choose its exact color | 21+ color filters and a scene-description prompt; its help center advises against naming specific colors |
| Video | In the web app: $1/min at 1080p, $2/min at 4K, first 15 s free, audio kept | Not on palette.fm; through partners or a beta API at about $1.58–$4.74/min |
| Upscaling | 2× or 4×, alone or together with colorizing | Not mentioned in Palette's site or help center |
| Commercial use | Included with Pro and Studio; personal use on packs | Unrestricted, on every plan |
| Your files | Deleted after 24 hours (videos 7 days); never used for training | Deleted "shortly after" delivery; not used for anything but the service |
| Ads and tracking | No ads, no advertising or remarketing trackers | Free tier shows ads; privacy policy lists Google Ads, Facebook and Twitter remarketing tools |
| Refunds | One-click credit back on any result you're unhappy with; unused packs within 14 days | Within 14 days, first purchase only, fewer than 50 images processed |
Where Palette is stronger
- Experience and scale. Palette reports over 6.6 million users and 54 million colorized photos, and works with broadcasters such as the BBC, History Channel and SPIEGEL TV.
- A single photo for $1.99. If you only ever need one, that's cheaper than our smallest pack.
- Commercial use for everyone. Palette allows commercial use of results on any plan; Ungray includes it with Pro and Studio.
- Creative filters. Palette's 21+ filters and scene prompts give you many looks to choose from.
Where Ungray is different
- You choose the exact color. Palette steers the overall look with filters and prompts. Ungray's Recolor lets you tap grandma's dress and make it the blue you remember, without changing a fold or shadow.
- Free previews you can judge. 1024 px instead of 500 px, without ads or an account, so you can see faces and detail before paying.
- Credits that never expire, and a one-click credit back if a result isn't right.
- Photos, video and upscaling in one place. Colorize a home movie in the same app, at a price you see before you pay, and enlarge small prints 2× or 4×.
- Your full resolution. No cap on the size you scanned: a 600-dpi scan of a large print comes back pixel for pixel.
- Open about training data. Ungray's colorizer learned color from about 1.4 million openly licensed photographs. How we built it.
Which should you choose?
For a single photo today, or if you need commercial rights without a subscription, Palette is a solid choice. For a box of family photos, home movies, or photos where you know what color something really was, try Ungray: previews are free and need no account.
Sources
All checked October 21, 2026: palette.fm (pricing, previews, filters, FAQ) · partners.palette.fm ("never redraws", customers, video status) · help: resolution limits · help: color control · help: video · API video plans · help: commercial use · privacy policy · terms. Palette.fm is a trademark of its owner; this page is our independent comparison.