Photo restoration services are retouchers who repair a scanned photo by hand and send back a clean digital file, usually for a set price per photo. AI tools do a similar job in minutes for much less, but they fill missing detail with a guess, where a person can ask you or work from another photo. Below are what four online services charge and how long they take, the software and apps in between, and how to decide which route a particular photo deserves.
What photo restoration services do
A photo restoration service is a retoucher, or a team of them, who repairs a digital copy of a damaged photo in image editing software and returns the improved file. Most old photo restoration services work the same way. You upload a scan, or mail the print to be scanned, describe what bothers you, and receive a restored image, often with a round of revisions. FixThePhoto's steps, for example, are to upload the photos, write your recommendations, submit for revision if needed, and get the photos back.
What gets fixed depends on the tier you pay for. FixThePhoto's Standard level covers light scratches, sepia problems, dull colors and small damaged areas. Its Premium level adds medium scrapes and missing parts, and Extreme adds deep damage, ruined edges, merging photos and colorizing. ScanMyPhotos sells one base restoration and lists extras separately, from cropping to teeth whitening.
A restoration service fixes the image, not the object. If the print itself has mold, is flaking, or is stuck to an album page, that is a job for a photograph conservator, and the Library of Congress points people to the American Institute for Conservation's directory to find one.
Photo restoration services vs AI at a glance
| Question | Professional service | AI tool | Software you run yourself |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per photo | $30 to $60 at most tiers, up to $148, at the services priced here | Under a dollar to a few dollars in credits, or a subscription | Free (GIMP, Snapseed) to US$22.99 a month (Photoshop) |
| Turnaround | About 1 to 3 days at MemoryCherish, 20 days at ScanMyPhotos' standard price | Seconds per edit: a few for MyHeritage In Color, about 30 for Toybox image tools | As long as your skill and patience allow |
| Missing faces or features | Rebuilt by a person, who can work from other photos | Invented by the AI | Rebuilt by you |
| Changes after delivery | Revisions, depending on the service | Run it again with a new instruction | Undo and redo |
| Your original print | Stays home if you upload a scan | Stays home | Stays home |
| Best for | Heirlooms, heavy damage, faces | Fading, specks, blur, colorizing for fun | Many photos, if you'll learn the tools |
What professional photo restoration services cost
As of September 2026, these four online photo restoration services publish their prices, and each sets them a different way: by damage, by artist, by quantity, or at a flat rate.
| Service and tier | Price per photo | How the price is set |
|---|---|---|
| FixThePhoto Standard | $30 | Light scratches, dull colors, color correction, small damaged areas, up to 3 people |
| FixThePhoto Premium | $45 | Standard plus medium scrapes and missing parts |
| FixThePhoto Extreme | $60 | Premium plus deep damage, ruined edges, merging and colorizing |
| MemoryCherish Experienced, Head or Senior Artist | $38, $58 or $148 | You pick the artist level, and the damage doesn't change the price |
| MSW Print | $45 for one, $37.50 each for two, $30 each for three or more | Quantity; digital files only |
| ScanMyPhotos restoration | $45.50 | One flat price, with 20-day completion |
| ScanMyPhotos rush | $54.50 or $75.50 | The same work in 10 days or 3 days |
The extras add up quickly. FixThePhoto charges $12 for each person beyond three. At ScanMyPhotos, colorizing adds $19.95, eye retouching adds $34.50 per person, removing up to three small objects adds $9.95, and removing up to three large elements adds $82.50. ScanMyPhotos also says no discounts or promo codes apply to restoration work. MemoryCherish shows the cost of add-ons such as colorizing before you order.
For a batch, multiply before you order. Restoring 20 photos at ScanMyPhotos' standard price is $910, at MemoryCherish's Experienced Artist level it's $760, and at FixThePhoto's Standard level or MSW Print's three-plus price it's $600. At those prices, it makes sense to try AI or software on the easy photos first and send only the hardest ones to a person.
Photo restoration software and apps
Photo restoration software and apps sit between paying a person and a one-tap AI tool, and most of them cost little or nothing.
- GIMP is free for Windows, macOS and Linux, and its source code is open. Hand retouching and hand colorizing are possible, but you learn the tools yourself.
- Snapseed is Google's free photo editing app, with a Healing brush for specks and White Balance for faded color.
- Google Photos has one-tap Enhance and a free Unblur tool on Android 8.0 and iOS 18 phones that have at least 3 GB of RAM.
- Adobe Photoshop is US$22.99 a month alone or US$19.99 a month in the Photography plan with Lightroom, both on annual plans billed monthly, with a 7-day free trial.
- MyHeritage's Reimagine app colorizes, enhances, animates and repairs family photos, and scans album pages. A few photos are free, then it costs $7.99 a month or $49.99 a year.
The step-by-step methods for the free tools are in the guide to restoring faded and torn photos, and MyHeritage is compared with other apps in the MyHeritage Photo Enhancer alternatives.
When a professional is worth paying for
- A face is torn, missing or stained. AI tools fill the gap with features that never existed. A restorer can rebuild an eye from another photo of the same person, and ask you before guessing.
- It's the only copy of an heirloom. For $30 to $60 at most tiers, a person can check with the family before rebuilding a face, which no AI tool does.
- The damage is extensive. Deep damage, ruined edges and several torn pieces are what FixThePhoto's top tier exists for.
- Several people in the photo need care. Every face in a group portrait has to be checked, which is why FixThePhoto prices each person beyond three.
- You want corrections from a person. A service that takes revisions lets you say "her hair was darker" and get it changed. MemoryCherish, for one, says its revisions are free until the result is right.
When an AI tool is enough
- Fading and color casts. These are the easiest fixes, and free apps often handle them alone.
- Dust, specks and light scratches. A healing brush or an AI tool clears them without inventing much.
- A slightly soft photo. AI sharpening can help, as long as you compare the faces with the original afterward.
- Colorizing for a slideshow or a group chat. Colors are a guess either way, as the colorizing how-to shows. MyHeritage says its colorizer can get clothing colors wrong, and a person colorizing by hand has the same problem without family records.
- Dozens of photos. At Toybox AI's current prices, colorizing 50 photos in Image Colorizer is 3,750 credits, which a 5,000-credit top-up at $46.99 covers. At ScanMyPhotos, where colorizing is a $19.95 add-on to the $45.50 restoration, the same 50 photos would be $3,272.50.
How to choose the best photo restoration services
The best service for your photo is the one whose pricing matches the damage and whose terms you've checked. Before you pay, confirm these:
- Samples of similar damage. Look for before and after examples of tears or stains like yours, not only faded color.
- How the price is set. A damage-based tier (FixThePhoto) rewards an honest description of the damage. An artist-based price (MemoryCherish) stays the same however bad the tear is. A quantity price (MSW Print) favors ordering several photos at once.
- How many people are included. Group photos can cost more per extra face.
- Turnaround and rush fees. Standard and rush times can differ by weeks.
- Upload or mail-in. Uploading your own scan keeps the original at home. Scan wallet-size and 4 x 6 prints at 600 ppi, the top level in the Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative's guidelines for photographic prints.
- Revisions and refunds. Ask how many rounds are included and how to request them. MemoryCherish, for example, advertises a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- The file you get back. Ask for the file format and pixel size, and keep your untouched scan alongside it.
One damaged portrait, four ways
Take a hypothetical 5 x 7 inch black and white wedding portrait from the late 1940s, with a tear across the background, a crease through the groom's sleeve, both faces intact, and a family that wants it in color.
- ScanMyPhotos: $45.50 for restoration plus $19.95 for colorizing is $65.45, done in 20 days. The 3-day ultra rush makes it $95.45.
- FixThePhoto: the tear and the colorizing point to the Extreme level at $60 for the two people.
- MemoryCherish: $38 at the Experienced Artist level whatever the damage, plus the colorizing charge it shows before you order, usually delivered in 1 to 3 days.
- Toybox: on a Pro plan, two Smart Editor edits for the tear and the crease are 170 credits in HD, and Image Colorizer adds 75, for 245 credits. That's about $2.45 at top-up prices, but Smart Editor needs Pro, which currently starts at $9.99 a month for 1,000 credits (see pricing). The photo restoration prompts include instructions for a tear and a crease.
Whichever route you pick, compare the faces with the original scan at full size before anyone prints it. If a face had been torn, a human restorer would be the safer choice.
Try the AI route first in Image Colorizer
For a faded or black and white photo without serious damage, try Image Colorizer in Toybox before you pay for a service. Add the scan under "Your photo", write the colors you know in "Notes" under "More options", and tap "Colorize photo". It currently costs 75 credits on the Free plan and adds color only, so for tears and stains use Smart Editor (Pro plan) first, as the steps in how to restore old photos with AI show. If the result still isn't right after a try or two, that photo is the one to send to a person.