What each tool does
Fotor is an online photo editor for everyday work. It handles the basics like cropping, text and effects, and adds AI tools that sharpen images, remove blur, upscale up to 4x, colourise black and white shots and restore old photos. It also includes AI image and video generation, design templates and marketing tools.
Pixlr is also a browser-based photo editor with AI features. It offers more than 20 editing tools, AI image generation from text, short AI videos, background removal, face swap and a collage maker. It uses several well-known AI models for generation and needs no installation.
Key differences
- Strengths: Fotor leans toward photo enhancement and restoration; Pixlr leans toward flexible editing, background removal and collages.
- Design extras: Fotor includes design templates and marketing tools; Pixlr includes a collage maker and face swap.
- Audience: Fotor suits social media users, sellers and casual photographers; Pixlr suits students, hobbyists and social media users.
- Pricing: Both are freemium, so you can start free. Check each pricing page for current plans.
- Platform: Both run in the browser, so they work on most laptops and PCs without installing anything.
Which should you choose?
Choose Fotor if you want to fix blurry or low-resolution photos, bring old family pictures back to life, or make posts from ready-made templates for a small business.
Choose Pixlr if you want a general-purpose editor for assignments, social media posts and collages, with quick background removal and AI image generation, all for free at the start.
Can you use both?
Yes, and since both have free options this costs nothing to try. You might restore or upscale a photo in Fotor, then bring it into Pixlr to remove the background or add it to a collage.
