Video2X for Mac: no Mac build, and what to use instead
There is no Video2X for Mac. Its latest release, 6.4.0 from 24 January 2025, ships only Windows and Linux files, and its README says the prebuilt files need a CPU with AVX2, an x86 feature (read 2 November 2026). The container route is no shortcut on a Mac either. The same open-source engines do run in Mac apps. Crisp is one, and I make it: on my M1 Ultra it took a 6-second clip of a 1936 newsreel to 4× in 17.5 seconds.
What Video2X is
Video2X is a free, open-source project. Its README calls it "a machine learning-based video super resolution and frame interpolation framework". It upscales with Real-ESRGAN, Real-CUGAN and Anime4K v4, and raises the frame rate with RIFE. Version 6 is a rewrite in C and C++, runs its models through ncnn and Vulkan, and needs no extra disk space while it works. It is licensed under the GNU AGPL version 3 (all read 2 November 2026).
It is a good tool. If you have a Windows or Linux PC with a GPU that supports Vulkan, use it. It costs nothing.
Why it won't run on your Mac
Each of these was read from the project's own pages, and from Docker's, on 2 November 2026.
- No Mac download. The 6.4.0 release, still the latest, offers a Windows installer, two Windows zips and
Video2X-x86_64.AppImagefor Linux, plus the source code. The Qt desktop app comes as the Windows download and as Arch Linux packages, so there is no Video2X GUI for Mac either. - Built for x86. The README says the precompiled binaries require CPUs with AVX2 support, and lists GPU minimums for NVIDIA, AMD and Intel graphics only. Every Apple Silicon chip is an Arm design with Apple's own GPU.
- The container is no shortcut. The README offers a container image "for easy deployment on Linux and macOS". The 6.4.0 image is built for amd64 Linux, the container guide asks for a Vulkan GPU passed into the container, and Docker's own documentation says Docker Desktop's GPU support is only available on Windows with the WSL 2 backend.
- Google Colab works, off your Mac. The README links a free Colab notebook that borrows an NVIDIA GPU on Google's servers for up to 12 hours a session. It runs from a Mac's browser, but your video goes to Google's machine to be processed.
The same engines, as a Mac app
Video2X's README lists the projects it is built on, and two of them are what Crisp is built on too: Real-ESRGAN running through ncnn, and rife-ncnn-vulkan for frame interpolation. On a Mac, Crisp also runs the Real-ESRGAN models through Apple's Core ML. Its Anime preset uses realesr-animevideov3, the same model Video2X's container guide uses in its example command (Video2X's README and guide read 2 November 2026).
What Crisp adds is the Mac part: a native Apple Silicon app with presets for everyday footage, low light and animation, a timeline for cutting before you upscale, and nothing uploaded. What it doesn't have is Real-CUGAN or Anime4K, and it is not free: it costs $29 once to remove the mark. It is not open source either.
Crisp on a Video2X kind of job, timed
I took 6 seconds of a 1936 Chevrolet newsreel from the Prelinger Archives, a car standing in a flooded road. The file is 368×480 at 29.97 fps, stored with narrow pixels so it plays at 4:3. I ran Crisp's Enhance on it two ways: a plain 4× upscale, and a 2× upscale with the frame rate doubled by RIFE, which are Video2X's two modes.
| Job | Output | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Enhance, 4× | 2560×1920 at 23.976 fps | 17.5 s |
| Enhance, 2×, frame rate doubled | 1280×960 at 47.952 fps | 41.8 s |
The Mac was my Mac Studio (M1 Ultra, 64 GB, macOS 26.3.1), running Crisp 1.0.1808 exactly as the download installs it, on 2 November 2026, with other work going on beside it. The clock started when the job was sent and stopped when the file was written. Expect a MacBook Air to be slower.
The sizes need a word. Crisp squared the narrow pixels first, so 4× came out at 2560×1920 rather than 1472×1920. It also found the 3:2 pulldown from the film's transfer to video and took it out without being asked, which put the clip back on the film's own 23.976 frames a second. RIFE then doubled that to 47.952.
Video2X vs Topaz, for Mac owners
People weighing Video2X often weigh Topaz Video too. Topaz Video runs on Apple Silicon Macs (Topaz requires macOS 13) and costs $299 a year, with no free plan on its pricing page (read 2 November 2026). Video2X is free but has no Mac build. So on a Mac you are choosing between a paid app, such as Topaz or Crisp, and a free command line such as Real-ESRGAN, which our Real-ESRGAN on Mac page walks through.
Prices checked 2 November 2026 on each project's own page: topazlabs.com/pricing shows Topaz Video at $299 a year, and Video2X's GitHub README gives its licence as the GNU AGPL version 3, with no price.
Questions people ask
Is there a Video2X for Mac?
No. The 6.4.0 release has Windows and Linux files only, and the README describes the project as cross-platform for Windows and Linux (read 2 November 2026).
Can I run Video2X on an M1 Mac?
Not as it ships. The prebuilt files are for x86 chips with AVX2, the container image is x86 Linux, and Docker Desktop on a Mac does not pass a GPU through. Its build guides cover Windows and Linux, not macOS (read 2 November 2026).
Is there a free Video2X alternative for Mac?
Real-ESRGAN's own ncnn command-line tool is free and open source, and its release page has a macOS download (read 2 November 2026). Crisp is free to try with a small mark on the export, and the box below has its limits.