chaiNNer
Node-based visual GUI for chaining AI upscaling and image processing.
About
chaiNNer is a free, open-source node graph editor for image processing pipelines. Users drag nodes together to build workflows that run AI upscaling (ESRGAN, Real-ESRGAN, and hundreds of community models), background removal, inpainting, and classic filters, with GPU acceleration through PyTorch, ONNX, and NCNN backends.
Born as an AI upscaling app in 2021, it grew into a general programmatic image workstation with over 6,000 GitHub stars and an active Discord community. Licensed under GPL-3.0, it is the closest thing the upscaling scene has to a ComfyUI for still images: batch processing, custom model loading, and repeatable pipelines without writing code.
What it can do
- Drag-and-drop node graph image pipelines
- AI upscaling with community model support
- Batch processing across folders
- ONNX, PyTorch, NCNN, and TensorRT backends
Setup
Download the installer for Windows, macOS, or Linux from GitHub releases.
Prerequisites
A desktop OS; GPU recommended for AI models.
Use cases
Works with
Trust score — 8/10
Scored 8/10 (verified tier, metrics-v1). Evidence: Verified via vendor site/docs/GitHub and reputable coverage, wave 100; Trending score 80/100 from researcher assessment.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these sources. Where a claim comes from the provider and couldn't be independently verified, the text says so.