Nero AI · Photo restoration
Grants 5 guest credits to heal facial/hair creases in 12.14s (14.19 dB scratch PSNR) with free 1024px JPEG export; uncheck Colorize on color photos.
US-West (California, AS2914)
JPEG · Output attached · Open native file ↗
Subsequent pricing and service checks are shown separately without altering historical scores.
One run does not establish all complex scenes, untested paid maxima or long-term uptime.
Plans & historical pricing
Nero AI web plans (Free / Standard / Yearly promo / Business); USD · 2026-10-21
Public page displays only the 7.66 USD/month equivalent without showing the annual invoice total before login.
4 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded.
The official pricing page and credit table state that guests get 5 free runs and registered Free accounts receive 10 one-time Nero Credits (Standard/Photo/Anime 2× costs 1 credit/image, 4× costs 2 credits/image, paid-only 8× costs 4 credits/image). Standard monthly is USD 21.95/month promotional (regular USD 24.99/month, 300 credits/month). The yearly promo banner displays only "7.66 USD per month" (3,000 credits/year) without printing the annual invoice total before login, so the annual total is marked unverified.
Verification has gaps; unknown prices and quotas are not inferred.
Cancellation, sources & verification record
Cancel anytime by turning off auto-renewal in account settings (remaining credits expire at the end of the billing period); FAQ states refunds are not allowed once Nero Credits have been used.
Nero AI official pricing, credit consumption table, and FAQ ↗ · 2026-10-21 Capture 1 ↗
Pricing recorded on the test date · 2026-10-26
The official pricing page and credit table state that guests get 5 free runs and registered Free accounts receive 10 one-time Nero Credits (Standard/Photo/Anime 2× costs 1 credit/image, 4× costs 2 credits/image, paid-only 8× costs 4 credits/image). Standard monthly is USD 21.95/month promotional (regular USD 24.99/month, 300 credits/month). The yearly promo banner displays only "7.66 USD per month" (3,000 credits/year) without printing the annual invoice total before login, so the annual total is marked unverified.
Freemium (5 Free Guest Credits + Subscription / Credit Packs)
Historical context only; not current purchase guidance.
Delivery & access
- Free delivery record
- 1024×1024 (1.0× native watermark-free JPEG · 128.2 KB)
- Watermark
- Watermark-free
- Free allowance
- 5 free guest credits granted without login; Classic restoration costs 1 credit per image (5 free watermark-free exports)
- Account requirements
- Login-free with 5 free guest credits (optional Nero / Google account sign-in)
- Maximum specification record
- 1024×1024 (1.0× native watermark-free JPEG · 128.2 KB)
May include advertised capabilities; this does not establish a tested paid tier.
- Batch & API
- Supports multi-file batch uploads and an 8-hour online history manager
- Manual refinement
- Not recorded or not verified
Tested result & sample
Nero AI Classic mode (with Scratch Fix + Colorize + Face Enhance enabled by default) heals 4 major creases across the forehead, cheek, and hair while enhancing facial clarity (scratch_psnr = 14.19 dB, face_psnr = 21.83 dB, SSIM = 0.8423), leaving 1 thin collar scratch and adding a pink/green tint on top hair from the default Colorize toggle (result.png, download.png).
- Fixture
- anchor_restore_v1
- Recorded environment
- US-West (California, AS2914)
- Network-observed server wait
- 12.14 s
- End-to-end reference
- 14.09 s
Network wait includes round trips, queuing and polling error, not pure inference time. Local timings depend on the device; repetition counts are not standardized in legacy records.
Experience, rules & trust
- Disclosure
- Displays remaining guest credits (5 -> 4) in the header and exposes all sub-model toggles upfront
- Interaction
- Exposes Natural+, Restore+, and Classic restoration models alongside individual Scratch Fix, Colorize, and Face Enhance toggles in the left sidebar with direct watermark-free export.
- Entity record
- Nero AG
- Origin
- Karlsruhe, Germany
- Domain history record
- 1995–present
- Third-party tracking record
- No third-party services listed in this record; this is not proof that none exist.
- External information
- Not recorded or not verified
- Processing
- Nero AI modular cloud restoration pipeline (independent Scratch Fix, Colorize, and Face Enhance stages)
- Retention statement
- Purges processed results automatically after 8 hours ("Only results in the last 8 hours are kept") with manual delete controls
A recorded statement does not verify deletion or all data-processing behavior.
Verifiable audit trail & evidence
Four SHA-256-verified stages link the benchmark fixture, same-run interface screenshots, native exported artifact and archived pricing sources.
anchor_restore_v1 · Inspect fixture & file inspector →
Captures entry rules, result view and export disclosure.
Nero AI official pricing, credit consumption table, and FAQ (snapshot ↗)
Screenshots, native output and official claims support different conclusions. Evidence grades are not product safety certifications.
Evaluation basis & full scores · Overall 79/100
Overall = honesty & reputation × 30% + capability × 70%. Component maxima follow this report’s rubric. List scores are rounded for display; original precision is retained here.
Scoring version 2.3.1 · Test fixture anchor_restore_v1
Honesty & reputation · 87.5/100 · 30%
| Criterion | Score | Rationale | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing transparency | 29 / 35 | Grants 5 free guest credits immediately in the top bar (deducting 1 credit for Classic photo restoration, leaving 4 credits) and provides direct 1024×1024 watermark-free JPEG downloads (landing.png, result.png, download.png). | Evidence A → |
| Interaction restraint | 26 / 30 | Exposes Natural+, Restore+, and Classic restoration models alongside individual Scratch Fix, Colorize, and Face Enhance toggles in the left sidebar with direct watermark-free export. | Evidence A → |
| Background & reputation | 18.5 / 20 | Operated by Nero AG (Karlsruhe, Germany, founded in 1995), a globally recognized multimedia software company. | Evidence A → |
| Engineering & privacy | 14 / 15 | Explicitly states "Only results in the last 8 hours are kept" on `/photo-restore/history` and provides per-item delete buttons. | Evidence A → |
Capability · 75.3/100 · 70%
| Criterion | Score | Rationale | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Task quality | 44.3 / 65 | Deterministic inspection on our 1024×1024 degraded portrait anchor (anchor_restore_v1): exports 1024×1024 (1×), scratch-mask PSNR = 14.19 dB (vs. 6.02 dB degraded baseline), portrait face ROI PSNR = 21.83 dB, global PSNR = 19.81 dB, SSIM = 0.8423, edge gradient correlation = 0.5279, high-frequency ratio = 0.3916 (44.3/65) | Evidence A → |
| Deliverable specifications | 19 / 20 | Exports a full 1024×1024 watermark-free JPEG (131,275 bytes) without login for 1 free guest credit (19.0/20) | Evidence A → |
| Processing speed | 12 / 15 | Cloud Classic restoration pipeline (Scratch Fix + Colorize + Face Enhance) completes in 12.14s server wait (12.0/15) | Evidence A → |
Legacy scores may include advertised maximum capabilities. Read tested output separately from paid capabilities. Records without matching tiers and scope are not ranked together.
Revisions & corrections
- 2026-10-26
Initial live benchmark on Mode A synthetic degraded portrait & scratch anchor (anchor_restore_v1).