Last updated on 2026-02-09, by Leia

HitPaw Video Enhancer Review 2026: Features, Performance, Pros & Cons

Having trouble with videos that are blurry or don’t have enough resolution to capture your best moments? Not happy with the way the images look? HitPaw can help you fix these issues with advanced AI-powered tools. How does it actually work? What effects could it bring? Now let’s read on to find out more!

What Is HitPaw?

First of all, HitPaw is a set of multimedia tools made for regular creators. HitPaw is designed to do things like improving the quality of videos/images, compressing them, getting rid of watermarks, and changing formats without making you "learn the software" first.

What made HitPaw stand out to me is that it doesn’t try to be a professional studio that does everything. In fact, that’s one of its strengths. It was made for people who need to get things done quickly.

Key Features of HitPaw

You start to notice certain pain points that HitPaw’s features are made to solve as you use it more. The video enhancement tools, especially the AI upscaling tools, are likely the most talked-about feature. These tools can sharpen low-resolution footage and get rid of noise with surprisingly little effort.

HitPaw FotorPea uses practical photo editing features. It allows you to choose from 7 mind blowing AI models that enhance the overall quality of the images.

Here’s a list of its overall models and key features for your reference:

Performance and Output Quality Tests

In this part, I’ll explain how well HitPaw Video Enhancer AI actually works. The tests are meant to give you an comprehensive look at how the software does different tasks.

Setup Reference

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700G with Radeon Graphics

Let’s see how’s the actual process and quality improvement in different modes now.

Face Model

Sharpen and soften are the two options that HitPaw’s Face Model has. Each is good in its own way. The comparing pictures show that by increasing the contrast, the Sharpen mode makes textures and facial features clearer. It sometimes works well, but on the other hand, it can also make the picture look less natural with too much emphasis on the textures.

When you use the Soften mode, pictures look smoother and more airbrushed, since there is less texture and contrast.

Animation Model

You can see right away what the Animation Model does: Characters and objects get sharper so you can see more details; colors appear brighter so scenes feel more alive; and noise and grain is reduced so videos are smoother and cleaner overall.

Colorize Model 

With the Colorize Model, you can give black-and-white videos bright new colors. In the meantime, it could cause color processing to be uneven or skewed in some places.

Low-light Enhancement Model

HitPaw also made changes to its Low-light Enhancement Model in version 4.1.0. The processing speed is much faster now than it was in version 4.0.0, but the visual results are still the same.

SDR to HDR

The Dynamic Range (DR) value makes HitPaw’s output much brighter as it goes up, though it also makes the colors and brightness too high for HDR. When the DR setting is raised, the video tends to look more like SDR than HDR.

Pricing Plans and Licensing Options

Is HitPaw free? Unfortunately, HitPaw is a paid tool, but you can try it out for free with some features disabled! During the HitPaw free trial, users can see what parts of their videos the software has improved, but they won’t be able to export the whole video until they pay for a license. This trial introduces you to the tool’s basic features, so you can get a sense of its features.

Please note each HitPaw Video Enhancer license is valid for use on one PC only.

Pros and Cons of HitPaw

HitPaw Video Enhancer is a great program with powerful functions, but it can’t be perfect in every way. Before you buy it, take a look at its weakness so you can be prepared.

Best HitPaw Alternative

For users focused on portrait enhancement and photo retouching, Leawo Photo Enhancer provides a more streamlined and purpose-built experience compared to HitPaw.

Instead of offering many general AI models with inconsistent results, Leawo focuses on portrait-specific enhancement, delivering more natural-looking improvements with fewer adjustments required.

Key advantages over HitPaw:

Specialized AI portrait enhancement for skin smoothing, blemish removal, and facial refinement

More consistent results for human faces, especially in close-up portraits

Simpler workflow with fewer confusing model choices

Ideal for social media photos, profile images, and personal portraits

Is HitPaw Safe and Legit?

If you wonder is HitPaw legit, the answer is yes. You can be confident that HitPaw Video Enhancer won’t bring you any viruses, malware, or spyware. The program doesn’t steal your information, or disclose any private information from your videos.

Conclusion

After reading this review of HitPaw, you’ll have a better idea of what it can do. HitPaw can be used to make videos and images better, but it can be annoying that it takes a long time to process and gives mixed results.

Anyway, you can find alternatives like Leawo Photo Enhancer in the guide. Pick the right one for your needs, and have fun editing your videos and photos!