5 Best Apps and Websites to Colorize Black and White Photos (2026)

What Makes Colorization Look Real

Bad colorization is easy to spot: gray skin, flat clothing, and skies that look painted on. Good colorization respects the original tones of the photo — skin gets warm, believable color, fabrics keep their texture, and backgrounds stay period-appropriate instead of turning neon.

The tools below were chosen for one thing above all: how natural their color looks on real scanned family photos, not just on marketing samples.

1. Restore Old Photos AI – Renew (Best for iPhone)

Renew combines colorization with full restoration, which matters more than it sounds: most black-and-white prints also have fading, dust, and soft detail. Renew repairs the damage and adds color in one workflow, so you never colorize a scratched photo and lock the damage in.

• Best for: colorizing old family prints that also need repair and enhancement.
• Standout feature: restoration plus colorization in a single pass, with full-resolution export.
• Get it: download on the App Store.

2. MyHeritage In Color

MyHeritage's colorization tool is one of the best known, and for good reason: its models were tuned on historical photography, so uniforms, interiors, and street scenes come out with believable period color. Results include a small colorization badge, and heavy use requires a subscription.

• Best for: historical and genealogy photos where era-accurate color matters.
• Watch out for: watermark-style badges on results and subscription limits for bulk work.

3. Palette.fm (Best Website)

Palette.fm is a browser-based colorizer that stands out for control: instead of accepting one automatic result, you can pick between color styles and guide the palette with text descriptions. It is a favorite for creators who want art direction over their colorization.

• Best for: desktop users who want multiple color interpretations of the same photo.
• Watch out for: full-resolution downloads are paid, and it does not repair damage.

4. Photomyne

Photomyne is built around bulk digitization — it can capture a full album page and split it into individual photos automatically, with colorization available as part of its toolkit. If your problem is hundreds of prints in albums, its scanning speed is hard to beat.

• Best for: digitizing entire albums quickly, with colorization as a bonus.
• Watch out for: per-photo quality is below dedicated restoration apps, and the service is subscription-based.

5. DeOldify (Best Free and Open Source)

DeOldify is the open-source project that powers or inspired many commercial colorizers. Run it through free hosted notebooks or self-host it if you are technical. You get strong results and full control at zero cost — in exchange for a far less friendly workflow.

• Best for: technical users who want free, unlimited colorization.
• Watch out for: no mobile app, no support, and a setup process that is not for everyone.

The Bottom Line

If you want natural color plus repair on your phone, start with Renew. If you are colorizing historical scenes on desktop, Palette.fm and MyHeritage In Color are excellent. And if you like tinkering, DeOldify gives you the whole engine for free.

Whichever tool you pick, always keep the original black-and-white scan. Colorization technology improves every year, and today's archive is tomorrow's even better colorization.