remove.bg alternatives: what each free tier gives you

remove.bg's website closes on 1 December 2026 and points people to Canva, where background removal is a paid feature. Free alternatives differ most in the size of the free download: remove.bg and Removal.ai give 0.25 MP previews, Photoroom's free web plan caps at 2000 px, and Pixelcut's tool page says it keeps the original resolution (HD exports are a Pro feature on its pricing page), while unbg.me keeps the original size with a browser limit we measured.

unbg.me is an independent tool. It isn't affiliated with or endorsed by remove.bg, Canva or Leonardo.Ai.

Updated 2 November 2026

Free during the beta
In your browser
No account
Bulk as a ZIP

Drop one or more images here

JPG, PNG or WebP

Up to 50 MB and 60 MP per image

or paste with Ctrl+V

Try a sample image

Your first image needs an AI model download (up to 142 MB).

Your image stays on your device.

Private by default. No signup. No watermark.

How it works

UNBG runs in your browser. Your image is not uploaded to UNBG. Read the privacy details

What to do before 1 December 2026

As of 2 November 2026, remove.bg's FAQ says its standalone website closes on 1 December 2026 at 9:00am CET (08:00 UTC). If you have a remove.bg account, do these first, whichever tool you pick next:

Export your invoices and credit usage report from your Account page. remove.bg says you "won't be able to download them afterward".
Use up any pay-as-you-go credits. remove.bg says unused PAYG credits "will expire on 1 December 2026".
If you call the API from code, plan the move: the self-service API "will stop accepting requests from 1 December 2026".
Try your replacement on a few of your own images before you need it. The comparison below is a starting point.

Subscriptions, the Photoshop plugin and the closing time in your time zone are on thefull remove.bg shutdown checklist.

remove.bg alternatives compared

Each cell quotes or paraphrases the vendor's own page as we read it on 2 November 2026. "Not stated" means the vendor's page didn't say. We didn't test the other tools hands-on, and prices are left out because they change by region and month.

remove.bg alternatives compared on their free tiers, from each vendor's own pages (checked 2 November 2026)
Tool	Free download size	Account to download	Watermark	Many images at once	Where processing happens
unbg.me	Original size up to 60 MP in browsers that report memory, such as Chrome. Firefox and Safari: about 12 MP (measured)	No	None	Up to 50 per batch (fewer on phones, on devices with less memory and in browsers that don't report memory, such as Firefox and Safari (20 or 10); the tool shows your limit), free, as a ZIP	In your browser; the image isn't uploaded
remove.bg (website closes 1 Dec 2026)	Previews: "maximum output resolution for preview images is 0.25 megapixels"; full resolution needs credits or a subscription (remove.bg help)	Not stated for previews	None on the free preview, per a remove.bg blog post	remove.bg points bulk users to Canva	remove.bg's servers, after upload
Canva	Paid feature; photos above 10MP are "downscaled to 10MP"	Yes: "included with paid plans"	Not stated	Paid plans: up to 50 images per folder	Not stated
Adobe Firefly / Express	Not stated	Yes: free with an Adobe account; free daily generations, with more on paid Firefly plans (Adobe, as of 25 Oct 2026)	Not stated	"Only one file can be uploaded at a time"; batch is for enterprise users	Not stated
Photoroom (web app)	Free plan: up to 2000 × 2000 px; larger images are scaled down (Photoroom help)	Not stated	Not stated	Batch exports up to 2048 × 2048 px	Not stated
Pixelcut	"keeps the original resolution" (Pixelcut)	No: "no sign-up" on the tool page	"no watermark"	Bulk: free preview of up to 50 images; downloads need a subscription (Pixelcut bulk); HD exports are Pro (Pixelcut pricing)	Not stated
Pixlr	Processes "images up to 4096x4096 pixels" (Pixlr)	Not stated	Not stated	"You can upload over 100 images at once"	Not stated
Removal.ai	Free for "low-resolution images (0.25 megapixels)" (Removal.ai pricing)	No (Removal.ai FAQ)	Not stated	Not stated for the free tier	"processing happens on our servers"

As of 25 October 2026 the same Adobe URL presents as Firefly remove-background ("Remove the background from your image for free", with an Adobe account and free daily generations). Adobe's own pages can still disagree: Express pricing has listed remove background among "premium editing features".

remove.bg's website closes on 1 December 2026

remove.bg's FAQ says its standalone website "will no longer be available" from 1 December 2026 at 9:00am CET. Website users are pointed to Canva, and API users to Leonardo.Ai. Unused pay-as-you-go credits expire. What to export, what happens to subscriptions and how the API changes are on the remove.bg shutdown checklist.

Which one fits what you do?

You want a full-size result with no account. Pixelcut's page promises the original resolution with no sign-up. unbg.me keeps the original size in Chrome on most computers and runs without uploading your photo; in Firefox and Safari it saves about 12 MP.
You already pay for Canva. Its Background Remover is the one remove.bg points to, and remove.bg says it "uses the same background-removal technology as remove.bg". Canva downscales results above 10MP.
You have a folder of images. unbg.me does up to 50 at a time for free, with a ZIP. Canva's paid plans take up to 50 per folder. Pixlr says it takes over 100 at once.
You call the remove.bg API from code. remove.bg points to Leonardo.Ai, whose guide says: "Background removal costs USD $0.1047 per image." unbg.me has no API. What changes for API users
Your photos are private or under NDA. unbg.me processes the image in your browser, so it isn't uploaded. Removal.ai says its "processing happens on our servers".

When unbg.me may not be the right fit

We'd rather you pick the right tool:

You need confirmed rights to use results commercially. unbg.me hasn't confirmed commercial use of results during the beta. On remove.bg, free use is "exclusively for non-commercial purposes" unless you also use "a subscription plan or pay-as-you-go credits" (Terms of Service, clause 2.1).
You need an API or an automated pipeline. unbg.me has none. Look at Leonardo.Ai's API or a self-hosted open-source tool.
You want a design editor with templates and text. Use a design tool.
You need video background removal. unbg.me handles still images only.
You have a very old device. unbg.me runs on your hardware, so older phones and computers will be slow, and very large images may be reduced in size.
Quality on your images. unbg.me uses different AI models from remove.bg (open source, chosen for your device: BiRefNet lite 1024 (fp16, WebGPU) on computers with WebGPU, BiRefNet lite 512 (fp16) on other computers, and U²-Netp 320 (fp32, phones and tablets) on phones and tablets), so results will differ. We haven't run a head-to-head comparison and make no quality claim. Try a few of your own images and decide.

Switching to unbg.me

There is nothing to set up:

Use the tool at the top of this page, or go to unbg.me.
Add one image, or several at once.
Choose a transparent, white or custom-colour background and download the PNG, or a ZIP for a batch.

The first image takes a little longer while your browser downloads the AI model (about 20 MB on phones and tablets, up to about 142 MB on computers). It can be cached for later visits; an update or cleared storage can require another download.

How we checked

On 2 November 2026 we read each vendor's own pricing, help and product pages and quoted them. Third-party reviews weren't used. We didn't upload images to the other tools, so the table describes what each vendor says, not what we measured. The unbg.me sizes are our own measurements, described in the 625 × 400 article. Vendor pages change; we re-check them every week until 1 December 2026.

Questions

Is remove.bg shutting down?

Its standalone website is. remove.bg's FAQ says that from 1 December 2026 at 9:00am CET its standalone website "will no longer be available". Background removal moves to Canva, and API users are pointed to Leonardo.Ai. The shutdown checklist covers credits, subscriptions, the API and the closing time in your time zone.

What is the best free alternative to remove.bg?

It depends on what you need from the free tier. For a full-size download with no account, look at tools whose own pages promise original resolution, such as Pixelcut, or unbg.me in a browser that reports its memory. If you already pay for Canva, its Background Remover is the one remove.bg points to. The table on this page shows what each vendor says.

Is remove.bg owned by Canva?

Yes. remove.bg's FAQ says "remove.bg became part of Canva in 2021", and its Terms of Service name Canva Austria GmbH as the operator.

Is remove.bg free?

Only for small previews, and only until its website closes. remove.bg says it is "100% free for low-resolution images (up to 0.25 megapixels)". The full answer, with what that size means for a phone photo, is in why remove.bg's free download is only 625 × 400.

Is Canva's background remover free?

Not on Canva's free plan. Canva's help centre says "Background remover is included with paid plans". It also says photos above 10MP are "downscaled to 10MP after removing its background". If you don't want a Canva subscription, the table above lists tools with a free tier.

Does remove.bg keep my photos?

remove.bg's help centre says: "At the latest about one hour after the upload, we delete both the uploaded image and the result image. If you use our API we delete images right after a call is processed." About uploaded images, it also says: "We do not share them with third parties, do not publish them and do nothing else with them."

On training, remove.bg says: "When you upload an image we do not use this image to train the AI." Contributing an image to help improve its AI is "completely optional", it adds.

On unbg.me there is nothing to delete: your image is processed in your browser and never uploaded.

Can unbg.me do what the remove.bg desktop app does?

Partly. For desktop app users, remove.bg's FAQ says: "Canva's bulk background removal covers it."

unbg.me can do part of that job: you can select up to 50 images at a time in your browser (fewer on phones, on devices with less memory and in browsers that don't report memory, such as Firefox and Safari (20 or 10); the tool shows your limit) and download them as a ZIP, with no installation. It can't watch folders, run unattended or be used through an API. Remove backgrounds from many images at once

Can I use my remove.bg credits on unbg.me?

No, and you don't need to. unbg.me has no credits. Every result is free during the beta, at the original size where your browser and device allow.

Does unbg.me use the same AI as remove.bg?

No. unbg.me uses open-source models running in your browser (BiRefNet lite 1024 (fp16, WebGPU) on computers with WebGPU, BiRefNet lite 512 (fp16) on other computers, and U²-Netp 320 (fp32, phones and tablets) on phones and tablets; licences on the credits page). Results on the same image will not be identical.

Can I use unbg.me results commercially?

We can't confirm that yet. Commercial use of results hasn't been confirmed during the beta. The models' declared licences are on the credits page, and you also need the rights to the original photo.

Sources

Sources checked 2 November 2026.

remove.bg, "remove.bg is moving to Canva": https://www.remove.bg/faq
remove.bg, "Terms of Service" (clauses 1.1 and 2.1): https://www.remove.bg/tos
remove.bg Help, "Is remove.bg free?": https://www.remove.bg/help/a/is-remove-bg-free-
remove.bg Help, "Can I use remove.bg for commercial purposes?": https://www.remove.bg/help/a/can-i-use-remove-bg-for-commercial-purposes
remove.bg Help, "What are image credits?": https://www.remove.bg/help/a/what-are-image-credits
remove.bg Help, "What is the difference between the free plan, subscription, and Pay-as-you-go?": https://www.remove.bg/help/a/what-is-the-difference-between-the-free-plan-subscription-and-pay-as-you-go
remove.bg Help, "Is remove.bg safe?": https://www.remove.bg/help/a/are-my-images-safe
remove.bg Help, "Do you use my images to train the AI?": https://www.remove.bg/help/a/do-you-use-my-images-to-train-the-ai
remove.bg Blog, "Pixelcut vs. Photoroom: Which photo editor is right for you?" (the free preview's watermark): https://www.remove.bg/b/pixelcut-vs-photoroom
Canva Help Center, "Remove photo and video backgrounds": https://www.canva.com/help/background-remover/
Adobe Firefly / Express, "Remove background" (URL still under /express/feature/…): https://www.adobe.com/express/feature/image/remove-background
Adobe Express, "Pricing": https://www.adobe.com/express/pricing
Photoroom Help Center, "Image resolution limits for exports": https://help.photoroom.com/en/articles/4566301-image-resolution-limits-for-exports
Pixelcut, "Background Remover": https://www.pixelcut.ai/background-remover
Pixelcut, "Bulk Background Remover": https://www.pixelcut.ai/bulk/background-remover
Pixelcut, "Pricing": https://www.pixelcut.ai/pricing
Pixlr, "AI Background Remover": https://pixlr.com/ai/ai-background-removal/
Removal.ai, "Pricing": https://removal.ai/pricing/ and "FAQ": https://removal.ai/faq/
Leonardo.Ai, "Migrate from the remove.bg API to Leonardo.Ai": https://docs.leonardo.ai/docs/migrate-from-the-removebg-api-to-leonardoai

remove.bg, Canva, Leonardo.Ai and the other product names on this page are trademarks of their respective owners. They are mentioned here only to describe their publicly announced services.