A remove.bg alternative that runs on your device
If you rely on remove.bg for quick cut-outs, its standalone website is closing. Here's what remove.bg has announced, what you may want to do before the date, and how UNBG works differently.
Facts about other services on this page come from their own websites and were checked on.
What's happening to remove.bg
According to remove.bg's own FAQ (remove.bg/faq, checked 25 September 2026):
- The standalone website ends on 1 December 2026 at 9:00 CET. From then, remove.bg's website "will no longer be available".
- Background removal is moving to Canva, and API access is moving to Leonardo.Ai. Both are part of Canva. Enterprise API contracts are not affected.
- Subscriptions end automatically on that date. Annual subscribers receive a pro-rata refund for unused time; any monthly renewal on or after 1 November is free.
- Pay-as-you-go credits expire on 1 December 2026. remove.bg recommends using them before then.
- Accounts become inaccessible after that date. remove.bg advises exporting your credit usage report and invoices from your Account page beforehand.
- The Photoshop plugin and other integrations will be discontinued on the same date.
remove.bg has been part of Canva since 2021.
Checklist if you use remove.bg today
Based on remove.bg's FAQ:
- Use any pay-as-you-go credits before 1 December 2026.
- Download your invoices and credit usage report from your remove.bg account page. You won't be able to afterwards.
- If you use the API, read remove.bg's FAQ and Leonardo.Ai's migration guide; the self-service API stops accepting requests on 1 December 2026.
- If you use the Photoshop plugin or another integration, plan a replacement before that date.
- For everyday cut-outs, choose a new tool. UNBG is one option, described below.
How UNBG is different
UNBG is a free background remover that runs entirely in your web browser. The AI model is downloaded to your device and does the work there, so your image isn't uploaded. There's no account and no watermark.
| Topic | UNBG | remove.bg website (until 1 Dec 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Where your image is processed | In your browser, on your device | On remove.bg's servers after upload. remove.bg says uploaded and result images are deleted "at the latest about one hour after the upload". |
| Account and credits | No account, no credits | High-resolution downloads use credits (1 per image), which are held in an account; a free account includes one bonus credit |
| Free result size | Original dimensions, up to 60 MP, when your device has enough memory | Free previews up to 0.25 megapixels (for example 625 × 400); high resolution up to 50 MP costs 1 credit per image |
| Many images at once | Up to 50 per batch, with ZIP download | remove.bg points bulk users to Canva's bulk background removal and Leonardo.Ai's API |
| API for developers | No | Moving to Leonardo.Ai |
| Design and editing tools | No: backgrounds only | Canva's editor, after the move |
Facts in the remove.bg column come from remove.bg's help centre and FAQ (sources below), checked 25 September 2026.
Where remove.bg users are being directed: Canva
remove.bg recommends Canva's Background Remover as its replacement. Canva's help centre (checked 25 September 2026) states:
- Background Remover is "included with paid plans" and listed as "Paid plans only".
- It works on photos under 9 MB, and results from photos above 10 megapixels are downscaled to 10 MP.
- Bulk removal handles up to 50 images at a time, per folder.
Canva is a full design platform, so if you also want templates, text and layouts in the same place, it may suit you well. If you just need a cut-out, UNBG does that one job without an account.
When UNBG may not be the right fit
We'd rather you pick the right tool:
- You need an API or an automated pipeline. UNBG 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 handles still images only.
- You have a very old device. UNBG 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 uses a different AI model from remove.bg (BiRefNet lite 1024 (fp16, WebGPU), open source), so results will differ. We haven't published a head-to-head comparison and don't claim to be better. Try a few of your own images and decide.
Switching to UNBG
There is nothing to set up:
- Go to unbg.me.
- Drop in 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 142 MB (about 113 MB in compatibility mode)). It can be cached for later visits; an update or cleared storage can require another download.
Questions
Does UNBG use the same AI as remove.bg?
No. UNBG uses BiRefNet lite 1024 (fp16, WebGPU), an open-source model licensed under MIT, running in your browser. Results on the same image will not be identical.
Can I use my remove.bg credits on UNBG?
No, and you don't need to. UNBG has no credits. Every result is free during the beta, at the original size where your device's memory allows.
Can UNBG do what the remove.bg desktop app did?
For batch cut-outs, partly: you can select up to 50 images at a time in your browser and download them as a ZIP, with no installation. UNBG can't watch folders or run unattended.
What happens to my images on UNBG?
They're processed in your browser tab and never uploaded. Close the tab and they're gone from UNBG. Read the privacy policy.
Sources
All checked 25 September 2026.
- remove.bg, "remove.bg is moving to Canva": https://www.remove.bg/faq
- remove.bg Help, "Is remove.bg free?": https://www.remove.bg/help/a/is-remove-bg-free-
- 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, "What is the maximum image resolution / file size?": https://www.remove.bg/help/a/what-is-the-maximum-image-resolution-file-size
- remove.bg Help, "Is remove.bg safe?": https://www.remove.bg/help/a/are-my-images-safe
- Canva Help Center, "Remove photo and video backgrounds": https://www.canva.com/help/background-remover/
remove.bg, Canva and Leonardo.Ai are trademarks of their respective owners. They are mentioned here only to describe their publicly announced services.