Migration guide
A remove.bg alternative that stays free
remove.bg shuts down on December 1, 2026 and its users are being pointed at Canva. If what you actually wanted was a cutout at full resolution, without a subscription or a sign-in, this page covers what changes and what to use instead. If you just want the tool, the browser background editor is open with no account.
After the shutdown
What to use after remove.bg closes
The official path is Canva, and for some people that is genuinely the right answer. It is worth being clear about who it fits and who it does not, because the two products solve different problems.
Go to Canva if…
The cutout is one step inside a bigger design job — you are building a social post, a deck or a poster around it, and you want templates, type and layout in the same place. You already pay for a Canva plan, or will, and a signed-in cloud editor suits how you work.
Come here if…
You want files out. Full-resolution cutouts, in bulk, on a marketplace background, without an account, a subscription or an upload — because the images are client work, product shots under embargo, or simply nobody else’s business.
Comparison
The Change Background vs remove.bg vs Canva
remove.bg’s cutout quality was genuinely good — the constraint was always what you were allowed to do with it. Canva inherits those users along with a different constraint: background removal is not on the free plan at all.
| Capability | The Change BackgroundOn-device | remove.bgFree tier | remove.bgPaid tier | CanvaPaid plans only |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max download resolution | Original — no cap | 0.25 MP (~625 × 400) | Original | Not published by the vendor |
| Cost per image | Free | Preview only | from ~€0.36 | Canva Pro subscription |
| Images per month | Unlimited | 50 previews | Credit-metered | Not published by the vendor |
| Where processing happens | Your device | Their servers | Their servers | Canva’s servers |
| Account required | No | For the HD download | Yes | Yes |
| Batch + ZIP download | Included | Not available | Higher tiers | Folders up to 50 images; no ZIP |
| Manual refine brush | Included | Not available | Paid add-on | Not published by the vendor |
| Background replacement | Colour, gradient, blur, image | White or transparent | Limited | Full design editor |
| Works offline | After first load | No | No | No |
remove.bg and Canva figures reflect each vendor’s published information and pricing as of September 2026 and are stated for comparison only. A dash means the vendor does not publish that figure — we would rather leave a gap than estimate one. Check remove.bg’s pricing page and Canva’s pricing page for current terms. remove.bg and Canva are trademarks of their respective owners; we aren’t affiliated with either.
Versus Canva
Four things that do not change in December
Canva is a design suite that happens to remove backgrounds. These are the places where a dedicated, local tool stays ahead of one.
- 01
No account required
Canva’s Background Remover lives inside a signed-in design on a paid plan. Here there is no sign-up, no trial, and no card — the editor opens and works.
- 02
Processing stays on your device
Canva uploads your image to its servers to process it. Nothing leaves this tab, which is what makes the tool usable for client work, IDs and anything under NDA.
- 03
Real batch, with a ZIP
Canva caps folder background removal at 50 images, processes one folder at a time, and has no archive export. Queue what you like here and download the finished set as one ZIP.
- 04
Works offline after the first load
Canva is a cloud editor and needs a connection for every cutout. Once this page has loaded once, it keeps working with the network switched off.
Checklist
Before December 1, 2026
Five things worth doing while the account dashboard is still reachable.
- 01
Download your originals and finished cutouts
Dashboard history disappears with the site. Pull down source images, transparent PNGs and any masks you still need before the cutoff.
- 02
Export invoices and usage reports
Billing history is only reachable while the account dashboard is up. Save what your finance team will ask for later.
- 03
Spend remaining pay-as-you-go credits
Credits expire at the shutdown moment rather than rolling anywhere, so anything unused is simply gone.
- 04
Repoint API integrations
The remove.bg endpoint stops serving requests. Leonardo.Ai is the official destination, so any build pipeline calling remove.bg needs rewriting before December.
- 05
Decide where cutouts happen next
Canva if the cutout is one step inside a wider design workflow. Something dedicated if you mainly need files out at full resolution, in bulk, without an account.
In practice
How to remove a background from an image here
The flow is the same shape as the one you already know. Drop a photo onto the editor, wait a second or two for the automatic cutout, and you have a transparent PNG. The difference starts at the download: there is no HD upsell, because the file was never downscaled in the first place, and no sign-in between you and it.
The step after that is the one remove.bg never really covered. Instead of stopping at a cutout, you can put a background back — a flat colour, a gradient, a blurred version of the original scene, or a photo of your own — and size the result to a marketplace spec in the same pass. Doing it online normally means an upload; here the model runs in the tab, so a folder of fifty images costs one model download and nothing else.
The step-by-step guide to changing an image background covers each control, and the page on background colour has the exact white that Amazon, eBay and Shopify ask for.
Drop an image. Keep the pixels.
No account, no credits, no downscaled preview. Just the file you meant to make.