Updated 26 Sep 2026 · remove.bg changes on 1 December
remove.bg alternatives: what to use after 1 December
On 1 December 2026 the remove.bg website closes (background removal moves to Canva), the self-service API moves to Leonardo.Ai and credits expire. Here is what is changing, a checklist for the switch, and the alternatives worth trying — including our own.
- Sources linked
- Free and paid options
- API & open-source options
- No sign-up needed to read
Updated by the Kenerate AI team
On this page
Quick answer
What is the best remove.bg alternative after 1 December 2026?
The best remove.bg alternative after 1 December 2026, when the remove.bg website closes and its removal moves to Canva, is Kenerate AI for no-subscription use: free credits, then one-time credit packs, with Cutout HD for hair and glass. Canva suits Pro users, Leonardo.Ai takes over the self-service API, and Photoroom, Pixelcut and others are compared below.
Key facts
- Website closes
- 1 Dec 2026, 9:00 AM CET → moves to Canva
- Self-service API
- Stops 1 Dec 2026 → Leonardo.Ai
- remove.bg credits
- PAYG credits expire 1 Dec 2026
- Kenerate
- No subscription required, free credits, 4 cut-out modes
The facts
What is changing at remove.bg?
remove.bg's FAQ: the website's background removal is moving to Canva and the standalone site won't be available from 1 December 2026 at 9:00 AM CET; the self-service API stops accepting requests that day and moves to Leonardo.Ai.
remove.bg works as usual
Now → 30 Nov 2026 — Use your remaining credits and download anything you want to keep.
Website closes, credits expire
1 Dec 2026, 9:00 AM CET — remove.bg's website background removal moves to Canva; pay-as-you-go credits expire.
Self-service API moves to Leonardo.Ai
From 1 Dec 2026 — New Leonardo account and key needed. Enterprise API contracts continue as normal.
Good to know: remove.bg credentials don't carry over to Leonardo.Ai, and Leonardo's API doesn't support every remove.bg option (for example zip output and multipart uploads). Check the migration guide before switching.
Before 1 December
Switching checklist
- Spend or write off remaining remove.bg credits before 1 December.
- Download the originals and results you still need from your remove.bg account.
- List every place remove.bg is wired in — desktop app, design-tool plugins, scripts, the API — so nothing breaks silently.
- Try two alternatives on your own hardest photos (hair, glass, white-on-white) before you commit.
- If you use the API, test the replacement's output size, speed and limits against your real volume.
7 options
The best remove.bg alternatives
Ordered by who they suit. We make Kenerate, so it is listed first — the others are described from their own sites and we link to every one.
This page is about leaving remove.bg. To compare 14 background removers whatever you use now, see background remover alternatives; for erase.bg's one-year credit packs, see the erase.bg alternative.
Kenerate AI
Best for: Occasional use, no subscription required
Four modes — Cutout, Cutout HD for hair and glass, Object Pick (type what to keep) and Magic Eraser — plus white, black, colour and photo backdrops and an AI upscaler. Nothing changes on 1 December.
How you pay: One-time credit packs that never expire; free credits
Leonardo.Ai
Best for: remove.bg API users
The official new home of the remove.bg self-service API from 1 December 2026, also part of Canva. Same background-removal technology plus upscaling and scene generation; you need a new Leonardo account and API key.
How you pay: Pay-as-you-go API
Canva
Best for: remove.bg website users with Canva Pro
remove.bg says its website's background removal is moving to Canva, and Canva's remover uses the same technology. One click inside the editor — worth it if you already pay for Canva.
How you pay: Background Remover is a paid-plan feature (Canva Pro, Business)
Adobe Express
Best for: Quick one-offs with an Adobe account
A “remove background” quick action in the browser, with Firefly generative tools if you want to replace the background.
How you pay: Free plan with limits; Premium plan
Photoroom
Best for: Product photos and e-commerce batches
Built around product shots, templates and batch editing, with a background-removal API for shops and marketplaces.
How you pay: Free plan with limits; Pro subscription; API
Pixelcut
Best for: Mobile-first sellers
A simple web and phone app for cut-outs, white backgrounds and product scenes.
How you pay: Free web tool; Pro subscription
rembg / BiRefNet (open source)
Best for: Developers who want to self-host
Open-source background-removal models you run yourself. Full control and no per-image fee, but you handle hosting, GPUs, updates and edge quality.
How you pay: Free — you pay for your own server
Kenerate on hard photos
See the output before you switch
Real Kenerate cut-outs of the photos shown — tap “Original” to compare.
Look closer
Check the edges, not the thumbnail
The difference between background removers shows up at 200% and beyond. Zoom into a Cutout HD result before you pick your replacement.
- Glass stays see-through instead of turning solid
- Petals keep their soft edges
- No white fringe from the marble table
Checked 26 September 2026
Kenerate vs Leonardo.Ai vs self-hosting
The three most common paths away from remove.bg, compared on what changes for you.
| Kenerate AI · web tool | Leonardo.Ai · official successor | rembg · open source | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription needed | No | Plans or API credits | No |
| Works in the browser | Yes | Yes | No |
| Needs code | No | For the API | Yes |
| You run the servers | No | No | Yes |
| Official remove.bg path | No | Yes | No |
Checked 26 September 2026
remove.bg alternatives compared
How each option is sold and who it suits. Plans change often — check each site for current plans.
| Tool | How you pay | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Kenerate AI | One-time credit packs that never expire; free credits | Occasional use, no subscription required |
| Leonardo.Ai | Pay-as-you-go API | remove.bg API users |
| Canva | Background Remover is a paid-plan feature (Canva Pro, Business) | remove.bg website users with Canva Pro |
| Adobe Express | Free plan with limits; Premium plan | Quick one-offs with an Adobe account |
| Photoroom | Free plan with limits; Pro subscription; API | Product photos and e-commerce batches |
| Pixelcut | Free web tool; Pro subscription | Mobile-first sellers |
| rembg / BiRefNet (open source) | Free — you pay for your own server | Developers who want to self-host |
Developers
Moving off the remove.bg API
If remove.bg is wired into a shop, a CMS or a batch script, plan the move now rather than on 1 December.
- Least change: Leonardo.Ai is the official destination. remove.bg says it keeps a simple integration and adds upscaling, background generation and animation.
- Another vendor: commercial APIs such as Photoroom's are built for product catalogues. Compare output size and latency on your own images.
- Self-host: rembg wraps several open models (including BiRefNet). There is no per-image fee, but you run the servers and handle edge quality.
Example uses
Who is switching, and to what
Typical remove.bg users and the path that fits each.
Illustrative examples of typical workflows, not customer reviews.
Marketplace seller
Uploads a few dozen product photos a month by hand. One-time credits fit that volume with no monthly plan, and the white backdrop is built in.
Try this workflow
Social media manager
Needs cut-outs of models for Stories and thumbnails, with hair and sheer fabric intact. Cutout HD handles the tulle and flyaways.
Try this workflowDeveloper
Calls the remove.bg API from a product pipeline. Tests Leonardo.Ai's API and a self-hosted rembg model side by side before 1 December.
Try this workflow
How it works
How it works in the app
Step 1
Add your image
Open Remove & Erase and drop in a photo — products, people and pets all work.
Step 2
Choose what should happen
Pick Cutout for a fast transparent PNG, HD for hair and fur, Pick for one object or Erase to remove something.
Step 3
Click Remove background
Press the button and the cut-out lands in your results in seconds.
Step 4
Compare and download the PNG
Drag the slider to compare, add a new background if you like, then download the transparent PNG.
See it in the app
Open Remove & Erase and drop in a photo — products, people and pets all work.
FAQ
remove.bg alternative questions
7 questions
Is remove.bg shutting down?
The standalone website is. remove.bg's FAQ says its background removal is moving to Canva and the website won't be available from 1 December 2026 at 9:00 AM CET. The self-service API stops accepting requests on the same day and moves to Leonardo.Ai; Enterprise API contracts continue as normal.
Link to this answerWhat happens to my remove.bg credits?
remove.bg says pay-as-you-go credits expire on 1 December 2026 (9:00 AM CET). Use them before then and download anything you still need; its FAQ also covers refunds for annual subscriptions.
Link to this answerWhat is the official replacement for remove.bg?
Two, depending on how you use it: Canva for the website's background removal, and Leonardo.Ai for the self-service API. Both are part of Canva.
Link to this answerWhat is the best remove.bg alternative for occasional use?
A tool without a subscription. Kenerate uses one-time credit packs that never expire, with free credits to start and no watermark. Self-hosting open-source models has no per-image fee but costs time and servers.
Link to this answerIs there a free remove.bg alternative?
Yes. Kenerate gives free credits with no watermark, Adobe Express has a free plan, and open-source tools like rembg are free if you run them yourself.
Link to this answerWhich alternative is best for hair and fur?
Use a tool with a high-detail mode. On Kenerate that is Cutout HD, built for flyaway hair, fur, lace and glass.
Link to this answerI use the remove.bg API. What should I do?
remove.bg says the self-service API stops accepting requests on 1 December 2026 and points users to Leonardo.Ai (a new account and API key are needed). Enterprise API contracts are not affected. Test your replacement on real images before the deadline.
Link to this answerIn depth
remove.bg: from Vienna start-up to Canva
The history behind the 1 December 2026 change, and what's under the hood of one-click removal — with sources.
On this page
Who made remove.bg
What one-click removal actually does
Tools like remove.bg estimate an alpha value for every pixel — the transparency channel introduced by Porter and Duff in 1984 [3]. Edges are the hard part, because each edge pixel mixes subject and background colour [4]; modern segmentation models such as U²-Net and BiRefNet were built to get that detail right without a manual trimap [5][6].
Switching without surprises
Download any remove.bg results you want to keep before your credits expire, keep PNG masters (they preserve soft edges [7]), and run your hardest photos — hair, glass, white-on-white — through the replacement before you move a whole workflow.
By the Kenerate AI teamLast updated and reviewed
We make Kenerate AI, one of the tools on this list; we have tried to describe the others fairly and link to each.
Sources: remove.bg — FAQ (moving to Canva) · remove.bg — API page (move to Leonardo.Ai) · remove.bg — Pricing (credits expire 1 Dec 2026, 9:00 AM CET) · rembg on GitHub
Try the switch on your own photos
Free credits, no subscription required, no watermark. Credits never expire.
Tried it? Tell us how it went
