remove.bg is shutting down on December 1, 2026. Here's a free alternative
Yes, remove.bg is shutting down. Its standalone website closes on December 1, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. CET. Website users are being sent to Canva, API users to Leonardo.Ai, and all unused credits expire that morning. If you just want to drop in a photo and download a transparent PNG, free and without an account, iLoveRemoveBG does exactly that.
The shutdown at a glance
- When
- December 1, 2026, 9:00 a.m. Central European Time
- Website users
- Background removal moves into Canva, so you'll need a Canva account
- API users
- The self-serve API is replaced by Leonardo.Ai's API
- Credits
- All unused credits, pay-as-you-go and monthly rollover, expire on December 1, 2026, with no refunds
- Photoshop and apps
- Not announced, but they run on your remove.bg account, so expect them to stop too
- Enterprise
- Existing Enterprise API contracts aren't affected
What's happening to remove.bg
remove.bg launched in 2018 and quickly became the go-to way to cut a person or product out of a photo: upload, wait a few seconds, download. Canva bought Kaleido, the Vienna company behind it, in 2021. Now Canva is folding the tool into its own products. In remove.bg's own words, "We're now migrating remove.bg's background removal functionality into the Canva platform."
Interactive use (single images and batches) goes to Canva's editor. Automated, high-volume use goes to Leonardo.Ai, the image-generation company Canva also owns. After December 1, the remove.bg website itself won't be available.
remove.bg is the last of Kaleido's tools to go. Its two siblings have already closed: Designify, the automatic product-photo designer, on June 22, 2026, and Unscreen, which removed backgrounds from videos, on June 29, 2026. Canva points their users to its own editor too.
What it means for you
If you used the website for quick cut-outs
The one-page "upload and download" flow is going away. To keep using the same technology you'll need to sign in to Canva and work inside its editor. Canva's Background Remover is part of its paid plans, so check what your Canva plan includes before you rely on it. More in remove.bg is moving into Canva: is it still free?
If you have remove.bg credits
Spend them before December 1. remove.bg's terms, updated on September 9, 2026, are clear: "All credits (including pay-as-you-go (PAYG) credits, monthly rollover credits and any other type of credits) may be used until December 1 2026 only. Any unused credits will expire on that date and are non-refundable." They don't carry over to Canva or Leonardo.Ai either. While you're at it, download any results you want to keep: once the site is gone, so is your account. The details, including the rollover rules, are in what happens to your remove.bg credits.
If you pay for a subscription
Look up your next renewal date in your remove.bg account. The credits a subscription gives you expire on December 1 like all the others, so a renewal shortly before then buys little. You can cancel from your account dashboard and keep using remove.bg until the end of the period you've paid for. If you've paid for time that runs past December 1, ask remove.bg's support what happens to it; the terms don't say.
If you use the Photoshop extension or the desktop app
remove.bg hasn't said what happens to its Photoshop extension, its Windows, Mac and Linux app or its Android app. All of them work through your remove.bg account or API key, so plan for them to stop on December 1 along with the website. If they're part of a batch workflow, test a replacement before then.
If you use the remove.bg API
Plan your migration now. Leonardo.Ai is a separate service with its own account, docs and pricing, so don't assume your integration or your remove.bg credits carry over. Check its migration guide and test before December 1. If you're on an Enterprise contract, it continues; talk to remove.bg about what changes for you.
iLoveRemoveBG: the free remove.bg alternative
We built iLoveRemoveBG because the simple flow was the best part of remove.bg, and it shouldn't disappear. Open the page, add a photo, download the result. That's it.
- Free: up to 50 pictures a day, no payment details.
- No sign-up: there's no account to create.
- No watermark, full resolution: you download the full-size PNG, not a preview.
- Hair, fur and glass: it runs BiRefNet, an open-source model that's strong on fine edges.
- New backgrounds: keep it transparent or swap in white, black or any colour.
- Private: your pictures aren't stored. The result goes straight back to your browser.
- Anywhere: works on phone and desktop. Upload, drag and drop, or paste with Ctrl+V / ⌘V.
remove.bg vs iLoveRemoveBG
| remove.bg (until Dec 1, 2026) | iLoveRemoveBG | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free previews, credits for full size | Free, 50 pictures a day |
| Account | Needed for full-size downloads | Not needed |
| Full resolution | Uses credits | Free |
| Watermark | No | No |
| After Dec 1, 2026 | Moves into Canva | Still here |
| API and bulk | Yes (moving to Leonardo.Ai) | Not yet |
To be straight with you: iLoveRemoveBG does one picture at a time and doesn't have an API yet. If you process thousands of images automatically, Leonardo.Ai's API or a remove.bg Enterprise contract is the closer fit. For everyone else, from online sellers to anyone fixing a profile picture, iLoveRemoveBG covers it.
How to remove a background with iLoveRemoveBG
- Go to iloveremovebg.com.
- Click Upload Image, drop a file onto the page, or paste one (JPEG, PNG or WebP, up to 30 MB).
- Wait a few seconds while the background is removed.
- Keep it transparent or pick a background colour.
- Click Download PNG.
Frequently asked questions
Is remove.bg shutting down?
Yes. remove.bg's standalone website closes on December 1, 2026. Canva, which has owned remove.bg since 2021, is moving its background removal into the Canva editor and its self-serve API to Leonardo.Ai.
When is remove.bg shutting down?
remove.bg's standalone website closes on December 1, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. Central European Time (CET). Its background removal moves into Canva, and its self-serve API moves to Leonardo.Ai.
Will remove.bg still work after December 1, 2026?
No. The remove.bg website stops being available on December 1, 2026. Background removal from remove.bg lives on inside Canva, which needs a Canva account. Existing remove.bg Enterprise API contracts aren't affected.
What happens to my unused remove.bg credits?
All unused credits, including pay-as-you-go and monthly rollover credits, expire on December 1, 2026 and aren't refunded. They don't move to Canva or Leonardo.Ai. Use them, and download any results you want to keep, before that date.
Will the remove.bg Photoshop extension and desktop app keep working?
remove.bg hasn't said. The Photoshop extension and the Windows, Mac and Linux app work through your remove.bg account or API key, so expect them to stop on December 1, 2026 along with the website.
What replaces the remove.bg API?
remove.bg points self-serve API users to Leonardo.Ai's API, which Canva also owns. It's a separate service with its own account and pricing, so check Leonardo.Ai's docs and test your integration before December 1, 2026.
What is a free alternative to remove.bg?
iLoveRemoveBG (iloveremovebg.com) works the way remove.bg's website did: upload a photo and download a transparent PNG. It's free for up to 50 pictures a day, needs no account, adds no watermark and gives you the full-resolution result.
Is iLoveRemoveBG part of remove.bg or Canva?
No. iLoveRemoveBG is an independent service. It isn't affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to remove.bg, Kaleido or Canva.
Sources
- remove.bg FAQ: the move into Canva, the shutdown date and Enterprise contracts
- remove.bg General Terms and Conditions (updated September 9, 2026): credits expiring, cancelling a subscription
- remove.bg API page: "Starting December 1, 2026, background removal moves to Leonardo.Ai"
- Canva Help Center: Designify officially closed and Unscreen officially closed
Details are as published by remove.bg and Canva on October 5, 2026. Check remove.bg's FAQ for the latest.