Remove.bg Shutting Down: Your Credits and Free Alternatives

Remove.bg, the one-click background remover, is closing. Its own FAQ, titled "remove.bg is moving to Canva", says: "From 1 December 2026 at 9:00am CET, remove.bg's standalone website will no longer be available." In India that is 1:30pm on 1 December.

Key points

• Remove.bg shutting down means the website, accounts and self-service API all stop on 1 December 2026.
• Unused pay-as-you-go credits expire that day; remove.bg mentions no refund for them.
• Background removal continues inside Canva, and the API moves to Leonardo.ai with new keys.

Why is remove.bg shutting down?

Canva bought remove.bg in 2021, and it now has background removal built into its own platform. "Rather than maintain two separate products, we are consolidating", remove.bg says. Its FAQ calls Canva's Background Remover the replacement and says it "uses the same background-removal technology as remove.bg".

What happens to my remove.bg credits and subscription?

It depends on how you paid. These are remove.bg's own answers:

What you have	What happens
Pay-as-you-go credits	"Any unused PAYG credits will expire on 1 December 2026." No refund is mentioned, so use them before then.
Annual subscription	Works until 1 December, then ends; unused time gets "a pro-rata refund to your original payment method", with no action needed.
Monthly subscription	Works until 1 December, then ends; "any final renewal on or after 1 November is free".
Account data and invoices	Accessible until 1 December. Export your credit usage report and invoices before then: you "won't be able to download them afterward".

Nothing in the FAQ says your credits or account move to Canva. Treat 1 December as the end of your remove.bg balance.

What about the API, desktop app and Photoshop plugin?

• API: the self-service API "will stop accepting requests from 1 December 2026", and background removal is now offered through Leonardo.ai. Leonardo's migration note says "your remove.bg credentials don't carry over", so you need a new Leonardo account and API key; billing moves to prepaid credit in US dollars. Enterprise API contracts continue as normal.
• Desktop app and bulk work: remove.bg points to Canva's bulk background removal; Canva's help centre says it handles up to 50 images at a time.
• Photoshop plugin: it stops on 1 December. Remove.bg suggests Affinity, also owned by Canva, but its background removal needs a Canva Pro subscription.
• Other plugins and integrations "will be discontinued on 1 December 2026".

Is Canva's background remover free?

Partly, and Canva's own pages disagree. Its feature page says you can try it "with a limited number of free high-resolution downloads", while its help centre lists Background Remover under "paid plans only". In practice, expect a few free tries and a paid plan for regular use.

In India there is a cheaper route. Canva's help centre lists Background Remover in Canva Pro Lite, a plan available in India, and our AI subscription price in India report recorded Pro Lite at ₹1,590 a year on Canva's Indian pricing page on 24 October 2026. Jio has also offered 12 months of free Canva Pro or Pro Lite on eligible plans, according to trade press reports of the September 2026 announcement; check the MyJio app. More on the platform is in our Canva Magic Studio review.

What are the best free remove.bg alternatives?

If you only need a few images a month, you may not need a new subscription at all:

• Windows: Paint and the Photos app have built-in one-click background removal, according to Microsoft.
• iPhone and Mac: touch and hold the subject in a photo and tap Copy Subject, a free built-in feature.
• Adobe: Adobe Firefly's remove background tool is free with an Adobe account and downloads a transparent PNG.
• Clipdrop: 20 free background removals every 24 hours, per its pricing page.
• Pixelcut: free HD cutouts with no watermark, with "limited" free removals.
• rembg: a free, open-source tool under the MIT licence that runs offline on your own computer, for developers comfortable with Python.

Our full comparison of free tools to remove a background from an image compares the options side by side.

What should you do before 1 December?

1. Use any remaining pay-as-you-go credits.
2. Download your invoices and credit usage report from your remove.bg account page.
3. If you use the API, create a Leonardo.ai key and update your code before requests stop.
4. Pick a replacement: a built-in phone or Windows tool for occasional use, Canva for regular design work.

FAQ

Is remove.bg shutting down?

Yes. Remove.bg says its standalone website will no longer be available from 1 December 2026 at 9:00am CET, which is 1:30pm in India. Background removal moves to Canva and the API to Leonardo.ai.

What happens to my remove.bg credits?

Remove.bg says unused pay-as-you-go credits expire on 1 December 2026, and it mentions no refund for them. Annual subscribers get a pro-rata refund for unused time automatically.

Is remove.bg free in Canva?

Canva says you can try its background remover with a limited number of free high-resolution downloads, but its help centre lists the feature under paid plans. Regular use needs Canva Pro or Pro Lite.

What is the best free alternative to remove.bg?

For occasional use, the background removal built into Windows Paint and Photos or the iPhone's Copy Subject feature costs nothing. Clipdrop allows 20 free removals a day, and Adobe Firefly's tool is free with an Adobe account.

Will my remove.bg API key work after 1 December?

No. The self-service API stops accepting requests on 1 December 2026, and Leonardo.ai says remove.bg credentials don't carry over, so you need a new Leonardo API key. Enterprise contracts are not affected.

Cover image: remove.bg, 31 Oct 2026.