Best AI background remover (before remove.bg shuts down)
Photoroom for sellers. Pixelcut for a free cutout. Use Canva if you already design there. Do not start anything new on remove.bg.
The short answer
If you sell products online, use Photoroom. Its free plan covers simple cutouts, and Pro is $7.50 a month billed yearly with background removal as a core tool that does not burn AI credits. For a one-off PNG with a free watermark-free export, Pixelcut is enough. Skip building on remove.bg: its standalone site and self-service API shut down on December 1, 2026, with consumer use moving into Canva and the API into Leonardo.ai.
The tools in this take
- PhotoroomApp and web editor for product photos. Removes backgrounds, adds shadows or studio scenes, and can batch-edit many listings. Free plan for simple cutouts; paid plans from $7.50 a month billed yearly.Free plan · Beginner-friendly
- PixelcutWeb and mobile image editor with background removal, upscaling and AI backgrounds. Free plan includes limited background removal and watermark-free exports; Pro is $8 a month billed yearly.Free plan · Beginner-friendly
Canva AICanva's built-in AI. Describe a social post, flyer or slide and it makes a first draft you finish in Canva.Free plan · Beginner-friendly- remove.bgBackground removal website and API for photos of people, products and more. Standalone site and self-service API shut down on December 1, 2026; consumer use moves into Canva and the API into Leonardo.ai.Free · Beginner-friendly
In this take
Side by side
| Tool | Best for | Free cutouts? | What it costs | Skip if |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Photoroom | Product listings and batches | Yes, simple cutouts | Pro $7.50/mo yearly; Max $20.99; Ultra $82.50 | You only need one personal cutout |
| Pixelcut | Phone or browser, cheap unlimited on Pro | Limited on Free; watermark-free export | Pro $8/mo yearly ($10 monthly) | You need big catalog batches with shadows |
| Canva | Cut out, then finish a post or listing graphic | Yes, inside a design | Free; Canva Pro for more AI | You only want a transparent PNG, no layout |
| remove.bg | Last cutouts or old API hooks before Dec 1 | Previews; paid credits | Credits until Dec 1, 2026 shutdown | Any new long-term workflow |
Prices from each maker’s page, checked October 16, 2026. Photoroom Pro and Pixelcut Pro figures are yearly billing.
The news most lists still miss
remove.bg is the brand people still type into Google. Canva bought it years ago, and the maker’s own FAQ now says the standalone website closes on December 1, 2026 at 9:00am CET. Background removal for people moves into Canva; the self-service API moves to Leonardo.ai. Unused pay-as-you-go credits expire that day. Annual subscribers get a pro-rata refund for time past the close. Enterprise API contracts keep going.
That is the surprising bit: the default search answer is a sunset notice. Pick Photoroom, Pixelcut or Canva for anything you will still need in 2027.
Why Photoroom leads for sellers
Photoroom started as a cutout app for marketplace sellers and grew into a full product studio: shadows, lifestyle backgrounds, batch runs, Shopify sync. Pro is $7.50 a month when you pay yearly (Max $20.99, Ultra $82.50). Background Remover is listed as a core tool on paid plans, so it does not eat the AI credit pool the way Video Generator or Virtual Model do. Photoroom’s own comparison with remove.bg says the free plan covers straightforward cutouts, and Pro includes 50 images per batch run (Max raises that to 250).
The catch is exports. Pro includes 1,000 exports a month; hit the cap and saves pause until the next cycle or an upgrade. Sellers on r/Flipping have been loud about feeling boxed in after paying. Fine if you check the export meter; painful if you assume “unlimited cutouts” means unlimited saves.
Pixelcut when you want cheap and simple
Pixelcut is the better default for a phone cutout or a small shop that does not need Photoroom’s studio stack. Free includes limited background removal and free export without a watermark. Pro is $8 a month billed yearly ($10 monthly) and adds unlimited background removal, unlimited upscale, 600 AI credits and 1,000 batch exports a month.
On r/Flipping, people who used both often call Pixelcut cheaper and fine for mobile; Photoroom wins when the job is batch listings with consistent shadows. A later batch-remover thread keeps the same split.
Canva if the cutout is step one of a design
If the transparent subject has to land on a social post, Etsy graphic or flyer, do it in Canva. Background removal is built into the editor on the free plan, and Canva is where remove.bg’s consumer tool is moving anyway. Pay for Canva Pro only if you already want the brand kit, magic tools and storage. For a lone PNG with no layout work, Pixelcut or Photoroom are less ceremony.
What we’d start with
Etsy, eBay or Amazon listings: Photoroom. One headshot or sticker on your phone: Pixelcut Free. Already living in Canva: stay there. Still on remove.bg credits: spend them before December 1, 2026, then move.
Related reading on ShipRadar: best free AI photo editor, AI headshots, and Photoroom’s tool page.
Sources
- Photoroom pricing
- Photoroom vs remove.bg
- Pixelcut pricing
- remove.bg FAQ (shutdown)
- remove.bg API (Leonardo.ai migration)
- Canva pricing
- r/Flipping: Do NOT get a Photoroom plan
- r/Flipping: Photoroom vs Pixelcut
- r/Flipping: best batch background remover
- X: @sushilwtf on Photoroom
Published October 16, 2026. This is ShipRadar’s editorial opinion. Claims are paraphrased from the sources above; we don’t invent quotes, ratings or numbers.