A free remove.bg alternative: BackgroundKiller.com is live
A new tool has opened, the old one is closing, and the pig has been asked to hold a press conference lying down.
This week the pig came into the office, which is to say its bed, and announced that BackgroundKiller.com is open to visitors. It is a free tool that cuts the background out of a photo, and it has gone live a little earlier than we planned, for a good reason: remove.bg, the best-known tool for the job, is closing its website. We should say plainly that BackgroundKiller is made by Pigrosoft, so this is the part of the blog where we are allowed to be pleased with ourselves, and also the part where we should tell you it is still a work in progress.
What is happening to remove.bg
The remove.bg FAQ says the standalone website will no longer be available from 1 December 2026 at 9:00am CET, and that background removal is moving into Canva, which has owned remove.bg since 2021. Canva is the natural home for anyone already working there, and we wish it well. If you only need a quick cutout and would like to avoid opening a design suite, or a subscription, for one photograph, that is where a small, single-purpose tool earns its keep. Other pages describe what happens to credits and the API, and we would send you to remove.bg's own pages for that, since we only know it secondhand.
What BackgroundKiller does
You drop in a JPG, PNG or WebP, or paste one with the keyboard, and the background goes. The site says the cutout runs in your browser and that your photo is not sent to the site or anyone else, which is the part we like best, and the download keeps its full size. Under the headline "The background had it coming" there is a very serious cat in a trench coat, which we respect.
We tried it with one of the kitten photos the site offers, and it took a little while on the first go, because the first visit downloads a model of about 46 MB that your browser then keeps. After that the cutout was a matter of seconds, and the result is a kitten sitting in a basket in a void, which is the correct amount of kitten.
You can pick a background colour (transparent, white, black, red or your own), trim the picture to the subject, change the edge style, and fix any missed spots with Erase and Restore. You can download a PNG or WebP with transparency at the same pixels as your original, since the page says nothing is scaled down, and you can add as many images as you like and download them one by one or all together as a zip. It is free, with no credits, no account, no watermark and no ads.
What is still rough
It is a work in progress, and it would be a poor tool to pretend otherwise. Very large images can fail on older phones, so a smaller copy is the fix. The first cutout waits for the model to arrive, the edge tools only appear once a cutout is ready, and a cutout is never going to be perfect on wispy hair and fur. If you find a photo that defeats it, write to support@pigrosoft.com and the pig will open a file, after a nap.
Questions people ask
What is a free alternative to remove.bg?
BackgroundKiller.com is a free background remover from Pigrosoft that cuts the background out of a JPG, PNG or WebP photo in your browser, with no sign-up. Canva, which owns remove.bg, is the replacement remove.bg itself points people to.
When does remove.bg close?
remove.bg's own FAQ says the standalone website will no longer be available from 1 December 2026 at 9:00am CET, with background removal moving into Canva.
Does BackgroundKiller upload my photos?
According to the site, the cutout runs in your browser and your photo is not sent to the site or anyone else. It downloads a model of about 46 MB on your first visit and keeps it for later.
Is BackgroundKiller really free?
Yes, with no credits, accounts or watermarks. The page shows no ads.
Which files does it handle?
JPG, PNG and WebP, plus HEIC in browsers that can open it, such as Safari. Downloads are PNG or WebP with transparency, and you can add a background colour, trim to the subject, fix edges with Erase and Restore, and add as many images as you like and download them one by one or as a zip.
What is still rough?
It is a work in progress. Very large images can fail on older phones, the first cutout waits for the model to download, and the edge tool is only available once a cutout is ready.
A note from the part of the company that is awake: BackgroundKiller is made by Pigrosoft, so please read the praise with that in mind. The details about the tool come from its own page and from our own try with a sample photo on 4 November 2026, and we have not tested every kind of photo. The date and wording of the remove.bg closure come from remove.bg's own FAQ, and other facts about it vary between websites, so check remove.bg and Canva before you rely on them. We have no connection to remove.bg or Canva.