remove.bg is closing its website on 1 December 2026. Background removal is being folded into Canva, unused remove.bg credits expire on the same day, and the standalone site you have been opening for years stops working. If you just want the short answer: Molyin's Background Remover does the same job, is free to use, and gives you the full-resolution transparent PNG on the free tier — the thing remove.bg always charged for. Nothing to migrate: sign in, drop your photos in, download.
The rest of this post is the long version — what exactly is changing, what to look for in a replacement, and what changes for you when you switch.
What is happening to remove.bg
remove.bg announced in mid-September 2026 that its standalone website closes on 1 December 2026. The service was acquired by Canva in 2021, and the background-removal feature is now being moved inside the Canva platform. Three things follow from that for anyone who uses remove.bg regularly:
- The website goes away. After 1 December there is no remove.bg to open, drop a photo into and download from.
- Unused credits expire. Credits still on your account expire on 1 December at 09:00 CET. They are not carried over anywhere.
- The workflow changes. What replaces the site is a feature inside a design suite, not a page that takes a photo and hands back a PNG.
If the way you used remove.bg was "open the tab, drop a photo, download the cutout, get on with the real work", you are looking for a replacement that keeps that shape — not a new product to learn.
What to look for in a replacement
Every background remover on the web removes backgrounds. The differences that actually matter for the person switching are these:
- Do you get the full-resolution file for free? On remove.bg the free download was a preview-sized file (0.25 megapixels, about 625 × 400 pixels); the full size cost a credit per image. For a store listing, a print job or anything that will be looked at closely, the preview size was never enough.
- Does the free tier spend credits? A free tier that makes you pay for the file you actually need is a trial, not a free tier.
- Can you run a batch? Product photos come in tens, not ones.
- Can you use the result commercially? Listings and ads are commercial use.
- Does the cutout hold up on hair, glass and shadows? Anyone can cut out a mug on a white table. The photos that matter are the hard ones.
- What can you do with the cutout afterwards? A transparent PNG is usually the first step, not the last.
What changes when you switch to Molyin
| On remove.bg | On Molyin | |
|---|---|---|
| Free download | Preview size (0.25 MP) | Full original resolution |
| Full-size file | 1 credit per image | Included on Free |
| Free tier | Preview downloads only | Free to use, no credits spent — unlimited with any subscription or credit pack |
| Batch | Depends on plan | A whole batch at once, each image processed on its own |
| Commercial use | Yes | Yes, on every tier including Free |
| After the cutout | Download and leave | AI image generation, AI video, upscaling — same account, same balance |
| After 1 December 2026 | Site closed, credits expired | Nothing changes |
The one that matters most is the first row. Free on Molyin means the PNG comes back at exactly the pixel size you uploaded — no downscaling, no "unlock HD" step. For most people that alone removes the reason they were paying.
How to switch in three steps
There is no import and no account migration, because there is nothing to migrate: the cutouts you make live in your Molyin workspace from the first run.
- Open the Background Remover and sign in with Google or an email code. It takes a few seconds. You can drop images in and look around before you sign in.
- Drop your photos in — drag them, paste a screenshot from the clipboard, or click the drop area to pick files. Drop in a whole batch; each image is processed on its own, so one difficult photo never holds up the rest.
- Pick Free or Pro and download. Free handles clean, well-lit subjects, which is most photos. Pro cuts with more precision on fine hair, fur and busy backgrounds, and costs a couple of credits per image. Either way the result is a full-resolution PNG with a real alpha channel, shown as a before/after slider over a checkerboard so you can check the edges before you download.
If you mostly remove backgrounds from logos rather than photos, the same engine has a page built for that: the Logo Background Remover keeps hairline strokes and the holes inside letters.
What to do with your remaining remove.bg credits
Use them before 1 December 2026. They expire at 09:00 CET that day and cannot be transferred to Canva, to Molyin or anywhere else. If you have a backlog of product photos, this is the time to clear it.
Going forward, the free tier here needs no credits at all. If you later buy credits — for Pro cutouts, or for the rest of what Molyin does — they are one balance shared across every tool and model on the platform: background removal, image generation, video, music. Credits are never tied to a single tool, so nothing you buy for one job goes to waste on the next. Plans and packs are on the pricing page.
What you could not do on remove.bg
remove.bg did one thing. Moving into Canva turns that one thing into a step inside a design tool. Molyin goes the other way: the cutout is a starting point for generation.
- Put the subject in a new scene. Open the cutout in the AI Image Generator as a reference and describe the background you want — a studio backdrop, a kitchen counter, a beach. Product photography without a photographer.
- Animate it. Use the cutout as the opening frame of a short clip in AI Video.
- Fix the source first. If the original was small or soft, run it through the Image Upscaler before or after the cutout.
One account, one balance, one workspace. There is no second product to sign up for.
Frequently asked questions
Is Molyin's background remover really free? Yes. The free tier costs nothing and spends no credits, and it is not a trial that runs out. Free results are full-resolution transparent PNGs and can be used commercially. Any subscription or credit pack makes Free unlimited.
Do I get the full resolution for free, or a preview? The full resolution. Free and Pro both return the PNG at exactly the pixel dimensions you uploaded. There is no preview size and no separate paid download for the large file.
What happens to my remove.bg credits? remove.bg has said unused credits expire on 1 December 2026 at 09:00 CET and cannot be moved anywhere. Spend them there before that date.
Will anything change here on 1 December? No. The tool, the free tier and your workspace carry on exactly as they are.
Is the cutout quality as good? Look at the before/after examples on the tool page — every one came straight out of the tool with no touch-ups, including loose hair, transparent glass and soft shadows. For an unusually hard photo, Pro cuts with more precision. Run it on Free first; finding out costs nothing.
What is background removal, technically? The glossary entry on background removal explains alpha channels, masks and matting in plain language.
remove.bg had a good run, and if it was part of your daily routine, the change is a nuisance you did not ask for. The replacement should not make you learn anything new. Drop a photo in and see for yourself — it costs nothing to find out.